Chinese is your first language, your “mother tongue”. For most of you, English is your second language, but in the college entrance exam, English is     21     just as important as Chinese—each language is worth 150 points. Some educators think this is unrealistic and unfair.

Starting in 2016, Beijing and other cities want to reduce the English point score to 100 and increase the Chinese point score to 180. They also want to help students take the English test more than once so that students have a better     22     to get higher scores. There is also a suggestion to put off the teaching of English until the third grade of primary school instead of beginning in the first grade as it is now.

The     23     behind these changes is simple. Although Chinese students spend a great deal of time learning English throughout their school life, few students become fluent in the language and most students do not use English in their daily life once they finish school. Thus is learning English just a big waste of time?

English is a gateway language. It is not just spoken in English countries. It is spoken all over the world and it is the most common language used in business and academia. Being able to speak English makes it possible for Chinese to communicate with everyone, everywhere.

The changes made in Beijing will be good if they also mean that there will be changes in the way English is taught. There should be less emphasis on taking tests and more emphasis on fluency. In this way, English will become more     24     and useful to students.