语言运用：三道拿不准的题和一条时间线
The Language Use section has 60 items in 25 minutes. A candidate reaches item 34 with 12 minutes left and has flagged three items. Item 34: 这件衣服＿＿＿贵，我们再看看别的店。Options: A 一点儿 B 有点儿 C 一点 D 有点贵. Item 41: 他昨天打电话来说八点到，结果七点半＿＿＿到了。Options: A 才 B 就 C 已经才 D 刚. Item 52: 妈妈让我＿＿＿一个人去那么远的地方。Options: A 别 B 不 C 没 D 不要别. The candidate's instinct on item 34 is 一点儿 because it is shorter and appears in the textbook dialogue 便宜一点儿. There are also 8 items after 52 that the candidate has not yet seen.
1. Item 34: explain the rule that decides between 有点儿 and 一点儿, and why the candidate's instinct is wrong here.
Read the worked answer
Position decides it. 有点儿 sits before an adjective and describes the speaker's evaluation: 这件衣服有点儿贵 = it is a bit expensive (and I am not happy about it). 一点儿 sits after an adjective and expresses a comparison or a requested change: 便宜一点儿 = make it a bit cheaper.
In item 34 the slot is before 贵 and there is no comparison in the sentence - 我们再看看别的店 confirms the speaker is giving an opinion, not asking for a discount. So 有点儿贵 is correct.
The candidate's instinct came from remembering a chunk (便宜一点儿) without its position. The fix is to memorise the frame, not the phrase:
- 有点儿 + 形容词 (opinion, often negative)
- 形容词 + 一点儿 (comparison / request)
Note also that 有点儿 already carries 有, so option D 有点贵 duplicates 贵 - eliminate it on shape alone.
2. Item 41: 结果七点半＿＿＿到了. Choose between 才 and 就 and justify it from the discourse, not from a translation.
Read the worked answer
Read the frame, not the word. 说八点到 followed by 结果 creates an expectation that is then contradicted or commented on. 就 marks that something happened earlier or faster than expected; 才 marks that it happened later or more slowly than expected.
Seven-thirty is before eight, so the arrival is early: 七点半就到了. With 才 the sentence would mean the opposite - a late arrival - and would clash with 结果…七点半. 才 is used with a time later than the reference: 八点的会他九点才到.
Options C and D are eliminated structurally: 已经才 is not a possible sequence, and 刚 cannot take 到了 in this slot with 结果 in front.
So the answer is 就. The general rule worth writing on the question paper: 就 = earlier/faster than reference; 才 = later/slower than reference. Time expressions plus 就/才 are a recurring item type, so the two-way contrast is worth drilling as a pair.
3. With 12 minutes, item 34 flagged, 26 items left and 8 of them unseen, what should the candidate actually do?
Read the worked answer
Twelve minutes for 26 items is about 27 seconds each - tight but feasible for objective items if nothing is re-read. Plan:
- Answer the three flagged items now using a rule, not a feeling: item 34 by the position rule (有点儿贵), item 41 by the 就/才 expectation rule, item 52 by the negative-imperative rule (妈妈让我别…; 不 would negate the fact, not the action, and 不要别 is malformed). That is roughly 90 seconds.
- Then sweep items 35 to 60 at speed, answering instantly and marking with a dot anything that takes more than 20 seconds. Do not stop.
- Use the last 2 minutes only on dotted items - items where a rule can still be applied. Do not re-open items already answered confidently.
Why not agonise over item 34 for three minutes: it is worth the same as item 60, and the 8 unseen items contain easy marks (character recognition, measure words) that a tired candidate can still get. Flagging is only useful if the flagged items are time-boxed. Write the rule beside a flagged item so the return trip takes seconds, not a fresh decision.