This is Special English. I&`&m Ryan Price in Beijing. Here is the news.
Fishery experts are conducting a field investigation to assess damage to the ecosystem of the Yangtze River, after hybrid foreign sturgeons were washed away from a breeding facility in heavy floods.
Scientists worry that the almost 10,000 tons of hybrid foreign sturgeons may now interbreed with the endangered purebred wild Chinese sturgeons in the river. The Chinese sturgeon population has declined to a dangerously low level, with only 100 thought to remain in the Yangtze, China&`&s longest river.
Investigators from the Chinese Academy of Fishery Sciences said purebred Chinese sturgeons face a heightened threat of extinction as a result of interbreeding with the foreign and hybrid species over the coming months.
Purebred Chinese sturgeons can be dated back 140 million years ago. But they are now on the razor&`&s edge of survival. The population of adult sturgeons was estimated at around 100 at the end of last year, compared with 10,000 in the 1970s.
After a reservoir opened to release floodwater on July 19, more than 9,800 tons of foreign and hybrid sturgeons in Hubei Province were killed or escaped to the waters where wild Chinese sturgeons live.
Floodwaters washed away the net-pen facilities used to raise the non-native species, causing huge economic losses.
This is Special English.
A pilot program will be set up to promote reform of China&`&s high school entrance exam.
A guideline issued by the Ministry of Education said high schools should recruit students based on both their exam scores and a comprehensive assessment of their qualities. The pilot program will first be implemented in 2017 and then be expanded across China in 2020.
For years, China&`&s education system has been criticized for its exam-driven curriculum, which focuses on memorizing textbooks and getting good test scores.
The ministry said high school enrollment will not only depend on exam scores, but also students&`& morality, mental and physical health, artistic abilities and social skills.
The exam will focus more on students&`& analytical and problem-solving skills, to promote innovative spirits.
It will also encourage students to participate more in sports, as PE scores will be considered in enrollment.
An official from the Shandong Provincial Education Department said the reform will provide diverse roads and fairer opportunities for students to succeed.
You&`&re listening to Special English. I&`&m Ryan Price in Beijing.
A nonprofit educational project has been launched in China aiming at creating a more comprehensive and beneficial study environment for children with disabilities. The program, called Inclusive Education, was launched by the international organization Save the Children and the United Nations. It will be carried out in the next two years.
A representative of Save the Children in China said that since many disabled children go to special schools, they do not get the needed opportunities to mix with the mainstream society. The Inclusive Education project believes in the philosophy of integrated education, as well as the right of disabled children to study in ordinary school with abled children.
An official from the Chinese Society of Education said China has a large number of school-aged disabled children who are not getting the quality of compulsory education they need.
Save the Children has launched a public campaign which calls for concerted efforts to help the children with disabilities, instead of neglecting or discriminating against them.
"Let&`&s go to school together" is the slogan of the Inclusive Education project. The organization believes it also represents the need of many children with disabilities to make friends with abled children, learn useful knowledge and lead a hopeful life.
This is Special English.
（全文见周日微信。）