袁建华

自从1989年英国皇家保险学会与中保集团在北京签署协议在中国保险管理干部学院设立CII考试中心以来，已有13年的历史。随后， 又有北京、上海相继成立了考试中心。随着中国的保险市场进一步对外开放，越来越多的保险从业人员想学习国外的先进技术，越来越多的人想参加由英国皇家保险学会举行的会员资格考试，以获取更多的国际保险理论与保险实务以及相关的保险信息和保险技术，为提高我国保险行业的整体水平作贡献。本文拟从CII考试的命题入手，透过CII考试试题这个窗口，对这种考试试题的布局以及如何迎接这种考试作一个简要的分析，以便让更多的人了解CII考试的这种考试的形式。
    一、CII命题形式及试题分析
    CII考试的试题分为两大部分：第一大部分为简答题，第二大部分为论述题，（其中有些科目还包括计算题）。满分为200分，其中，第一部分有8个小题，每小题10分，计80分；第二部分有6大题，任选其中的4小题，每题30分，计120分，两部分加在一起共计200分。考试时间为180分钟，全部用英语作答。我们以1995年4月份《合同法与保险》(Contract Law and Insurance)的部分试题为例，对之进行简要的分析。
    我们先看简答题部分， 其中有一道题是这样的：请区分习惯法与衡平法。(Distinguish between common law and equity)  答案是：Common law is the underwriting, unwritten law and general legal customs of the country.It is in itself a complex system of law, both civil and criminal, although it is greatly modified and extended by statute law and equity. It has come down in the recorded judgment of the judges who for hundred of years have interpreted it. The judgments are adapted to the cause of doing justice between authoritative records, reports and textbooks.
    Despite the existence of such records, common law is still known  as’ unwritten law’ mainly to distinguish  it from  legislation, which  disembodied in statute or code. Common law consists of numerous more or less well-defined principles sufficiently flexible to be adapted to the cause of doing justice between the parties to a suit.
    Equity is the special system of law administered only in the Court of Chancery before 1875 but now administered by all courts.
    从这道题就可以看出，简答题并不那么简单，从字数上看，就有151多个单词。但是，有的简答题字数就比较少，这要看题目的具体情况而定。例如，有这么一道题：请指出3种必须采用书面形式的合同。(State three  contracts  whichmust be in writing)  答案是这样的：Any  three of the following  examplescould be used:
    .bills of exchange, cheques and promissory notes；
    .transfers of shares in a registered company；
    .some consumer credit transactions；
    .contracts of marine insurance；
    .contracts for the sale or other disposition of land；
    .deeds；
    .transfers of ships.
    本道题列出了7种合同形式必须采用书面形式，但考生只要列出3种就可以等满分，不用作别的附加解释和说明。但是，有的简答题不仅要列出要点，而且还要对要点进行必要的阐述或简要的说明。例如，有这么一道题：请列出违反合同的主要补救办法。(Outline the main remedies for breach of a contract)  答案是这样的：There are four main remedies.
   .Rescission
   Failure to perform a contract properly, or failure to perform at all, will generally amount to a breach. If the breach is sufficiently serious, the injured party will be entitled to rescind.
   .Damages
   If the situation can be adequately redressed by the payment of financial compensation to the injured party, this will generally be preferable to an attempted unraveling of the contract.
   .Specific performance
   If the plaintiff cannot be adequately compensated by an award of
damages, the  court  may  order  the  defendant  to  honor his contractual promise.
   .Injunction
   Where a contract contains a negative undertaking, an injunction can be sought to prevent an action that would otherwise lead to a breach of contract.
   从这道题可以看出，考生除了列出要点之外，还应对要点加以必要的阐述或补充说明。否则，要扣除50％的分。
   我们再看论述题部分。上面已经提到，这部分题是选做题，从6道题中选做4道，为什么要从6题中选做4题呢？原因可能有以下两点：一是这种考试题涉及面广，小到一个概念题、名词解释题，大到长篇大论的论述题。考生难免复习不周，所以提供这样的选择，让考生有选择的余地，以便充分地发挥他们的写作能力、分析能力和判断能力，以至于不因为一道题不会做而影响其成绩。二是因为CII考试教材内容很多，篇幅也很长，全是用大16开纸和5号字体印刷，书本很厚。如《风险与保险》(510)就有400多个页码。其次，CII考试属于一种自学考试性质，参加考试的人大都是保险公司的从业人员，他们只能利用工作之余进行自学。由于路程遥远的关系，很少有英国专家来国内组织辅导，既使有，都是非常有限。如果有的考生工作忙，就难免复习不周全。而这种选做题的好处就不言而喻了。另外，有的考生是学文科的，有的考生是学理科的，遇到论述题和计算题时，他们可以进行选择。
    下面我们来看一道分析题，题目是这样的：丹尼斯(Denise)是一位理发师，她有一位顾客名叫肯(Ken)，在一年多的时间内欠她100英镑的理发费，肯(Ken)一直想偿还这笔钱，但是，他们两人都很浪漫，彼此有那种关系。丹尼斯总是很乐意让他拖欠这笔钱。
    肯目前处于经济困难时期，对丹尼斯说，他不能支付欠款。
    丹尼对肯说，她很乐意放弃这笔钱，但是她同肯断绝关系，不再有来往。并且她发现肯带着他的前妻黛德娜(Deirdre)去豪华餐馆美食了一顿。
     问：法律是否能够授权丹尼斯追回肯拖欠她的100英镑的欠款。
     (Denise is a hairdresser and has allowed one of her customers  Ken, to run up a debt of￡100 over a year. Ken has always intended to pay for his haircuts but because they are romantically linked, Denise is happy for Ken to defer payment.
     Ken is now in financial difficulties and tells Denise he is unable  to pay her the ￡100 he owes.
    Denise tells Ken she is happy to forgo the ￡100 altogether but  she then breaks up with Ken and discovers that Ken has taken his former wife Deirdre out for an expensive dinner.
    Advise Denise whether she is legally entitled to the ￡100 Ken  owes her.)
    答案如下：
    The main points upon which candidates were expected to focus as follows:
    Whether this was a social and domestic agreement, whether there was an intention to create legal relations and the implications of this.
    Despite being romantically linked,   in the absence of specific evidence to the contrary, the contract between Denise and Ken is likely to be legally enforceable.
    For a party to be released from his contractual obligations he must provide fresh consideration (satisfaction) in return for the other party’s agreement to release him. (accord)-Pinnel's case (1602).
    As Ken has provided no consideration in return for Denise forgoing the debt, Denise can still require Ken to pay the full amount of the debt. Ken is unlikely to be able to rely on the defense of promissory estoppel. Central London Property Trust v High Trees House (1947).
    根据以上的参考答案我们可以看出: 命题者的意图是让考生用学到的法律知识以及合同的要求运用于实际中去，这里面有一些合同法中要掌握的东西，如consideration和contractual obligations 以及promissory estoppels 等。
    我们再看一题：
    (A)克里斯(Chris)以书面的形式同麦当劳(McDonalds)签署合同，麦当劳为他建造一栋房屋；
    (B)海德医生(Dr Hyde)同大卫(David)签署合同，给他动手术；
    (C)布赖安(Brian)同意借钱给年仅17岁的兰(Lan)。
    讨论运用于上述各例的法律原理来判断：如果麦当劳、海德医生和布赖安各自拒绝履行他们的合同责任，那么，克里斯、大卫和兰是否能让法庭给予具体执行的命令。
   答案是：Specific performance will not be awarded where the plaintiff can be adequately compensated by an award of damages.
    The remedy will not be awarded in the following circumstances：
    .contracts for the sale of goods;
    .contracts of personal service;
    .where it would cause undue hardship to the defendant (for instance, where the cost would be out of all proportion to the benefit to the plantiff);
    .where the court could not adequately supervise the performance: specific enforcement of contracts to build has been refused for this reason.
    .where the contract is not supported by consideration (even thought may have been made under seal);
    .where the court cannot ensure that the other party will also honor his promise, because that party's own obligations have not yet been fulfilled and could not in turn be enforced by specific performance .Thus a defendant could not be compelled to convey a house to a plaintiff who had promised to sign in a series of concerts by way of payment, since performance of personal   services cannot be specifically enforced. There must be `mutuality of remedy';
    .where there has been undue delay on the part of the plaintiff in seeking the remedy;
    .where the plaintiff, although within his strict legal rights, has acted unfairly (a qualification which applies to all equitable remedies). Applying the above principles:
    (A) Every piece of real property is in a sense unique and therefore specific performance is commonly awarded to enforce contracts for the sale of land. A court will generally not award specific performance of a building contract but if the contract is sufficiently precise in defining the work to be done, damages are inadequate and if McDonalds are in possession of the land on which the house is to be built, then specific performance may be ordered.
    (B) As Dr. Hyde's duty is one of personal services, it cannot be specifically performanced as the court is incapable of supervising it.
    (C) Lan cannot obtain specific performance because:
        contracts by minors to borrow money are void;
        Even if the contract was enforceable, damages would be an adequate remedy.
       从这一道题目来看，比较复杂。首先要列出哪些合同在哪些情况下，法庭是不能判决给予补偿的。此道题列出了８个要点，然后说明上述３个合同属于哪一类，再对每个合同加以分析，指出其合同的性质以及是否履行合同责任的原因。
二、评分标准及合格分数线
     在上面已提到了简答题部分为80分，论述题部分为120分，满分为200分。合格分数线为120分。但是英国CII判卷的时候，只根据判卷分数划定一个等级， 这与我们国内高等院校判卷与评分不太一样。 其等级有6种， Ｄ＝优秀，Ｐ＝及格，Ｘ＝不及格，但离及格只有10分之内之差，Ｙ＝不及格，离及格还差10多分，Ｚ＝不及格，离及格还差很大一部分分数，Ｕ＝没有给分，不到15分，Ｈ＝分数有待咨询，Ａ＝缺考，Ｗ＝弃考。但Ｘ等级说明只差5-10分左右， 如果考生某一科目得了一个Ｘ等级，可以查分，但要交纳20多英镑，如果幸运的话，能得到Ｐ等级，不幸运的话，还是不能得到通过，而且所交纳的查询费也不退。
     英国CII的教师在作参考答案时写道：本科目的答案只是参考答案，并非是唯一正确的答案。因为对于试题的解答有多种多样，在许多例子中，试题容许有充分理由不同的观点，只要理由充分，同样也能得到高分。他们的这一许诺可以让考生发挥充分的分析能力，给考生答题留有一定的余地。另外，要多了解外国人的思维方式，对作好题有一定的好处。一些考生向我反映，认为自己作得好的题目没有得到高分，认为作得很一般的题目却得了理想的分数。这是因为我们与他们在思维方式上存在一定的差异。这一点也应引起我们注意。
    三、中国考生如何迎接CII考试
    根据CII考试的特点，考生在学习当中，应注意如下几个问题:
    一是通读教材。也就是说对教材反复读几遍，花时间较多的就是读第一遍，因为要查大量的单词，不管是专业方面的还是常用单词都要认真地查，如果有条件的话，用电脑词典查起来就快，可以节省大量时间。
    二是主动地作课后练习题，这一点也很重要。因为课后练习题是根据每一章要掌握的重点而编写的。作好这些题对巩固所学习的内容有很多好处，对于考出好成绩打下了良好的基础。
    三是背诵一些概念题或名词解释题。不管是国内国外的资格考试，都会有一些名词解释题，对于这些题目没有别的捷径可走，只有靠背诵或记忆才能解决。如《合同法与保险》这一科来说，常用的概念要掌握，而且能够背诵。 如proximate cause, insurable interest, contribution, indemnity, subrogation等等。
    四是相互交流。考生在考试之前的15-20天的时间集中在考试中心复习， 这时考生可利用这段时间同参加同类科目考试的考生一起学习与交流，讨论在学习中遇到的问题。通过学习与交流，能达到解决问题的目的。当然，每个人都有一套自己的学习方法，不论采用何种方法，只要能够学好，能顺利通过考试，这才是真正的目的。
（CII* The Chartered Insurance Institute.）