It’s like a matter of life and death

Hoping to score: Students standing on chairs at an oath-taking rally for the annual national entrance examination at a high school in Zhumadian, Henan province. — Reuters

IN less than a month, China will tune down into a “quiet mood” for a few days as over 10 million high school students sit for the annual national college entrance examination.

The exam, known as gaokao in Chinese, is deemed a matter of life and death because it is the only way to secure places in universities.