AP Chinese

eWrite Level 8：  Charlie Gao

I used to think that the AP test was going to be hard to take. After all, it was an Advanced Placement Test, and they were usually meant for students who had considerable expertise in the subject that they were taking the AP test for. Often, they toiled away in their AP classes, meticulously preparing for what could potentially mean the opening of gateway to their happy, dreamy futures. Or so I thought the night before taking the AP Chinese test, a bit low on sleep, frantic and nervous, with only a vague notion of what kind of questions I would see and not a clue as to whether or not I would survive the experience.

Of course, I was not completely unprepared.  I had a strong base in Chinese already (affirmed by the endless stream of compliments from family friends). I had looked through a few AP Chinese textbooks (which I found made for very good bedtime reading material). I had taken a two-month summer class at the Austin Chinese Education Center covering the general content of the tests (which helped a lot, but I never touched the materials from that class again for a whole year). I suppose that in terms of chances of passing, I was A-OK, but “passing” for College Board and “passing” for my family are actually quite different. For College Board, if I can get half the test correct, I pass. For my parents, if I miss one problem, I fail.

Of course, reassured by the fact that my “failure” was eminent, I strode happily into the testing center (the school library). Several technical difficulties delayed the testing for about two hours, but in that time, I was able to recollect most of the most vital information I would need in order for testing. The testing itself was a mechanical process, fraught with series difficult questions, slip-ups, bathroom breaks, musings, and spurts of racing against the little flashing timer at the top of the computer screen.

Given my performance during testing, I was pleasantly surprised when about four months later my scorecard came back with a 5 (highest possible score) written upon it. It meant that despite all those slip-ups, rushed responses, and overall confusion, I was able to gather enough skill to handle those questions well enough for the graders to give it their highest score.

I can’t wait to take my next AP test —— AP World History. (392 words)

Go back to Charlie's Page

 

自由命题作文：

AP 中文考试

中文写作八级：高成理

我曾经以为AP考试一定十分难。一般自告奋勇报名考AP的学生是那些用了好几年的时间学好了考试内容之后才敢来考的。他们一个个都“头悬梁，锥刺股”，一个个都胸怀大志，就像“进京赶考”一样。这些想法正是我今年五月在AP中文考试前一夜的想法。当时我有点失眠，望着头顶上的天花板默默地“临时抱佛脚”。

当然，我也不是完全没有把握。我的中文水平本来就不错（简直能跟我自吹自擂的本事互相媲美）。我读过了几本类似 AP水平的中文课本，尽管我发现读它们时有一种神奇的“催眠”效果。去年夏天我还上过两个月的暑期 AP中文预备课。虽然上完了课之后我就没有再翻那些材料，我认为它还是挺有帮助的。我觉得如果要按照大学委员会（College Board）的标准考过，那简直不费吹灰之力，但要按照父母的标准“考过”……

考试当天，我慢慢悠悠地走进了“考场”(McNeil 学校图书馆），双手“接卷”（打开电脑），准备考试。不过，由于各种技术性问题，考生们等了约两个小时左右才开始考。在这两个小时中，我一遍又一遍地在脑子里“过”考试题型。考试开始后，我做着做着，却不知道我在做什么了。考完之后，只模模糊糊记得好像犯了不少错误，战战兢兢地与屏幕右上角的小电子表“赛跑”。

四个月以后，那封报告成绩的信终于来到了。我看着信封，真有一点害怕。但打开之后，我轻轻舒了口气。原来，我考试成绩竟然是满分（五分是满分）！那就是说，虽然我错了不少题目，写的文章也不怎么样，我还能够得满分。

现在，我正在准备考下一个AP考试 —— 世界历史，都快等不及了。

（618字，2009年9月19日收到初稿）

 

See revised version PDF(page 2)