If I pass, you pass

Ralph Jennings is a journalist and long time resident of China. He currently lives in Taipei. From mid-2000 to 2006, he had an advice column in the 21st Century weekly newspaper in which he answered letters from thousands of students and young professionals. Below is a letter from the archive, with an introduction by Jennings.

Alfred was nominated as the top gunner. That means a self-described friend thought he was smart and gave him the mission of taking someone else’s exam. He’s hardly alone at Chinese universities. Is it cheating? Nah, just survival. Might as well study how now so he can get by later. But the voice of China’s effort to form a civil society piped up and said hey wait a sec man maybe put the gun down.

Dear Ralph,

I am a university undergraduate. One of my best friends, a cadet in the same city, asked me to help another friend, also a cadet, who is inept at English pass his CET-4 exam (a national standardized English test). I would take the friend's place by disguising myself as him in the examination room and be the "gunner". She contended that I am the best choice because I have a strong friendship with her and have already passed CET-4. What's more, I am a boy so I can disguise myself as him, unlike my friend. I don't want to lose credit in America, where I'm preparing to go for graduate study, but if I decline, my friend may think I lack loyalty, to which a cadet is especially sensitive. What should I do?

-Alfred, via e-mail
October 2002