[00:00.12]Chinese officials are taking high-tech action
[00:04.04]against high-tech cheaters on the national college entrance test.
[00:09.44]In recent years,
[00:11.56]some students have used hidden electronic devices
[00:16.40]to communicate during the test.
[00:19.60]In an effort to stop them,
[00:21.96]administrators in one city took an unusual step.
[00:27.08]They used a drone, or small aircraft without a pilot.
[00:32.20]The drone flew over two testing centers
[00:35.88]in Luoyang City in central China's Henan province.
[00:41.36]The drone was looking for unusual signals being sent to wireless devices.
[00:48.92]Mr Lan, who only gave his last name,
[00:53.56]is an official from Louyang's Radio Supervision and Regulation Bureau.
[01:00.68]He said the drone cost hundreds of thousands of yuan,
[01:05.68]or tens of thousands of U.S. dollars.
[01:10.00]He said the drone was as big as a pump at a gasoline station.
[01:15.92]Officials said that a large number of electronic signals
[01:21.24]over a testing center could mean that students
[01:25.48]were cheating by sending electronic messages during the exam.
[01:31.64]A Henan province news website said
[01:35.08]that the drone recorded no unusual signals on the first day of the test.
[01:41.44]Nine million students will take the college entrance exam,
[01:46.36]which started last Sunday.
[01:48.92]The test is known in China as the gaokao.
[01:54.64]This important test can greatly affect a young person's future.
[02:00.32]The test results are used to decide which kind of university a student can attend.
[02:08.24]Those with the highest scores have the best chance
[02:11.72]for getting into an elite university.
[02:16.24]Students spend months cramming,
[02:19.36]or studying intensely,
[02:22.16]in order to get the highest possible score.
[02:26.28]Many parents travel to the cities where the tests are given.
[02:32.12]They stay with their children during the exam,
[02:36.16]which can last two or three days.
[02:40.28]Students who do not do well on the test
[02:43.76]enter regional universities.
[02:47.28]Students who do not pass the exam
[02:50.48]usually have two choices.
[02:53.64]They can repeat a year of school and retake the test,
[02:58.20]or try to find a factory job.
[03:02.20]Cheating is common because of the high risk
[03:05.60]and high pressure connected to the exam.
[03:09.72]Local media have reported on the problem of "surrogate" test-taking.
[03:17.12]A surrogate is someone who does another person's work.
[03:23.96]Talented students from poor families can earn large amounts of money
[03:30.32]taking the college entrance exam for students who can pay.
[03:36.08]More recently,
[03:37.84]students have been using wireless devices
[03:41.16]to get answers during the test.
[03:45.36]The Education Ministry said Saturday
[03:48.80]that it had arrested 23 people
[03:51.84]for trying to cheat since last May.
[03:56.04]Students who are caught cheating
[03:59.56]can be blocked from taking the test for three years.
[04:03.96]I'm Pete Musto.
[04:06.44]Words in This Story
[04:09.72]drone 每 n. an unmanned aircraft or ship guided by remote control or onboard computers
[04:18.76]wireless 每 adj. sending and receiving electronic signals by using radio waves
[04:36.68]elite 每 adj. the people who have the most wealth and status in a society
[04:47.76]cram 每 v. to study intensively over a short period of time just before an examination
[05:00.40]surrogate 每 adj. 
[05:04.00]a person or thing that takes the place 
[05:06.92]or performs the duties of someone or something else
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