Reading and Responding: Evidence, Inference and Register
What this domain tests
You will read Chinese texts - advertisements, notices, personal letters, opinion columns, short literary extracts - and respond in Chinese. Questions target literal detail, inference, purpose, audience and the writer's attitude.
Concepts you must control
- Text type conventions. A 通知 has a heading, issuer and date; a 启事 states a problem and a contact; a 评论 has a thesis and supporting reasons. Knowing the skeleton helps you locate information fast.
- Cohesion devices: 因此, 然而, 不仅……而且, 虽然……但是. These carry the logical relationships that inference questions test.
- Vocabulary in context. Characters you know may form unfamiliar compounds; use the surrounding clause to infer, e.g. 环保 from 环境 + 保护.
- Attitude vocabulary: 赞成, 反对, 担忧, 讽刺, 无奈. Distinguish the writer's view from a view the writer reports.
Traps that appear
- Quoted opinion mistaken for the writer's. “有人认为……但我认为……” - the answer is the second clause.
- True-but-irrelevant options. An option may be factually in the text yet not answer the question asked.
- Over-literal translation. 我们得想想办法 is not “we must think of a method” but “we need to do something about it”.
- Ignoring the audience question. 这篇文章是写给谁看的？ requires evidence (tone, address forms, content), not a guess.
Worked example
Text: “虽然网上购物方便，但是很多老年人仍然习惯去市场，因为那里可以和人聊天。” Question: 作者认为网上购物有什么不足？ A weak answer repeats 方便. The strong answer infers from the 因为 clause that online shopping lacks social contact: 网上购物缺少与人交流的机会，对老年人来说不够亲切。 Note how the answer is derived, not copied.
Rule of thumb
For every answer, point to the exact clause that supports it. If you cannot point, the answer is a guess - mark it and return later. Quote sparingly; paraphrase in your own Chinese to show understanding.