[EDUCATION ★]
INDIA ARMY CANDIDATES FORCED TO STRIP FOR TEST
(P1) Hundreds of young men in India’s Bihar state have been made to strip down to their UNDERWEAR while taking an army RECRUITMENT test in an attempt to prevent CHEATING.
(P2) Photographs showed candidates sitting CROSS-LEGGED in a field in Muzaffarpur town wearing only their underpants.
(P3) The army said it was done to “save time on checking so many students for cheating materials”.
(P4) A candidate told The Indian Express newspaper that he felt “it was not DIGNIFIED“.
(P5) Officials said 1,159 candidates participated in Sunday’s hour-long written examination to join the Indian army.
(P6) “As we entered Chakkar Maidan, the test VENUE, we were asked to remove all of our clothing except for our underwear. We had no option but to COMPLY with the instructions even though it felt odd. The gap between candidates was about eight feet in all directions,” The Indian Express quoted a candidate as saying.
(P7) The paper quoted a senior army official as saying that the candidates being asked to strip was an “administrative LAPSE“.
(P8) Bihar and many other parts of northern India are NOTORIOUS for cheating during examinations – last year, the state government was EMBARRASSED after parents and friends were photographed climbing school walls to pass on answers to school students.
(P9) In January, the state announced tough measures such as fines and jail terms to stop cheating in exams.
WORDS: 229
SOURCE: http://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-india-35693987
DISCUSSION QUESTIONS:
If you found the passage difficult to read or had problems understanding specific words or idiomatic expressions, please discuss them with your tutor. The following discussion questions should be answered in your own words and with your own arguments.
- Briefly summarize the content of the article in your own words.
- Cheating on university entrance exams and other tests has been a problem in many countries recently. Has this happened a lot in your country?
- What are some of the different ways that test-takers cheat?
- What are the most effective ways of preventing cheating?
- Was it fair for the Indian test-takers to be asked to strip down to their underwear?
EXPRESSIONS TO PRACTICE:
What do the following expressions mean? Practice using each expression in a sentence; extra points if you can use it in conversation.
- Cross-legged
