Next year's Higher and Advanced Highers exams are to be cancelled in Scottish schools, it has been confirmed.
據證實，明年蘇格蘭學校的中學等級考試（相當於中國的高考）將會取消。
Education Secretary John Swinney said the decision was based on the disruption that Covid has caused to the education system rather than safety concerns. The move means that pupils' final grades will be based on the judgment of their teachers.
教育部長約翰·斯溫尼說，這一決定是基於新冠對教育系統造成的破壞，而不是出於安全考慮。此舉意味著學生的期末成績將以老師的判斷為準。
Mr. Swinney told the Scottish Parliament that many pupils had already lost "significant learning time" through having to self-isolate in addition to the teaching time they lost before the summer holidays. And he said the level of disruption had not been equal - with pupils from the poorest backgrounds the most likely to have been affected.
斯溫尼先生告訴蘇格蘭議會，許多學生已經失去了「重要的學習時間」，因為除了暑假前失去的教學時間外，他們不得不自我隔離。他還說，受影響的程度並不相同，來自最貧困家庭的學生最有可能受到影響。
Mr. Swinney added: "I am therefore announcing today that there will be no Higher or Advanced Higher exams in 2021.
斯溫尼先生補充道：「因此，我今天宣布，2021年不會有中學等級考試。
"Instead we will adopt the new model that has been developed and base awards on teacher judgment of evidence of learner attainment.
「取而代之的是，我們將採用已經開發的新模式，並根據教師對學生成就的證據的判斷進行獎勵。
"This is safe, it is fair, and it better recognises the reality of the disruption so many pupils have already had to their learning".
「這是安全的，是公平的，它更好地認識到許多學生的學習受到幹擾的現實」。
Mr Swinney also stressed that there would be no algorithms used to adjust the estimated grades put forward by teachers after controversy about their use in deciding this year's results.
斯溫尼先生還強調，不會有任何算法用於調整教師的估算成績，因為這些算法在決定今年成績方面存在爭議。
Some pupils have told BBC Scotland that they were relieved the exams had been cancelled.
一些受訪學生告訴BBC蘇格蘭，他們對考試取消感到非常寬慰。
They included Carly, an S6 pupil at Govan High School in Glasgow, who is studying Advanced Higher History, Higher Modern Studies and Higher Care and is hoping to do nursing at university.
其中包括卡莉，格拉斯哥戈文高中的一名6年級學生，她正在學習高等歷史、高等現代研究和高等護理，並希望在大學裡做護理。
She said: "It's been hard learning this year. I've had to isolate once but some of my friends have had to isolate two or three times.
她說：「今年學習很辛苦。我曾一度被迫隔離，而我的一些朋友不得不隔離兩三次。
"I feel relieved that exams are cancelled and can make sure that I am getting everything done that I need to and not just working towards something that's not going to happen."
「考試取消了，我感到鬆了一口氣，我可以確保我已經完成了我需要做的一切，而不僅僅是為了一些不可能發生的事情而努力。」
There were an outcry and protests took place after it emerged that 125,000 of those teacher estimates were downgraded, with claims the system was unfair to children at schools with worse records in exams. The Scottish government then agreed to accept just the teacher estimates.
有消息稱，在12.5萬名教師的評估被下調後，出現了強烈的抗議聲，聲稱該系統對考試成績較差的學校的孩子不公平。隨後，蘇格蘭政府宣布，只接受教師的評估。
Parents group UsForThem Scotland said the "inexcusably bad" decision would have a "terrible impact on children's' futures".
家長組織UsForThem Scotland表示，這一「不可原諒的錯誤」決定將「對兒童的未來產生可怕的影響」。
The group's Jo Bisset said: "The fact the Scottish government couldn't get its act together tells you exactly how seriously the system takes children's interests in the short, medium and long term."
該組織的喬·比塞特說：「蘇格蘭政府不能齊心協力，這一事實告訴我們，從短期、中期和長期來看，蘇格蘭政府對兒童利益的重視程度有多高。」
「取消高考」可能是很多人在學生時期做過的美夢，而當這一天真的到來的時候，卻爭議不斷。不論這次嘗試的結果如何，這一屆學生算是「見證歷史」了。
Vocabulary:
1. Self-isolate 自我隔離
2. Algorithm 算法
3. Controversy 爭議
4. Relieved 感到寬慰的
5. Outcry 公開反對，強烈抗議
6. Protest 抗議
7. Inexcusably 不可原諒的
關注英國力士
讓你的口語和聽力起飛！