Top News丨Exam's growth mirrors rise of education

Nineteen-year-old Yang Min has complicated feelings about the upcoming national college entrance exam, or gaokao.十九岁的杨敏（音译）对即将到来的高考怀抱着复杂的心情。She is nervous, anxious and excited, but also hopes the exam can take her from a small city in Shanxi province to her dream university, China Foreign Affairs University in Beijing, and help fulfill her ambition of becoming a diplomat.杨敏紧张、焦虑、兴奋，但她也希望通过高考从山西的小城市进入梦想中的北京外交学院，实现成为外交官的梦想。Yang, a senior high student from Shuocheng District No 1 Middle School in Shuozhou, has had a busy schedule in recent years, getting up before 6 am and going to bed after midnight to prepare for the "biggest test" of her life.高三学生杨敏来自朔州市朔城区第一中学，她这几年的作息十分忙碌，每天早上6点前起床，半夜才睡觉，准备迎接她人生中的“最大考验”。A record 12.91 million students around China are expected to take this year's gaokao, which starts on Wednesday and lasts two to four days, depending on the location. The number of participants is 980,000 higher than last year.今年全国预计有1291万学生参加高考，创下了新的纪录，高考从6月7日开始，各地将分别持续两到四天。今年的高考参加人数比去年增加了98万人。The increase in examinees reflects the improvement in the country's education system and the strength of high school education, experts said. With the overall college enrollment rate, including vocational colleges, reaching more than 80 percent and more students getting the opportunity to receive a higher education, the country will have a higher-quality talent pool to drive future development.专家表示，考生人数的增加反映了国家教育体系的完善和高中教育的实力。随着包括职业院校在内的普通高校整体升学率达到80%以上，更多的学生接受了高等教育，国家将拥有更高素质的人才储备来推动未来发展。The Ministry of Education has asked local authorities to make the utmost efforts to try and ensure the exam takes place safely and fairly. It has worked with the Ministry of Public Security and the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology to crack down on attempts at cheating. Any students caught cheating will be dealt with seriously, the ministry said.教育部已要求各地各部门尽最大努力确保高考安全、公平地进行。教育部会同公安部、工信部等部门联合开展打击作弊专项行动。对于在高考中存在作弊行为的考生将被严肃处理。Targeted and scientific COVID-19 epidemic control measures have been put in place and extra test centers and monitors have been arranged.对于新冠疫情，教育部已采用有针对性的科学防控措施，并安排了备用考场和监考员。Special arrangements have also been made to facilitate around 10,000 disabled students nationwide to take the exam.教育部还为1万余名各类残疾考生提供便利。A total of 29 provincial-level regions in China have started to reform the gaokao. Students will be allowed to choose more than a dozen combinations of subjects, instead of the two choices between liberal arts and science subjects as in the past, in accordance with their strengths and interests.全国共有29个省份区启动了高考综合改革。学生将可以从十多种学科组合中选择，而不是像过去那样在文科和理科之间根据自己的长处和兴趣进行选择。A special enrollment project launched in 2012, in which key universities increased their quota for those living in rural areas, has led to more than 950,000 students entering those universities over the past decade, the ministry said.教育部表示，2012年启动的专项计划中，重点大学增加了招收农村地区学生人数的配额，在过去十年中，因专项计划被录取学生超95万人。Zhang Wenjie, a senior high school student in Shanxi, said although he is not too nervous about the exam, he regards it as "the most important thing" in his life so far.山西的一名高中生张文杰（音译）说，虽然他对高考并不感到很紧张，但他认为这是迄今为止人生中“最重要的事情”。He wants to study the Chinese language, law or economics at Shanxi University, and said all his hard work will be worthwhile if he performs well in the exam.张文杰想在山西大学攻读中文、法学或经济学，并表示如果考得好，他所有的努力都是值得的。Sun Fang, a teacher at Xishui County No 1 High School in Hubei's Huanggang city, said the gaokao is a major event not only for students, teachers and parents, but also for the entire county. People voluntarily change their behavior, such as keeping silent near the test venues, out of consideration for students taking the exam.湖北省黄冈市浠水一中心理教师孙方说，高考不仅是学生、老师和家长的一件大事，也是全县的一件大事。考虑到参加考试的学生，人们自愿改变了自己的行为，比如在考场附近保持沉默。"Many of my students are from rural areas and are children of migrant workers whose parents work in cities to support their families," Sun said. "They have fewer opportunities to see the bigger world than their urban counterparts, so the gaokao offers them a great and relatively fair opportunity to move up the social ladder and change the destiny of themselves, their family and people around them," she said.孙方说：“我的许多学生来自农村地区，是农民工的孩子，他们的父母在城市工作来养家糊口，与城市同龄人相比，这些孩子看到更大世界的机会更少，因此高考为他们提供了一个很好的、相对公平的机会，可以在社会中向上发展，改变自己、家人和周围人的命运。”College英/ˈkɒlɪdʒ/ 美/ˈkɑːlɪdʒ/n.大学Education英/ˌedʒuˈkeɪʃ(ə)n/ 美/ˌedʒuˈkeɪʃ(ə)n/n.（尤指学校）教育