BEIJING, June 1 -- A team of monitors will be searching for key words related to the national college entrance exam around the clock starting today to ensure questions aren't leaked online ahead of the test on June 7 to 9, officials with the Shanghai Educational Examination Authority said.

    Officials said they believe they will be able to spot any question leaked online within one hour, and have the information pulled off the Web within two hours, but won't go into details about the technology they are using.

    To prevent any questions from leaking ahead of time, all of the teachers who helped draft the exam paper are being held away from their family and friends until students are finished writing the test.

    Local students will also see their photos pasted on designated desks at exam sites to prevent any "ghost test takers" this year.

    Previously, photos only appeared on an exam pass that is kept by students themselves while the desk only had the students' name and number. That left a loophole for attempted cheaters to change photos and hire someone to take the exam for them. Local student still have to sign a letter noting that any cheating behavior will be recorded on their personal credit record, the authority said.

    "We will try our best to cut off any possible channel for exam cheating and block the leak of information," said Shen Benliang, deputy director of the exam authority.

    Advertisements claiming to have access to exam questions have popped up on the Internet, in spam e-mail and cell phone short messages since last month. The ads ask for more than 10,000 yuan (US$1,235) in return for both the exam questions and answers.

    (Source: Shanghai Daily)