Monday, June 30, 2014

Compare

The women were too startled to say anything.

The man called Sam began, "Ladies, I don't think it is fair to compare the English examination of the two kindergartens."

"Why?" Christy and Hilda asked, almost together.

"Because the two examinations are very different in their format," the man explained, "Our friend from the Island tests only the spoken language or, in reality, the presentation skill of their kids. Examinations of the Countryside is supervised by a panel of fully trained educationalists - including, I dare say, my humble self. Our format is comprehensive as well as scientific. We test the capability of reading, writing, recall memory, creativity, and a number of other domains. Our scoring system is fair and objective. In short, it conforms to the modern theory of elementary education."

The women listened with their mouths wide open. A good while later, Christy, who was supposed to master explicit vocabulary better, said, "Who cares about your bloody format? We are talking about the content of the examination! What good is there to have an ideal format if the content is rubbish? Bullshit remains bullshit despite being wrapped by colourful papers and a silk ribbon!"

The man looked blank. As always, educationalists could not comprehend four-letter English words or three-word Chinese phrases.

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