After months of practice, Squeak was beginning to differentiate between the fourth and the second tones. The fourth tone, he had learned, was easier to hear from a distance and almost never accompanied by food. And what a world of difference from the second tone, whose lilting charm frequently forecast exotic meals of the most divine delicacies a cat could imagine.

HSK Tip #724: even if you are a tone-challenged cat, you have a 25 percent chance of getting these questions right. And since you don't get penalized for incorrect answers, don't blow easy marks by failing to guess if you aren't sure.