Reader question:

Please explain “cheat sheet” in this: “I even brought a cheat sheet with me so I had the facts ready.” Cheat?

My comments:

Did you go to school?

I mean, if you went to school and still don’t know what a cheat sheet is, you must have been a good student.

Well, to be fair, it’s nothing to be ashamed of if you never cheated an exam in school.

On the other hand, as far as I know, a lot of students never cheat on exams, so it’s nothing to be proud of either.

It’s something you’re supposed to do – not using cheat sheets at exams.

A cheat sheet, you see, is a slip of paper on which are written answers for a test. You know, you see a question you don’t remember the answer for, you take out the paper and seek out the right answer.

Also known as a crib sheet, but cheat is a more common word.

Cheat sheet is more direct – calling a spade a spade, not hiding from the fact that you’re cheating because you’re not supposed to fish for answers from texts or note books. You’re supposed to remember all test answers by memory.

In our example, however, the speaker is not doing anything sinister if I read the line correctly. Here, cheat sheet is just a note he/she keeps with them just in case.

Just in case they forget some numbers and data, so they keep a cheat sheet in hand. This way, they’ll never be stumped for reply if they were asked some odd statistic or trivial fact.

Anyways, a cheat sheet is a note you prepare for a test, a television interview, etc, that helps you get the facts right.

In school, cheat sheets are a no-no. Out of school, they can be innocuous – not to say handy.

Here are media examples of cheat sheet, be they innocuous or wrong:

1. Mitt Romney’s strong showing in the first presidential debate prompted internet rumors that he was seen with a cheat sheet — but his campaign says the item in question was actually a handkerchief.

The cheat sheet theory came from the first few seconds of the debate, after Romney greets President Obama and then moves to his lectern, where he casually pulls something white and folded from his pocket and sets it under his microphone.

“My, that takes some brass,” the website Wonkette wrote, indicating that Romney was defying debate rules and using notes during his face-off with Obama.

The Romney campaign quickly squashed the speculation.

“Yes it was a handkerchief,” spokeswoman Andrea Saul said.

- Mitt Romney’s campaign dismisses cheat sheet rumors, says candidate was seen with a hanky, NYDailyNews.com, October 5, 2012.

2. Baffled business students must attend exams without knowing the subject at a college in Central China's Anhui Province, after a controversial revision to the regulations.

To prevent students cheating, the Business Institute of Anhui University of Finance and Economics has told them to prepare for all possible subjects when they attend their exams.

After the regulation was launched, students who rely on cramming immediately expressed horror at the development, hf365.com news wesbite reported, while those who like to brush up their memory by reviewing the night before an exam were also profoundly upset.

Freshmen and sophomores found they had to bring headphones to every exam as they did not know which day would be English.

Other students were quoted by the Anhui capital city website as saying that it didn't matter about the school's new arrangement: If they studied hard all year, they would be fine.

Business institute director Liu Fucheng explained to the Hefei-based website how the school had needed to crack down on cheat sheets and other sneaky tactics.

The school always used to dispatch one teacher to invigilate, Liu said, but this year it has increased the number to two.

“The new exam regulation is only a temporary pilot program for the business institute,” Liu was quoted as saying. “Whether or not to expand it to the whole school needs to be proven.”

- Students sit examinations blind, GlobalTimes.cn, January 14, 2014.

3. Immigrants who illegally cross the U.S. border from Mexico are using a ‘cheat sheet’ to memorize answers they should give to American authorities that will help them stay in the United States if they are detained, it was claimed today.

A guide given to immigrant instructs them to request asylum and say they have family in the United States and fleeing violent drug cartels in their home country.

The Blaze, a conservative news site, obtained a copy of the Spanish-language cheat sheet that was found near the border crossing in McAllen, Texas.

Illegal immigrants who request asylum are held for an asylum hearing in front of an immigration judge.

However, the Blaze reports that detention centers are so crowded, most are released without bail after promising to attend their court date. The majority move on to their destinations inside the United States and never show up for the asylum hearing.

The cheat sheet helps explain why many of the immigrants picked up by U.S. Customs and Border seem to be ‘reading from a script,’ one official told the site.

‘It’s proof they are told what to say,’ a Homeland Security official said, calling the paper an ‘illegal alien cheat sheet.’

- The ‘cheat sheet’ found near Mexico border shows that shows illegal immigrants how to stay in the United States if detained by authorities, DailyMail.co.uk, June 26, 2014.

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About the author:

Zhang Xin is Trainer at chinadaily.com.cn. He has been with China Daily since 1988, when he graduated from Beijing Foreign Studies University. Write him at: zhangxin@chinadaily.com.cn, or raise a question for potential use in a future column.

（作者：張欣 編輯：丹妮）