'A hallucination'
In the end, some of their students have opted for popular training schools designed specifically for students eager to pass the test.
Ma Dong, dean of the non-majors program, had this to say about those schools: "The trainers create a hallucination that as long as you can pass the test, you can learn English well, and that the easiest way to do that is to attend their training."
In general, preparations for CET-4, in classrooms and beyond, do not help students communicate competently in English, according to Sun Ao with the English department at Ghent University in Belgium.
Nationwide CET-4 and CET-6 exams are coming up in December. Nearly 9.1 million students took the exams in June. CET-6 is optional, but a good score can help students find better jobs.
Test fraud has been a major concern for years, as students fueled and took advantage of an underground industry that sells answers to exam questions.
Since last December, students caught cheating could find that written in their records.
