Exam Asks Students to Convert Calendar Years; Students: "Didn't See That Coming"

[Staff Report]

The university entrance exam for academic year 88 ended yesterday (the 3rd). This year's history paper for the social sciences track included a question asking students to convert Gregorian years in a historical source into ROC years. Many students said as they left the exam hall that they "didn't see that coming," and when cram schools went over the answers afterward, quite a few had gotten it wrong.

A cram school teacher pointed out that the conversion is actually simple: add 1911 to the ROC year to get the Gregorian year; subtract 1911 from the Gregorian year to get the ROC year. For example, ROC year 1 is 1912; this year, ROC year 88, is 1999; next year, ROC year 89, is the year 2000.

Students are used to ROC years, the teacher said, so Gregorian years can throw them for a moment. "The question isn't hard. The hard part is doing the math when you're nervous. Some even remembered 1911 as 1912." Other students said the source only gave two-digit years: "For a second I couldn't tell if 89 meant ROC year 89 or 1989."

People in the computer industry say it is the same problem as the much-discussed millennium bug: record a year with only two digits, and it stops making sense in another calendar. Government documents and reports here mostly use ROC years, while computer systems and dealings abroad mostly use Gregorian years; with both in use, conversion errors are common.

Educators suggest students practice converting between the two calendars when reading newspapers and official documents. "Do it a few times and you won't get it wrong." The exam center said questions and answer keys for all subjects will be released in the coming days.