An illustration for the 2017 national college entrance exam (gaokao) in Beijing was published recently, which included six literary works in the scope of the exam.

The Chinese classics "A Dream of Red Mansions," "Call to Arms," "The Border Town," "Red Crag" and "Ordinary World," and world classic "The Old Man and the Sea" were specifically highlighted in the illustration that they will be tested in the big exam.

Staff from the Beijing Education Examinations Authority said that the move was to urge students to really read classic literature and improve their reading capability and comprehension.

Some netizens support the move, saying that the internet has made people's reading fragmented, and that the move will help foster teenagers' good habits of deep reading. Others doubt that the students can find extra time to read these classics, as they already shoulder a heavy reading burden. Meanwhile, some even worry that test questions related to the classics will emerge and the students will memorize them to score high, without truly understanding the essense of the passages.

As the stipulation has been published, experts advise that the question types should be flexible and the standard answer shall not be applied, with the assessment focusing on students' overall linguistic organization skill, writing skill and expression skill.

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