negative mark. It was originally to prevent candidates from guessing an answer they did not know, but it caused trouble for some confusing questions. Paper 4 – Oral Skills Assessment The test had two parts, personal presentation and group discussion, both of them allocated 7.5% each of the total mark. In personal presentation, 10 minutes of preparation time was given for candidates to make a 3-minute speech on a certain topic. Sometimes, candidates were asked to describe a picture. After the personal presentation, group discussion took place. Normally 5 candidates in a group, it had 5-minute preparation time. Then, each candidate had 1 minute for the first-round speech, and 10 minutes time got them to discuss a topic freely. In personal presentation, some personal topics were asked, and in group discussion, topics were related to major events or common issues. Paper 5 – Extra Readings This test was school-based in the sixth and seventh forms. Students were required to read at least 5 books and finish the related assessment, given by the school. Book reports were the most common format, but group presentations, or even in-class tests, were allowed. Any book that was suitable was allowed. Guildlines with a list of recommended books were given to schools. Most schools required students to choose from the list or chose the books from the list for their students. To prevent schools from giving too many exordinary grades to students, points were be adjusted by the performance in examination. The list of recommended books had about 30 books about Chinese culture, ranging from novels or cultural studies to historic reports. Among the list of the books, Tangshan Earthquake was always on the top favour list of books, as the prologue of the book was one of the 26 required passages in the old Chinese Language syllabus in HKCEE (the new syllabus does not have any required passages). Controversy of new format In 2001, the HKEAA decided on an across-the-board revamp upon the format of questions in the exam. The changes included the replacement of questions on prescribed texts with open-ended questions in the questions on culture paper. It was HKEAA's attempt to prevent candidates from memorising the suggested reading materials. That, however, was dismissed by a number of candidates as a move towards the subject turning out into a saliva subject (吹水科, Jyutping: Ceoi1 Seoi2 Fo1) in which candidates concentrate on writing large