The HSK had been seen back at O'Malleys, whispers claimed, and a thirst for vengeance seized the wharf. Driven on by food and drink, the factory boys had mocked its challenge the year before, and each had been knocked unconscious in turn. Their physical bruises had healed in time, but their brief encounter with the Chinese proficiency test had given the men something that wasn't there before.It was shame, and it had sharpened itself in the year they waited for the HSK to return. Time had lent them a hunger for revenge. And so they had organized: spending cold weekends and evenings reviewing the Chinese language, stripping it of its mystery and coming closer to understanding the thing which had defeated them. The entire wharf had been studying Chinese for months in anticipation of just this day. And now it was here.
rizzo
said on January 26, 2010
Any explanation concerning the correct answers to #4 and #9 would be appreciated.
thanks
-the remedial class
LanZi
said on January 27, 2010
@rizzo#4. 为了升职，他玩命地工作。In order to get promoted, he worked like crazy.玩命 is both adverb and adjective. It literally means to play with one's life, and actually means to risk or gamble one's life on something, or without any consideration on one's life, or crazy/crazily. Synonym：不要命. （regardless of one's life，or doesn't care about one's life） E.g. 他对“植物大战僵尸”上瘾了，不吃不喝，玩命地玩。He's addicted to Plants vs Zombie. He doesn't eat or drink. He doesn't care about anything else but playing the game.她要一星期减肥十公斤，简直是玩命/不要命。She wants to lose ten kilograms in a week. That's just crazy/risking her life.I think in #4 a pretty confusing option would be 要命，which means to a very extreme degree. It's an adjective. But in the #4 sentence we need a adverb.E.g 这个天气真要命。This weather is killing me. 这首歌真要命。This song is killing me. #9. 过马路要小心车。Crossing the streets needs watching out the cars. 小心 is an adjective, to be careful, but adjectives act like verbs in Chinese, so we need an auxiliary verb before it.偷东西要小心警察。 Stealing things needs to be careful of the cops :)吃饭要用筷子。Eating rice needs to use chopsticks.Grammatically speaking we could choose 必(must) here,过马路必小心车， but then it would be ancient Chinese, not modern Chinese. Modern Chinese tend to use double or multiple-character words instead of single character words. That being said, if it was 必须（must）here instead of 必, it would be a correct answer.过马路必须小心车。When crossing the street, one must be careful of the cars.
paglino9
said on January 27, 2010
@ Lanzi"偷东西要小心警察。 Stealing things needs to be careful of the cops"More examples like this please. ;)
LanZi
said on January 27, 2010
@paglino9
吃东西要用口。Eating needs to use the mouth.
girlgotlost
said on March 13, 2010
I have a basic subscription but when i click on the quiz it asks me to subscribe, even though I'm signed in. What does my subscription provide if not HSK tests??
trevelyan
said on March 13, 2010
hi girlgotlost,Thanks for your support. The basic plus subscription includes access to all downloadable lesson materials, including HSK tests. You can find the HSK test questions along with an answer key included in our regular lesson transcripts. Basic subscribers can download these manually (along with all other lesson files) from the discussion page of each lesson, or through their personal RSS feed.The online tests under the quiz tab are bundled with our premium subscription. If you're still confused about the different tiers or have suggestions on how we can make things clearer please do get in touch. We'd be happy to upgrade or downgrade you if you're not happy with your current subscription level. The best way to reach us is always through email at service@popupchinese.com.Best,--david
