Zhang Qian

    zhqcindy@163.com

    YAO WENTAO yesterday said he did not believe that he had got the highest score for the citywide High School Entrance Exams, also known as zhongkao, when he heard the news.

    The graduating student from Shenzhen Middle School Junior Department has shown his outstanding academic performance for this year’s zhongkao by scoring 456 out of 460, claiming the first place among over 67,800 students across the city.

    “The Internet at my home was not so good and I could not check my results until the head teacher of our class told me my score this morning,” said Yao at his school yesterday.

    Zhongkao is regarded as one of the most important exams faced by junior high school students in China. Unlike gaokao (the National College Entrance Examinations) that has standardized exam papers across the country or each province, zhongkao is designed by each city’s exam office.

    Tens of thousands of Grade 9 students sit for zhongkao each year to get admission into high schools based on their academic ranking. Students with higher marks will be accepted into better senior high schools.

    Yao said that he was rather calm when sitting for the exams because he had already been accepted by Shenzhen High School, one of the best high schools in Shenzhen, even before the zhongkao. He had passed the independent enrollment exam held by the high school in May, one month before the citywide exam.

    When being asked about his study methods, Yao said that each student has his or her own ways of learning. The 15-year-old said his persistence and determination in figuring out each problem contributed to his success in the zhongkao.

    “Whenever I encounter a question I don’t understand, I will spend a lot of time after class to figure it out until I can fully grasp the theory behind the answer,” said Yao.

    “My parents offered me a quite relaxing and encouraging environment at home, which in some way made me interested in studying and solving problems independently,” said the student.

    Yao only lost one point for English and math, respectively, and two points for Chinese. He had full marks for science, history and PE.

    Huang Wei, the head teacher of Yao’s class, said it did not surprise him when he found out Yao got the highest score in Shenzhen. In Huang’s eyes, Yao had been a top student among his peers at the school.

    “Students with excellent academic performances tend to have a more solid knowledge background, relaxed mentality and good time-management skills,” said Huang, who has been teaching chemistry at the school for seven years.

    The teacher suggested that having good studying habits is also another key characteristic possessed by top students. “Forming good study habits should be cultivated since students’ childhood during their primary school stages,” said Huang.

    Besides studying the set curriculum courses, Yao was also actively involved in more than 10 clubs at the school. Most of the clubs Yao devoted himself in involved science and technology.

    “I’m really interested in doing experiments and being a maker, so sometimes I join my classmates in inventing things,” said Yao.

    The student also said that joining extracurricular activities opened up his world from the textbooks. He said he became more extroverted by trying out different activities.