Students leave hate comments on YouTube video after difficult ‘O’ Level listening comprehension passage
A presumably difficult GCE ‘O’ Level listening comprehension (LC) exam on Wednesday (16 Oct) led frustrated students to leave hate comments on a YouTube video.
The students had mistook the video for the passage played during the examination.
According to students, the LC mentioned that someone named “Alicia Hopwood” had hiked the Appalachian trail in the United States (US).
Source: YouTube
Students described the passage as “particularly difficult” and many lost “valuable marks” as a result.
Going by the comments, the voice behind the passage spoke too quickly and did not speak clearly.
Students left hateful comments after listening comprehension exam
Following the challenging listening test, students scoured the internet to find the video on which the passage was based.
They eventually found a YouTube video by a hiking content creator named Alicia.
Mistaking the hiking enthusiast as the person behind the difficult passage, numerous students left threatening remarks in the comments section.
Source: YouTube
Translation: Don’t let me find you.
“Don’t let me find you,” a user threatened in Mandarin.
Source: YouTube
Translation: Go and die ah.
“Go and die ah,” another netizen commented in Malay.
A few also ‘warned’ her not to trek in Singapore, claiming she would be “hunted” if she does so.
Some users did not mince their words when expressing their discontent.
Source: YouTube
Hiker behind YouTube video clears up confusion
Alicia has since clarified that she is not associated with the LC passage that students had gripes with.
Source: YouTube
“I can assure you that wasn’t my voice in the voiceover and I had nothing to do with how hard your exam was,” the hiking content creator said.
In a separate comment, she shared that she did not “take the mean comments or threats personally”.
“(I) can understand how stressful and difficult exams are. I am sorry this particular voiceover that was similar to my story was difficult.”
She also added that her last name was not ‘Hopwood’.
Many students have also posted clips on TikTok complaining about the challenging LC exam.
@elqiseee and i wrote in pencil smh 🤦♀️ #sgtiktok #school #olevels #relatable
SEAB says audio text is an “original work”
In response to MS News‘ queries, a Singapore Examinations and Assessment Board (SEAB) spokesperson there is “little to no similarity” between the video and the “audio text” used in the 2024 GCE O-level English Language Listening examination apart from the name of the trail and the first name used.
The representative added that the audio text is an “original work”.
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Featured image adapted from Alicia in the Mountains on YouTube.
