Sometimes, Chinese people struggle with the test as well. When authorities added new questions early last year, failure rates initially soared. In the southern coastal city of Zhuhai, only 7 percent passed the new test, according to the Southern Metropolis Daily newspaper. In nearby Shenzhen, less than 4 percent passed.
有时候，中国人自己也考不好。去年相关部门增加了新的试题后，不及格率立马上去了。据《南方都市报》统计，在南部沿海城市珠海，只有7%的人通过新考试。而附近的深圳，只有4%通过。

Once they study, though, many Chinese find the written test as straightforward as foreigners find it difficult.
当然，学习了以后，很多中国人仍会觉得考试很简单，正如老外觉得考试很难一样。

"For Chinese people, it's just another exam," says Wei Qi, a Chinese TV producer in Beijing, who aced the test on her first try. Wei says the format is easier for Chinese people, because they were raised in an education system that emphasizes memorization. That said, Wei doubts the written test produces better drivers.
“对中国人来说，这不过是一个考试罢了。”魏琪（音）说道。她是北京的一位电视制片人，第一次考试就直接通过了。她认为考试形式对中国人而言比较简单，因为中国人就是在强调死记硬背的教育体系下成长起来的；不过，她也怀疑这种笔试能否培养出素质良好的驾驶员。

"Because the test is so complicated, it kind of undermines the purpose," she says. "I kind of forgot everything. If you asked a question now about a traffic rule, I still couldn't quite answer you."
“因为试题很复杂，反倒有点适得其反，”她说，“我都快全忘了。如果你现在问我某条交通规则，我还是答不上来。”

Wei thinks the behind-the-wheel driving test, which all Chinese must take and involves parking while avoiding laser motion detectors, is much harder.
魏琪觉得随后的路考更难，因为所有人都得参加，不仅要停好车，还得避开激光探测器。

Where There's Pay, There's A Way
道高一尺魔高一丈

While most foreigners dread taking the written exam, Virgil Adams, a financial manager in coastal Jiangsu province, knew he would pass the first time.
当大部分老外还在惧怕参加笔试的时候，江苏省的一位财务经理维吉尔-亚当斯却胸有成竹，确信自己一次就能通过。

"I didn't study," he says. "I didn't do anything." He didn't have to, because he had hired a Chinese agent to fix the results.
“我没去学习，啥都没准备。”他说。之所以没必要，是因为他请了一个中国代理帮忙。

A man maneuvers a car during an electronic driving test at a driving school in Beijing in 2011. The road test for a Chinese driver's license requires the applicant to park while avoiding laser motion detectors.
2011年，他在北京一所驾校参加了电子驾驶测试。要想考取中国驾照，申请人在路考时得成功避开激光探测器并停好车。

At the testing center, Adams sat down at the computer and went through the questions. After he finished, per his agent's instructions, he got up and walked out without submitting his answers.
在考试中心，亚当斯坐在电脑面前浏览试题，答完题后，通过代理的说明，他没有提交答案就径直站起来走了出去。

"My best guess is that probably my agent walked in, sat down at my seat, reviewed my answers and corrected any wrong ones," he says. Adams says the whole thing cost about $150.
“我猜当时我的代理进来后坐在了我的位置，浏览并纠正了我做错的题目。”他说。亚当斯透露，这事儿总共花了150美元。

Paying people to take your driver's test is common in smaller cities here. Authorities in Shanghai try to prevent it by putting cameras next to every computer. One of my Chinese friends got around that in western China, though, by aiming the camera at his face while a paid test-taker typed the correct answers on the computer just out of view.
花钱请人代考在小城市很常见。上海相关部门试图杜绝这种现象，在每台电脑旁边安装了摄像头。但是，我的一个中国西部朋友想到了一个办法：考生本人的脸对准摄像头，然后代考人在摄像头范围之外输入答案即可。

All that fraud may help explain why — as recently as 2011 — China had a nearly comparable number of drivers as the U.S., but almost twice as many traffic deaths.
这种舞弊现象恰好解释了为什么在2011年，中国的开车族数量和美国相当，但交通死亡人数却是美国的两倍。

As for me, I continued to take the test — and fail. After I flunked the third time, without improving my score, I banged my head on the desk in the exam room and couldn't stop laughing.
至于我本人嘛——继续屡考屡败呗。当第三次又没通过、分数丝毫没能提高时，我直接把头磕在了考场桌上，忍不住大笑起来。

The police officer proctoring the exam shook his head and scowled, suggesting I should take my serial failure more seriously.
监考人员绷着脸摇了摇头，提醒我应该更加认真地对待这次不及格。

On my fourth try after hours of study, I finally passed with a score of 93. Afterward, that same cop, with whom I'd become quite familiar, gave me a big grin and shook my hand.
学了几个小时后，我又考了第四次，终于以93分通过了。然后，还是那个监考人员（现在已经跟我很熟了），给了我一个大大的微笑，还握了握我的手。