Although merely a cat, Squeak had grown up surrounded by the HSK exam. "Answer the questions correctly and we'll feed you," David would say to the hungry beast on occasion, sitting it down before Popup Chinese and ordering it to complete a sample test. As a teacher, Echo was much softer, and would sneak it a piece of chicken on the occasions when it struggled to tell the difference between a model and aspectual particle. Needless to say, the cat failed to make much progress at these times.

HSK Tip #824: make the Pavlov principle work for you instead of against you. If you do particularly well on one of our sample HSK tests, be sure to reward yourself with a treat. In time, you will grow to love the HSK for reasons that have nothing to do with the Chinese language.