Society

Students write essays on current events

By Qiu Bo (China Daily)
Updated: 2010-06-08 07:50

The cartoon on the Chinese examination paper based on which exam takers are required to write an essay.

BEIJING - A cartoon shows three cats sitting at a table laden with fish dishes pour scorn on another cat that is busy catching a mouse.

"Such times we live in! Why would you catch mice when we have fish?" said a cat.

That is all. The requirement is to write an essay, a persuasive argument, a narrative story or even a poem based on the cartoon.

This is the essay question that millions of Chinese college entrance exam takers faced during the Chinese exam on Monday morning.

Teachers and experts said such an essay question reflects some of the realities of China's transitional period.

"Just to write about lazy cats can in no way get high scores," Yu Dan, a professor with Beijing Normal University, told China National Radio. "This reflects an unreasonable social phenomenon."

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"Catching mice is the duty of cats. But with fish, they forget what they should do," said Zhang Dingyong, a Chinese teacher with the Henan Experimental School.

"It's not difficult to understand that the fish here represents reaping without sowing, or various kinds of desires," he said.

Apart from the national paper, some provinces and municipalities are authorized to create their own exam papers.

In Shanghai, a brand new concept relating to environmental protection was included in the exam.

Some selected information was quoted to inspire examinees.

One story says: "The Danes always take a ruler with them when they go fishing. Once the captive fish is on the hook, fingerlings with deficient sizes, measured by the ruler, are all released alive. They believed: 'Isn't it better to let them grow up?' "

The other one refers to famous Chinese ancient philosopher Mencius, who said 2,000 years ago: "If mesh grids are not allowed in the pools and ponds, the fishes and turtles will grow in number to more than can be consumed."

Examinees in Shanghai were asked to write an article based on the two stories provided.

"Environmental protection is a hotspot that people really care about," Yu Shuquan, a Chinese teacher with the middle school affiliated with the Renmin University of China, told China National Radio.

Yu Dan from Beijing Normal University, said the popular themes emphasize the public's response to the society's transition.

"If the examinees' thoughts are restricted to the surface, the ideological content will not reach a certain high level," she said.