【中文标题】新东方：中国的应试培训巨头
【原文标题】China's Test Prep Juggernaut
【登载媒体】商业周刊
【原文作者】Daniel Golden
【原文链接】http://www.businessweek.com/magazine/content/11_20/b4228058558042.htm
备考培训公司新东方正在帮助越来越多的中国学生在美国大学入学考试中取得最优秀的成绩。
3月里一个星期天的下午，有着宽宽的肩膀、留着胡子的孟莫根在北京的一个展览大厅中徘徊。这位来自中国东部城市济南的高中学生在参展摊位前走走停停，桌子上堆满了印有绿树成荫和各民族人类微笑面孔的宣传材料。在另一边的“大学教育改变生活”沟通会中，数百名中国家长和学生走出会议室，一些来自像阿肯色州亨德里克斯学院这样的学校的招生代表在推销他们的小规模课堂、宜人的冬天气候和亚洲的饮食特色。对数百所美国教育机构来说，无论是不知名的小学校还是著名大学，这些通常情况下全额支付国际学费的中国学生都是他们觊觎的对象。
孟已经收到了伊利诺伊大学香槟分校的录取通知书，他计划在那里学习历史，他是期望在明年到美国学校读书的数万名中国大学生之一。富裕的中国家庭把美国教育经历看作是一个身份的象征，认为这可以帮助他们的孩子在回国后找到好工作。在交谈的时候，当被问到他是否已经准备好在美国读书，他回答：“让我想想。”然后他找来一个翻译，用中文犹豫地说：“我对英文还是有点担心。阅读教科书我没有什么问题，但不是总能听懂教授的话，他们的语速有点快，还有一些……”他转向翻译，翻译选择的词是：“俚语。我和同学之间的沟通或许有困难。”
尽管如此，语言障碍并未阻止他在全英文的SAT考试中取得了优秀的成绩——写作680分、阅读理解590分、数学770分（满分均为800）。就像其它数千名中国学生一样，孟学会了怎样应对考试，怎样获得一个可以掩饰自己英文能力平平的分数。在参加了一期新东方教育科技集团——此次展会的赞助方——开办的为期两个月、每周6天的之后高强度培训之后，他的SAT成绩从1670分提高到2040分（满分2400），让自己成为整个美国高校联盟炙手可热的招生人选。他也参加了TOEFL考试，这项考试主要衡量阅读、写作、口语和听力的熟练程度，分数从65分飙升到90分（满分120）。包括伊利诺伊在内的很多大学都要求TOEFL分数至少达到79分。
越来越都的中国学生在美国高校入学考试中取得了最好成绩，然而他们对美国教育的雄心壮志远远超过了自己的英文水平。这主要得益于新东方。这家曾因窃取考题而被罚款的备考公司让高校官员和政府部门颜面扫地，当然，受挫折的还有那些无法跟上课程进度的孩子们。尽管新东方毫无疑问地帮助了众多中国学生得到了他们想要的教育和职业，如果通过其它方式，这些与中国学生一般是无缘的。但是越来越多的人在质疑，它在帮助这些孩子出国的时候，是否真的是为他们的自身利益考虑。
新东方的竞争对手，普林斯顿评论的国际商务资深副总裁Paul Kanarek说：“我是否认可他们的教育原则？不！我是否认为他们的所作所为对学生的健康发展有帮助？不！他们是否为学生在美国高校中的学习注定了失败的结果？绝对是的！”
中国大学生潮水般涌向美国高校，其中很多人都没有足够的资金来源。2009年到2010年，中国超过韩国，成为美国最大的国际大学生来源地，人数为39921人。由于计划生育政策和不断提高的生活水平，越来越多的学生有能力负担比中国大学昂贵得多的美国大学学费。大多数情况下，他们无法得到助学金，因此要向私立大学每年支付5万美元，包括学费和食宿费用。在公立大学，这个数额是35000美元。尽管他们的数学水平往往极为出色，但一些人无法跟上讲座的内容，也无法参加课堂上的讨论。
这并未让他们停下脚步。从去年2月28日到今年同期，有超过20万名学生从全国各地涌入新东方的教室。他们投入数周、甚至数月的时间来填鸭式记忆单词、学习考试的捷径，这些学习会帮助他们在英语标准测试中以IBM华生电脑的精准率来回答问题——即使他们不理解阅读材料的内容。新东方为猛虎父母提供猛虎式备考培训，它统治了中国学生应试美国高校这个庞大的市场，把美国竞争对手远远抛在身后。比如华盛顿时报（WPO）卡普兰和普林斯顿评论（REVU），他们还在试图挤入有利可图的中文备考市场。新东方的课程以中文授课，完全依赖对以往考题的彻底剖析，以迅速提高学生的成绩。由于他们的应试培训如此出色，新东方的学生即使英文平平，也能进入美国的优秀高校，甚至还可以顺利通过很多学校为非英语母语的学生安排的过渡性课程。
弗吉尼亚大学夏洛茨维尔分校的招生办公室副主任Phillip Muth说：“新东方似乎破译了SAT的密码。”今年，申请这所大学的1200名中国学生SAT平均成绩为：阅读理解610分、写作670分。而美国申请学生的平均分数是阅读理解641分、写作65分。数学部分，中国学生平均分是783，美国学生的平均分是669。Muth继续说，当学生们一进入校园，“你马上知道英文不是他们的母语。”
伊利诺伊盖尔斯堡诺克斯大学的国际招生办公室协调员Josh Ferchau，曾经见过中国学生在一个月时间里把TOEFL分数提高了20分。他说：“这几乎是不可能的，我肯定大部分要归功于他们如何准备应试。”
中国东部省份浙江，杭州景色优美的西湖便，木兰花正在发芽。年轻的夫妇推着婴儿车，老人们在打太极拳，或者演奏传统的乐器。边饮绿茶边吃着麻辣扇贝，新东方的金牌教师谢锦征在解释如何赢得TOEFL口语部分的考试。
公司一般会寻找聪明、合群的在读大学生，或者刚毕业的大学生，就像24岁的谢，并鼓励他们上课时要带有幽默和激情。新东方有其独特的幽默文化，它要求教师在互联网和书籍中努力挖掘其它笑话。新东方的学生在网上贴出他们比较喜欢的段子，比如一个教师的俏皮话是“PhD”代表“永久性NC（permanent head damage）”、“MBA”表示“已婚但仍可交友（married but available）”。公司把教师的收入与学生的评价挂钩，以此来激励他们努力提高学生的成绩。奖金与班级的规模有关，有些课程的学生数量达到300人，那些受学生欢迎的教师奖金比工资还多。学生还可以投票换掉教师，就像《幸存者》一样，当然这很少发生。
谢已经在新东方担任TOEFL口语教师三年时间。为了获取更好的授课方式和各方面的线索，他每年参加6次考试，并严密关注一些中国学生分享考题的网站。在这些方面下的功夫让他可以把考察英语口语能力的问题划分成不同的类别，比如“人”、“地点”和“事件”。然后，他写出一些标准的对话，让学生记住，针对任何问题都可以稍作改动地背诵出来。比如，一个标准的“地点”问题一般会让学生描述一个他们喜欢的公园。谢建议的答复如下：“你知道，这个公园里有一条河。晚饭后，我走在河岸上，呼吸的新鲜空气让我的头脑异常清晰。”
如果学生被问到他们最喜欢的餐厅，他们就做这样的替换：“你知道，咖啡厅旁边有一条河。喝完咖啡之后，呼吸的新鲜空气让我的头脑异常清晰。”如果是最喜欢的国家：“你知道，我在美国租了一所房子，旁边有一条河。晚饭后……”
如此富有创造性的方法让谢得到了学生们几乎完美的评价，他说，使用这样的方法，可以让学生在满分30分的口语考试中提高5到10分。当被问到学生们在他的课堂中是否真的可以提高英文水平时，他说：“这就是问题所在。我们的教育课程仅为了应付考试，不是为了让学生能在美国生活，仅仅是为了得到更高的分数。”
新东方的教师在SAT写作部分也推崇类似以不变应万变的策略——准备现成的著名美国人或欧洲人的传记，几乎可以适用到任何话题。22岁的弗吉尼亚大学新生吴丽莎说：“他们根本不建议现场思考和用心写作，”新东方的课程帮助她把SAT成绩从1900分提高到2170分，“SAT的写作题目很容易预测，一个实例可以应用到各种问题上。”
两名来自北京的孩子，王思露和朱心雨在SAT的考试中都得到了2200分，他们说新东方的课程起了很大的作用。18岁的朱准备了一些名人的文章，包括目前健在的和已经过世的，比如托马斯•爱迪生、可可•香奈儿、詹姆斯•卡梅伦、JD•赛林格、霍华德•舒尔茨、伍迪•艾伦和弗洛伦斯•南丁格尔。她说，她写作部分得了满分。朱被加利福尼亚大学洛杉矶分校和弗吉尼亚大学录取。UVA招生办公室副主任Muth说，她是“来自中国最好学校的最好学生”，她在英语电话面试中的表现也很好。
19岁的王把斯蒂夫•乔布斯作为首选话题：“他的经历包括很多内容，你总能用的上。”
在SAT语法测试部分，朱和王遵循新东方的指示，删除掉所有包含“being”和逗号后跟随“which”的答案。在阅读理解部分，他们删除调所有包含“despair”、“befuddle”、“bafflement”和“apologize”的选项。这些窍门基本上都来自于对以往考题的分析。王说：“看起来很荒唐，但是的确管用。”她已经被南加州大学和纽约大学录取。
25岁的温嘉是波士顿大学金融系研究生，她介绍了一些她在新东方学习TOEFL听力时了解到的一些花招。她的教师告诉她，如果答案与食物有关，那么要记住，汉堡永远比比萨饼味道好。文章中的女性永远比男性更聪明，工作更努力。温的分数是110分，她说：“你不需要明白为什么，多次练习之后，你仅看选项就会知道哪个是正确答案。”
在1500年前，中国就开始采用公务员考试的方式来选拔人才、委任职务。每年，中国有1000万名高中学生参加长达9个小时的大学入学考试，争夺只有一半数量的大学入学资格，这就是恐怖的高考。考试前一年的时间里，他们每天学习14到16个小时。据一些学生聚集的论坛中的信息，如果所有的办法都不奏效，他们有时会雇用被称作“枪手”的人来代替他们考试，或者使用一些高科技设备，比如伪装成手表、腰带、橡皮和圆珠笔的数据接收设备。
在这样的传统氛围中，一些新东方的SAT教师建议使用某种方法来规避规定。SAT考试共分十部分——其中七个部分的考试时长为25分钟，二个部分时长20分钟，一个部分时长10分钟。弗吉尼亚大学的新生吴说，她的老师建议那些阅读理解能力不强，但数学手到擒来的学生们在数学部分开始5分钟之后，翻回阅读理解部分，尽管考试禁止返回之前的部分。阅读理解做完之后，他们可以再回到数学部分。这样他们就可以躲避监考人员的检查，这些人只在数学考试开始和结束的时候检查试卷情况。
张约翰是伦敦一所经济学校的学生，他在假期中到新东方授课。他说：“翻页很常见，很多教师都会给出这样的建议。”他还说，教师不会在任何书面文件中提到这一点，因为担心学生被抓到后的责任问题。非营利组织——纽约普林斯顿的教育考试服务中心（ETS）是SAT、跳级项目、TOEFL和GRE的设计者和管理者，根据其规定，如果考试中心的人员发现有人翻页，他们会告诉学生回到正确的部分，并警告说，如果再次违反规定将被停止考试。张说，尽管翻页“也算是作弊”，但其实应当被准许。“每个学生的专长不同，如果你的阅读能力很强，为什么不能让你回到数学部分多拿一些分呢？”
新东方的创建者和CEO俞敏洪说，新东方的教学材料中不包含翻页的做法，公司也不主张任何违法考试规定的行为。他谦虚地说：在提高学生成绩方面，“我不觉得我们比竞争对手做得好很多，或许只好那么一点。”
48岁的俞就像中国发展的历程一样，他在长江三角洲的农村贫穷环境中长大，变成现在的世界巨富。根据福布斯杂志中的数据，截止8月31日，他持有新东方18.5%的股份，在2010年的市值是9.5亿美元。他的父母都是目不识丁的农民，他曾经两次高考落榜。他担心如果再次名落孙山，一生将在默默无闻中度过。新东方的总部坐落在北京高校区的一座贝壳型玻璃建筑物中，他在那里接受采访时说：“我讨厌农村，所以我疯了一样地学习。”第三次他考得不错，被北京大学录取。之后，他申请美国研究生学校的奖学金失败，就在母校担任一名讲师。
1993年，北京大学禁止俞暗地里教授TOEFL课程挣钱，之后他创办了新东方。他自己张贴广告吸引学生来这个幼小的公司听课。开始的时候，他无法得到政府的批准。后来，他邀请一些不情愿的官员来教室里听课，才最终说服了他们。1994年，俞出版了一本学习指南，这本书的绰号是“红宝书”，暗示40年前学生们每天要学习的毛泽东语录。俞的红宝书包含了数千个美国入学考试中会用到的英文单词，以及记忆单词的窍门。他说：“我发明了一种崭新的单词记忆方法。”例如，对于“charisma”这个单词，学生们可以把它分解为“ch”，代表中国、“ris”代表米饭、“ma”代表毛。“在每个人的心目中，毛是有魅力的人物。”
到了1995年，他已经有足够的钱到美国去读书，但是他不想放弃新东方。那年12月，他到美国访问，想招募他的两个大学同学与他一起经营新东方。俞随身带着数千美元，表示他的公司有多么成功。他的朋友回国之后并未加入他的团队，而是自己开办了一家应试培训公司，这家公司后来与新东方合并。之后，他们试图挑战俞的领导地位，因为他从未在国外读书，而且他的亲戚过多参与了公司事务。卢跃刚曾经写了一本有关新东方早期发展的书。在后来的权力斗争中，俞占据了上风。
随着公司业务兴旺，俞的暴富让他成为了一个靶子。1998年，两名暴徒闯进他在北京的家中，把他捆在床上，还给他注射了镇静剂，让他进入昏迷状态。他们偷走了200万元人民币（超过30万美元），把他留在床上等死。然而他神奇地活了下来。一些新东方的教师在课堂上拿这件事开玩笑，说俞之所以没死是因为镇静剂是中国生产的。这次事件之后，俞决定为了安全起见，永久性地搬到加拿大温哥华居住。他在早先已经把家人送到那里，这样他的孩子可以在那里接受教育。
新东方以每股15美元的价格在2006年上市，目前股价为125美元，市值接近50亿美元。2010年，来自应试备考和其它业务的收入，比如课外辅导，从4年前的9600万美元上涨了4倍，达到3.86亿美元。2月28日这一季度的收入比去年同期增长了49％，达到1.325亿美元。俞说：“我们了解中国学生的想法和他们的学习习惯。卡普兰和普林斯顿评论来过中国几次，他们的问题是不了解中国学生的想法，他们的方法在这里没有效果。”卡普兰是前新东方高层管理人士创办的一家应试培训公司——北京新航道的投资方。普林斯顿评论试图在现有的侨民子女国际高中教育基础上扩展其客户群体。普林斯顿评论的Kanarek说：“我对新东方在如此分散、困难和竞争激烈市场中的成功地位心怀畏惧。”
新东方靠TOEFL和研究生入学考试，比如GRE和GMAT起家，在2006年开办了SAT课程。俞说，去年有2万名学生在新东方参加SAT应试培训，占据整个市场的90％份额。公司在早期比较出名的是其巨大的课堂规模，教师使用麦克风讲课；后排的学生要抬头看头顶的电视画面；来自内地城市的学生为了参加培训而睡在集体宿舍。公司现在也提供小规模，甚至一对一的VIP课程。在北京、上海的暑假和寒假，还为美籍华人提供英文的SAT应试培训。
俞说，新东方之所以比其竞争对手更有效果，是因为它的课程有更长的授课时间，教师授课的速度更快。新东方的学生每天至少要学习100个新单词，而卡普兰和普林斯顿评论每天只教授20到30个新单词。他说，标准的新东方课程有60到80个小时的课堂授课时间，而美国的培训机构只有20到30个小时的授课时间。新东方比较昂贵的小班课程甚至有超过250个小时的课堂时间。
公司的业务遍布全国，部分原因在其精明的市场策略。它向成绩最优秀的学生返还学费，公布他们的成功故事。它还着力培养与地方官员之间的关系。杭州的教师谢说，这里副市长的儿子在免费上课。另一位杭州的教师侯索菲亚说，新东方去年把业务延伸到附近的郊区青田。它可以享受低廉的中学教室房租，因为它让校长的女儿免费上课。
新东方还与ETS修复双方之间的关系，ETS在2001年在北京起诉新东方侵犯其版权，非法公布了1800到GRE考题。前ETS总顾问Stanford von Mayrhauser说：“我们不得不划清界限。”双方在华盛顿见面商讨解决方案时，von Mayrhauser就坐在俞的对面，他说：“我记得他说：‘你一定会输的，西方公司在北京不会获胜。即使你赢了，也只能得到5000美元。’”这一次，新东方的预言没有灵验。法院判决ETS125万美元的损失，在2004年的上诉之后，判决金额降为75万美元。俞说，新东方对这个官司不做评论。
双方在2007年和好，ETS独家给予新东方将在线TOEFL练习加入其课程的专营权。俞说，ETS意识到他“不是一个恶人”，只不过是在遵循中国的生意经。他还说新东方尊重知识产权，即使他们每年因中国的竞争对手未经许可使用教材而损失2亿元人民币（3050万美元）。
对考试的单纯关注却在另一方面揭示了一些问题。兰辛以东的密歇根州立大学不知情地接收了几个中国学生，他们的TOEFL成绩是请别人代考的。学校国际招生办公室的助理主任Patricia W. Croom说，他们后来被要求离校。美国标准考试的考题一般都会循环使用，以确保分数的可参照性，这些考题在中国遍地都是。尽管参加SAT和GRE考试的学生都要签署一份保密协议，很多中国人还是会在网上公布题目。这种现象让ETS在2003年暂停中国、韩国和台湾的计算机GRE考试，因为只要继续使用这些题库，分数就会不断上升。卡普兰的亚太区首席官员Mark Coggins说，中国学生“在考试方面的知识绝对令人吃惊，他们对考试的目的、其组成部分的深入分析详尽而透彻。”
参加3月份新东方主办的教育展会的孟莫根，是一期SAT应试培训的22名学员之一。这期培训费用是4万人民币，合6100美元。培训中使用的毫不留情的授课方式让虎妈都会引以为豪。为期53天的培训中，他每天在课堂上度过5个小时。他说：“我的词汇量急剧增长，与其它学生相比，我的阅读速度更快了。他们教给我们很多填空的技巧。”
备考培训仅仅是孟使用的新东方服务之一。由于中国政府禁止中国学生在大陆参加SAT考试，孟请新东方帮助安排他去香港参加三次考试，每次费用为4500元人民币（700美元）。他还支付了26000原人民币（4000美元）聘请新东方为他申请美国学校的“代理”。大部分申请美国学校的中国学生都请代理来给他们推荐学校、关注申请截止日期、整理并提交文件，有时还会捉刀论文和教师推荐信。孟说，公司帮助他“筹划”——根据翻译，他的实际意思是“改进”——了一篇提交给大学的论文，内容有关对发展中国家劳动力的剥削。
在孟即将就读的伊利诺伊大学，他的语言能力不会遇到麻烦，除非他无法完成学业。据学校的招生办公室副主任Gregg Perry说，尽管这里的国际学生比本土学生的SAT成绩高出很多，但他们参加试读的比例相同。
新东方希望帮助与孟类似的学生，希望让他们具备足够强的英文水平来应付大学中的学习和生活。新东方在圣路易斯的顾问Annalee Nissenholtz说：“聪明的中国学生努力学习，最终实现了前往美国的梦想，然而却因为英文水平不够而无法跟上课程。这太可悲了。”
孟说他希望在进入大学之前提高自己的英文水平。Perry说：“听说他还需要一个翻译，我有点吃惊。”他说自己没听说过新东方，“美国很多孩子都无法达到他的阅读和写作分数。”
原文：
Test preparation company New Oriental Education is helping a rising generation of Chinese students to ace U.S. college entrance exams
On a Sunday afternoon in March, Morgan Meng, a broad-shouldered, mustachioed high school senior from Jinan in eastern China, wanders through an exhibit hall in Beijing, browsing tables stacked with brochures showing leafy campuses and smiling, multi-ethnic faces. Elsewhere at the "Colleges that Change Lives" fair, hundreds of Chinese parents and students overflow conference rooms where admissions representatives from the likes of Hendrix College in Conway, Ark., are promising small classes, mild winters, and Asian cuisine. For hundreds of American institutions, from obscure colleges to prominent universities, Chinese students, who typically pay full international tuition, have become highly desirable.
Meng has been admitted to the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, where he plans to major in history. He's one of tens of thousands of Chinese undergraduates expected to attend stateside schools next year. Prosperous Chinese families see an American education as a sign of status that can help their children find jobs once they return home. In conversation, Meng responds to questions about his readiness for studying in America by saying, "Let me think." Then he waits for an interpreter to explain in Chinese. "I have the concern about English," he says haltingly. "I may read the textbook smoothly. I can't always catch up with the professor. Their speaking speed may be faster. There may be some"—he turns to the interpreter, who suggests the word "slang"—"that it is difficult to communicate with classmates."
Still, the language barrier didn't stop him from scoring 680 out of 800 in writing and 590 out of 800 in critical reading on the SAT, which is given in English, in addition to 770 on the math portion. Like thousands of other students in China, Meng learned to game the test, earning a score that belies how modest his language skills actually are. By taking an intensive two-month, six-days-a-week course offered by New Oriental Education & Technology Group—sponsor of the college fair—he raised his overall score on the SAT from 1670 to 2040 out of 2400, making him an attractive candidate for a whole new league of American colleges. His score on the Test of English as a Foreign Language (TOEFL), which measures proficiency in reading, writing, speaking, and listening and is one of two tests international students may take to demonstrate their grasp of English, soared from 65 to 90 out of 120. Many universities, including Illinois, require a minimum TOEFL score of 79.
A rising generation of Chinese students whose ambition for a U.S. education exceeds their English fluency is acing the entrance tests, thanks largely to New Oriental. The test preparation company, which was once fined for stealing test questions, is frustrating college officials and faculty members, not to mention the kids who end up unable to follow some of their courses. While New Oriental has undoubtedly helped plenty of Chinese students gain access to education and careers they'd otherwise miss out on, the company has a growing number of critics who question if it really serves the best interests of the kids it helps to go abroad.
"Do I agree with their educational principles? No," says Paul Kanarek, senior vice-president for international business at The Princeton Review, a New Oriental competitor. "Do I think what they're doing is healthy for the students they serve? No. Are they setting these kids up for failure at U.S. universities? Definitely."
Chinese undergraduates are flooding into American colleges, many of which are financially strapped. In 2009-2010, China passed South Korea to become America's largest source of international undergraduates, with 39,921. Because of China's one-child policy and increasing affluence, larger numbers of its students can afford U.S. colleges that cost far more than Chinese universities. In most cases, they aren't eligible for financial aid. They pay as much as $50,000 a year in tuition and room and board at private colleges and up to $35,000 at public ones. While their math skills are usually impressive, some can't follow a lecture or participate in a class discussion.
Not that it's stopping them. In the year ended Feb. 28, more than 200,000 students in New Oriental classrooms across China devoted weeks or months to cramming vocabulary words and learning shortcuts that help them respond with the accuracy of IBM's (IBM) Watson computer on English-language standardized tests—whether they understand the material or not. New Oriental delivers tiger test prep for tiger parents, dominating the fast-growing market for grooming Chinese students for U.S. entrance exams and fending off American competitors such as Washington Post's (WPO) Kaplan and The Princeton Review (REVU), which have been trying to elbow their way into the lucrative Chinese test preparation business. New Oriental's courses, which are taught primarily in Chinese, rely on exhaustive dissection of old test questions to help inflate students' scores. And because they're so superbly trained to beat the exams, New Oriental students with shaky English not only get into selective U.S. colleges but also test out of the transitional programs many schools have for foreign students who don't speak English well.
"New Oriental seems to have cracked the SAT code," says Phillip Muth, associate dean for admissions at the University of Virginia in Charlottesville. Its 1,200 applicants from China this year had an average of 610 out of 800 on the SAT's reading section and 670 in writing, as opposed to 641 in reading and 650 in writing for U.S. applicants. In math, they achieved an average of 783, compared with 669 for U.S. students. When the students arrive on campus, Muth continues, "You can tell immediately that English isn't their first language."
Josh Ferchau, coordinator for international admission at Knox College in Galesburg, Ill., has seen Chinese applicants improve TOEFL scores 20 points in a month. "That's pretty incredible," he says. "I'm sure a lot of that can be attributed to how they prepare for tests."
Around scenic West Lake in Hangzhou, the capital of Zhejiang province in eastern China, the magnolias are budding. Young couples push strollers, while seniors limber up with tai chi poses or play traditional musical instruments. Over green tea and spicy scallops, Xie Jinzheng, one of New Oriental's star teachers, explains how to beat the TOEFL's oral section.
The company seeks bright, gregarious college students and recent graduates such as 24-year-old Xie and encourages them to approach their classes with humor and passion. New Oriental has its own inventory of jokes, and it urges teachers to search for others on the Internet or in books. New Oriental students post their favorites online, such as one teacher's quip that "PhD" stands for "permanent head damage," and "MBA" for "married but available." The company also motivates teachers to boost their students' scores by tying their compensation to student evaluations. Since the bonus is linked to class size, and some courses have as many as 300 students, popular teachers can earn more in incentives than in salaries. Students can also vote to banish teachers from their classes, à la Survivor, though it rarely happens.
Xie has taught the oral section of the TOEFL for New Oriental for three years. Searching for patterns and clues, he's taken the test six times and pored over websites where Chinese students share test questions. His research enabled him to sort the questions used to measure English speaking ability into categories such as "People," "Places," and "Events." He then designed speeches that students can memorize and recite with minor variations in response to any question. For instance, a typical "Places" item might require students to describe their favorite park. Xie suggests the response: "You know, there is a river in the park. After dinner, I want to walk along the bank, and the breath of fresh air can really refresh my mind."
If students are asked about their favorite restaurant, they substitute, "You know, there is a river next to the cafe. After a cup of coffee, I want to walk along the bank, and the breath of fresh air can really refresh my mind." For favorite country: "You know, I rent a house in America. Beside my house, there is a river. After dinner ... ."
Such ingenuity has earned Xie near-perfect evaluations and, he says, raised his students' scores on the oral section, worth a maximum of 30 points, by 5 to 10 points. When asked if students actually learn to speak better English in his classes, he says: "That's the problem. Our education program is just for the test, not for life in America. Just to get high scores."
New Oriental teachers favor a similar one-size-fits-all strategy for the SAT's writing portion—preparing canned biographies of famous Americans or Europeans that can be applied to any topic. "They really don't recommend thinking on the spot and writing with your heart," says Lisa Wu, 22, a junior at the University of Virginia, whose New Oriental course helped her increase her SAT score from 1900 on a practice test to 2170. "SAT essays are really predictable. You can use the same example for different things."
Silu Wang and Zhu Xinyu, two Beijing teenagers who each scored 2200 on the SAT, say New Oriental deserves much of the credit. Zhu, 18, prepared essays on luminaries living and dead, such as Thomas Edison, Coco Chanel, James Cameron, J.D. Salinger, Howard Schultz, Woody Allen, and Florence Nightingale. She received the maximum score on the essay, she says. Zhu was admitted to the University of California at Los Angeles and the University of Virginia. She is a "wonderful student from one of the best schools in China" and excelled in an English-language phone interview, says Muth, the UVA associate dean of admissions.
Wang, 19, chose Steve Jobs as her preferred subject. "His experience covers a lot of topics," she says. "You can always use Steve Jobs."
On SAT grammar questions, Zhu and Wang followed New Oriental's advice to eliminate any answer containing the word "being" or a comma followed by "which." For reading comprehension, they avoided any responses including "despair," "befuddle," "bafflement," or "apologize." Such tips are typically based on analysis of prior tests. "It sounds ridiculous, but it works," says Wang, who has been admitted to the University of Southern California and New York University.
Jia Wen, a 25-year-old graduate student in finance at Boston College, recounted some other odd New Oriental gimmicks she learned for the TOEFL's listening section. Her teacher told her to remember that if the answer choices involve food, for instance, hamburgers always taste better than pizza. And that girls in the passages are always more intelligent and harder-working than boys. "You don't need to understand," says Wen, who scored 110. "After many practices, you can recognize the correct answer just by looking at the choices."
China has used tests to discover talent and determine status since it introduced civil service exams 1,500 years ago. Each year 10 million high-school seniors compete for half as many university slots by taking China's nine-hour entrance exam, the intimidating Gaokao. They study as much as 14 to 16 hours a day for a year, and if all else fails, they occasionally cheat by hiring replacements known as "gunmen" to take the test for them or by using high-tech devices such as receivers in the shape of watches, belts, erasers, and ballpoint pens, according to student websites.
Following this tradition, some of New Oriental's SAT teachers recommend a maneuver that violates the rules. The SAT is given in 10 sections—seven are 25 minutes long, two are 20 minutes, and one lasts 10 minutes. Wu, the University of Virginia junior, says her teacher suggested that students who have trouble with reading but can breeze through math should interrupt math after five minutes and flip back in the booklet to reading, even though returning to earlier sections is prohibited. Once the students completed the reading, they would return to math. That way, they would evade test monitors, who check for flippers at the start and end of the math period.
Flipping "is quite common," says John Zhang, a London School of Economics student who teaches at New Oriental during holidays. "A lot of the teachers I know give that advice." He adds that teachers omit the tactic from written materials because of liability concerns if a student is caught. If test center staffers catch someone flipping, they are supposed to direct the offender to the correct section and warn that another violation would be grounds for dismissal, according to the nonprofit Educational Testing Service (ETS) in Princeton, N.J., which designs and administers the SAT and Advanced Placement programs, and creates the TOEFL and Graduate Records Examination (GRE). While flipping is "basically cheating" under current rules, it should be permitted, Zhang says. "Every student has different strengths. If you're a really good reader, why not allow you to return to math to grab a couple more points?"
New Oriental's founder and chief executive officer, Michael Minhong Yu, says the flipping strategy is not part of New Oriental's teaching material and that the company does not advocate any violation of testing rules. "We don't see ourselves doing much, much better," than our competitors in improving students' scores, he says modestly. "Maybe a little better."
Like China itself, Yu, 48, rose from rural poverty in the Yangtze River Delta to cosmopolitan affluence. He owned 18.5 percent of New Oriental as of Aug. 31 and was worth $950 million in 2010, according to Forbes magazine. The son of illiterate peasants, he failed China's college-entrance exam twice. He worried that if he flunked again, he would be stuck in the middle of nowhere. "I hated the country," he says during an interview in New Oriental's seashell-shaped glass headquarters in Beijing's university district. "I studied like mad." He did well on the test on his third try and enrolled at Peking University. When he failed to get a scholarship for U.S. graduate school, he became a lecturer at his alma mater.
Yu founded New Oriental in Beijing in 1993, after Peking University disciplined him for collecting income from teaching TOEFL classes on the side. He put up posters to attract students to his fledgling company. He had trouble obtaining government approval and finally persuaded reluctant officials to grant him a license by inviting them to one of his lectures. In 1994, Yu published a study guide. Its nickname, Red Treasure Book, was reminiscent of Mao Zedong's Little Red Book, which Chinese students followed 40 years ago. Yu's version contains thousands of English vocabulary words used on U.S. entrance exams and mnemonic devices for them: "I developed a new way of remembering words," he says. For example, Yu says, students could recall the word "charisma" by dividing it into "ch" for China, "ris" for rice, and "ma" for Mao. "In almost everyone's mind, Mao was charismatic," he says.
By 1995 he'd saved enough money to study in America, but he didn't want to abandon New Oriental. That December he visited the U.S. to recruit two former college classmates to work with him. Yu brought thousands of dollars in cash with him to demonstrate how successful his company was. Instead of teaming up with him, his friends returned to China and started their own test prep company that later merged with New Oriental. They later tried to challenge Yu's leadership on the grounds that he had never studied abroad and his relatives had too much influence in company affairs, says Lu Yuegang, who wrote a book about New Oriental's early years. Yu prevailed in the ensuing power struggle.
As the company flourished, Yu's sudden wealth made him a target. In 1998 two assailants invaded his Beijing home, tied him to his bed and injected him with tranquilizers, sending him into a coma. They stole 2 million yuan (more than $300,000) and left him to die. Miraculously, he lived. Some New Oriental teachers joke in their classes that Yu survived only because the drugs were made in China. After the incident, Yu, who earlier had relocated his family to Vancouver, Canada, so his children could be educated there, decided to make the move permanent for safety reasons. His attackers, who had committed other violent crimes, were ultimately executed in 2006.
New Oriental went public at $15 a share in 2006 and now trades around $125, with a nearly $5 billion market value. Revenue from test-prep and other businesses, such as after-school tutoring, quadrupled to $386 million in the year ended May 31, 2010, from $96 million four years before; it rose 49 percent, to $132.5 million, in the last quarter ended Feb. 28 from the year before. "We know what Chinese students are thinking about and their study habits," Yu says. "Kaplan and Princeton Review have come to China several times. Their problem is that they don't understand what Chinese students are thinking. Their methods are ineffective here." Kaplan is an investor in Beijing New Channel, a test-prep firm founded by a former New Oriental chief executive, while The Princeton Review wants to expand beyond its current clientele of expatriates' children at international high schools. "I am in awe of New Oriental's success in a marketplace that fractured, that difficult, that competitive," The Princeton Review's Kanarek says.
New Oriental built its business on the TOEFL and graduate-school entrance exams, such as the GRE and GMAT, and introduced SAT classes in 2006. Twenty thousand students took SAT prep in China with New Oriental last year, representing at least a 90 percent share of that market, says Yu. The company originally gained renown for huge classes in which teachers used microphones and students in the back rows watched on overhead television screens; sometimes students from the hinterland slept in dormitories. The company now gives smaller and one-on-one VIP courses as well. It caters to Chinese-Americans by offering SAT preparation in English in Beijing and Shanghai during summer and winter vacations.
Yu says New Oriental is more effective than its competitors because it requires more hours in class than U.S. prep companies do and because its teachers cover ground faster. New Oriental students must learn at least 100 vocabulary words a day, as opposed to 20 or 30 at Kaplan or The Princeton Review. A typical New Oriental course lasts 60 to 80 classroom hours, compared with 20 to 30 in the U.S., he says, while more expensive courses for smaller groups may take up as many as 250 hours of class time.
The company has spread throughout China, in part because of shrewd marketing. It gives refunds to top-performing students and publicizes their success stories. It also cultivates local political officials. Xie, the teacher in Hangzhou, says the son of the city's vice-mayor is taking his class for free. When New Oriental expanded last year to Qingtian, a suburb of Hangzhou, it enjoyed low rent on middle-school classrooms in return for giving free classes to the principal's daughter, according to Sophia Hou, a former New Oriental teacher in Hangzhou.
New Oriental has also mended its relationship with ETS, which sued New Oriental in a Beijing court in 2001 for infringing its copyright by obtaining 1,800 GRE questions. "We had to draw a line in the sand," former ETS general counsel Stanford von Mayrhauser says. During settlement talks in Washington, D.C., von Mayrhauser sat across from Yu. "I remember his saying, 'You're going to lose, no Western company can win in Beijing. Even if you win, you'll only get $5,000,' " Von Mayrhauser says. "That pretty much ended the meeting." For once, a New Oriental prediction was off the mark. The court awarded ETS $1.25 million in damages, which was reduced on appeal to $750,000 in 2004, according to von Mayrhauser. Yu says that New Oriental doesn't comment on past litigation.
The two sides reconciled in 2007, when ETS gave New Oriental exclusive rights in China to incorporate an online TOEFL practice test into its courses. Yu says ETS realized he "is not a vicious person" and was only following standard Chinese business practices. He adds that New Oriental respects intellectual property rights even though it's losing 200 million yuan a year, or $30.5 million, from Chinese competitors using its materials without permission.
The cultural preoccupation with testing manifests itself in other ways. Michigan State University in East Lansing unwittingly accepted several Chinese students who'd had someone take the TOEFL for them, according to Patricia W. Croom, the school's associate director for international admissions. The students were required to leave. And questions on U.S. standardized tests, which are often recycled to ensure consistency of scores over time, are widely, if sometimes illicitly, available in China. While students who take tests such as the SAT and GRE sign a confidentiality agreement, many in China post questions on websites. Such sharing prompted ETS to suspend the computerized version of the GRE in China, Korea, and Taiwan in 2003 because scores kept rising as long as the same pool of questions was used. Chinese students' "knowledge of the tests is absolutely astonishing," says Mark Coggins, Kaplan chief executive for Asia Pacific. "Their analysis—What does the test do? How is it constituted?—is enormous."
Morgan Meng, who attended the college fair New Oriental hosted in March, was one of 22 students in his SAT-prep course, which cost 40,000 yuan, or $6,100. It involved the kinds of relentless drills that would have made a tiger mother proud. He spent five hours a day in class for 53 days. "I enlarged my vocabulary very much," he says. "I can read many essays quicker than other students." In addition, "they taught us many skills with filling blanks."
Test preparation was only part of Meng's New Oriental package. Because the government bars Chinese students from taking the SAT on the mainland, Meng paid 4,500 yuan, or nearly $700, for each of three test-taking excursions New Oriental arranged to Hong Kong. For an additional 26,000 yuan, or $4,000, he also hired New Oriental as his "agent" on his college applications. Most Chinese applicants to U.S. colleges employ agents to recommend schools, keep track of deadlines, assemble and submit forms, and sometimes even ghost student essays and teacher recommendations. Meng says the company helped him "promote"—by which he meant "improve," according to his interpreter—an essay that he submitted to colleges on the exploitation of cheap labor in developing countries.
At Illinois, where Meng plans to enroll, his language problems would likely not be addressed unless he flounders academically. While international students at the school have considerably higher SAT scores than domestic students, they go on academic probation at the same rate, according to Gregg Perry, Illinois's associate director for undergraduate admissions.
New Oriental wants to help students like Meng by offering extra tutoring and guiding them to colleges with strong English as second language programs. "It's tragic to have bright Chinese students who have worked to realize their dream of going to a U.S. college and can't keep up in class because their English isn't strong enough," says Annalee Nissenholtz, a St. Louis-based consultant to New Oriental.
Meng says he hopes to improve his English before he departs for college. "I'm a little flabbergasted to hear that he needed an interpreter," says Perry, who adds that he was unaware of New Oriental's existence. "There are a lot of kids in the U.S. who can't pull off his scores in reading and writing." |
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发表于 2011-5-10 14:13
