Gaokao English cheat sheet

New Gaokao listening typically contains 20 items in two sections: five short conversations and fifteen longer dialogues or monologues, at 1.5 points each.

Question order follows the audio sequence: the information for item n normally appears before the information for item n+1.

Correct options usually paraphrase the audio; options that repeat exact audio words are often distractors.

Numbers, prices, and times frequently change mid-dialogue; the final corrected figure is the answer.

Contrast markers but, however, actually, instead, and rather than signal the speaker's real point.

Relationship, place, and intention items depend on tone, vocatives, and background sounds, not literal content alone.

Weak forms, linking, and contractions such as gonna, wanna, and kinda must be decoded as their full grammatical forms.

If an item is missed, mark a provisional answer and read the next options; most papers play the audio only once.

New Gaokao reading MCQ usually has four passages and 15 four-option items; question order generally follows passage order.

Main-idea items are decided by the first and last paragraphs plus repeated key nouns; the correct option must cover the whole passage.

Detail items require locating the keyword, then reading the sentence before and after; the answer is a paraphrase, not a copy.

Inference items require textual support; options with absolute words such as all, never, only, or must are usually wrong.

Vocabulary-in-context items are solved by substituting each option into the original sentence and testing semantic and grammatical fit.

Attitude items are decided by evaluative adjectives, adverbs, and concession clauses; mild hedges indicate a cautious attitude.

Title items must be broad enough for the whole text but specific enough to exclude the other passages.

Common distractors are true-but-irrelevant, half-true, reversed cause and effect, and information outside the passage.

The first step is reading the whole passage to identify the topic, paragraph functions, and overall structure.

A blank at paragraph start often needs a topic sentence or transition; a blank at paragraph end often needs a summary or result.

Pronouns and demonstratives such as it, they, this, these, and such must refer to a noun phrase in the preceding sentence.

Connectors must match the logic: however for contrast, therefore for result, for example for exemplification, besides for addition.

Lexical chains, including repeated words, synonyms, and superordinates, must cross the blank boundary coherently.

Tense, person, and number consistency decide many items; an option that breaks consistency is wrong.

The two extra options usually introduce unsupported new information or contain a pronoun with no possible antecedent.

After selection, the reconstructed paragraph is read as a whole; each option is used once and exactly five blanks are filled.

The correct cloze word must fit both the individual sentence and the logical flow of the whole paragraph.

Collocation decides many items: verb plus noun, adjective plus noun, preposition plus noun, and fixed phrases.

Verb items require checking subject, tense, aspect, voice, and transitivity; time markers override local meaning.

Connector items require identifying the clause relation: cause, contrast, addition, concession, or result.

Pronoun and reference items are solved by finding the antecedent in the same or previous sentence.

Noun items require checking countability, singular or plural form, and whether the noun is abstract or concrete.

Same-family options such as affect/effect and rise/raise test transitivity or word class, not just meaning.

After all blanks are filled, the full passage is reread; the complete answer set must form a coherent text.

A supplied base word requires a form change: tense, voice, non-finite ending, plural, comparative, or derivation.

A blank with no supplied word usually needs one function word: article, preposition, conjunction, relative pronoun, or auxiliary.

Time markers such as now, since 2020, last year, and by 2030 determine tense and aspect before sentence meaning.

After prepositions and verbs such as enjoy, avoid, mind, and suggest, the -ing form is required; after make, let, and see, the bare infinitive is required.

Relative clauses use who for people, which for things, whose for possession, where for place, and when for time.

Word formation follows common patterns: noun to adjective with -ful, -less, or -ive; adjective to adverb with -ly; verb to noun with -ment or -tion.

Subject-verb agreement is decided by the true subject, ignoring prepositional phrases and parenthetical insertions.

After forming the word, spelling and capitalization are checked; one blank normally takes one word.

New Gaokao applied writing is typically about 80 words and 15 points; every bullet in the prompt is a required content point.

Standard letter format includes salutation, opening purpose, body details, closing, and signature; notices and speeches use different layouts.

A three-part structure states purpose, supplies required details, and closes with expectation, thanks, or a request.

Register must match the audience: formal language for teachers or officials, friendly language for classmates or pen friends.

An omitted prompt point lowers the content score even when the language is accurate.

Clear simple and compound sentences are safer than complex sentences whose grammar is not controlled.

A length below 80 words or far above 120 words risks penalty; 80 to 100 words is the usual target.

Final checking covers tense consistency, subject-verb agreement, spelling, and punctuation.

New Gaokao continuation is typically 25 points and about 150 words across two paragraphs.

The source story is read for character, setting, conflict, and tone; the continuation must resolve the existing conflict.

Each given opening sentence fixes tense, person, and point of view; the following sentences must continue in the same narrative voice.

Paragraph 1 usually develops action and complication; paragraph 2 usually resolves the conflict and reflects on it.

Concrete actions, sensory details, and at least one short dialogue show character more effectively than abstract emotion labels.

A new major character or a wholly new setting in the final paragraph is normally inappropriate.

Past tenses carry the main narration; past perfect is used only for events before the story's current moment.

The final sentence should be a concise thematic statement that echoes the source story's value or lesson.