TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — Taiwanese high school finishers underwent their second day of university entrance exams on Sunday (Jan. 21), and in their English test were provided a somewhat bleak description of the working life that lies ahead.
“The modern worker rolls out of bed, groans, and turns off an alarm clock before reluctantly getting up for the day’s work,” the beginning of the 16th question on the English language exam read. The exam question went on to describe the “knocker-up” profession, that saw professionals paid to tap on workers windows before alarm clocks became widely available.
Test takers were given 100 minutes to answer 52 questions, which involved reading, writing, and translation. Other questions asked students about eating habits, crows, humidity, Ali Mountain, racial conflicts, grief, and Dr. James N. Weinstein, a professor at Dartmouth’s Geisel School of Medicine.
After the test, an article with the answers to the exam became the most widely read article on UDN, one of Taiwan’s largest news websites. The article had attracted nearly 130,000 views within one hour of it being posted online.
Those interested in trying the test for themselves can find the whole exam here.
The university entrance exam is known as the General Scholastic Ability Test (學科能力測驗), and includes Chinese language and literature, English language, mathematics, social studies, and science exams. The first of the exams was held on Saturday, and the last will finish on Monday.
