Senior high school graduates might get better scores in TOEIC because they
took more English classes per week, and the load of such courses was quite
demanding: As is known, senior high school students must learn the most
frequently-used 7,000 words and 100 or so commonly-used sentence patterns
in order to perform well in the General Scholastic Ability Test (学测) and
Advanced Subjects Test (指考). This heavy workload forced them to sharpen
English in a relatively short period of time. And yet, sad to say, for many,
their English proficiency reached its summit before the big tests, and soon
after the entrance exams, their English ability worsened dramatically due to
their hatred of English: Who could, after all, enjoy learning English under
high pressure?
As for vocational high graduates, they took fewer English courses, and English
as a subject did not play a significant role as majors. This perhaps can
explain why in terms of performances in tests, vocational high graduates get
a comparatively lower grade, compared with that of senior high graduates.