What Is the Gaokao

In China, applying to college is about one thing and one thing only: the gaokao. Gaokao (é «ËœÃ¨â‚¬Æ') is short for æ™ ®Ã©â‚¬Å¡Ã© «ËœÃ§ ­â€°Ã¥ ­ ¦Ã¦   ¡Ã¦â€¹â€ºÃ§â€Å¸Ã¥â€¦ ¨Ã¥â€º ½Ã§ »Å¸Ã¤ ¸â‚¬Ã¨â‚¬Æ'è ¯â€¢ (â€Å"The National Higher Education Entrance Examination†). A student’s score on this all-important standardized test is pretty much the only thing that matters when it comes to determining whether or not they can go to college—and if they can, which schools they can attend. When Do You Take The Gaokao? The gaokao is held once annually at the end of the school year. Third-year high school students (high school in China lasts three years) generally take the test, although anyone may register for it if they desire to. The test generally lasts for two or three days. What's On The Test? The subjects tested vary by region, but in many regions,  they will include  Chinese language and literature, mathematics, a foreign language (often English), and one or more subjects of the student’s choice. The latter subject depends on the students preferred major in college, for example, Social Studies, Politics, Physics, History, Biology, or Chemistry. The gaokao is especially famous for its sometimes inscrutable essay prompts. No matter how vague or confusing they are, students must respond well if they hope to achieve a good score.   Preparation As you might imagine, preparing for and taking the gaokao is a grueling ordeal. Students are under huge amounts of pressure from their parents and teachers to do well. The final year of high school, especially, is often focused intensely on preparation for the exam. It isn’t unheard of for parents to go so far as quitting their own jobs to help their children study during this year. This pressure has even been linked to some cases of depression and suicide amongst Chinese teens, especially those who perform poorly on the exam. Because the gaokao is so important, Chinese society goes to great lengths to make life easy for test-takers on testing days. Areas around testing sites are often marked as quiet zones. Nearby construction and even traffic  are  sometimes halted while students are taking the test to prevent distractions. Police officers, taxi drivers, and other car owners will often ferry students they see walking the streets to their exam locations for free, to ensure that they are not late for this all-important occasion. Aftermath After the exam is over, local essay questions are often published in the newspaper, and occasionally become hotly-debated topics. At some point (it varies by region), students are asked to list the colleges and universities they prefer in several tiers. Ultimately, whether they are accepted or rejected will be determined based on their gaokao score. Because of this, students who fail the test and thus cannot attend college will sometimes spend another year studying and  retake  the test the following year. Cheating Because the gaokao is so vitally important, there are always students willing to attempt cheating. With modern technology, cheating has become a veritable arms race between students, the authorities, and enterprising merchants who offer everything from false erasers and rulers to tiny headsets and cameras connected to off-site helpers using the internet to scan questions and feed you answers. Authorities now often outfit test sites with a variety of signal-blocking electronic devices, but cheating devices of various sorts are still readily available to those foolish or unprepared enough to attempt using them. Regional Bias The gaokao system has also been accused of regional bias. Schools often set quotas for the number of students they will take from each province, and students from their home province have more available spaces than students from remote provinces. Since the best schools, both high schools and colleges, are mostly in cities like Beijing and Shanghai, this effectively means that students lucky enough to live in those areas are better prepared to take the gaokao and are able to enter China’s top universities with a lower score than would be needed by students from other provinces. For example, a student from Beijing might be able to get into Tsinghua University (which is located in Beijing and is former president Hu Jintao’s alma mater) with a lower gaokao score than would be necessary for a student from Inner Mongolia. Another factor is that because each province administers its own version of the gaokao, the test is sometimes demonstrably harder in some areas than others.

The Building Blocks Of Society Essay - 1708 Words

One of the first questions that is asked, from sociological perspective is â€Å"What are we looking at in society. What are the building blocks?† Values are described as a shared or collective goal that you don’t usually see unless you ask. Values are used as motivators, purpose and rewards and sometimes the reason we get out of bed in the morning. The building blocks of society are the challenges, values, norms, groups and roles. When there is an awareness of these building blocks a societal group is formed. Our status rank is the position we find ourselves within the group (for example the student vs. the professor). Norms and values are organized through structure (the social order or organization) of the group. When approaching values from a cultural perspective, culture is defined as a cumulative deposit of knowledge, experience, beliefs, values, attitudes, meanings, roles and religion that is acquired by a group of people in the course of generations thro ugh individual and group striving. Culture is the totality of a person’s learned and accumulated experience which is socially transmitted, or in other words, behavior that is acquired through social learning. A culture is a way of life for a group of people, passed along by communication from one generation to the next. Finally culture can be defined as the collective programming that distinguishes the members of one group or category of people from another. Taken one step further, multiculturalism is the viewShow MoreRelatedEducation Is The Building Block Of Society1830 Words   |  8 PagesEducation is the building block of society. Without it, the world would go downhill. So individuals should want to receive the best education possible, right? But what is considered the â€Å"best† form of education? How can an individual determine what form is most effective when there are so many different ways of receiving an education? Every individual learns best under sl ightly different circumstances. It is possible for one type of schooling to be incredibly effective for one individual and be incrediblyRead MoreEnergy Is The Building Block Of Any Society Essay1896 Words   |  8 PagesPragnesh Bhakta 1302-016 Introduction Energy is the building block of any society. Many resources and activities that stimulate a better living to human beings are highly dependent on energy in one way or another. In fact, the modern advancements into different sectors as seen in the contemporary world would be obsolete if it different types of energy were vague. There are numerous sources where energy is harvested, all falling under two major categories, renewable energy and non-renewable energyRead MoreTraditional Family Roles Were The Building Block With Which Franco Structured His Society?994 Words   |  4 PagesTraditional family roles were the building block with which Franco structured his society. Agrarian, traditional families meant men were the providers and the family leader, and women were the necessary instruments by which men could achieve their goals of heading a family and succeeding economically to secure the societal image of success. Women, within this structure, were intentionally made to be complet ely dependent on their husbands or fathers until they were married. As the necessity of marriageRead MoreDante’s Vision of Divine Justice Justice is one of the major building block that society is built900 Words   |  4 PagesDante’s Vision of Divine Justice Justice is one of the major building block that society is built upon. It gives people a sense of retribution when they have been wronged. In Dante’s Inferno, justice is served in the supernatural realm. Throughout this play, the reader is exposed to the inner working of hell and the nine circles of specialized punishment it is composed of. Justice, in Dante’s Inferno, differs from justice in the mortal world in that it is decided, not by humans, but by God. HoweverRead MoreRisk Building Blocks and Gender Differences: An Analysis650 Words   |  3 PagesRisks Building Blocks The four risk building blocks are discovery, measurement, classification, and prioritization (Miller, 2006). Discovery identifies all the components necessary to ensure risk management programs are effective, including technology infracture, users of it, information assets, and processes. Measurement is assessing capabilities and requirements (compliance, service agreements, and information availability), vulnerabilities (including weaknesses in applications, networks, operationsRead MoreEvaluation Of A Block Of Land On Flagstaff Crescent1726 Words   |  7 Pagesaltercation between Norvik Industry s ( a building company), Water Corporation and Adrian and Linda Webb who are owners of a block of land on Flagstaff Crescent in Secret Harbour Contract Law Contract Law is a key aspect between the Water Corporations company, Norvik Industry and Adriana and Linda Webb. First of all, Nordic Industries entered a contract between themselves and Water Corporations, when applying to have the water connected on the block as stated in the article â€Å" Norvik industriesRead MoreCompare and Contrast between Angkor Wat and the Pyramid of Giza1646 Words   |  7 PagesWat â€Å"It is not the beauty of a building you should look at; it’s the construction of the foundation that will stand the test of time.† By David Allan Coe The quotation above means that the beauty of a building is not as important as the construction of the prototypes of its structure. Basically, the development of its foundations and techniques are more important than those of its attractiveness. Meanwhile, Angkor Wat and Pyramids of Giza are two ancient buildings that are able to continue its legaciesRead MoreUsing A Tool Of Stem Innovation1613 Words   |  7 PagesWhile working outside with my father building a tuff shed in the backyard, we needed to use a tool of STEM innovation. Can you guess what that innovation could be? It was the wheel barrow, now I know what you are saying, â€Å"The wheelbarrow isn’t a lever!† Actually the wheel barrow is an innovation of the lever because it has the components of a fulcrum, load, and effort force which is exerted. The wheelbarrow falls under first-class lever because the fulcrum placed between the load and effort to giveRead MoreMethodology Paper823 Words   |  4 Pagescos t of capital (WACC) and Revenue collection efficiencies and subsidies. The NERC (2012) used the building blocks approach as a regulatory method to set Distribution Use of System Charges (DUOS) in the MYTO, as set out in the 2007 Methodology Paper. The building blocks approach is simply a way of bringing together all the industry’s costs in a consistent accounting framework. Using the building block approach, the NESI’s overall revenue requirements were established and used as the basis for calculationRead MoreFiction : Fiction And Fiction Essay1400 Words   |  6 Pagesmany building blocks of fiction to create some entertaining and fascinating stories. Some building blocks of fiction are symbol: a person, object, or color that has a meaning beyond itself. Foreshadowing: a hint of what is to come later in the story. Motif: a recurring element in a story. Irony: when the reader believes that one thing will happen but the opposite happens. Theme: the story’s big idea. Epiphany: an â€Å"ah-ha† moment; a religious or non-religious insight. These six building blocks are shown

Contrast the UK Healthcare System with US Healthcare System

Question: Evaluate the comparision and contrast the UK healthcare system with US Healthcare system? Answer: Introduction The main purpose of this paper is to compare as well as contrast the United States Healthcare system with the healthcare system of United States of America. While comparing the healthcare system of two countries, the first thing, which is determined, is Good system for healthcare. As per the World Health Organizations, health system needs to be fair and good that could cover overall health, such as high life expectancy disability as well as low infant rate of mortality (Anderson and Poullier 2004). It also focuses on better distribution of good health such as low infant rate of mortality and long expectancy of life; high overall level of responsiveness, better distribution of the responsiveness among the group of population, and better distribution of healthcare finance, in which health cost should be evenly distributed that is based over the pay ability so that each person could be protected from the illness of financial risk (Blendon, Kim and Benson 2001). The key fact that will be discussed in this paper will be the healthcare cost in the US and UK, along with health, healthcare facilities, responsiveness, financial fairness, performance and healthcare system satisfaction. Compare and contrast the UK healthcare system with US Healthcare system The World Health Organization, and the United nations agency has issued a report in the year 2000, which has ranked the 191 countries healthcare system, which was first of its kind that included huge international scope. According to the ranking, United Kingdom was given 9th ranked and America was given 17th rank in their entire performance of healthcare system (Kuzel and Devers 2006). These Outcomes was behind France that attained first rank, then Italy, Spain, Austria, and sixth position was given to Portugal. This study has also depicted that around 57% of the total population of the UK was very satisfied with the countries healthcare system (Kuzel and Devers 2006). That percentage was at lowest in comparison to United States in which only 40% of the population was very satisfied (Kuzel and Devers 2006). According to the Organization of Economic Co-operation and the Development, whose headquarters are located in france and Paris has studied about the comparative data of 30 countries such as, Poland, Australia, Belgium, Austria, Greece, Germany, Canada, Finland, Denmark, Czech Republic, France, Japan, Ireland, UK, USA, etc (Matthews 2009). As per the report of OECD comparative 2006, the complete health expenditure done in the year 2004 in UK was around 8.3% of the total Gross Domestic product (GDP) and the data explored in USA was around 15.3% of the total GDP, where else the mean of total 30 countries was around 8.9% (Matthews 2009). According to this same study reported about health expenditure made in the UK was US$ 2546 per capita and US $6102 in the USA, where else the mean of 30 countries came around US$2550 (Matthews 2009). It was noted from the results that the public spending on the healthcare is importantly among US and the UK. From the 2004 results of total health expenditure, Public spending done in UK was around 85.5% and in USA it was around 44.7% (Matthews 2009). The UK has adopted the approach of National Health Service, which implies that the healthcare facilities are mainly owned by the State, but still private ownership exist in the country (Blendon, Kim and Benson 2001). In UK the physicians work just like the solo entrepreneurs for conducting the individual practice, and they are mainly paid by the government funding that comes after deducting the taxes (Susan2002). The NHS is the highest employer in the UK, and gives employment to around 1.3 million people, and holds the budget of around $90 billion every year (Blendon, Kim and Benson 2001). This implies that although the country is developed and its GDP is also higher, the society is able to attain both primary as well as secondary healthcare services. However, there are other approaches related to the healthcare in other countries (Blendon, Leitman, Morrison and Donelan 1990). United States of America has adopted the pluralistic approach; in which most of the healthcare is in hand of private sector and it act as the capital institution. There is also certain state intervention that offers affordable healthcare services, which is mainly evident in Obamacare that was introduced in the year 2010 in order to award the more funding to government for improving healthcare system of the country (Blendon, Kim and Benson 2001). The OECD reports also includes about the life expectancy, health professionals remuneration, functions of health expenditure, and consumption of tobacco. In the year 2004, around 25% of the UK population and 17% in USA are reported to have regular tobacco consumption (Rexford and Neun2000). In the year 2003, if expectancy at the time of birth was 78.5 years in the UK and around 77.5 was in the USA. There are various factors that play integral role in these outcomes. Although US has lower tobacco consumption rate and they also spend higher on healthcare from their GDP, but UK has high birth life expectancy (Blendon, Kim and Benson 2001). These results clearly indicates that it is important for the public of America and UK and the managers in healthcare sector to understand about the spending in healthcare and delivery to this progress is quite productive and USA has more effective healthcare system (Earl, Klees and Curtis 2000). Conclusion United States is basically founded on the rights and freedom guarantee. Its noted that formal education is referred and is accepted in USA. UK not only explores the similar freedom and rights as USA, but they also cover up the rights to receive the actual access to healthcare services. Its true that UK has high involvement among the private and NHS health care, but USA has the healthcare reforms, which includes the implementation of the universal system of healthcare. Therefore, healthcare system is considered at the next side of spectrum and it explores new ways of approaching the systems and explores benefits in function delivery. Bibliography Anderson, G. and Poullier, J. 2004. Health spending, access: trends in industrialized countries. Health National England Journal of Medicine, 350 (9), pp. 937-942. Blendon, R., Kim, M. and Benson, J. 2001. The public versus the Organization of Economic and Co-operative Development- World Health Organization on health system performence: OECD health datatobacco consumption. Health Aff, 20 (3), pp. 10-20 Blendon, R.J., Leitman, R., Morrison, I. and Donelan, K. 1990. Satisfaction with Health Systems in Ten Nations.Health Affairs, 2, pp. 1-188 Earl, H.D., Klees, B.S. and Curtis, C.A. 2000. Overview of the Medicare and Medicaid Programs.Health Care Financing Review 22(1), pp. 175193. Kuzel, A. and Devers, K. 2006. The UK National Health Service context. Journal of Health Polit Policy Law, 31(3), pp. 1-45. Matthews, J. C. 2009. UK v USA the basic healthcare facts. [Online]. Available at: https://liberalconspiracy.org/2009/08/14/uk-v-usa-the-basic-healthcare-facts/ [Accessed on: 24th March 2015]. Rexford, S.E. and Neun, S.P.2000. Health Economics: Theories, Insights and Industry Studies.Orlando, FL: Dryden Harcourt Brace College Publishers. Susan, G.2002. Markets and Medicine: The Politics of Health Care Reform in Britain, Germany, and the United States.Ann Arbor: The Univ. of Michigan Press.