Secondary 2 Chinese Language Practice Paper: Narrative Comprehension, Explanatory Text With Survey Data, Classical Chinese Reading And Translation, Vocabulary And Rhetoric, Practical Writing, And Cross-text Comparison With Personal Views

Secondary 2 Chinese Language Practice Paper: narrative comprehension, explanatory text with survey data, classical Chinese reading and translation, vocabulary and rhetoric, practical writing, and cross-text comparison with personal views

2026-11-15

Chinese Language – S2

S2 Chinese Language paper: 24 questions, 100 marks, 60 minutes, narrative, explanatory and classical passages, rhetoric and practical writing, with mark scheme.

Paper details　Secondary 2 Chinese Language practice paper with 24 questions, mark scheme, narrative and explanatory comprehension, classical Chinese translation, rhetoric and practical writing.

Section A Narrative comprehension

Read Passage A and answer the questions. Six marks each; quote or summarise the text.

#	Question	Answer and marking notes
1	How many paragraphs does Passage A have? Summarise the third paragraph in one sentence. (6 marks)	There are 5 paragraphs (2 marks). The third paragraph describes how the narrator, who had been reading only comics, felt uneasy watching the old lady search alone and finally closed the book and offered help (4 marks).
2	Why did the narrator refuse to help at first, and why did that change? (6 marks)	At first the comic was at an exciting point and the narrator did not want to stop, and did not know where the book was (3 marks). The change came after seeing the old lady walk slowly, stopping to read the spines; the narrator felt uneasy and could not take in a single word of the next two pages (3 marks).
3	The ending says the book had been on the shelf all along, but nobody had reached out for her. What does this mean beneath the surface? (6 marks)	Literally the book never moved; the old lady simply could not find it (2 marks). Beneath that, people in need are right in front of us and helping often costs very little, so the question is not whether help exists but whether anyone is willing to give it (2 marks). It also records the narrator’s self-reproach for using ignorance as an excuse (2 marks).
4	Which two methods of character description does Passage A use? Give one example of each. (6 marks)	Action: the old lady walked slowly and stopped every few steps (3 marks). Inner thought: the narrator’s reflections about the exciting comic and being unable to read on (3 marks). Dialogue may be accepted as an alternative if an example is quoted.

Section B Explanatory text and data

Read Passage B and answer the questions. Four marks each.

#	Question	Answer and marking notes
5	How many questionnaires did the survey collect, and what percentage read three or four times a week? (4 marks)	320 questionnaires (2 marks); 40 per cent (2 marks).
6	What were the two main reasons for reading less, and how many students chose each? (4 marks)	Too much homework and no time: 202 students (2 marks); preferring short videos or games: 176 students (2 marks).
7	Which two explanatory techniques does Passage B use? Give one example of each. (4 marks)	Statistics: the figures 320 and 96 (2 marks). Quotation: the teacher in charge and the students’ written comments (2 marks).
8	Someone suggests adding twenty minutes of reading time every day. Using the data in Passage B, do you agree? Give reasons. (4 marks)	A clear stand (1 mark). Agree: seventy per cent already read at least sometimes, and a fixed slot would give the thirty per cent who seldom read a way to start, targeting the main reason of no time (2 marks). Disagree: lack of time is not the only cause, since the preference for videos is about interest, and extra time alone may not work (2 marks). Data must be cited.

Section C Classical Chinese reading and translation

Read Passage C and answer the questions. Five marks each.

#	Question	Answer and marking notes
9	Explain the three expressions in Passage C rendered as agreed to travel together, left without him, and only then arrived. (5 marks)	Agreed to travel together (2 marks); left without waiting for the other (2 marks); only then did the friend arrive (1 mark).
10	Translate the sentence meaning “the time passed and the friend did not come, so Taiqiu left, and the friend arrived only after he had gone” into modern Chinese. (5 marks)	Past noon the friend had still not arrived, so Chen Taiqiu stopped waiting and left; the friend turned up only after he had gone. Order and tense must be clear; each missed detail costs 2 marks.
11	What two arguments did Yuanfang use against the friend? (5 marks)	First, the friend had agreed on noon with the father and did not come, which is a breach of trust (2 marks). Second, scolding a man in front of his son is a breach of courtesy (2 marks). Together they show the fault lay with the friend (1 mark).
12	How many characters does Passage C contain, punctuation excluded, and what does the friend’s reaction show? (5 marks)	103 characters (2 marks). The friend was ashamed and got down from the carriage to take Yuanfang by the hand, which shows he recognised his fault and sets off Yuanfang’s reasoned restraint (3 marks).

Section D Vocabulary and rhetoric

Four marks each. Write complete answers.

#	Question	Answer and marking notes
13	The sentence below contains two wrongly written characters. Find and correct them. (4 marks)	The first wrong form should be written as the correct form for results (2 marks); the second should be the correct form for progress (2 marks). Two errors in total.
14	Name the rhetorical device in each sentence: (1) the moon is like a silver plate; (2) the grass sneaks up out of the soil; (3) some students sing, some dance, some tell stories. (4 marks)	Simile (1 mark); personification (2 marks); parallelism (1 mark).
15	Write a sentence using the pair meaning not only but also, and explain the relation between its two parts. (4 marks)	A fluent sentence with a genuine progression (3 marks), for example: he not only finished his homework on time but also helped a classmate catch up. Explanation: the second part goes further than the first (1 mark).
16	Explain the idiom meaning to press on in one burst of energy, and use it in a sentence. (4 marks)	Meaning: to finish a task in one burst while energy is at its height (2 marks). A fluent sentence in a sensible context (2 marks), for example the team pressed on and took three points in a row to win.

Section E Practical writing

Four marks each. Format, tone and length requirements must be met.

#	Question	Answer and marking notes
17	Write a diary entry about one thing that happened in the library today, including your feelings. At least 120 characters. (4 marks)	Date and weather (1 mark); a clear sequence of events (2 marks); specific feelings linked to the event (1 mark).
18	Write a letter of about 100 characters to your class teacher explaining your absence yesterday through illness. (4 marks)	Salutation and signature (1 mark); the reason and date stated clearly (2 marks); a polite tone and length near the requirement (1 mark).
19	You have lost a blue water bottle on campus. Write a lost-and-found notice asking students to return it to the general office. (4 marks)	A clear heading (1 mark); the item’s features, place and time of loss (2 marks); how and where to return it (1 mark).
20	Write a notice telling Secondary 2 students about next Wednesday’s visit. (4 marks)	Heading and audience (1 mark); meeting time, place and what to bring or wear (2 marks); signature and date (1 mark).

Section F Cross-text comparison and personal views

Two marks each. Be brief and give a basis for your answer.

#	Question	Answer and marking notes
21	Compare the purpose of Passage A and Passage B. (2 marks)	Passage A uses one event to convey feeling and reflection, aiming to move the reader (1 mark); Passage B uses data to explain a situation and its causes, aiming to inform (1 mark).
22	What do the figures in Passage B do for the writer’s point? (2 marks)	They make the explanation concrete and credible and show which reason had the most support (1 mark). The three percentages add to 100, so the groups can be compared and the conclusion is not empty (1 mark).
23	Which two values does Yuanfang’s reply show he cares about? (2 marks)	Keeping one’s word, since he attacks the breach of trust (1 mark); courtesy, since scolding a father is a breach of courtesy (1 mark).
24	Some say short videos teach more effectively than reading. Do you agree? Give one example. (2 marks)	A clear stand (1 mark) and an example that supports it (1 mark). Agreement may cite a video demonstrating an experiment; disagreement may cite reading that requires working through an argument to build full understanding.

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A TutorZone practice paper; original questions and passages, not publisher material.