高考改革仍在继续中

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An official from China's Ministry of Education recently said that future college entrance examinations would include both academic performance testing and a comprehensive evaluation. The reform aims to change the situation in which one's acceptance into college is decided solely by an academic test.
An opinion piece on the website of Xinhua News Agency says that theoretically, the changes fit the requirement of quality education. However, reform of the test system alone may not be enough to achieve fairness for all students.

The article says the educational gap between rural and urban areas is large in China. Many urban students enjoy better learning resources than their rural counterparts. Therefore if college entrance criteria include a comprehensive evaluation such as social work and range of knowledge, rural students could have a disadvantage.

The writer thereby calls on the government to eliminate educational inequality between the city and the country first before reforming the exam system.

Shanghai Expo Expected to Attract 70 Million Visitors

A top organizing official, says the 2010 Shanghai World Expo, is expected to draw 70 million domestic and foreign visitors.

It's expected to be a record high, for an international event in China.

Yu Zhengsheng, the vice chairman of the expo's organizing committee, says related departments are making every effort, to not only attract more foreign visitors, but to also get them, to stay in China longer.

"We will work out some supportive measures to attract more foreigners to visit the Shanghai Expo and travel to more cities in other parts of China."

Yu adds that the Expo's theme, of "Better City, Better Life", goes along with the country's, massive urbanization process.

The city has invested heavily, to upgrade its transportation and urban construction, ahead of the global event.

So far, a total of 18,000 Shanghai households, that were located in the expo area, have been relocated, doubling their average household living area, to 75 square meters.

12 metro lines covering 400 kilometers, will be completed by the end of next year.

China Imposes Severe Penalties to Improve Credibility of Government Statistics

China has released a set of penalties, for those who manipulate government data.

The move, aims to revise the current law, and make government data more credible.

Ma Jiantang is the head, of the National Bureau of Statistics.

"The degree of punishment depends on different situations and consequences of the violations. The punishments include a warning, recording a demerit, or even removing officials from their positions."

The new regulation takes May 1st. It will punish officials, who manipulate or fabricate data, as well as units and individuals, who lie about, or conceal data.

The government will also establish a public complaint hotline.

China's top legislature, discovered serious flaws, during inspections, in recent years.

Qilu Evening News: Don't Let Cars Dominate Roads

An investigation conducted by Beijing-based China Youth Daily indicates that nowadays fewer people are choosing to ride their bikes in China. The main reason is that cars often drive in bike lanes, posing a significant danger to cyclists.
An article in Shandong-based Qilu Evening News says China is signaling the end of its status as the world's "bicycle kingdom" as an emerging middle class increasingly forgoes the bike in favour of the car.

The article says cars seem to be taking over every inch of roadspace, and this is certainly not good for anyone. It says in some downtown areas in Beijing, the average speed of motor vehicles is only 10 kilometers per hour, slower than that of bicycles. And of course there is the pollution caused by vehicle emissions.

The writer says the automobile culture is becoming increasingly popular in China while people are seldom exposed to the bicycle culture. Also, many Chinese consider private car ownership as a sign of social status.

The article concludes by suggesting the government make efforts to encourage bicycle use and provide cyclists with a safer environment on the road.