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
Why is Xiao Xia having the party at home?2
How to answer. Two marks means two reasons. The first is about time, the second answers his objection about the food. Keep listening after her first line.
Model answer — open after you have written yours
the answer itselfevidence from the text
At a venue you have to leave after two hours, before people have really talked, and the cooking is not a burden on her mother because everyone who comes brings one dish, which she thinks is more fun.
Transcript — open only after you have answered
MALE小夏，你为什么不在外面办？在家里多麻烦。
FEMALE在外面两个小时就要走，还没说几句话。
MALE可是你妈妈要做那么多菜。
FEMALE菜是大家一起做。谁来谁带一个，这样才好玩。
Words from this text在外面办zài wài mian bànhold it at a venue多麻烦duō má fanso much trouble没说几句话méi shuō jǐ jù huàhardly get to talk谁来谁带一个shuí lái shuí dài yí gèeveryone who comes brings one
Note and table completion2 marks · phone message
Complete the table below in ENGLISH.2
How to answer. One mark per row. Both changes are given as corrections — the old version first, then the new one. Write the new one, and include the reason for the time change. Answer in English.
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the answer itself
Time — 5:30, not 6:00, because Xiao Xia's mother needs the kitchen at seven. What to bring — everyone should now bring a dish, anything at all, although originally nothing was needed.
Transcript — open only after you have answered
MALE喂，小书，星期六的事有两个改变。不是六点，是五点半，因为小夏的妈妈七点要用厨房。还有，本来说不用带东西，现在请每个人带一个菜，什么都行。
Words from this text本来běn láioriginally用厨房yòng chú fánguse the kitchen带一个菜dài yí gè càibring a dish什么都行shén me dōu xínganything will do
Multiple choice1 mark · dialogue
Why does Xiao Jin keep going to training?1
- ☐ A. He believes the team will win eventually.
- ☐ B. It is the one afternoon he is not on his own.
- ☐ C. His parents make him go.
- ☐ D. He is the best player in the team.
How to answer. Tick one box. He rules out the obvious reason himself in his first line, so the answer is in what he says last.
Model answer — open after you have written yours
Transcript — open only after you have answered
FEMALE小金，你们队每次都没赢，你怎么每次都去？
MALE我不是为了赢去的。
FEMALE那是为了什么？
MALE星期三下午我要是不去，就一个人在家。去了就有人跟我说话。
Words from this text每次都没赢měi cì dōu méi yíngnever win为了赢wèi le yíngin order to win要是不去yào shì bú qùif I didn't go有人跟我说话yǒu rén gēn wǒ shuō huàthere's someone to talk to
Summarise the main points3 marks · announcement
Summarise what the coach tells the team.3
• …………………………………………………………………………………………
• …………………………………………………………………………………………
How to answer. One of the three marks is for the summarising itself — putting it in your own words rather than writing down every word. The bullets tell you how many points to make: two bullets, two points. She marks them with 第一 … 第二 … 第三.
Model answer — open after you have written yours
the answer itselfevidence from the text
Wednesday training stays but the group now splits in two and each half trains separately; only seven go to a match, so not everyone is included each week; and those left out must still come, because the players change the following week.
Transcript — open only after you have answered
FEMALE现在我们队人多了，有三件事跟大家说。第一，星期三还是一起练，可是分成两边，各练各的。第二，比赛一次只能去七个人，所以不是每个星期都有你。第三，那天没有你也要来，因为下个星期要换人。
Words from this text人多了rén duō lethere are more of us now分成两边fēn chéng liǎng biānsplit into two groups有你yǒu nǐyou are in the team that week换人huàn rénchange the players
Opinion and feelings3 marks · dialogue
How does Xiao Qing feel about her birthday? Support your answer with reference to the text.3
How to answer. Three marks and 'support your answer', so give her feelings AND the detail that shows them. She has more than one feeling and they point in different directions — an answer with only the disappointing part cannot reach full marks.
Model answer — open after you have written yours
the answer itselfevidence from the textwhy it matters
It was not what she had expected: she had thought it would be lively, and although more than ten people came she spent the whole evening in the kitchen. She does not think it was wasted, though — three people stayed behind to help her clear up and they talked until midnight, and she says those three hours were better than the four before them.
Transcript — open only after you have answered
MALE小青，昨天你自己的生日，怎么样？
FEMALE跟我想的不一样。我以为会很热闹。
MALE人没来吗？
FEMALE来了十几个，可是我一个晚上都在厨房。
MALE那你不是白办了？
FEMALE也不是。最后三个人留下来帮我收拾，我们说到十二点。那三个小时比前面四个小时好。
Words from this text跟我想的不一样gēn wǒ xiǎng de bù yí yàngnot what I expected热闹rè nàolively白办了bái bàn leheld it for nothing收拾shōu shiclear up
Compare two speakers4 marks · dialogue
Compare and contrast the two speakers' views on continuing the activity in Year 12.4
How to answer. 'Compare and contrast' asks for both what they share and where they differ — an answer with only the difference cannot reach full marks. Note each speaker in a separate column; watch what he concedes in the middle of the conversation.
Model answer — open after you have written yours
the answer itselfevidence from the textwhy it mattersties it together
Both are weighing the same two hours against Year 12 study, and both have considered stopping. He did stop a month ago, arguing it gives him two extra hours a day, but when she asks what he does with them he admits it is sometimes homework and sometimes his phone. That admission is her argument: the time would not have gone to study anyway, and she says going makes her able to sit still when she comes back. He concedes the point but still holds that everything should stop in the month before the exams.
Transcript — open only after you have answered
MALE小生，十二年级了，你还去？我上个月就停了。
FEMALE我也想过停。可是停了那两个小时，我也不会拿来做作业。
MALE怎么不会？我停了以后每天多两个小时。
FEMALE那你这两个小时都在做什么？
MALE……有时候在做作业，有时候看手机。
FEMALE我就是这个意思。我去了那两个小时，回来反而坐得住。
MALE话是这么说，可是考试前一个月，我还是觉得应该都停。
Words from this text停了tíng lestopped / dropped it拿来做作业ná lái zuò zuò yèuse it for homework坐得住zuò de zhùable to sit still and work话是这么说，可是…huà shì zhè me shuō，kě shì…that may be so, but …
Predict and justify5 marks · dialogue
Is Xiao Gang likely to go? Support your answer with reference to the text.5
How to answer. You must decide yes or no — listing what each speaker said is not an answer to 'is she likely to'. Five marks, so justify it: track each objection she raises and what happens to it, and read her last line, which is not the same as saying yes but is not a refusal either.
Model answer — open after you have written yours
the answer itselfevidence from the textwhy it mattersties it together
Yes, most likely. She raises three objections and each is answered. She does not know the host well; his first answer, that he will be there, she dismisses, predicting he will sit with his team all night. The second works: once she hears Xiao Shu is going she says she would have someone to be with. Her last objection is not about company but about what to bring, which is a practical worry from someone who has already decided, and her final line — asking what time Xiao Shu is leaving — is planning the trip, not declining it.
Transcript — open only after you have answered
MALE小刚，星期六小夏的生日你去吗？
FEMALE我跟她认识得不多，去了跟谁说话？
MALE我也去啊。
FEMALE你去了就跟你的球队坐一块儿了，我知道。
MALE那小书呢？他也去。
FEMALE小书去我就有伴了……可是我什么都不会做，带什么去？
MALE带水果就行，谁都爱吃。
FEMALE……那我问问小书几点走。
Words from this text认识得不多rèn shi de bù duōdon't know them well坐一块儿zuò yí kuài érsit together有伴yǒu bànhave someone to go with带什么去dài shén me qùwhat should I bring?
Language and persuasion5 marks · speech
What makes this speech effective? Refer to both its content and its use of language.5
How to answer. 'Both content and language' means two things are marked: what she says, and how she says it. For language, name the technique, quote the Chinese, and say what it does to the listener — naming it alone earns little. Listen for how she uses the losing record herself, the one student she describes, the numbers she compares, the question she leaves hanging, and what she asks for at the end.
Model answer — open after you have written yours
the answer itselfevidence from the textwhy it mattersties it together
She takes the school's own argument and states it first — the teams have not won in three years — then reframes the question rather than denying the fact: winning is not the only reason. She turns the record into evidence, pairing forty-odd matches without a single win with the fact that in three years nobody stopped coming. Her strongest material is one student: a boy who transferred in and said nothing for a month, and who now shouts loudest on the court every Wednesday. It is a change the audience can picture, and it has nothing to do with the score. She raises the money objection herself and answers it with a comparison of numbers, twenty-two players on the winning teams against thirty-nine on hers, so the saving looks small beside the cost. She ends on a question she does not answer — where will those thirty-nine go on Wednesday afternoons? — and then asks for one small action.
Transcript — open only after you have answered
FEMALE同学们，学校说下个学期要停掉两个队，因为这两个队三年没赢过。我今天想说的是：赢不是唯一的理由。我们队三年比了四十多场，一场也没赢。可是这三年，我们队没有一个人不来。上个学期有一位同学转来我们学校，第一个月一句话都不说。现在他每个星期三都在球场上叫得最大声。有人会说，学校的钱不多，应该给赢的队。赢的队一共二十二个人，我们两个队一共三十九个。停掉我们，省下来的钱不多，可是这三十九个人星期三下午去哪儿？所以我想请大家在下面写上名字，星期五我们一起交给校长。
Words from this text停掉tíng diàoto cut / shut down没赢过méi yíng guohave never won叫得最大声jiào de zuì dà shēngshouts the loudest省下来的钱shěng xià lái de qiánthe money saved