A Study On The Thinking Ability Levels Reflected By Reading Comprehension Questions In National English College-Entrance-exam Paper Ⅰ From 2012 To 2021

Gaokao Assessment Framework states that reading comprehension,as a key ability in the “one core,four levels and four wings”,is the focus of the English test in the college entrance examination,and lists seven specific reading competencies.However,little research has been conducted on what level of thinking each of the seven specific competencies belongs to and how they are distributed in the reading comprehension questions in the previous years.In view of this,based on Bloom’s Theory of Classification of Educational Objectives(revised version)and the seven specific reading competencies specified by Gaokao Assessment Framework,this study establishes the thinking levels and research framework for this study.According to the research framework,the 2012-2021 reading comprehension questions are classified into high and low thinking levels.In the research,the descriptive statistical analysis is conducted in order to discover the trend of high thinking level distributed in the English reading comprehension questions.The research questions in this paper are as follows.1.Based on the research framework of this study,how are the seven reading competencies specified by distributed in the reading comprehension questions in English National Paper I from 2012 to 2021?2.What levels of thinking do the reading competencies measured in 2012-2021 National Paper I reflect? What trends are shown in the reading comprehension questions that test high level thinking skills?The results of the study show that among the seven competencies the most frequently tested and the most fluctuated is “understanding concrete information”,which belongs to the low-level thinking,accounting for 41% of the thinking abilities,while “inferring”,“understanding the purpose”,“understanding main ideas”,“understanding opinions and attitudes” and “understanding vocabulary” are less popular than the competency of“understanding concrete information”.The competency of “understanding the structure of text” is tested the less.This result is generally in line with the requirement for logical,critical and creative thinking as part of the core qualities specified by English Curriculum Standards for Senior High School.The distribution of low and high thinking in the questions over the years is as follows: there are slightly more high-level thinking skills than low level,but overall,the high and low level thinking skills are relatively well balanced,with few ups and downs.In terms of the trend in the past ten years,it shows an increase in the number of reading comprehension questions which belong to high-level thinking,but there is no significant difference between the questions which reflect high-level thinking and the ones reflecting the low-level thinking.Based on the results of this study,the author puts forward the pedagogical suggestions for English reading teaching in high schools from the dimensions of the logical,critical and creative thinking.