CCTV9英语新闻：9.4 mln sitting for China's college entrance exam

The pressure is on for millions of high school students across China, as the college entrance exams known in Chinese as the "gaokao" get underway. In this country, this crucial exam is dubbed by many as the one that will determin a person's life. 

Candidates enter World Foreign Language School for the National College Entrance Exams in Hefei, capital of east China's Anhui Province, on June 7, 2015. The two-day exams began on Sunday, with 9.42 million people sitting for the exams this year. [Photo: Xinhua]

Beginning on Sunday, over 9.4 million students -- equal to about the population of Sweden -- will sit for the gruelling two-to-three-day tests, which universities will use to screen and select candidates. The exact exam questions can vary from province to province, but this year 18 provinces are testing their students with the same question papers.

More than 280-thousand exam rooms nationwide have been equipped with monitoring equipment to prevent cheating. Some provinces are even applying high-tech methods like metal detectors, facial recognition and finger vein pattern identification. One case of cheating has already been reported in Jiangxi, where a student confessed to sitting the exam for someone else. The Ministry of Education is also monitoring certain test centers in real-time through "electronic eyes". 

However, weather may prove to be the biggest problem for some students. The ministry has warned students to take precautions on their way to the exam sites and for authorities to be prepared for extreme weather. Forecasts say there'll be heavy rain across China, with thunderstorms and gales even predicted in some places.

Candidates enter World Foreign Language School for the National College Entrance Exams in Hefei, capital of east China's Anhui Province, June 7, 2015. The two-day exams began on Sunday, with 9.42 million people sitting for the exams this year. [Photo: Xinhua]

Parents are waiting outside Beijing No.4 High School as their children are taking exams inside in Beijing, capital of China, on June 7, 2015.