How to use this set. Each recording already plays the text twice, as in the exam, with a pause between the readings. Answer the question first, and only then open the transcript to check what you missed. These 8 items are drawn from the bank for this topic — they are practice, not a whole paper, but each one matches the marks and text type of its kind of HSC question.
Reason: why did it happen?2 marks · dialogue
AUDIO
Why does Xiao Zhou phone his sister every Sunday rather than message her?2
How to answer. Two marks, so two things are wanted: what messaging cannot show him, and what hearing her voice does tell him. Both are in his last turn — do not stop after the first half.
Model answer: Messages do not show him whether she is tired, whereas hearing her voice tells him straight away whether she has had a good week.
Dictation — listen and type what you hear
Replay the audio above as often as you need, and type each line as you hear it. Punctuation and spaces are ignored, so you only need the characters. You need Chinese input switched on — on Windows: Settings → Time & language → Language & region → Add a language → Chinese (Simplified); on Mac: System Settings → Keyboard → Input Sources → + → Chinese, Simplified → Pinyin.
FEMALELine 1
MALELine 2
FEMALELine 3
MALELine 4
Transcript — open only after you have answered
FEMALE小舟，你每个星期天都给你姐姐打电话吗？
MALE对。我姐姐去年搬到外地工作了。
FEMALE你们平时不是也常常发消息吗？
MALE发消息看不出来她累不累。可是一听见她的声音，我马上就知道她那个星期过得好不好。
Words from this text外地wài dìanother part of the country发消息fā xiāo xito send a message看不出来kàn bu chū láicannot tell
Note and table completion2 marks · phone message
AUDIO
Complete the table with the new sleeping arrangements.2
人
睡哪里
为什么
表哥
说话的人
弟弟
How to answer. A table question wants short, exact answers, not sentences. Three people are mentioned and each ends up somewhere different; the reason is given once, right at the end.
Model answer: Cousin: the speaker's room, because it is quiet and has a desk. Speaker: moves in with his younger brother. Younger brother: stays in his own room, which has two beds — so the cousin can read at night without being disturbed.
Dictation — listen and type what you hear
Replay the audio above as often as you need, and type each line as you hear it. Punctuation and spaces are ignored, so you only need the characters. You need Chinese input switched on — on Windows: Settings → Time & language → Language & region → Add a language → Chinese (Simplified); on Mac: System Settings → Keyboard → Input Sources → + → Chinese, Simplified → Pinyin.
Words from this text表哥biǎo gēolder male cousin安排ān páiarrangement书桌shū zhuōdesk吵到chǎo dàoto disturb (with noise)
Multiple choice1 mark · dialogue
AUDIO
Why has Xiao Yuan stopped coming to basketball?1
☐ A. Her hand has not healed.
☐ B. She no longer wants to play.
☐ C. She has to look after her younger brother.
☐ D. She has to work on Saturdays.
How to answer. One mark, one answer. Two of the options are said out loud and then rejected — hearing a word in the recording does not make it the answer.
Model answer: C — her parents are working Saturdays for the next few months and she has to stay home with her six-year-old brother.
Dictation — listen and type what you hear
Replay the audio above as often as you need, and type each line as you hear it. Punctuation and spaces are ignored, so you only need the characters. You need Chinese input switched on — on Windows: Settings → Time & language → Language & region → Add a language → Chinese (Simplified); on Mac: System Settings → Keyboard → Input Sources → + → Chinese, Simplified → Pinyin.
MALELine 1
FEMALELine 2
MALELine 3
FEMALELine 4
MALELine 5
Transcript — open only after you have answered
MALE小原，你这三个星期都没来打球，大家都在问你。
FEMALE我知道，对不起。我本来想跟你说的，可是每次都没说出口。
MALE是不是手还没好？还是你不想打了？
FEMALE都不是。我爸妈这几个月星期六都要上班，我得在家看着弟弟。他才六岁，不能一个人在家。
MALE那你早说啊！我们可以把时间改到星期天下午，大家都有空。
Words from this text说出口shuō chū kǒuto bring oneself to say it看着kān zheto keep an eye on有空yǒu kòngto be free
Summarise the main points3 marks · speech
AUDIO
Summarise the three things this student's family has agreed on.3
• …………………………………………………………………………………………
• …………………………………………………………………………………………
How to answer. Three marks for three agreements — set them out separately rather than in one long sentence. The last sentence tells you how he feels about them; that is not a fourth one.
Model answer: 1. At dinner everyone's phone stays in the living room and nobody may pick it up. 2. Each person takes one household job — he does the cleaning, his sister takes out the rubbish, the parents cook — rotated weekly. 3. On Sunday evening the family must eat together, however much homework there is.
Dictation — listen and type what you hear
Replay the audio above as often as you need, and type each line as you hear it. Punctuation and spaces are ignored, so you only need the characters. You need Chinese input switched on — on Windows: Settings → Time & language → Language & region → Add a language → Chinese (Simplified); on Mac: System Settings → Keyboard → Input Sources → + → Chinese, Simplified → Pinyin.
Words from this text约定yuē dìngagreement负责fù zéto be responsible for家务jiā wùhousework倒垃圾dào lā jīto take out the rubbish反而fǎn éron the contrary
Opinion and feelings3 marks · dialogue
AUDIO
How does Xiao Zhen feel about her relationship with her brother now, and why has it changed?3
How to answer. The question has two halves — how she feels now, and why. She gives a clear before-and-after: what they did when they lived together, and what they do now. An answer with only 'they talk more' cannot reach full marks.
Model answer: She is surprised and pleased: they now talk far more than before. When they lived together they argued daily over the bathroom and misplaced belongings and barely got three sentences out; now he comes back once a week and they sit and talk for two or three hours. She has realised they always had plenty to say and simply never had a time to sit down.
Dictation — listen and type what you hear
Replay the audio above as often as you need, and type each line as you hear it. Punctuation and spaces are ignored, so you only need the characters. You need Chinese input switched on — on Windows: Settings → Time & language → Language & region → Add a language → Chinese (Simplified); on Mac: System Settings → Keyboard → Input Sources → + → Chinese, Simplified → Pinyin.
Words from this text奇怪qí guàistrange洗手间xǐ shǒu jiānbathroom吵架chǎo jiàto argue原来yuán láiit turns out
Compare two speakers4 marks · dialogue
AUDIO
Compare and contrast the two speakers' views on lending money to friends.4
How to answer. 'Compare and contrast' wants both where they agree and where they differ — an answer with only the disagreement cannot reach full marks. Note each speaker separately; both start from the same idea about what money does to a friendship, and that shared starting point is the key to this one.
Model answer: Both accept that money changes a friendship. The male speaker concludes friends should therefore never lend: the debt sits in both their minds, one counting the days and the other remembering he has not repaid, and the friendship cannot survive it. The female speaker starts from the same point but decides the friendship matters more: being asked shows he trusts her, and if the sum is small she treats it as a gift — glad if repaid, untroubled if not. He closes by saying her view only holds because she has been lucky enough not to meet someone who does not repay.
Dictation — listen and type what you hear
Replay the audio above as often as you need, and type each line as you hear it. Punctuation and spaces are ignored, so you only need the characters. You need Chinese input switched on — on Windows: Settings → Time & language → Language & region → Add a language → Chinese (Simplified); on Mac: System Settings → Keyboard → Input Sources → + → Chinese, Simplified → Pinyin.
Words from this text借钱jiè qiánto lend / borrow money关系guān xirelationship开口kāi kǒuto bring oneself to ask数目shù mùamount放在心上fàng zài xīn shàngto take it to heart运气yùn qiluck
Predict and justify5 marks · dialogue
AUDIO
What does the speaker decide to do, and why? Support your answer with reference to the text.5
How to answer. Five marks, so the reasons matter as much as the decision. He rules out two other courses of action before he settles on one — say what he decided against as well, and give the deadline that forces his hand.
Model answer: He decides to speak to Xiao Ye directly and clear the air. He rules out having a row over something so small, since Xiao Ye is otherwise good to him, and he rules out getting someone else to raise it because that would be stranger still. What forces the decision is the exam next week, for which he needs the borrowed dictionary — leave it any longer and it is too late. He concludes that saying it plainly beats staying uncomfortable about it.
Dictation — listen and type what you hear
Replay the audio above as often as you need, and type each line as you hear it. Punctuation and spaces are ignored, so you only need the characters. You need Chinese input switched on — on Windows: Settings → Time & language → Language & region → Add a language → Chinese (Simplified); on Mac: System Settings → Keyboard → Input Sources → + → Chinese, Simplified → Pinyin.
Words from this text老是lǎo shìalways / keeps on耳机ěr jīheadphones回头huí tóulater on没有下文méi yǒu xià wénnothing came of it说开shuō kāito talk it out
Language and persuasion5 marks · speech
AUDIO
How does the speaker persuade her classmates to ask about old family photographs? Refer to the content and the language techniques she uses.5
How to answer. Five marks and the question names two things — what she says and how she says it. Quote the Chinese, translate it, then explain the effect. The most useful moment is the line she reports her grandmother saying; ask yourself why she quotes it instead of simply telling you the fact.
Model answer: She opens by making the ask deliberately small — 「一件很小的事」(a very small thing) — so that refusing would seem unreasonable. She then tells one specific story rather than arguing in the abstract: she did not recognise the girl in the photograph, and she quotes her grandmother's own words, 「那就是我啊」(that IS me), letting the listener feel the surprise she felt instead of being told about it. She closes the distance by giving the grandmother's age, thirteen, 「跟我们现在一样大」(the same age as we are now). She names the obstacle before her listeners can — older people do not raise these things because they assume we do not want to hear — and answers it with the contrast 「照片还在，人也还在」(the photographs are still here, and so are they), which carries the unstated warning that this will not always be true. Her final instruction is deliberately narrow and immediate: ask one question, tonight.
Dictation — listen and type what you hear
Replay the audio above as often as you need, and type each line as you hear it. Punctuation and spaces are ignored, so you only need the characters. You need Chinese input switched on — on Windows: Settings → Time & language → Language & region → Add a language → Chinese (Simplified); on Mac: System Settings → Keyboard → Input Sources → + → Chinese, Simplified → Pinyin.