English exams The Ministry of Education is drafting a national English proficiency testing and rating system, an education official said at a symposium* in Hangzhou, Zhejiang Province, over the weekend. Lin Huiqing, vice minister of education, was quoted by the Qianjiang Evening News on Sunday as saying that the draft of the rating system has been completed and will be released next year, and a detailed plan about the national tests will be carried out step by step before 2020. Female pilot A female aerobatic* pilot of the Chinese air force has been confirmed dead as the result of a plane crash on Saturday. The People’s Liberation Army’s Air Force confirmed via its official Weibo account that the accident took place during routine training. Born in 1986, Yu was from Chongzhou City in Southwest China’s Sichuan Province. She joined the People’s Liberation Army’s Air Force in September 2005, and was serving as a flight squadron* leader. Missing kids A company in Qingdao, Shandong Province has launched a limited-edition bottled water design whose packaging contains information about missing children. The company hopes that such advertisements will raise public awareness of human trafficking* in China, and also help the missing children to return home. The campaign, which is being jointly launched by the water company and Baobeihuijia.com, China’s best-known online platform for finding missing children, is outfitting* water bottles with the photos and personal information of six missing children. Jack Ma lookalike A young Jack Ma lookalike has won the heart of the founder of Alibaba Group, the real Jack Ma. Fan Xiaoqin, or “mini Jack Ma,” is 8 years old and lives in Yongfeng County, East China’s Jiangxi Province. His family circumstances are unfortunate as his mother has poliomyelitis*, his father a missing leg and his grandma, Alzheimer’s* disease, reported jxnews.com.cn on Sunday. Jack Ma announced last week he would financially support Fan until he graduates from university.(SD-Agencies) |