Should English Be Abolished in the College Entrance Exam in China?

The national college entrance exam, known as “Gaokao”, has been used to evaluate Chinese students for three decades, but recently the news that English will be removed from it has aroused a heated discussion. Personally speaking, I am favor of this decision. My reasons are as follows.

Firstly, the abolishment can definitely reduce students‟ burden on studies. Such a change will also allow them to spend more time and energy on specialized courses. Secondly, due to the large share of English scores in the college entrance exam, Chinese students have paid great attention to learning Englishgrammar, vocabulary and essay-writing. Moreover, the exam-oriented English education in secondary schools does little to improve student‟s practical skills of speaking and listening, therefore it is likely that the poor condition can be improved through this reform. Last but not least, while English functions as just one means of communication in our daily life, it seems that most people do not need to be proficient in English, thus we can choose the learning method that better suits our needs. In other words, it offers the chance for more personalized education, while every college and university, even every major, can have different requirements of a student‟s English skills under a diverse evaluation system.

All in all, the removing of English test from the compulsory college entrance exam can do benefit for us. But the reform doesn‟t mean English is no longer important for Chinese students. In a way, English is even more important than before since the test would only serve as reference, the practical effect depends on the students themselves.

【范文点评】

文章以“高考是否应该取消英语考试”为题目， 探讨了这一热议话题。 开篇点明作者的态度， 即高考应该取消英语考试。 第二段阐明应当取消英语考试的原因。末段重申观点， 同时还说明高考取消英语考试不是代表英语不再重要， 而是英语的学习与运用应该依靠学生自身去提高。