From: Patricia Swan, Chair, GRE Board

　　Kathryn Forte, Chair, TOEFL Board

　　Tom Rochon, Executive Director, GRE Program

　　Marilyn Rymniak, Executive Director, TOEFL Program

　　Date: January, 2001

　　We have become aware in recent months of theft and unauthorized use of copyrighted GRE and TOEFL materials within the People’s Republic of China (PRC). We are actively investigating this matter, and we have filed a lawsuit in China against the responsible parties. We are seeking redress of this matter through all legal and political channels available to us.

　　Through intensive coaching that includes exposure to undisclosed test questions, certain individuals in China may have gained unfair advantage in taking the test. In the case of the GRE General Test, this includes exposure to some test questions in active use. Not all individuals testing in the PRC have access to this information, and we have no way of knowing at this point which test takers may have taken advantage of this situation. We want to emphasize, then, that the test scores of any given individual cannot be impeached by this information.

　　We regularly monitor scores from individuals who test in various countries and, like you, we have noticed increases in GRE General Test scores from the PRC over the past several years. Our most recent analysis of scores from the PRC (10/99-9/00) shows a sharp upward trend in average GRE General Test scores when compared with previous years. We have not seen this trend in TOEFL scores. We are, however, currently conducting an analysis of GRE and TOEFL test scores from recent months.

　　We urge you, therefore, to treat all GRE and TOEFL test scores from China with caution. It is always important to review all elements of an applicant’s file. In the present circumstances, it is particularly important that all evidence submitted by an applicant from China be reviewed, and that test score results be fully supported by other elements of the file.

　　We thank you for your understanding of this situation. We assure you that we are doing everything we can to protect the security of our tests in the PRC and elsewhere, in order to maintain the confidence you may place in the test results from your applicants. If you have any further questions about the interpretation of test scores from China, please feel free to contact:

　　GRE Board Chair -Patricia Swan (515-292-3744)

　　TOEFL Board Chair -Kathryn Forte (310-541-6763 ext. 4043)

　　GRE Executive Director - Tom Rochon (609-683-2001)

　　TOEFL Executive Director - Marilyn Rymniak (609-683-2049)

　　给全美各大学及研究所入学负责人的信

　　我们近几个月开始意识到中国地区有人盗窃和未经授权使用受版权保护的TOEFL和GRE考试资料。我们正在对此事进行积极的调查，我们已经对有关责任方提起了诉讼。我们正在寻求通过所有现有的法律和政府渠道对此事加以圆满解决。

　　中国某些个人通过强化培训，包括使用尚未公开的考题，在考试中获得了不正当的优势。就GRE综合考试而言，就包括使用一些仍然在使用的考题。并不是所有的中国考生都能得到这种考题，然而我们没法知道哪些考生可能占了便宜。因此我们想强调，任何特定考生的成绩都不能因为这一信息而受到置疑。

　　我们定期对各国考生的成绩加以审核，同你们一样，我们已经注意到中国考生近几年的GRE综合考试分数有一定提高。我们最近对中国地区考生考试成绩(10/99-9/00)的分析表明，GRE综合考试平均成绩和前几年相比有急剧上升的趋势。在TOEFL考试中还没有发现这种趋势。我们目前正在对近几个月的TOEFL、GRE的考分进行分析。

　　我们因此敦促你们谨慎处理所有中国申请人提供的TOEFL、GRE分数。审查申请人的所有申请资料一直是很重要的。在目前这种情况下，对中国申请人提供的所有证明材料都进行仔细的审核尤为重要，他们的考分应当得到其他申请材料的印证和支持。

　　我们感谢你们对目前情况的理解。我们向你们保证，我们在尽最大的努力在中国和其他地区维护考试的安全性，保持你们对留学申请人所考试成绩的信心。如果您对如何衡量来自中国的考分有任何疑问，请随时与我们联系。

　　GRE董事会主席Patricia Swan (515-292-3744)

　　TOEFL董事会主席Kathryn Forte (310-541-6763 ext. 4043)

　　GRE项目执行总监Tom Rochon (609-683-2001)

　　TOEFL项目执行总监Marilyn Rymniak(609-683-2049)

　　2001年1月