It is 10:30 p.m. and students at the elite Daewon prep school in Seoul, South Korea are cramming in a study hall that ends a 15-hour school day. A window is propped open so the evening chill can keep them awake. One teenager studies standing upright at his desk to keep from dozing.
晚上10：30南韓首爾大元外國語高等學校這所菁英學府的學生，還擠在自修教室裡死記硬背，他們剛結束學校每天長達15個小時的課程。一扇窗子開著，讓夜晚的寒風可以幫他們保持清醒。有個青少年在桌旁筆直站著苦讀，以免打瞌睡。
Kim Hyun-kyung, who has accu-mulated nearly perfect scores on her SATs, is multitasking to prepare for physics, chemistry and history exams. "I can't let myself waste even a second," said Ms. Kim, who dreams of at-tending Harvard, Yale or another brand-name American college. And she has a good shot. This spring, as in previous years, all but a few of the 133 graduates from Daewon Foreign Language High School who applied to selective American universities won admission.
金賢京的SAT測驗成績幾近滿分，正多管齊下，準備物理、化學和歷史考試。「我分秒必爭，」她說。她第一志願是上哈佛、耶魯或另一所美國名校。她剛打了一記好球。今春，一如往年，大元外語學校133名申請上美國一流大學的畢業生中，除了極少數，全都拿到入學許可。
Daewon has one major Korean rival, the Minjok Leadership Academy, three hours' drive east of Seoul, which also has a spectacular record of ad-mission to Ivy League colleges.
大元在南韓的死對頭是民族史觀高等學校，距首爾以東三小時車程的距離，該校上常春藤盟校的紀錄也很輝煌。
How do they do it Their formula is relatively simple. They take South Korea's top-scoring middle school students, put those who aspire to an American university in English-lan-guage classes, taught by Korean and highly paid American and other for-eign teachers, emphasize composition and other skills crucial to success on the SATs and college admissions es-says, and — especially this — urge them on to unceasing study.
他們是怎麼辦到的？方法相當簡單。他們從南韓中學成績佼佼者中，挑選那些想上美國大學的學生去上英語班，再請南韓和高薪禮聘的美國及其他外國老師來教學，強調作文和其他能考好SAT及大學入學論文的訣竅，再加上催促他們不眠不休的苦讀，這點尤其重要。
Both schools seem to be rethinking their grueling regimen, at least a bit. Minjok, a boarding school, has turned off dormitory surveillance cameras previously used to ensure that students did not doze in late-night study ses-sions. Daewon is ending its school day earlier for freshmen. Its founder, Lee Won-hee, worried in an interview that while Daewon was turning out high-scoring students, it might be falling short in educating them as re-sponsible citizens. "American schools may do a better job at that," Dr. Lee said.
這兩所學校似乎正在重新思考這種令人受不了的魔鬼訓練方式，至少有一點改變。民族史觀這所寄宿學校，已把原本用來確保住宿的學生，不會在深夜晚自習時打盹的監視器關掉。大元一年級學生也把下課時間提前。大元創辦人李元熙（譯音）接受專訪時擔心，大元在製造出拿高分的學生之餘，可能在教育他們成為負責任的市民上有不足之處。她說：「美國學校在那方面可能做的比較好。」
Still, the schools are highly rigorous. Both supplement South Korea's re-quired, lecture-based national cur-riculum with Western-style discus-sion classes. Their academic year is more than a month longer than at American high schools. Daewon, which costs about $5,000 per year to attend, requires two foreign languages besides English. Minjok, where tu-ition, board and other expenses top $15,000, offers Advanced Placement courses and research projects. And, oh yes. Both schools suppress teenage romance as a waste of time.
但這兩所學校管教仍然極其嚴格。除了南韓全國規定上課必修的全部課程，還要附加西式的討論課程。他們每學年比美國高中要長一個多月。大元每年學雜費總共要5000美元，除了英文，還必修兩種外國語文。民族史觀的學雜費加上住宿費用，每年超過15,000美元，並提供進階先修班課程及其他究計畫。當然，兩校也嚴禁青少年談戀愛，認為這是浪費時間。
Both schools reserve admission for highly motivated students; the appli-cation process resembles that at many American colleges, where students are judged on their grade-point averages, as well as their performance on special tests and in interviews.
兩校都保留入學許可給積極進取、有高度企圖心的學生，申請程序和美國很多大學類似，學生除了依各科平均成績來評估，也要看他們在特別測驗和面試的表現。
"Even my worst students are great," said Joseph Foster, a Williams College graduate who teaches writing at Dae-won. "They're professionals; if I teach them, they'll learn it. I get e-mails at 2 a.m. I'll respond and go to bed. When I get up, I'll find a follow-up question mailed at 5 a.m."
「即使是我最差的學生也很棒，」威廉斯學院畢業、目前任教於大元的佛斯特說。「他們太敬業了，我不管教什麼，他們都認真學習。我凌晨兩點接到電子信，答覆後上床就寢，等我起床才發現，那個學生早上五點又來信問後續問題。」
Some 103,000 Korean students study at American schools of all levels, more than from any other country, according to American government statistics. In higher education, only India and China, with populations more than 20 times that of South Korea's, send more students.
據美國政府的統計數字顯示，約103,000名南韓學生在美國各級學校就讀，比任何其他國家都多。在比較高等的教育，只有中國和印度因人口是南韓的二十倍以上，留學生才比較多。
Korean applications to Harvard alone have tripled, to 213 this spring, up from 66 in 2003. Harvard has 37 Korean undergraduates, more than from any foreign country except Canada and Britain. Harvard, Yale and Princeton have a total of 103 Korean undergraduates; 34 graduated from Daewon or Minjok.
今春南韓單單是申請上哈佛大學的就增加三倍達213人，2003年只有66人。哈佛大學部有37名南韓學生，在外籍學生中，僅次於加拿大和英國。哈佛、耶魯和普林斯頓總共有103名南韓大學生，其中34位來自大元或民族史觀。
Daewon parents tend to be wealthy doctors, lawyers or university profes-sors.
大元的家長多半是家財萬貫的醫生、律師或大學教授。
The average combined SAT score of Daewon was 2203 out of 2400. By comparison, the average combined score at Phillips Exeter, the New Hampshire boarding school, is 2085. Sixty-seven Daewon graduates had perfect 800 math scores.
SAT滿分是2400分，大元平均總成績是2203分。相形之下，新罕布夏州寄宿學校菲利普艾斯特中學平均總分是2085分。大元還有67名畢業生得滿分800分。
The schedule at the Minjok acade-my appears even more daunting. Stu-dents most keep cramming until 2 a.m., when dorm lights are switched off. Even then some students turn on lanterns and keep going. Students sometimes report for classes so ex-hausted that Alexander Ganse, a Ger-man who teaches European history, said he asked, "Did you go to bed at all last night"
民族史觀高等學校的課程安排更嚇人，大部分學生繼續填鴨到凌晨兩點，宿舍熄燈為止。即使到那時候，有些學生繼續點燈籠熬夜苦讀。學生有時上課時極為疲憊，教歐洲史的德國老師根舍說，他曾問過：「你們昨晚到底有沒有上床？」（取材自紐約時報）