转载一位网友在
www.answers.com上找到的:In the UK, an unseen examination is an essay test in school or college. The student is called upon to answer a question in detail based upon what they have learned.
我还看过另一个网站说,unseen examination就是事先不告诉学生考题,然后让他们来答题,与之相对的是,seen exam是事先告诉学生考试的题目,让学生准备,但不能带任何资料到考试现场的考试。所以,unseen examination可翻译为“闭卷考试”。