Make gaokao questions more meaningful

This year's national college entrance examination, or gaokao, has ended but discussions on it continue. Among the questions for gaokao, the one that got the most attention was perhaps the writing test, which required students to write a 800-word essay in Chinese in 60 minutes. The essay carried 60 points out of a total of 750 - the highest among single questions.

It won't be an exaggeration to say that the essay was the most decisive question in the exam and examinees' total scores were largely determined by it. It plays a key role in deciding whether they can go to a college and which one they will go to.

The subjects for the essay varied from province to province. Yet this year the essay's subjects in some provinces had some problems - some could lead to inequality or cause other "side effects" among candidates. For example, the essay's subject in East China's Zhejiang province this year was: "Are you for or against virtual reality (VR) technology? Why?"