Episode Details

China's national college entrance exam, known as the gaokao, will take place from Saturday to Tuesday and feature several new developments, including the rollout of exam reforms in eight additional provinces, expanded university enrollment and the launch of new academic majors.

中国的全国大学入学考试，即高考，将于周六至下周二举行，并将呈现多项新举措，包括在另外八个省份推行考试改革、扩大高校招生规模以及开设新专业。

This year, eight more provincial-level regions will implement the gaokao reform: Sichuan, Henan, Shanxi, Yunnan, Shaanxi, Qinghai and the Ningxia Hui and Inner Mongolia autonomous regions. So far, 29 provinces have adopted the new gaokao mechanism.

今年，又有八个省级地区将启动高考改革，其中包括：四川、河南、山西、云南、陕西、青海以及宁夏回族自治区和内蒙古自治区。截至目前，已有29个省份采用了新的高考机制。

Under the reform, candidates must take three nationally standardized subjects — Chinese, mathematics and a foreign language — along with one primary elective subject, either physics or history, and two additional electives selected from chemistry, geography, political science and biology.

根据新的改革方案，考生必须参加三门全国统一高考科目——语文、数学和一门外语——外加一门首选科目（物理或历史），以及从化学、地理、政治和生物中选出的两门再选科目。

Xiong Bingqi, director of the 21st Century Education Research Institute, said the reform, launched in 2014, has provided students with greater flexibility in subject selection and aims to place more emphasis on students' individuality and personal interests while establishing a more comprehensive and multi-dimensional evaluation system.

21世纪教育研究院院长熊丙奇表示，这项于2014年启动的改革为学生提供了更大的学科选择灵活性，旨在更注重学生的个体特质和个人兴趣，同时致力于建立一个更为综合性、多维度的评价体系。

"However, the issue of solely relying on test scores persists. It is necessary to strengthen the reform of comprehensive quality evaluation," Xiong said.

“然而，唯分数论问题依然存在。目前还是有必要加强综合素质评价的改革。”熊丙奇表示。

Many universities have expanded enrollment plans this year, including Tsinghua University, Peking University and Shanghai Jiao Tong University. The additional spots, ranging from dozens to several hundred, are primarily concentrated in fundamental disciplines such as mathematics, physics and chemistry, as well as in strategic and cutting-edge fields.

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