The French do not have the same attitude toward cheating on tests that Americans do. I remember my shock years ago when an older, respectable friend of mind told me how she was blatantly cheating on an English test she took at the Sorbonne. But I understand it better now that I know how much sheer rote memorization of irrelevant nonsense is required in France. Which explains a conversation I witnessed today among three university students.
"How did that %^&*$ test go?" said one.
"Really badly. I think I flunked," said another.
"Why didn't you just cheat? Everyone else did," said a third.
"I didn't think of it!" said the second person.
"Why do you always sit in the front! Didn't you notice that everyone was sitting in the back in a cluster? Even Monsieur G [the monitor of the test, apparently not the teacher] was encouraging us to cheat. He practically told us to."
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