Recently, a study in the USA showed that 75% of high
school students have cheated in tests and exams. If we
include copying homework, the number is 90%. Many
students don’t even realize that what they’re doing is
wrong. They think that cheating is OK now, because it’s
common. 
In the past, weaker students cheated, but now cheats are
often clever kids who need higher grades. There is more
competition today. One high school student says, ‘There’s
big pressure to get into a good university. You have to get
good grades, and to get good grades some people think
they have to cheat.’ 
In the American study, 50% of students agreed with the
opinion ‘People sometimes have to lie and cheat to succeed.’
It seems that cheating has become normal for some people.
But it isn’t only at school that people are cheating. We see
more and more cheats in sport and in business. Unfortunately,
adults don’t always set a good example.

Cheating is easier with new technology. There are websites
where you can download exams and essays. You can pay
people online to write an essay for you. Students are instant
messaging homework answers and they can send text
messages to friends in exams or put answers into their mp3
players. Some students take photographs of tests and then
email them to friends. So what’s the solution?

Teachers can ban cell phones and cameras, and use special
software to detect copying in homework. School principals
can suspend or expel students who cheat. But really it’s more
important for people to know that they don’t have to cheat to
be successful – cheats never win and winners never cheat.

1. have cheated

2. copying

3. what

4. common

5. pressure

6. more

7. where

8. in

9. ban

10. to know