高考你紧张么？千禧一代：无所谓

China’s gaokao exam season will move into a new era this week as students born in the 21st century take the rigid national college entrance examinations for the first time.

本周，中国的高考季将进入新时代，千禧一代学生将首次参加高考。

Their scores will determine whether they can go to university, which institutions will accept them and what careers await them.

他们的分数将决定他们是否能上大学，哪些机构会接受他们，以及他们未来的职业。

But many of the 9.75 million secondary school students who will sit for the exams, officially known as the National Higher Education Entrance Examination, for between two and three days from Thursday, reject the popular view that gaokao can make or break their futures, according to a new survey.

但一项最新调查显示，从周四开始，975万即将参加高考的中学生中，有很多人拒绝接受这样一种普遍观点，即高考可以决定他们的未来。

Half of the 20,000 gaokao candidates who took part in the survey conducted by Chinese web portal and social media company Sina Corp – including, for the first time, those born since the beginning of the year 2000 – said they believed that the exam would not be their only opportunity to take hold of their future.

中国门户网站和社交媒体公司新浪对20000名高考学子进行了调查，这些学子都是2000以后出生，且首次参加高考。其中一半的学子表示考试不会是他们抓住未来的唯一机会。

Just half believed getting a high score on gaokao would be important in deciding how the rest of their lives would go.

只有一半的人认为，在高考中取得高分对他们今后的生活有重要意义。

That result is a distinct departure from a China Youth Daily survey’s finding last year that more than 80 per cent of examination sitters, mostly born in the 1980s and some in the 1990s and 1970s, thought the exam would play a significant role in determining their future.

这一结果与去年《中国青年报》(China Youth Daily)的一项调查得出了截然不同的结论。当时调查发现，80%以上的考生(大多出生于上世纪80年代，有些在上世纪90年代和70年代)认为，考试将在决定他们的未来方面发挥重要作用。

Sina’s survey also determined that one in four students planned to explore other avenues to their ultimate goals, including seeking degrees abroad or taking part in tests for art majors.

新浪的调查还显示，四分之一的学生计划探索实现最终目标的其他途径，包括出国深造或参加艺术专业的考试。

While the sample size is too small to conclude that gaokao’s ability to inspire awe and reverence among today’s students is declining, it is not hard to find young adults who are unimpressed by the exam’s reputation as a life-changing event.

尽管调查对象数量太少，无法依据调查得出关于“学生对高考的尊崇和敬畏之心正在下降”的准确结论，但不难发现，现在的年轻人对高考改变人生之说已经不再感冒。