On a school day, 60 students at Xishan Primary School in Shunde, Guangdong, are learning how to make corn soup (玉米汤) and fried pork (炸猪排) with cauliflower (菜花) in an after-school cooking class. Working in groups of four or five, the little chefs take their responsibilities very seriously. Soon, they are showing off their own delicious dishes.

Since last September, the school has set up after-school classes for students, with cooking classes being the most popular, said Xinhua. It comes after the “double reduction” policy (政策). The policy aims to ease the burdens (减轻负担) of too much homework and off-campus tutoring (课外辅导) for primary and junior high school students.

The policy lists requirements in areas such as reducing the amount and difficulty of homework assignments (家庭作业), as well as improving the quality (质量) of education and after-school services. For example, homework for junior high school students should take no longer than 90 minutes to finish. It allows students more free time to pursue (追求) their hobbies and interests. Also, off-campus tutoring has been further regulated (管理) to reduce the burden on students.

“Our homework is clearly less than before,” said 13-year-old Shen Yuzhe from Beijing. “We are not encouraged to buy workbooks anymore. The exercises are mainly from the textbook.” According to Shen, teachers have taught at a much slower pace (速度), which gives students enough time to process new information.

In December, the Ministry of Education reported on the progress made through the policy so far. Almost all primary and middle schools now offer two-hour after-school services on weekdays. More than 90 percent of students can finish their written homework in the set time. About 92.7 percent of schools have opened after-school arts and sports classes. More than 80 percent of academic tutoring institutions (学科类校外培训机构) have closed down or turned to other fields of business.

“With homework done at school, my child and I can read books and listen to music together in the evening, or we can go out to play badminton or skip rope,” said Lu Di, the parent of a fifth-grader in Qiqihar, Heilongjiang.

【小题1】Xishan Primary School opened cooking classes to ________.

A．train professional cooks	B．enrich its after-school activities
C．earn money by tutoring students	D．teach students to save food

【小题2】What is the aim of the “double reduction” policy?

A．To ease students’ academic burdens.	B．To close down academic tutoring institutions.
C．To offer teachers more time to study.	D．To allow schools to keep children longer.

【小题3】Under the “double reduction” policy, ________.
a. students have more time to develop interests
b. students have less homework to do
c. the quality of school education is improving
d. academic tutoring institutions are more popular

A．abc

B．abd

C．acd

D．bcd

【小题4】Paragraph 5 describes ________.

A．who benefits from the policy	B．what problems the policy has caused
C．what has been achieved by the policy	D．what society thinks about the policy

【小题5】What might be Lu Di’s attitude toward the policy?

A．Disapproving.

B．Unsure.

C．Doubtful.

D．Supportive.