国内的中学生生活在高考的重压之下，那么国外的中学生有没有类似的烦恼呢？
1. England, Wales and Northern Ireland
After studying English, maths and geography for two years, 17-year-old Henry is about to face his final A-level (Advanced level)exams. They will start at the end of May and continue into June. Everyone has said they are the hardest exams he'll ever have to take.
Henry's happy that he has already got high marks in his English and geography course and that he and his classmates took half their maths exam last year. At least that takes off some of the pressure.
He's been offered a place to study geography at Manchester University — if he gets an A and two Bs. If he doesn't get the grades, he will go to his second choice in London,which has asked only for a B and two Cs.
About five months before, he visited lots of universities and chose six to apply to. His teachers sent these universities his grades based on his mock exams (模拟考试), and a report of his character. He wrote a 500-word personal statement saying why he should be accepted by each place. Two universities called him in for an interview. Three others offered him a place straight away. And two rejected him. He finally chose his two top places.
A few months after his exams, Henry's results arrive. He hasn't done well. He got three Cs and neither of his two choices will take him.
All is not lost however. He gets on the phone and calls every university he can think of. If they have any spare places,he begs them to give him a place. Finally,he is offered a place to study computing in Wales. It wasn't what he planned to study,nor where he had wanted to go. But he doesn't care. He has achieved his goal —he is going to university.
2. The United States
Every year, high school juniors and seniors from across the US take the Scholastic Aptitude Test(SAT,学术智能测试)
The SAT 1 is a three-hour exam that tests students' maths and verbal(词汇的)skills. Most universities will not accept students without this test. It is also used to decide how much financial aid (经济资助)should be given to each student.
Scores range from 200 to 800 for each part. There is a total of 1,600 points. The test is held each year from October to June. But seniors must take it before December in order to include their scores in their university application. The average total score for an American high school student is around 1,000.
A poor SAT 1 score can prevent a student from going to a good university. Students who want to go to one of America's best universities, such as Harvard or Yale, must score between 1,430 and 1,600.
The test can be taken over and over again, but all the scores will appear on the students' records. However, unlike Chinese universities, the score is not the only thing needed. American universities also look at a student's subject grades, what they do outside of school, and their teachers' recommendations.
In addition to the SAT 1, some universities require high school students to take at least three SAT 2s. These one-hour exams can be taken in any subject, for example chemistry or French.
3. Australia
Teenagers in Western Australia choose their top three universities near the beginning of their last year in high school. Year 12 begins at the end of January. The students are about 17 years old.
Many spend their last 12 months of school studying hard. They sit Tertiary Entrance Examinations(TEE,大学入学考试)in at least four subjects at the end of the year in November. The exam period is two weeks.
A few months later they get their results and a Tertiary Entrance Rank (TER). The TER is a number between 99. 95 and zero that shows a student's position compared to all the others in the same state who take exams that year.
If a person gets a TER of 95, for example, it shows they are equal to, or better than, 95 per cent of all the other exam takers. Such a high ranking would allow them to go to their top university to study anything they wanted.
To study anything at the University of Western Australia, the top university in the state, students must score a rank of at least 80.
Those who only get a TER of 50 will have a lot fewer places to choose from. But they are still likely to study somewhere.
4. Japan
Japanese students need 12 years of study before entering universities.
They choose the places they want to go to and apply before January of their final year. The university entrance exam is a standard nationwide test held every year in January. It provides tests for 31 subjects in six subject areas:Japanese language,geography and history, civics(品德修养课), maths, science and a foreign language. All national and public universities, as well as some private ones make use of this exam. But many places also have their own tests in February or later,before the new school year starts in April.
In order to pass the exam for the best universities such as the national University of Tokyo and University of Kyoto(京都大学), many students attend special preparation schools on top of their regular classes. These extra schools can last for one to two years between high school and university.
Although every student has the chance of going to a Japanese university, only 50 per cent of high school seniors actually choose further study.
