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Another primary school exam question has come under the spotlight.

This time, it's a PSLE-level Chinese oral passage, from what appears to be an assessment book.

A short essay

Joseph Kwa, the Facebook user who uploaded the passage, found it rather difficult (translation ours):

"My wife nearly slap me today because I tried to take Primary 6 oral exam and of course my Chinese is 西北好 (sibei hao, or "very good")

今日事今日毕. knn 的难 (Don't put off until tomorrow what you can do today. Knn difficult)"

The short essay is worth 20 marks, and students are given three minutes to look through the piece before reading it out in front of the examiners.

Those undergoing the test are judged on their pronunciation and inflection.

Here's the essay, if you want to give it a go:

If not, the passage essentially centres on Benjamin Franklin and his maxim, "Don't put off until tomorrow what you can do today.”

It tells the story of a farmer who greatly admired Franklin, and thus decided to pay him a visit.

Before leaving, the farmer requests some words of wisdom from Franklin.

The latter bestows upon him the phrase, "Don't put off until tomorrow what you can do today.”

Upon returning home, the farmer discovers that his family has harvested the wheat for the day, although the loot has yet to be kept in the house.

His family says, "We've been working for more than 10 hours, and we're very tired."

Recalling what Franklin told him, the farmer repeats the maxim to his family.

The same night, a thunderstorm visits.

The farmer is glad that they have harvested the wheat.

Results may vary

The passage is of varying difficulty to Singaporeans: Some found that they could read it easily, while others struggled to get past the first three characters.

A third group appeared proud and surprised that they could manage the passage.

You can view the post here:

Top image via Joseph Kwa, MOE's Facebook page