今年5月5日，中國學生可直接在北京參加“美國高考”———AP考試。昨天，來自美國大學理事會的消息，今年將在北京城區的錫華北京21世紀國際學校開設AP考點，試卷預計在4月中下旬空運到京，報名日期截至3月28日。

Students planning to study abroad can sit for the US college-level Advanced Placement (AP) exam on the mainland starting in May.

The US College Board, which also administers the SAT college entrance test, has authorized seven private educational institutions on the mainland to hold the AP test. Mainland students had to go to Hong Kong for the exams before the announcement.

"Through the college-level AP exam, Chinese students have more opportunities to earn credits or advanced standing at most US colleges and universities," Huang Donghui, the chief of registration at Beijing-based Siwa International School, one of the authorized institutions, told China Daily yesterday.

With 37 courses and exams across 22 subject areas, AP offers students a head start on college-level work, he said.

"It aims to sharpen student's problem-solving ability, broaden their intellectual horizons and help them stand out," Huang said.

Nearly 3,400 universities in 40 countries currently accept AP exam grades for admission, including four Chinese universities: Peking University, Tsinghua University, Beijing Foreign Studies University and Beijing Language and Culture University.

At least 1.4 million students around the world sat the exam last year for a fee of $84.

"Though the exam is not mandatory like the Test of English as a Foreign Language (TOEFL), it adds weight to the application," Wang Junjie, a Beijing student, said.

The results are graded 1 to 5, with 5 representing excellent college work.

Most American colleges and universities give credits to students who receive a 3 or better on their AP exams. That means they can start with higher-level college classes than students who did not do as well or did not take the tests.

(China Daily)

Vocabulary:

AP: AP是Advanced Placement的縮寫，即大學預修課程，是由美國大學理事會主辦的統一考試，包括哈佛、耶魯等著名大學在內，已有超過40個國家的3391所大學承認AP成績，北京大學、清華大學、北京語言大學也承認AP課程學分。該考試每年5月在全球80余個國家舉行一次，頗像中國的高考。AP考試采取5分制，一般3分以上的成績即可被大多數大學接受，并且可以在今后上大學時折抵多至一學年的大學學分。

(英語點津Celene編輯)