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Exam advice: reading and responding
About the exam
Preparing for the exam
In the exam
What the markers are looking for
About the exam
The reading and responding section of the exam is worth 40 marks.
You may use dictionaries in this section of the exam.
It is the second section of the written exam and is designed to assess your knowledge and skill in analysing information from written texts and in analysing and exchanging information in response to a text.
This section is divided into two parts.
Part A is worth 25 marks and Part B is worth 15 marks.
Part A
- You will be required to demonstrate understanding of written texts. You may be required to extract, summarise and/or evaluate information from texts.
- You will be required to read two texts in Chinese of 600-750 characters in total.
- In Part A questions and answers are in English.
Part B
- You will be expected to demonstrate both an understanding of a written text, and the ability to exchange information, by responding in Chinese to information provided in the text.
- You will be required to exchange information in response to questions, statements, comments and/or other specific items provided in the text.
- You will be required to read a short text in Chinese of approximately 200 characters in the form of a letter, message, advertisement or notice.
- You will be expected to write a response of 200-250 characters in Chinese. The task will be given in English.
Preparing for the exam
The best way to prepare for this section is to read a wide range of text types from a number of different sources e.g. course books, Chinese newspapers, magazines, brochures, advertisements, packaging etc.
To prepare for Part A, work through past Chinese HSC exam papers.
To prepare for Part B, practise writing responses to letters, e-mail messages, advertisements etc.
The text in the exam will be related to the topics prescribed in the syllabus.
In the exam
Take note of the title and any illustrations accompanying the text. These often help you understand the overall sense of the text.
Read the questions before reading the text. The questions will guide you as you read through the text by alerting you to key information.
The first time you read the text, aim to get a general idea of the content.
On the second reading, mark the sections of the text from where you think the answers come.
Work your way through the questions and write your answers. Answer the questions fully and provide all relevant information. You will not be penalised for giving too much information but you will be penalised if you do not provide enough.
No two questions should require the same information.
Make sure that your writing is legible and that your answers make sense.
Use a black or blue pen to write your answers. Do not use pencil.
What the markers are looking for
In Part A you will be assessed on your:
- capacity to understand general and/or specific aspects of texts, through, for example, summarising or evaluating
- capacity to convey the information accurately and appropriately.
In Part B you will be assessed on the following:
- capacity to understand general and specific aspects of a text by identifying, analysing and responding to information
- relevance of ideas, information or opinions
- accuracy of vocabulary and sentence structures
- variety of vocabulary and sentence structures.
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