Reading a Trip Notice: Rain, Price, and Time
A school notice for an HSK 2 reading class says:
星期六去长城。早上七点半在学校门口上车。每人一百二十元，学生一百元。请带学生证。下午五点回到学校。如果星期六下雨，我们下星期六去。
The weather forecast says there will be light rain on Saturday. Student Liu Yan plans to go with her mother, who is not a student. Liu Yan has a student ID; her mother does not. Liu Yan reads the notice and says, “So we pay 240 yuan, and we meet at 5 p.m. because that is the time on the notice.” The teacher asks her to reread the notice before answering the three questions on the worksheet: 1) 如果星期六下雨，他们什么时候去？ 2) 刘燕和她妈妈要付多少钱？ 3) 他们几点上车？ The notice is the only source of information; no one in the class has extra knowledge about the trip.
1. If it rains on Saturday, when will the trip take place, and what in the notice decides it?
Read the worked answer
下星期六. The notice says 如果星期六下雨，我们下星期六去. The weather forecast (light rain on Saturday) triggers the condition. The original 星期六 is not the trip date in that case. A careless reader might keep 星期六 because it appears first, but the 如果 condition overrides it. The notice does not give a new time, so the meeting time remains 早上七点半 unless told otherwise; the place remains 学校门口.
2. How much will Liu Yan and her mother pay in total? Show the calculation and the phrase that decides each price.
Read the worked answer
100 + 120 = 220元. 学生一百元 applies to Liu Yan because she has a student ID; 每人一百二十元 applies to her mother because she is not a student. 每人 is the default for everyone; 学生 is a discount category. The total is not 240 (two non-students) and not 200 (two students). The notice says 请带学生证, which confirms that the 100-yuan price requires student status, not just being a child.
3. Liu Yan says they meet at 5 p.m. because that is the time on the notice. Identify her error and state the correct departure and return times.
Read the worked answer
下午五点 is the return time (回到学校), not the meeting or departure time. The notice says 早上七点半在学校门口上车 and 下午五点回到学校. 上车 (board the bus) happens at 7:30 a.m.; 回到 (return to) happens at 5 p.m. Liu Yan confused the two time phrases because both are followed by place or time words. The correct plan is: meet at 学校门口 at 7:30 a.m.; return to school at 5 p.m. If it rains, the whole schedule moves to next Saturday, with the same times unless the notice says otherwise.