Our HSK exercise for today involves a series of Associated Word questions. These questions have two blanks that need to be filled rather than one and crop up mostly at the intermediate and advanced levels of the HSK, as they test a deeper knowledge of sentence logic. It is the relationship between the two words which is critical to understanding the sentence and selecting the correct answer.

Looking for more advanced reading materials? The next installment in our serialized edition of Dream of the Red Chamber is coming up soon.
 said on
September 20, 2009
14/15 (yeah, I surprised myself)

Got Q2 wrong -

What does 若...则... mean?
 said on
September 21, 2009
@buzhende,

若=如果

则=那么

it's the formal way to say 如果……那么……, quite formal.
 said on
September 21, 2009
@Gail

Ohhhh! That makes sense, thank you very much. I'd never come across it before
 said on
November 1, 2010
I find these constructions from the test confusing

(不但......而且....../既......又..... /不仅......还......) "not only ... but also"

and (即使......也....../尽管......但是......) "even though/if... but".

Can anyone help out with the difference between these?

3. 因为他____精通四门外语,____经验比别人丰富,所以我们决定让他来负责这项工作

(不但......而且......, why not 既......又..... ?)

4. 夏天的南极,气温仍在零下40℃左右,______穿上了特制的防寒服,______冻得发抖

(即使......也......, why not 尽管......但是......?)

14. 吸烟____损害自己的健康,____影响家人的健康 (既......也...... or also 不但......而且?)

Working on that 语感。
 said on
November 2, 2010
@huyilin,

3.If you want to use 既...又 in this sentence, you can say 因为他既精通四门外语,经验又比别人丰富,所以我们决定让他来负责这项工作。You want to put 又 before a short phrase/clause but not before a complete sentence.

4. 即使...也... is a pair of conjunction, and has a feeling of conceding something. 但是 doesn't usually go together with 尽管 (which is a concessionary conjunction as well). 但是 is a conjunction which changes the topic but doesn't feel like a concession.

14. Yes, both ok.

In Chinese, we call these conjunction pairs 关联词. The secret to handling them is to understand what their relation is... what feeling they have together.

--Echo

echo@popupchinese.com
 said on
November 3, 2010
Echo, 谢谢你!

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