Gaokao is not the be-all and end-all in life.

人生——不只是高考

the be-all and end-all:第一要义；终极目的 eg：Paper qualification(文凭), though useful, is not a be-all-and-end-all.

The National Higher Education Entrance Examination, or commonly known as Gaokao, is an academic examination held annually in China. This examination is a prerequisite for entrance into almost all higher education institutions at the undergraduate level.

"全国高等教育入学考试"，俗称"高考"。是一场每年都会在中国举行的学业考试。对几乎所有本科层级的高等院校而言，这场考试就是"敲门砖"。

prerequisite 前提；首要条件 同义语：prior condition

At June every year, police road blocks are set up around schools and nearby construction sites are ordered to fall silent as the country is plunged into two or three days of "Gaokao fever".

每年六月，随着整个中国进入为期两三天的"高考热", 学校周围会竖起"路障"，附近的建筑工地会被要求保持安静。

be plunged into:（突然）陷入eg：People are afraid they will be plunged into poverty

xx fever : xx"热" 如：traveling fever 旅行热 Chinese fever 汉语热

In fact, almost everyone - students, parents, teachers and policymakers - seems to accept that the system is squeezing creativity out of students.Still,it has some advantages,such as:

实际上，包括学生、家长、老师，以及政府决策者在内，几乎每个人都承认，"高考"这种体制会逐渐使学生丧失其创造力。不过，"高考"也有它的优点，比如：

"accept"本身是接受的意思，但是在此缺少接受的"对象"，可依据句子的意思理解成接受一种现实，所以可改译为承认了某种结果。

squeeze out本意为“挤出；榨出 ” 在此也很抽象，不宜直译为榨干XX。可改译为使XX丧失，ING时态可转化成汉语中的“逐渐”二字。

Fair selection of talents

公正地优选人才（注：汉语中习惯用主动的表达方式，英语中多用被动，所以常常可把英语中的名词和副词译成汉语中的动词。如：It must be pointed out that。..必须指出……It must be admitted that。..必须承认……It is imagined that。..人们认为……）

Improve the level of education

提高教育水平

Provide conditions for rural students to change their economic status.

为农村学生改变其自身的经济状况提供条件

Form a good atmosphere of advocating knowledge .

创造一种崇尚知识的良好氛围

Though,for the fifth straight year,the number of Gaokao applicants has declined.This year, around 9.12 million Chinese high school students are sitting the notoriously tough university entrance exam,after a year of repeating past papers and in large part, learning by rote(cramming)

尽管参加的高考的报名人数已经连续五年下滑。但今年，仍将有近9百12万中国高中生，在结束过去一年不停重复做往年试题和很大程度上的"死记硬背"后，坐进“死大难”的高考战场。

for the fifth straight year：连续五年

notoriously 众所周知地（坏名声）

past papers 历届试题；真题

in large part：在很大程度上 eg：Tornado warnings still depend in large part on human observations

rote：死记硬背（类似于cramming）

补充：英语的一段话中一个东东经常使用多种表达来避免重复，如上文中Gaokao、The National Higher Education Entrance Examination、university entrance exam都是表示高考。汉语中重复有强调中心词的作用，所以可以重复翻译成同一词语。