Wang Jiaming from Beijing Chenjinglun High School says he is a lucky boy. He’s happy that he’s sitting the senior high school entrance exam (中考) in 2014 instead of 2016.
On Oct 22, Beijing Municipal Commission of Education (北京市教委) announced that, from 2016, the English scores in the senior high school entrance exam will be reduced from 120 to 100. Of the 100 points, the listening ability scores will increase to 50. Meanwhile, the points for Chinese will increase from 120 to 150.
“The change won’t affect me. I feel so lucky because English is my strongest subject,” said Wang.
Why such a change? It places the importance on Chinese in our study, and reduces students’ pressure, said Li Yi, spokesman of the commission.
“The change will also push us to pay attention to the practical usage of English,” said Li. “ Students will be encouraged to learn to understand English menus and read English news on mobile phones.”
There isn’t news that other cities will have the same change. But several places are making changes to English tests in the college entrance exams.
For example, Shandong is considering taking out the listening part of the English exam in its gaokao.
But, “being tested for less points doesn’t mean the subject can be taken lightly.,” Bai Ping wrote in China Daily.
English has long been the world’s most commonly used language. Former Chinese premier Zhu Rongji once said: “In a globalizing economy, if you cannot interact with foreighers, how can one be part of the world economy?”
Wang Jiaming said he understood the change. “Chinese, not English, is our mother tongue,” he said. “But still, I think English is both interesting and useful.”
【小题1】 In the Beijing senior high school entrance exam of 2016, __________.

“AN Englishman, even if he is alone, forms an orderly queue (队伍) of one,” wrote famous British author George Mikes. While this sounds funny, it’s a popular English stereotype (刻板印象). From the supermarket to the subway, queues are a common sight on the streets of Britain.
Here in China, queues are normal, too. It is a part of everyday life. People queue most of the time, from buying tickets in the cinema to waiting for seats at a restaurant.[来源:学科网ZXXK]
But in certain situations, you’ll find yourself in the middle of a rushing crowd, such as getting onto the subway. Even away from the busy subway platform (站台), queues are different. One day I was standing in line at the supermarket.
I left a small space in front of me. Within seconds, a girl walked by and took her place in that small space.
I was surprised at first, but later I found these experiences very interesting. It is with these small, everyday differences that I get to live and learn within a new culture.
Back in Britain, the average person spends six months of their life waiting in a queue, according to the auction site MadBid. To pass the time, maybe they tell themselves the famous proverb: good things come to those who wait.
【小题1】The English are well known for _____.

1.What are these ads for?

A. Food you can order for delivery.????????????? B. Places to go on vacation.

C. Things on sale in a big store.?????????????????? D. Special offers at a shopping center.

2. Which of the following is true according to the ads?

A. Spending $50 means 3 hours of free parking.

B. One person can buy 5 tickets for the price of three.

C. At Mike’s Café, people can get a free drink after spending $6.

D. After buying two CDs, you can get another two CDs for free.

3.Which of the following is NOT mentioned at this mall?

A. Clothes store.???????? B. Book store.??????? C. Music store.???? D. Toy store.

4.When does the book discount offer end?

A. November 14.????????? B. November 21.????? C. December 1.???? D. December 21.

5.We can know from this passage ________.

A. there is more than one theater in the center.

B. if you buy a book there, you may pay less than half the price.

C. you may get a free one if you buy a shirt, or a tie, or a pair of shoes.

D. you won’t get a free soft drink unless you spend more than 10 dollars on the meal.