Zhang Yu

JeniZhang13@163.com

A SHENZHEN Daily article chronicling the meteoric rise of 12-year-old Huang Tsingz, the youngest gold award winner of the 2024 Forbes China Youth Artists 100 Competition, has been featured in this year’s Shenzhen high school entrance exam. The three-day exam ended Saturday.

The story, titled “SZ teen wins 2024 Forbes China Youth Artists 100 gold award,” became a focal point in the English reading comprehension section, with students analyzing themes of creativity, environmental stewardship, and youth empowerment.

Published on Oct. 10, 2024, the article details Huang’s journey as a QSI International School of Shenzhen student whose oil painting “Xiaoyaoyou” (逍遙游) captivated judges with its fusion of ancient philosophy and futuristic environmentalism.

Her depiction of a girl envisioning blue whales amid extinction, divided by vibrant blue and red horizons symbolizing past and future coexistence, earned praise for its boldness and technical precision.

The exam’s inclusion of the article underscores its alignment with educational goals to nurture critical thinking and cultural awareness.

Huang’s story prompted five exam questions assessing students’ understanding of the article’s content and themes, including the competition’s purpose, Huang’s aspiration, the painting’s message, descriptive words for Huang, and the article’s source.

Shenzhen Daily articles have been appearing on the city’s high school entrance exams multiple times, which reflects a recurring curriculum strategy to integrate local narratives.

Since 2017, at least three articles from the publication have been adapted for exam content, including a 2018 feature on the Shenzhen Marathon used in the 2019 English exam and a 2017 traffic enforcement piece titled “At least 4,250 holiday drivers fined for using bus lanes.”