Today, almost 600,000 South Korean students sit the College Scholastic Ability Test, a gruelling, eight-hour set of university entrance exams.

　　今天，将近60万名韩国学生参加大学修业能力考试，这是一项长达8小时的大学入学考试。

　　It is difficult to overstate the significance of the CSAT. Similar to other global standardised exams, CSAT scores open doors to prestigious universities. In Korea, however, social pressure and peer judgement not to attend local colleges cause many students to jockey for a few spots in three top universities located in Seoul (known as the ‘SKY’ colleges). Only 1% of students will be admitted.

　　CSAT考试的重要性难以夸大。与其他全球标准化考试类似，CSAT是学生进入著名大学的途径。然而，在韩国，受到社会压力和同学的眼光，许多学生不愿意不就读当地大学，目光瞄准了位于首尔的三所顶尖大学(被称为“天空”学院)，去争数量极少的就读机会。只有1%的学生将被录取。

　　For a single day, the exam becomes the priority of the entire nation.

　　这一天，考试成为整个国家优先考虑的事情。

　　Work starts an hour later, enabling students to get to their testing centres on time; planes are grounded during the listening portion so as not to create any extra noise. Younger classmates flood the streets to support upperclassmen. Parents pray together that the many hours of study their children have put in will pay off.

　　上班时间推后了一小时，以便学生准时到达考场;在听力测试期间，飞机停飞，以免产生任何额外的噪音。低年级的同学涌上街头，支持高年级学生。父母们一起祈祷他们的孩子的努力得到回报。

　　Without top scores, entrance into the highly desired SKY universities is nearly impossible – which leads many students to sit for the CSAT exams multiple times. The test can become a life-consuming endeavour.

　　如果你没获得最高分，进入争相追捧的“天空”大学几乎是不可能的。许多学生已经多次参加CSAT考试。该测试可以说是一项耗费生命的努力。