The HSK surveyed the wreckage of its All-Star Breakfast with a curious mixture of accomplishment and self-loathing. Thirty minutes ago, the standardized Chinese proficiency exam had christened its American road trip with an early-morning feast of bacon, scrambled eggs, flapjacks, hash browns, toast and a cavernous dish of fruit. But now, as its gastric juices burbled merrily deep within, the HSK wondered if it would really make SFU in time for its ten o'clock session, and whether it might be possible to nap through the advanced reading passages.

Tip: our HSK test today is an advanced reading passage. These are among the hardest sections on the exam, characterized by longer texts that present significantly advanced vocabulary and show no mercy. The key skill you need is the ability to skim native-level Chinese text: in a real test situation you would have only twelve minutes to complete these fifteen questions.
 said on
October 13, 2010
Why is the answer to Q2 no.3 and not no.1? Actually, I thought that both were possibly the right answer.
 said on
October 14, 2010
@icy_day,

Because 微咸湖 still belongs to 淡水湖, it is 微咸淡水湖. In the text, is says the lake is 椭圆形, but not 圆形. HSK Advanced are always a bit more tricky than we thought.

--Echo

echo@popupchinese.com
 said on
October 14, 2010
Thanks for the clarification, Echo! It is really very tricky.