Testing Times: China's Civil Service
① Nearly 1.6m people are registered to sit the national entrance exam, which will take place in cities across the country this weekend.
② Candidates who score well in the five-hour test will be invited to interview early next year for one of the roughly 28,500 positions on offer.
③ Job-seekers have long coveted the security and benefits that come with government posts; the number of test-sitters has multiplied many times since the contest's introduction in 1994.
④ Lately, though, interest has softened, in large part because a crackdown on corruption and extravagance has made the work look less enjoyable and the salaries somewhat scant.
⑤ Firmer rule enforcement may also be denting the appeal of joining the Communist Party—another rite of passage for many youngsters who aspire to public service.
⑥ In 2016 requests to join the club fell by about 10%, the first big drop in years.
⑦ For those undeterred: pencils at the ready.
▍生詞好句
civil service: 公務(wù)員
covet /?k?v?t/: vt. 渴望
extravagance /?k?strav?ɡ(?)ns/ /?k?strav?ɡ(?)ns/: n. 奢侈应又；奢華
scant /skant/: adj. 一丁點的
enforcement /?n?f??sm(?)nt/: n. 加強
dent /d?nt/: vt. 使……削弱 / n. 凹坑
appeal /??pi?l/: n. 吸引力 / vi. 上訴
passage /?pas?d?/ /pa?sɑ??/: n. 過渡
aspire /??sp???/: vi. 渴望
undeterred /?nd??t??d/: adj. 頑強的求冷；不屈不撓的
