Last year, one group of students in Taiwan did just that. They took chances-and ended up in jail. More than 20 students paid a cram school owner to help them cheat on Taiwan’s entrance exam, according to police. The students received answers to test questions through cell phones and other electronic devices. Taiwan isn’t the only place in Asia to see major cheating scandals. In both India and South Korea, college entrance exams have been stolen and sold to students.
Academic cheating has risen dramatically over the last decade. Duke University conducted a survey of 50,000 university and 18,000 high school students in America. More than 70 percent of the students admitted cheating. Just 10 years earlier, only 56 percent said they had cheated. This trend extends far beyond the U. S., too. In Asia, where students face intense pressure to excel, the cheating problem is especially pronounced. In many Asian countries, a student’s performance is measured mostly by exam scores. And admission to a top school depends on acing standardized tests. This test-driven culture makes cheating an easy way for students to get ahead in a super-competitive academic system.
But the pressure to perform well on tests isn’t the only thing turning students into cheaters. For one, new technology makes cheating easier than ever. Students now have more sophisticated options than just "cheat sheets" hidden in pencil boxes. Today’s tech-smart students use text-messaging to discreetly send each other test answers. They post questions from standardized tests on internet bulletin boards. Students in Asia, for example, have posted questions from the Test of English as a Foreign Language (TOEFL) and the Graduate Record Exam (GRE).
Deeper issues than technology and testing, however, may be leading to the rise in academic dishonesty. Both students and educators say that society offers too many negative role models. Businesspeople make millions and scientists eam intemational acclaim by cheating and lying. The case of Korean scientist Hwang Woo Suk offers one powerful example. He faked the results of his stem cell research and became a national hero. From many sectors of society, the message to students is loud and clear: Cheating is an easy way to get ahead.
Victoria Lin, a high school teacher in Taichung, says educators must begin to stress integrity as well as achievement in academics. That’s what she tries to instill in her students. "I always tell my students, ’How much is your character worth 100 points 90 points’" Jerry Chang, a student at Taiwan’s Oriental Institute of Technology, also has words of advice for classmates he sees cheating. "When you cheat on exams, you only cheat yourself," he says, "because you won’t know how much you’ve really learned.
In paragraph 3, the author focuses on the factor of （）
A. pressures related to tests
B.advanced technologies
C. sophistication of students
D. standardized tests
