2009年的高考即将到来

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Chinese High School Graduates Ready to Take the Annual National College Entrance Examination

More than 10 million college applicants in China have registered to take this year's national college entrance exam, 300 thousand less than that of last year.
While some media reported greater employment pressure contributed greatly to the drop.

Jiang Gang, a senior official with the Ministry of Education, disagrees.

"I think the drop is mainly due to the decline of the number high school graduates this year."

In China, most of the candidates for higher education are students finishing three-year study in senior high schools.

Figures from the National Bureau of Statistics show the number of this category of candidates decreased from 8.49 million last year to 8.34 million this year.

Meanwhile, exam authorities across China have stepped up disease prevention efforts amid the spreading AH1N1 flu.

Dai Jia'gan is an official responsible for exam affairs at the Ministry of Education.

"During the national college entrance exam, educational authorities at various levels will set up a monitoring and report system for the AH1N1 flu. If examinees or staff show any flu-like symptoms, we will take swift measures based on the system."

Educational officials say this year's examinees will have more opportunities to enter colleges as 62 percent of them will be admitted by China's universities and colleges, five percent higher than last year.

In addition, universities in the developed coastal provinces have scaled up their enrollment program for college applicants from less developed middle and western China.

The national college entrance exam falls on June 7 to 9 each year. It is the largest examination in the world.

Senior Official: China not to Maintain Economic Growth at the Expense of Environment

A senior Chinese official says China won't maintain its economic growth at the expense of the environment, even when the country is suffering from the adverse impacts of the global financial crisis.
Zhou Shengxian, Minister of Environmental Protection, made the commitment on Wednesday at the opening of China International Environmental Protection Exhibition in Beijing.

He said with the quickening urbanization process in China, infrastructure construction in environmentally-protected areas is in great demand, and the environmental protection industry will go into a period of rapid development.

"The environmental protection industry could serve as the important technical and material support for the construction of ecological civilization and sustainable development. The industry is facing uNPRecedented opportunities in China, with brisk market demands and broad prospects."

The minister noted the Chinese government has ordered local authorities to avoid low-level duplicated construction, and resolutely oppose any projects with high energy and resource consumption, as well as heavy pollution.

He said the country will increase investments in environmental protection in an effort to tackle the financial crisis, making the industry a new source of economic growth.

"In order to develop the environmental protection industry, we must rely on the progress of science and technology, uphold the principle of independent innovation, actively develop efficient and effective technologies for environmental pollution treatment, and surmount the key technical difficulties."

The official also said China will support key enterprises, and set up some demonstration projects for the industry.

The China International Environmental Protection Exhibition is a biennial event, which was first held two decades ago.

French Investigators not Hopeful to Find Black Box of Missing Jetf

The French accident investigation agency says it is not hopeful that the black box of the missing Air France airliner would be found.

Paul-Louis Arslanian, head of France's accident investigation agency, told a news conference Wednesday that he is "not optimistic" that the flight recorder will be recovered under the water.

"We have a crash in the water, we need time to determine whether we have or not reached the recorders. Even in history, from time to time, recorders were found after the 30 days. But I'm not so optimistic. It's not only deep it's also very mountainous at that place of the ocean."

Intense investigations continue Wednesday after Air France Flight 447 crashed with 228 people on board into the Atlantic Ocean off the Brazilian coast Monday.

Arslanian said due the complexity of the situation, they even had no exact idea of where the crash occurred and where the debris are, two days after the tragedy.

He said there are no sign suggesting the plane had problems before takeoff from Rio de Janeiro on Sunday.

The investigation agency said an initial report into the crash is expected to come out by the end of June, though the investigation "will go as fast as possible."