The teachers told us examiners first looked at how much we had written, then presentation.

老师告诉我们，说主考老师第一眼会先看我们写了多少字，然后才会看我们写得如何。

Moniba had the most beautiful writing and presentation of the three of us, but I always told her she did not trust herself enough.

在我们三人中，莫妮巴的字最漂亮，表达能力也最好，但她就是对自己缺乏信心。

She worked hard as she worried that if she got low marks her male relatives might use it as an excuse to stop her education.

她非常用功，但她总担心如果考试成绩不好，她的男性亲戚就会以此为借口，中断她的求学之路。

I was weakest in maths – once I got zero in a test – but I worked hard at it.

数学是我的弱点——有一次考试我甚至拿了零分——但我对这门课很用心。

My chemistry teacher Sir Obaidullah (we called all our teachers Sir or Miss) said I was a born politician because, at the start of oral exams, I would always say, ‘Sir, can I just say you are the best teacher and yours is my favourite class.’

我的化学老师欧拜杜拉先生说我是一名天生的政治家，因为每当口试时，我都会说：先生，您真的是一名最棒的老师，我最喜欢上您的课了。

Some parents complained that I was being favoured because my father owned the school,

有些家长抱怨老师们都偏袒我，因为我父亲是学校的拥有者。

But people were always surprised that despite our rivalry we were all good friends and not jealous of each other.

但令人们讶异的是，即便竞争激烈，我们几个仍是好朋友，也不会忌妒对方。

We also competed in what we call board exams. These would select the best students from private schools in the district.

我们也会在学区考试时一争高下，考试的目的是选出本学区私立学校里最优秀的学生。

And one year Malka-e-Noor and I got exactly the same marks.

有一年，玛丽克•努尔跟我拿到了一样的分数。