A medical checkup showed that Chen was reacting to exam pressure. He was injected with a tranquilizer and 20 minutes later resumed the examination in a separate room. A short while later he grew nervous again when he found an hour had passed and he was unable to complete the exam. His hands were shaking, and he was crying as he dropped out of the exam and was taken to an emergency room.

"My son, health is more important than anything," said Chen's father in the ambulance, holding his son in his arms. Chen's dream is to go to Peking University, the most famous university in China. This was Chen's third attempt at the National University Entrance Exam. In the previous two years he had scored high enough for some universities but not Peking University.

Despite a third failure, Chen remained determined to try again. "Next year, I will come back to take the exam," he said firmly.

Extra tension

This year, the exam was more stressful for some students due to the devastating earthquake in Sichuan Province. The earthquake struck less than one month before the exam date.

The Ministry of Education postponed the exam date for some students from some of the worst hit regions and announced preferential admission policies for them. However, in most areas affected by the quake, the exam was held according to the original schedule.

For fear of aftershocks, extra security precautions were taken. "We put the safety of students as our first priority. Specific persons are designated to evacuate the students if necessary," said Wang Mingxian, President of Shishi Middle School in Chengdu, capital of Sichuan Province, which is nearly 100 km from the earthquake's epicenter in Wenchuan County. A safety evaluation was conducted on the test center, which held 1,200 students from five schools prior to the exam.

"If the students feel an aftershock they can leave the test room without asking for permission," said Wang. Twelve staff members were deployed to help students evacuate if necessary, with two on each floor and four outside the building.