英语学习论坛的“听力练习区”正式与大家见面啦。欢迎大家来这里练习听力，交流经验，共同进步。

本练习区的音频文件选自英语点津的“听中国日报”、“VOA常速”、“流行金曲”及“名人演讲”等栏目，题材丰富，难度各异，适合不同阶段的英语学习者。

英语点津会定期发布音频材料，大家可以在跟帖中贴出自己听写出的音频文字稿。每个音频材料的标准文字稿会在帖子发布两天后公布。

进入该文章的听写练习页面

Almost 300 students at the four top high schools in Beijing have given up plans to sit for college entrance exams in favor of studying overseas for the international experience.

Su Jianhua, director of the International Office of the Experimental High School Attached to Beijing Normal University, a top school in Beijing, told China Daily they have two overseas study classes with a total of 91 students.

The capital's other three top high schools – No 4, No 8 and No 11 high schools - also have overseas study classes, totaling 200 students in all.

The top destinations for students of these classes are the US, Canada and UK.

Fan Xiaozhou, 18, is a student in the overseas study class at the Experimental High School Attached to Beijing Normal University.

She is waiting for an offer from the 12 universities she applied to in the US. Her first choice is Pennsylvania State University.

"For students who take university entrance exams, they only need to study hard for the final year of high school. The next four years of university life would be stress-free," she said.

"But if I get the chance to study in the US, I will have to study hard right now and I'll also cherish every moment there," she said.

It was reported that in the past three years, more than 30,000 high school graduates chose to study overseas instead of taking university entrance exam.

More than 100,000 students sat in the national college entrance exams in Beijing last year, 16,000 less than the previous year.

（中国日报网英语点津 Helen 编辑）

Todd Balazovic is a reporter for the Metro Section of China Daily. Born in Mineapolis Minnesota in the US, he graduated from Central Michigan University and has worked for China Daily for one year.