Reading: Extended Written Chinese Texts
What the reading standard rewards
Level 3 reading uses extended written Chinese: articles, blogs, letters, notices, advertisements and short literary extracts. You answer in English and must show understanding of main ideas, details, inference, purpose, audience and tone. The paper tests reading, not translation.
Core rules
- Identify text type from layout and language: 邮件 has subject and salutation; 广告 uses imperatives and superlatives; 日记 uses time and feeling.
- Use cohesive markers: 然而, 因此, 总之, 另一方面, 不仅...还.
- Separate fact from opinion: 我觉得, 据说, 一定, 未必.
- Watch modification: 不大 vs 不少; 差点儿; double negation 不得不.
- Read around unknown characters using radical and context.
Worked example
Text: “这家新开的书店看起来不大，里面的书却不少。最让人惊喜的是，角落里有几张桌子，读者可以一边喝咖啡一边看书。不过，周末人很多，最好早点去。” Question: What is the writer’s main purpose? Reasoning: 却 contrasts size and stock; 最让人惊喜 evaluates positively; 最好 gives advice. These are recommendation moves, not neutral description. Answer: to recommend the bookstore and advise going early. “不过” is a secondary caution, not the main purpose.
Traps
Translating word by word and missing the writer’s stance. Confusing similar-shaped characters. Ignoring negation. Treating a rhetorical question as a real question. Choosing a detail instead of the main idea. Answering in Chinese when English is required.