Reading 100 monosyllabic words to test pronunciation. (10%)
Reading 100 polysyllabic words to test pronunciation. (20%)
Reading out the correct form from several choices, to test vocabulary and syntax. (10%)
Reading a 400-character passage to test fluency. (30%)
Speaking for three minutes on a topic chosen from two supplied by the examiners. (30%)
There are sixty literary selections used in the fourth section of the test,[4] including:
a selection from Jia Pingwa's 丑石 ('Ugly Rock'), a story about a meteorite which he and the local community had thought of for many years as a worthless ugly rock[4]: 338–339
"People that Read are Happy People" a piece by Xie Mian included in his 1997 book Eternal Campus (永远的校园) and originally published in the July 19, 1995 edition of the China Reader's Report (中华读书报).[4]: 344–345
a reflection written by Yan Wenjing on the hope for friendly Sino-Japanese relations describing the author's discovery of Lotus flowers imported from China which had been planted around the portrait of Jianzhen in the Tōshōdai-ji temple in Nara, Nara, Japan.[4]: 380–381
a story from the youth of Xu Dishan in which, after the family has grown peanuts for several months, his father Xu Nanying uses an analogy to the peanut to teach a moral lesson to his children.[4]: 384–385
a translation (by Ba Jin) of a story about a young sparrow which had fallen from its nest, written by Ivan Turgenev.[4]: 386–387
a reminiscence on the value of keeping in close contact with friends by Liu Hsia[4]: 396–397
a story about the wisdom displayed by Tao Xingzhi in his handling of a misbehaving elementary school student.[4]: 410–411
a story from the childhood of famous footballer Pelé growing up in the slums of Rio de Janeiro.[4]: 414–415
a reminiscence on the life of Mina Owczyńska, mother of author Romain Gary[4]: 416–417
Xia Yan's comparison of things conventionally assumed to be strong and powerful with grass, which he considers more powerful[4]: 430–431
Grading
Candidates who pass the test are given a Certificate of Putonghua Proficiency Level at levels 1, 2 or 3, each of which is subdivided into grades A and B:[8][9]
Level 1-A (97% correct) is required for presenters in national and provincial radio and television.[8]
Level 1-B (92% correct) is required for Chinese-language teachers in northern China.[3]
Level 2-A (87% correct) is required for Chinese-language teachers in southern China.[3]
Level 2-B (80% correct) is required for Chinese teachers teaching other languages in China.
Level 3-A (70% correct)
Level 3-B (60% correct) is required for civil service jobs.[3]
By 2010, the test had been taken more than 35 million times. As it requires strict adherence to the phonology of Standard Chinese, including such features as retroflex initials, erhua and the neutral tone, the test gives an advantage to native speakers of the Beijing dialect and closely related varieties over speakers of varieties lacking these features.[8]
See also
Hanyu Shuiping Kaoshi, for non-native speakers, has a spoken component in addition to written and listening components.
^Liang, Sihua (2014). Language Attitudes and Identities in Multilingual China: A Linguistic Ethnography. Springer International. pp. 21–22. ISBN978-3-319-12618-0.
^海阳市筹建峻青文学艺术馆 今年10月有望开馆 [Haiyang city preparing to build Junqing Literature & Art Museum, to be opened to the public this October] (in Simplified Chinese). Fenghuang Shandong. Retrieved 8 December 2017. 峻青，原名孙俊卿，1922年出生于烟台海阳市郭城镇西楼子村，当代著名作家、画家。
^电视文学艺术片《绿》在仙岩梅雨潭景区开机 [TV Literary Art Documentary 'Green' starts filming in Xianyan's Meiyutan Scenic Area] (in Simplified Chinese). Ouhai District People's Government. 3 December 2014. Archived from the original on 27 April 2018. Retrieved 27 April 2018. 1923年朱自清先生来温州执教，同年先后两次来到仙岩梅雨潭景区，被仙岩浓厚的人文气息和那醉人的女儿绿深深吸引，于是就写下了脍炙人口的美文名篇《绿》。