英语新闻丨Exam takers offered tasty good wishes

With students about to sit in test rooms for the all-important national college entrance examination, or gaokao, on Friday, parents and teachers have been racking their brains to give them emotional support.随着学生们将在6月7日坐在考场上参加极其重要的全国高考，家长和老师们正绞尽脑汁给他们情感上的支持。Zongzi, a festive food for Monday's Dragon Boat Festival, has emerged as a star on the list of good-wish items.粽子，6月10日端午节的节日食品，已经成为祝福物品清单上的明星。This year's gaokao starts on Friday and will take two to four days depending on the location. The scores will largely determine candidates' destinies in higher education — whether they can go to college, and what level of college they will be eligible for.今年的高考从6月7日开始，不同地区需要两到四天时间不等。分数将在很大程度上决定考生在高等教育中的命运——他们是否能上大学，以及他们能够上什么样的大学。As the flipping of pages of study materials comes to an end, teachers and parents have shifted their attention to easing candidates' nerves and wishing them good luck. Many have chosen to do so by using something that can be interpreted as having auspicious meanings.随着高考复习接近尾声，老师和家长们已经将注意力转移到缓解考生的紧张情绪上，并祝他们好运。许多人选择使用一些可以被解释为具有吉祥含义的东西来期盼好运的到来。Primarily made with glutinous rice and often wrapped in bamboo leaves, triangular zongzi are a festive food for the Dragon Boat Festival.三角形粽子主要由糯米制成，通常用竹叶包裹，是端午节的节日食品。Because the start of the exam and the festival are close together this year, the festive food has been turned into an edible talisman for good grades.因为今年考试的开始和节日离得很近，节日食物已经变成了取得好成绩的可食用护身符。In Wuhan, Hubei province, students at Wuhan No 23 Senior High School who are about to take the test went into the canteen on Tuesday by entering through a door decorated with strings of zongzi, as school leaders waited to give them a pep talk. Many students also leaped to hit the food with their heads, Wuhan-based Jimu News reported.在湖北省武汉市，武汉市第二十三中学即将参加考试的学生6月4日从一个装饰着粽子的门进入食堂，学校领导等着给他们打气。据武汉极目新闻报道，许多学生还跳起用头撞食物。The little ritual represents the Chinese word gaozhong, or "achieving high grades", as students jump "high", while zongzi serves as a pun for zhong, or "right on target".这个小小的仪式代表着中文词汇“高中”，即学生跳得“高”，而粽子则是钟的双关语，即“正中目标”。"Through such creative activities, we hope to enhance their confidence so that they can have a more positive mindset for the exams," an unnamed school official told Jimu News.一位不愿透露姓名的学校官员告诉极目新闻:“我们希望通过这样的创意活动来增强他们的信心，让他们对考试有一个更积极的心态。”Zongzi merchants have also taken advantage of the pun to boost their sales. They have rolled out special packaging that wishes test-takers good luck, along with handwritten gift cards, with hundreds of products sold on the Tmall e-commerce platform.粽子商家也利用这个双关语来提高销量。他们推出了祝愿考生好运的特殊包装，以及手写的礼品卡，在天猫电子商务平台上销售了数百种产品。In addition to online promotions, at one supermarket in Fuzhou, Fujian province, a zongzi gift package even included a picture depicting someone ranking first in a top-level exam.除了网上促销，在福建省福州市的一家超市，粽子礼包甚至包括一张图片，图片上的人在重要考试中名列第一。talisman护身符pep talk鼓舞士气的讲话