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This Is What Taking An Exam In China Looks Like
How many teachers does it take to proctor 1200 students taking college exams in Baoji, Shaanxi?
Answer: 80 - with telescopes!
* * *
The Dean of the school explains the shocking scenes are so that students feel to the seriousness of the exam and to prevent cheating in the exam.
Li Lan said that in order to prevent cheating, before each exam they will be crossed in the playground, and then placed in a two-meter intervals and chairs; students before admission can only carry pens and paper and are not allowed to bring cell phone.
When the exam students are single private tables. In addition, in the playground or around the square, as well as high-definition camera for real-time monitoring.
Meanwhile, each row will be arranged for two teachers proctor, while outside the test area, but also set an "observation post", ie one invigilator who stood on two-meter ladder, real-time observation with a telescope, once found students Cheating signs, they shouted "reminder." using a megaphone
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Don't the rich just payoff the schools for their results in China?
Oh, the tests are thrown away after, they have nothing to do with it.
Seasonally-adjusted workforce.
That's actually a lot of extra work to bring the desk/chair all the way out there and back.
Yea, and setting up the machine gun nest has to be a bitch.
But that's part of the exam.
Remember the movie "Taps" from the early 80s? Kinda like that, I guess. Complete with Tom Cruise yelling "It's beautiful, man, it's beautiful" as he opens up on the police with the Ma Deuce from a 3rd floor window of the academy.
invigilator....
I think we need invigilators for Congress and K Street.
even a sheep has more self respect
This is why I hate the school system so much, and it doesn't even matter what nation-state it is in. Sitting at rows of desks and no talking, no collaboration, and the proctors call looking at the reference material (i.e. your notes and books) as "cheating". The students are expected to memorize and regurgitate all of the content off of the top of their heads.
That is so irrelevant to the real world it is not even funny. I always utilize reference material before coming up with an "answer" to anything. I always prefer to work in diverse groups with diverse backgrounds and I love the debate and arguing. I prefer to ask others what they think the answer is and WHY. I don't understand how that is "cheating". The education system is stuck in an archaic time of before at least the information age... maybe even stuck in an era before the advent of the Gutenberg Press. The whole classroom structure and grading system is stuck in a time that ill prepares students for what the big boy world is truly like.
As for "cheating" the most successful people in society are typically bankers and real estate moguls. Cheating is just how they do things, They always break rules or loophole them to their absolute limit. The people who follow rules end up in the rat race and never get ahead.
I don't think society's elite want this education to be updated, because they break the rules that YOU are expected to follow, hence why they are running things while the masses run... in a loop.
The education system is meant soley to condition a human being to become a part of the work force. What that really menas is that it is used to teach a young mind to not question whatever the authority figure tells them, to do mindless pointless paperwork all day and not complain, and to accept those as being the American Dream. Actually providing useful knowledge or experience is not a part of the school system because neither of those are desired in the current corrupt system.
Back in the Imperial period they had massive exams on Confucian thought. The result could make, or ruin, a person's entire life.
The more things change....
Not to be a grammar cop but you misspelled confusion.
hahaha...you think that's competitive?
Check out China's job fair: http://www.chinasmack.com/2008/pictures/150000-recent-graduates-at-shenz...
Everything the government runs gets frozen in time. The reason for summers off in North American schools dates back to when 97% of the population was employed in agriculture, and the farmers needed their children home to help with that, particularly with the harvest.
summer reading list bitches
Sitting at rows of desks and no talking, no collaboration, and the proctors call looking at the reference material (i.e. your notes and books) as "cheating".
Sort of my thought on this is if they are asking me a question, is there an opportunity to ask a question in return in order that I have properly decoded the original question.
you get props, brah, but he had an M60. You put M2 down low (like they did, in the sandbags covering the front gate) so that you get penetrating fire from it. you want it on a flat a plane as the one your attackers are advancing from, because that round CARRIES.
I wonder how many of these kids are studing;
- General Studies (https://www.universities.com/edu/Masters_degrees_in_General_Studies.html)
- Feminist Studies (http://my.sa.ucsb.edu/catalog/Current/Documents/2014_Majors/Grad/Femst/F...)
- African American Studies (https://www.universities.com/edu/Masters_degrees_in_AfricanAmerican_Blac...)
- LGBT Studies (http://degreedirectory.org/directory/category/Humanities_and_Liberal_Art...)
My guess would be zero.
We are so fucked.
Hyper fucked. Truly a real time study in human evolutionary mechanics. Once an enemy is subdued, this is the moment you ignore him.
I respectfully disagree. The school of hard knocks still exists and provides a much better "education" than contemporary liberal arts degrees.
As for thousands of students sitting at rows of desks in China with high tech surveillance preventing "cheating", I don't see that as "competition", I see that as something that is easy to defeat.
That rows-of-desks brain washing cranks out a bunch of yes-men who follow orders. Thinking outside the box is an anathema to this system. Why do you think the Doctor always defeats the Cybermen and the Daleks? Yes, the scriptwriters write the ending... but why do the scriptwriters utilize that motif?
Thank goodness when I attended college, I did have a handful of professors who refused to issue tests, and instead used labs, studies, group projects, essays, or a portfolio as their "final exam". I had a calculus course where the professor was a retired engineer with a doctorate, and ALL of the math problems were "word problems" as the kids call them nowadays. The problems were so complex and lengthy that we HAD to work in groups in order to solve them. The answers were open-ended too i.e. a correct answer being less than $8,000 or the correct answer being within 3 meters for an engineering problem. We would utilize asymptotes and logistical functions, the usual content taught in math, but it had to be applied.
He wanted the math to be as close to the real world as possible because sitting at a desk looking at a diarrhea of numbers is beyond useless and completely irrelevant. In his engineering days, he would sit at a table with people from various fields and they would argue over keeping within budget, various design issues, and they would type up lenghty reports discussing and explaining their findings. The arguing and debating was how they were able to get a project done within time constraints and under budget and structually sound. They didn't do it sitting in rows of desks and memorizing factoids off of the top of their heads, and god forbid look at their notes and reference material. omg that's cheating!
All of the algebra courses I had leading up to that, were do problems 1-30 in your overpriced textbook, with NO explaination of what the functions we were solving had to do with the real world. Then the homework was covered in red ink, we'll you screwed up a lot, but here's a C because you got some of it right. Grrr, just so irrelevant.
Well, using an example based on your college level experience and compared with these kids seems to sum up my point rather nicely. Im not sure the age group we are loking at, but im guessing 12-14 year olds. I would be willing to bet these kids will be involved in equally vigorous amounts of academics in 4-6 years time. But anyway, I see what you are trying to explain, its just an apples to oranges comparison in my opinion.
EDITED: Re read the article and missed the leading sentance, I blame that on my education. Anyway, I stand by my previous point, if they were younger. However, this is just an exam, I can only imagine they do high level academics on a daily basis and one that corresponds to their degree and field of study. I would love to sit in on a lab day in china just to see the differance.
Cheers!
Listen.
"My guess would be zero."
Absolutely. It's funny too. The Chinese teachers order textbooks from ebay for the equivalent class in the USSA.
Example: A 9th grade teacher in China gets a Math textbook for a 9th grade class in USSA and they show it to the students in their class. They are shocked, this is what they learned in 2nd grade.
The students laugh, and then study harder.
It was an M-60 but your stupid movie memory. George Scott was the commander IIRC.
Now that I think about it, it dealt with authority drunk cops. Ferguson anyone?
GOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOAL!
I'm the one in front of the netting, third from the left.
I can see Lee!
Crazy Chinese.
Fortunately here in America if a well-placed, rich 1%er wants his retard progeny to graduate from Yale or Harvard Business school that just can't happen.
USA! USA!
'Meh, no biggie, China is the epicenter of bountiful slave labor. They have plenty of plebes to move furniture.
Think of the money to be made from harvesting the organs of the failing students which helps with population control and GDP! It's all part of the plan and coming soon to a city near you.
1200:80 is a 15:1 ratio. Sounds like a "rich person" school to me.
However, telescopes and megaphones sound a bit overly dramatic. At one of the schools I went to, they simply had exam proctors with rattan canes... much cheaper, and at least as effective.
If you get rid of the defined benefit pension plans and the $500K/yr absentee principals, 1 teacher per 15 students is probably pretty affordable.
Cop and Fire pension admin is walking away with $300k a year in pension bennies. Bet he sold his soul to the devil to get that gig.
Even if we doubled property taxes and shovled moar funds into the school system, the teachers would make $32,000 a year, instead of $30,000 yet the administrators would get half a mil a year instead of their paltry $200,000 a year salaries.
The athletic ball fields would be upgraded, but they don't have any funds to provide pens and pencils. Parents have to rely on Back to School sales at Office Depot or Staples for that. It's beyond joke level. The actual tools needed for school you have to buy on your own, but the admin drive nicer cars than the parents, and they paved the track with rubberized asphalt thanks to a bond that I voted NO for.
School and college are both rackets, and I can't opt out either because if I refuse to pay the property tax, I am out of my house. So much for the people who thinks they "own" their home free and clear! Ha! That's a good one!
You need to read The Errant Sovereign's Handbook. Lots of good info about how to truly own your home and land without the state or feds harassing you.
Your numbers are correct. Most posters here have an extreme dislike for teachers, and mistakenly think that they make a lot of money. There are hundreds of thousands of teachers making less than $30,000/year, and eventually have small pensions. The school administrators, on the other hand, are simply looting the system.
Exactly...15:1...not a bad pupil/student-teacher ratio at all.
Yes, this is just for the poor people who think they have a shot in live.
But at least it's not America where they just take your money, get you drunk and give every dog with a hat a diploma
My dog is very proud of his liberal arts degree thank you very much, matter of fact he just got a position in the Belgium Parliament ;-)
I voted for him!
But can you ask him where my promised tax reduction is?
what's your dog's name? Old Yellen?
Chinese copy/paste learning at it's best.
I give any of those middle class kids better odds in a life of Crime.
But come to think of it, maybe that is what they are examing for.
Don't Cheat!
Will these kids be in charge of building the next ghost cities? Or copper-hoarding?
CNN's HARD-HITTING investigation: Republicans used Twitter to communicate!
http://tinyurl.com/ldvjknr
No, actually they will all be moving to Flushing, Queens.
Probably...but this is the 99%, and these kids study their butts off for this exam. Much like the Chinese students in the US study for the SAT.
FYI....for you US parents who do not understand your competition (never a good strategy) ...my Chinese buddy's daughter just completed her 20th full scale SAT practice exam. And....he doesn't consider that studying. that's just monitoring progress. My American buddy's wife is just worrying if their daughter is going to make the cheer squad next year.
No, they go to private schools or to Europe or North America.
Coming soon to a Common Core based school near you! Except that a US exam would test one's knowledge of how to use a condom, not how to perform math calculations.
The common Core did away with teaching about money....fuckin hilarious.
Currency, you mean. They never taught about money to begin with.
Like this?
http://eagnews.org/report-chicago-schools-teaching-safe-anal-sex-to-5th-...
To be fair towards common core, if you cant perform basic math calculations you damn well better know how to use a condom.
I wasn't good at math. What's a condom?
Hmmm. I hope it is not an Econ 101 exam. If it is just leave the exam blank and go home early.
Well, when the correct answer to half the questions is "Mao is good", what DO you need?
If china is so fucking great, why isn't AnAnon telling me what color underwear to have on today?
And, in closing, Jack Ma is from fucking Talos 4, not china. I seen the documentary, it was called The Menagerie.
In the U.S. the answer to half the questions is "Government is good" so what's the difference?
Oh yeah...China has productive capacity and jobs for their students when they graduate.
No no no... THE answer is "OBAMA IS THE HOLY ONE WE ALL OBEY!"
Any questions?
Better not be..
Four years of college to become a slave. We all know who will get the good jobs. Same as here and Europe. Those with connections will win. Those without will lose
Ya, but their university graduates make $500 a month.
Apperently you aren't paying attention to the direction we are heading. It's sickening how many people in a position of power pay homage to Mao.
If one calls students to achieve their results without cheating, then one calls business to achieve their results without cheating parallely. And in competition, it does not give on this way works.
Students in economics should come with their heads the right mind. Nothing of real value in their studies save they learn a charade to transmit to people of unknowing and the virtual system they are going to gaming the results.
A student eager of acquiring a knowledge on a state of reality will be disappointed. A student awareness possessing on what he is going to learn and ready to accept the compromise will thrive much the vigourous.
Under firmly examination one understanding receives the official stamp of Chinese citizenism.
Without the context localizing that statement in a Chinese classroom, the default option is a place fielding US citizens.
Education is not to blame. That is the substance of the institution that is the mattering bits. US citizens made a fantasy out of education to justify their US citizenism ways.
A blame game does not exclude causes. Blame game helps causes to stay concealed but it does not eliminate their existence.
+1
+1
but that is not the mattering thing
More than 5 times this number dropout each day in America.
"Every year, over 1.2 million students drop out of high school in the United States alone. That’s a student every 26 seconds – or 7,000 a day."
Moar welfare!
The dropout rate has improved by 42% over the last 13 years.
"More U.S. high school students are staying in school, according to newly released data from the Census Bureau, as the national dropout rate reached a record low last year. Just 7% of the nation’s 18-to-24 year olds had dropped out of high school, continuing a steady decline in the nation’s dropout rate since 2000, when 12% of youth were dropouts."
Not great, but a little perspective.
I dropped out at seventeen. Now I'm 24 with an 85k/yr job in IT. No nepotism or anything, just hard work.
I dropped out 20 years ago at 16. I ended up getting a GED and going to work. I don't regret it one bit.
Looks like that statue is doing a crotch-grab. Niiice
Paper and pen or pencil and no calculator or cell phone; imagine that.
And no teleprompter.
And exactly what does the US education system has to offer to compete with these students?
Drinking, how to hook up 101, foolsball, and majors in modern basket weaving.
Both the US and Chinese education systems suck, so your question is moot.
target practice.
Kids who can use their index finger to poke or swipe an icon on the screen of an iPad.
The U.S. education system helps produce a huge and guaranteed profit for the vaccine industry, does that count?
Indeed. And then these students come to American universities and kick ass. The culture is inbred so there isn't a lot of time wasted in class teaching tolerance or African/Muslim/LGBT/etc. studies. Instead, they teach reading, writing, and 'rithmetic. Oh, and English. You know, what US schools used to teach.
dupe
You can get by with fewer monitors when there is a consequence for cheating, and the regulators are not bribed. Unlike California frackers.
What no cup of Starbucks on their desks or headbuds in their ears? They actually have to focus on the test and not a Kardouchean breaking the internet? Oh the humanity!
no future bankers here
+1
Chinese organ harvesting from live political opposition might be a more interesting story than this snoozer...
http://nypost.com/2014/08/09/chinas-long-history-of-harvesting-organs-fr...
So what do they do on rainy days? Snow days? Smog Days?
Weather has been banned during testing days and special events in China.
On rainy day they take test under desk....
On snowy day they take test with mittens on...builds character...
On smoggy day the snipers use thermal imaging scopes.... :)Chinese take their studies seriously:
In areas like top-performer Shanghai, students’ math scores are the equivalent of two-and-a-half years of schooIlng ahead of students in Massachusetts, the highest performing state in the country.
Meanwhile, only 2 percent of American students reached the highest level of math performance, compared to an average of 3 percent across OECD countries, and up to 30 percent of students in Shanghai, Hong Kong, Singapore, and Chinese Taipei.
http://www.usnews.com/news/articles/2013/12/03/american-students-fall-in...
Who graduates with the most hook ups? and what kind??
(through megaphone, in german)
"ROOOOOT!!!"
Sample Chinese Test Questions:
1) Wa countree is numba one supplier of goods to WaMart?
2) Wa countree own lots of crappy bonds from numba one capitalist country between Mexico and Canada?
3) Wa countree tell yu not to stan in fwont on tank?
4) Wa countree say gol is good, dolla is bad?
5) Wa countree make numba one lead fill gol ba?
Uh, dude, more people speak English in China than speak it in the USA; some 300 million.
Most every Chinese mother wants her children to learn English so they can be educated in US. Seems every American mother should want her children to learn Chinese and be educated in China--the future seems to be there, not here.
Dead on! I have a buddy whose English grammer, spelling, and overall knowledge of the language is apalling. Yet he is in China right now, teaching 4 and 5 year olds how to speak English.
That sounds like it is age appropriate.
At times peer tutoring works wonders, doesn't it?
Doesn't look much worse than the NY Bar Exam (this is actually one of the smaller halls they use): http://i.ytimg.com/vi/ohqFI8hhVaU/maxresdefault.jpg
"Telescopes?" Okay...more like kaleidoscopes with pictures of Mao inside.
Erryting rook good to mee.
I see some of them wearing fask mask resperators. Sooo Asian
Now those are some dependable robots.
what happens if it starts pissing down with freaking rain or worse chinese smog ??
What an impressive array of sheeple trying to show they can follow orders or what their authorities (oops, teachers) told (oops, taught) them.
+1
I'm shocked you got downvotes on that. Zero Hedge really is becoming boot licking neocon tools. I miss the old days when this was a fight club.
The old days? 10 weeks and 2 days ago? Right. Hey fucky! I'd down arrow your post but you haven't yet figured out how NOT to submit one - underscoring precisely what this article speaks to. Dip shit.
indoctrination of future slaves to the system ...
This is no different from large class exams at MIT
And not much different from CFA exams in the US.
What they are learning is how to sit perfectly still in straight lines, one behind the other. They are learning order and compliance and the exam is just there to complete the charade. Don't laugh, the same thing happens in U.S. gubermit schools.
Have you been in many U.S. schools recently?
Its quit suprising they can take such a wide angle shot and none of those desks are self immolating.
what are they studying so busily that will assist their serfdom at Foxconn?
why does it matter they're cheating on their exam to test sorting screws and attaching parts to a toaster
all made in China products fail after 6 months
maybe they're taught how to guarantee the toasters etc keep failing on time?
If thats all that your brain can muster about china, then i feel sorry for you.
And your arogance will be one of the reasons your grandkids will be speaking chinese.
Good luck getting your game playing, soda chugging, fat, lazy & stupid kids to have (anywhere near) this kind of discipline.
I want to kill capatalist running dogs!
China is good!
China is our pal!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=57Z2SxEuuQ0
No, they'll be speaking Newspeak. Chinese has too many characters and its very inefficient to articulate pre-operational level ideas to the Epsilon class.
I've taught in China and in the US and I can tell you ... the Chinese students are more respectful, motivated, smart, attentive and disciplined. They actually learn the content of their lessons. And after looking at lesson plans, it would appear that high school students in China are subjected to far less propaganda and fewer lies than their counterparts in the US. But then again, they are already Communists.
The Democratic Party is no longer Democratic. The Republican Party is no longer Republican and The Chinese Communist Party is no longer Communists.
You must have taught over there many years ago. And even if they were Communist the knowledge level they're children have will far exceed most american youth in the exceptional land of the free ........... loaders.
I've been teaching in China for a few years and taught Chinese students in Canada for a few more. Chinese students are not good at lateral thinking or being put on the spot to give a presentation or even an individual answer in class. It freaks them out when I get all Socratic on them. They implode if you give them a question for which there is no right answer or if they have to give a personal opinion and then defend it with evidence and logic.
I have heard anecdotally that they excel in undergraduate university studies but level out or fall below average in graduate studies where rote learning really doesn't help you.
Having said that, they can break away from that paradigm, in fact that is my job: to prepare them to study in Canada.
One problem is that when they get to Canada, they can't handle the personal freedom. Chinese schools are boarding schools where they typically study 12 days then go home every second weekend. They wake up at 6:30 and are in class from basically 8am to 8pm, although their lunch break is more than 2 hours. With the Canadian model of school from 9am to 4pm or whatever, 5 days a week, many of them don't complete the reading or the homework until they get the swing of things after a few months or more.
China has an immense population, and has evolved to manage its people in a military style, where there is an assemblance of order and regimen. The priveledged class, of course, have all the power and the perks. Mao and communism are not very relevant today. Nepotism and cronyism rule. China is a centrally-planned government that dictates to everyone, though enforcement of government edicts is lax in many areas.
How many naggers?
My grandkids may be speaking Chinese because our corrupt political class has allowed the Chinese oligarchs and corrupt bureaucrats to buy up our homes and industries with fake Chinese Mao paper backed by the promise they will one day live in all these ghost cities.
At the expense of our industries and our labor.
The products made in China are for the most part simply garbage. Of course they can improve but I doubt that is their plan. Why build devices and tools to last forever when it's better to build cheap crap that breaks down and needs to be replaced again and again.
I've given up on America but I'm sure as hell not going to embrace the China story.
How to follow instructions.
And this is what it looks like in America...
This is facinating. In China 100% of students are 'heads down' .... In the US not so much. And what's with the water?
The Americans are trying to remember the words to IDFWY.
http://rense.com/1.imagesH/school_dees.jpg
Bueller?
Bueller?
Bueller?
I took the CFA exam at McCormick place in Chicago...looked a lot like that lol...
A couple thousand people seated 6 feet apart In main convention hall...1 million sq feet! Same policy on phones and materials...
Thats what I was going to say as soon as I saw it. It was a bit different since we were on plastic folding tables 2 to a table in Charlotte but close enough.
Those pictures just remind me that humanity is a thing of the past...
The Chinese have a long tradition of exams, going back to the 7th century at least, with special attention given to anything that could incapacitate cheating.
The conditions of the exams, in Imperial China, were way worse than anything they do nowadays. The candidates were locked up in individual cells for the whole of the duration of the exam, which could take various days.
Trust them, they know what they're doing. Nobody cheats.
China created the first "civil service exam."
Yes. Give them a break. They have no choice to change their destiny and move up the economic/social ladder. They know what kind of Cruel World they will enter and this is just one 'hope' to prevent a much worse alternative.
Eg: An engineering graduate certified under Western standards enter the job market at $1200 (average). This is dismal in Western countries. The alternative is $500 (average) for their whole career if they do not break out.
Separating the line workers from middle management in one sweeping test.
All done with minimum expense. Nothing wrong with taking your test outdoors in the fresh air: A real feeling of camaraderie!
Taking a bar exam is like that, except of course it's grown-ups taking the exam, not kids.
I took the CFA exam at McCormick place in Chicago...looked a lot like that lol...
A couple thousand people seated 6 feet apart In main convention hall...1 million sq feet! Same policy on phones and materials...
It's pretty similar to the bar exam in NY - except there'd be more Chinese taking it.
I have a friend that went to school in Hong Kong, he was a straight C student. In Canada, A across the board eh?
The West will have to continue to compete with butt lifts and breast enhancements.
First thing I noticed: No Lefties (hands that is). Seriously, try to find a single one in the crowd.
Second thought: why aren't they in uniform?
Will someone please translate this into English and then re-post? Thanks.
???????????????????
Well at least they have a chance at finding real work unlike most american graduates. It would also be interesting to know how much if any money they owed in student loans.
"Thirty-six million Chinese children study piano today, compared to only 6 million in the United States. The numbers understate the difference, for musical study in China is more demanding. It must be a conspiracy. Chinese parents are selling plasma-screen TVs to America, and saving their wages to buy their kids pianos - making American kids stupider and Chinese kids smarter."
The British copied it very successfully , but with unintended consequences .
See
http://andreswhy.blogspot.com/2012/08/the-long-revenge.html
EXACTLY what America needs, combined with elimination of degrees awarded by colleges/universities and instead by exam results, so the motivated & intelligent can avoid the absurd expense of colleges/universities fees, study on their own, take the exam, and EARN the credentials - these self-study achievers probably would beat the piss out of many of the students who attended colleges/universities, as I did.
If George Bush would have been tested like that we would never have had to put up with him as president.
+1000.. he hee good one.
Surprisingly, the second photo was a mislabeled: it's the marching band at a Chinese engineering school
There is the right answer, the wrong answer, and the government sponsored answer... .
Oh, yeah and with all those "people" China is truly fucked. I mean really, if I were living in China I think I would be suicidal.
So what if our kids don't take tests as well as the Chinese.
At least they know how to use a condom by first grade.
Many thanks to our enlightened liberal teachers and their unions!
I wonder if Chinese people can go on the internet and say, "Fuck the government, now, hard, over and over and over!"
I don't think China will amount to much until they have more liberal rights (I mean the good kind of liberal, not the fucking socialisit bullshit liberalism that is gaining ground in this country).
There is a pendulum (a yin and yang if you will). As our country becomes more opressed China is becoming more open, so maybe they will overtake us some day, militarily, intellectually, human rightsily (not a word I fucking know!), but I don't think that is about to happen any time soon.
"Although there have been some recent improvements (notably in grain production), Russian farming is still hugely inefficient. The result is that many imports--meat, milk, eggs--have few domestic substitutes. Wholesalers that import these goods need dollars to buy them, putting pressure on the rouble.
There are other reasons to sell roubles and buy dollars. Across the economy there is over $120 billion in external debt maturing in the next year according to central bank data. Roughly a third of this is owed by banks, and the remaining two-thirds by other firms. Some of these outfits--notably Russia's energy giants--have dollar revenues.
A big chunk of the remainder, including the banks, do not. Since sanctions prevent many Russian companies from borrowing abroad to refinance these dollar debts, this creates sustained demand for dollars. With chunky repayments due in December, there could be another rouble rout before the end of the year."
http://www.businessinsider.com/why-russia-may-not-be-able-to-save-the-ruble-2014-11#ixzz3JO1DFecyNon sequiturd.