作弊者

When I was a Senior at E. C. Glass High School in Lynchburg， Virginia during the 1961～1962 school year， we had a mean and nasty teacher named A. J. Fielder， better known as “Happy Jack”. Happy Jack taught hard courses in Chemistry and Physics. He gave low grades to his students. Many students needed high grades to get into the college of their choices. Students who were hoping to be at the top of their class or who needed a good mark to be admitted into college avoided taking classes taught by Happy Jack.

However， some students wanted to become physical sciences majors in college， so they felt obliged1） to take the risk of taking Happy Jacks classes. I was one of those who decided to take the risk. I took chemistry as a junior in high school and physics as a senior in high school.

A crisis developed while I was taking physics. Happy Jack gave very hard tests. Almost all of us got no better than 50 or 60 on these tests. In other words， we were failing. If we failed， we would not be able to go to college at all， much less into the college of our choice.

However， there was one kid in the class who always got 100 on every physics test. His name was Charles Pryor.

Charles Pryor was not regarded as one of the smartest kids in the school. Actually， I was regarded as the smartest kid in the school， although I knew that in reality I was not. There was a mousy2 little girl named Martha Sue Herley who always got test scores higher than I did. She was not taking physics， but Charles Pryor was.

I had close friends named Jimmy and Johnny Farrar， who were identical3 twins. They were also among the smartest kids in the school and were taking the same physics class from Happy Jack. I went over to their house many times to discuss this problem.

We knew that something had to be done about this. We were desperate. By getting 100 on every test while the rest of us were getting not more than 60， Charles Pryor was placing us all in a difficult situation. We were all studying hard. We did not think that he was very smart， so it could not have been that he knew the material better than we did.

We finally figured out how he did it.

There were three physics classes， taught in periods 4， 5 and 6. Charles Pryor was in sixth period. Happy Jack gave the same tests to all three periods. Therefore， during period 5 Charles Pryor could meet with a student from period 4 who had just taken the test， find out what the questions were and look up the answers before period 6. In addition， Happy Jack would sit in the back of the classroom while the tests were being taken and grade the tests handed in by the pervious students. Charles Pryor could go to the back of the room to ask the teacher a question， lean over Happy Jacks shoulder and see what answers the other students had given and whether Happy Jack had marked them right or wrong. We became convinced that this was what Charles Pryor was doing.

Now， what to do about this？ Finally， we decided to write an anonymous letter to Happy Jack explaining what Charles Pryor was doing. However， we did not want to say that it was Charles Pryor who was doing it. We just said that some student was doing this. I wrote the letter， with editorial help from Jimmy and Johnny Farrar. In order to make sure that nobody would ever know who had written the letter， we put on gloves and bought a new pad of paper from Pearsons Drug Store， so that our fingerprints would not appear on the paper. We went through newspapers and found the words we wanted to write， cut them out with scissors and pasted them with glue from a new bottle of glue onto the paper. We got a new envelope and put the letter in the envelope. We put an obviously fake return address on the letter and put postage stamps on sideways in a distinctive manner. Then， we mailed the letter to Happy Jack.

A few days later， Happy Jack had an announcement to all the physics classes. He read the letter in class. He demanded to know immediately who had written the letter and who the cheating student was. I kept silent and did not raise my hand and neither did Jimmy or Johnny Farrar.

A few days later， Happy Jack gave us another test. However， departing from his usual practice， he did not give the same test to all three classes. Instead， he gave an easy test to the students in period 4. Everybody in that class got 100 on that test. However， he gave an extremely difficult test to the students in periods 5 and 6. His message was clear：“If you do not reveal the name of the cheating student， all of you will flunk4. You will not be able to go to college and your futures will be ruined.”

I went over to Jimmy and Johnny Farrars house again. Now， we were really worried. We decided that we had no choice. We wrote another letter.

In the second letter， we also cut out words from a newspaper， provided the same fake return address and glued the stamps on in the same way sideways， details which Happy Jack had never told the classes about. In this way， we could insure that he would know that the persons writing the first letter had also written the second.

The second letter contained only one sentence：“The person referred to in the previous letter is Charles Pryor.”

A few days later， I was walking down the high school corridor and I happened to glance through the classroom door and see Happy Jack with my letter in his hand， having a heart-to-heart talk with Charles Pryor. I do not know what happened next and heard nothing more about this.

We all passed and went to college.

For 40 long years since 1961 I have been harboring5 this secret. In all these years， until today， I have never told anyone about this letter， that I wrote it or that Charles Pryor was the subject of the letter.

Today， after 40 years， I decided to look up Charles Pryor on the Internet， and here is what I found：

Charles W. Pryor has a Ph.D. degree in Physics and is the CEO and Chairman of the Board of Westinghouse Electric Corporation， the largest provider of nuclear power plants in the world. Charles W. Pryor won the Academy of Distinguished Alumni Award for 1998.

We must now realize that he was not cheating after all. He was simply better at physics than we were.

1961～1962学年，我是弗吉尼亚州林奇堡市E. C. Glass高中的一名毕业班学生。那时有一位教我们的老师为人刻薄，令人讨厌，他叫A. J. 菲尔德，不过他更为人所知的名字是“快乐杰克”。快乐杰克教我们化学和物理，课程难度很大，他给学生打分也很低。但很多学生都需要高分以便进入自己心仪的大学，因此，那些希望自己在班里名列前茅的学生或那些需要高分进入大学的学生都不选快乐杰克的课。

然而，一些学生想在大学主修物理学专业，因此不得不铤而走险选修快乐杰克的课程。我就是其中一个决定冒险的学生，于是我在11年级时选修了化学，12年级时又选修了物理（编注：美国高中有四年，即9-12年级，分别相当于中国的初三、高一、高二、高三）。

在修物理课时，危机降临了。快乐杰克出的几份试卷难度都很大，我们每个人的成绩几乎都不到50或60分。也就是说，我们都没及格。如果考试挂科，我们根本不可能上大学，就更别提进心仪的大学了。

然而，班里却有一个学生例外，他每次物理测试都能得满分。他的名字叫查尔斯·普莱尔。

查尔斯·普莱尔并不是我们学校公认的最聪明的学生之一。事实上，我才被认为是学校里最聪明的学生，尽管我明白实际上并非如此。有一个内向害羞的女孩叫马莎·休·赫利，她的考试成绩就总比我好，但她没有选修物理，而查尔斯·普莱尔选了。

我有两个要好的朋友，吉米和约翰尼·法勒。他俩是双胞胎，长得一模一样。他们也在全校公认最聪明的学生之列，也同样选修了快乐杰克的物理课。于是，我去了他们家好几次，和他们一起商量关于考试成绩的事儿。

我们知道对此我们必须得做点什么，我们都要绝望死了。每次考试查尔斯·普莱尔都得满分，而我们其他所有人都及不了格，查尔斯使我们所有人都处在了难堪的境地。我们都是刻苦学习的孩子。我们并不觉得他有多聪明，所以他不可能比我们更熟悉所学的物理课内容。

我们最终猜到他是如何考取满分的了。

当时有三个物理班，分别在第四、第五和第六节课上。查尔斯·普莱尔上的是第六节课的那个班。由于快乐杰克总是给三个班出相同的试题，因此，第五节课开始时，查尔斯·普莱尔就能与刚在第四节课上考完试的同学见面，弄清试题内容，并在第六节课开始前查到答案。另外，考试时，快乐杰克总会坐在教室后面，判前一个班的学生交上来的卷子。此时，查尔斯·普莱尔就可以走到教室后面请教快乐杰克问题，从他肩膀上方探着身子查看别人卷子上的答案和他批改的对错情况。我们越来越确信这就是查尔斯·普莱尔的所作所为。

既然如此，那该怎么办呢？最后，我们决定给快乐杰克写一封匿名信，向他说明查尔斯·普莱尔的所为。不过，我们并不想明说作弊的人是查尔斯·普莱尔，因而只说是某学生考试作弊了。我写信，吉米和约翰尼·法勒帮忙修改了一下。为了确保永远不会有人发现写信的人是谁，我们戴上手套，从皮尔逊药店买了一沓新纸，这样我们的指纹就不会留在信纸上。我们仔细地在报纸上搜寻，找到想用的词就用剪刀剪下来，然后用胶水粘在纸上（那瓶胶水也是新买的）。我们买了一个新信封，把那封信放在里面。接着，我们在信封上粘上一个明显虚假的寄信人地址，并以一种特别的方式斜着贴上邮票。然后，我们把信寄给了快乐杰克。

几天后，快乐杰克在三个物理班上都宣布了一件事。他在课堂上宣读了那封信，要求我们立刻说出写信者是谁，作弊者又是谁。我保持了沉默，没有举手。吉米和约翰尼·法勒也没举手。

又过了几天，快乐杰克又组织了一次测试。然而，这次与以往不同，他没有给三个班出同样的试题。相反，他给第四节课的学生出了一份非常简单的试题，使那个班所有学生都得了满分。但是，他给上第五节课和第六节课的学生出了一份非常难的试题。他的用意很明显：“如果不说出作弊学生的名字，所有人都别想通过考试。你们都上不了大学，你们的将来也都会毁掉。”

我又一次去了吉米和约翰尼·法勒家。这次，我们真的很担心。我们断定自己别无选择，于是又写了一封信。

第二封信中，我们依旧从报纸上剪下词汇，写上与上次相同的虚假寄信人地址，用同样的方式把邮票斜着贴在信封上——这些细节快乐杰克从来没有在班上提过。这样，我们就可以确保他会知道写第一封信和第二封信的是同一伙人。

第二封信里只有一句话：“上封信中所指的人是查尔斯·普莱尔。”

几天后，我在学校走廊上走着，碰巧透过教室门缝看到快乐杰克手里拿着我写的那封信，正在跟查尔斯·普莱尔促膝长谈。我不知道后来发生了什么事，也再没有听到过关于这件事的任何消息。

我们所有人都通过了考试，上了大学。

自1961年以来的这漫长的40年里，我一直深藏着这个秘密。这么多年，直到今天，我从来没有跟任何人提起过这封信，也从没告诉任何人我写那封信或查尔斯·普莱尔是那封信的主题。

40年后的今天，我决定在网上搜索一下关于查尔斯·普莱尔的信息，下面是我找到的资料：

查尔斯·W·普莱尔有物理学博士学位，目前担任全球最大的核能供应商西屋电气公司的执行总裁（编注：现已卸任）及董事长。查尔斯·W·普莱尔还荣获了1998年度杰出校友奖。

现在，我们最终意识到当年他并没有作弊。他只是在物理方面学得比我们任何人都好而已。

注释

1. oblige vt. （以道义、法律或体力）强迫，迫使

2. mousy adj. 安静害羞的；个性不强的

3. identical adj. 完全相同的

4. flunk vi. （在考试等中）失败，不及格

5. harbor vt. 心怀，怀藏