REAL honest-to-goodness questions on a driving test in China, late 2009. Go ahead and try the test yourself . . . You might be surprised at how well you do! (I have provided some American explanations in parenthesis.)
TRUE/FALSE
A) When a vehicle goes uphill on a mountain road, it should change to low gear in advance, speed up and dash uphill.
B) When a vehicle overturns slowly and jumping out of the vehicle is possible, the driver should jump in the opposite direction of the overturn.
C) When driving on a muddy road, the driver should remove the muddy and cover with sands, rocks, grasses or wood if the wheels of his vehicle spin. (We know you’re stuck in the mud, but get rid of the mud anyhow, find some grass, pick it quick, and cram it under your tires.)
D) When the driver senses he will inevitably be thrown out of the vehicle, he should violently straighten both his legs to increase the force of being thrown out and jump out of the vehicle.
E) When putting out a fire, the driver should refrain from breathing through mouth or crying loudly. Otherwise, the fire and smoke will scorch the upper respiratory tract. (Since fires start in cars so often, this is a very important answer to know.)
F) When a vehicle falls into water, the driver should in no way panic. In particular, those who cannot swim should first manage to escape through the windows. As long as they reach the water surface, they will have more chances to survive. (If, however, you are so unfortunate as to not be able to reach the water surface, your chance of survival is slightly decreased.)
G) After a vehicle falls into water, the driver should immediately close the windows to prevent water from flowing into the compartment and to keep the air from flowing out. At the same time, they make telephone calls to tell the rescue personnel the place of the accident and wait for their arrival. (Lock yourself in the car 20 feet underwater, and call for help!)
H) When a wounded person is under the wheel or cargo, the correct method is to pull the limbs off the wounded. (Translation: If you run someone over, pull their arms off!)
I) The main feature of pedestrians participating in road traffic is, they walk around at will and can easily change directions. (They don’t really know where they’re going, and they’re more zombie than human, since they obviously have no idea how to watch out for traffic.)
J) In hot weather, the driver may drive barebacked, barefooted or wearing slippers. (No shirt, no shoes . . .)
K) When encountering a flock of sheep on the road the driver must honk loudly and continuously to drive them off. (Is the answer the same when you meet a family of gorillas? What about an elephant herd?)
Answers:
A) True
B) True
C) True
D) True
E) True
F) True
G) False
H) False
I) True
J) False
K) False
Many thanks to the brave missionary family in China who both passed and sent us this test. I’m sure we’re all very much wishing we could drive our cars where you drive yours!
