There he learned about China’s gaokao exam, a two-day government-administered standardized test that he calls, “an SAT on steroids.”. According to Levy, the gaokao causes a lot more harm to students than American standardized tests do. Here are some of the rather astonishing observations he makes about the test: Motivated students with money spend 8-10 hours a day preparing for the test – for four years. 2  High school curricula in China are devoted entirely to preparing students to do well on the test. 3  It has completely dominated all other learning activities.