Answers to New Practical Chinese Reader 1

The Beijing Language and Culture University recommends New Practical Chinese Reader to study Chinese, and it´s the one we have chosen as our main manual. This is also the most popular textbook used to teach Chinese in universities all over the United States. Specially designed for native English speakers to learn Chinese.

Here are the Answers to the New Practical Chinese Reader Workbook. The Chinese pinyin and Chinese characters probably not been displayed if your computer did not install Chinese typing software. To enable yourself to read these answers correctly, you could use this software by SoGou (Sohu). To alternate alphabet and character press CTRL-Space bar. 

Answers to the New Practical Chinese Reader 1 Workbook (Lesson 1 & Lesson 2):

NPCR练习册第一、二课练习题答案

Lesson 1 (第一课)

Listening and Speaking Exercises

1. Circle the right sound according to what you hear on the tape.

1. (b) 2. (l) 3. (p) 4. (o) 5. (en) 6. (ing)
7. (huo) 8. (li) 9. (pu) 10. (nie)

2. Circle the right tone according to what you hear on the tape.

1. (b) 2. (c) 3. (a) 4. (c) 5. (d)
6. (b) 7. (a) 8. (c) 9. (d) 10. (b)

3. Mark the correct tone on the following syllables according to what you hear on the tape.

1) ma3-mǎ 2) li4-lì 3) huo3-huǒ 4) nin2-nín
5) ye3-yě 6) Lin2 Na4-Lín Nà 7) hen3 hao3-hěn hǎo
8) Lu4 Yu3ping2-Lù Yǔpíng 9) ni3 ne-nǐ ne
10) pa4 lao3hu3-pà lǎohǔ (pa4-pà, temer;lao3hu3lǎohǔ, el tigre)

4. Circle the third-tone sandhis.

1) B 2) C

6. Listen to the dialogues and do the following exercises.

(A: 女nü3-nǚ, woman; B: 男nan2-nán, man)

1）A： 你好吗？
B： 我很好，你呢？

2）A： 力波，你好！
B： 你好，林娜。

3）A： 老李，你好吗？
B： 我很好，你呢？
A： 我也很好。

7. Listen and write in pinyin.

你好。
你好吗？
很好。
也很好。
你呢，力波？

8. Role-play.
Listen to and imitate the dialogue together with your partner.

林娜：你好，力波！
力波：林娜，你好。
林娜：你好吗？
力波：我很好。你呢？
林娜：也很好。

Reading and Writing Exercises

1. The basic characters in the end of the lesson 1.

一、八、也、力、门、女、马、木、火、五

2. The complicated characters in the end of the lesson 1

林= 木 + 木

3. Find the correct drawing of each Chinese character. Draw a line to connect the two.
the characters the number of the pictures

1) 木 5
2）女 3
3）门 4
4）火 1
5）马 2

4. Fill in the blanks with “ma” or “ne”.

1) 你好 ＿吗＿？
2） 我很好，你＿呢＿？
3） 林娜好＿吗＿？
4） 林娜好，力波＿呢＿？

5. Translate the following sentence into Chinese pinyin.

1）How do you do? ni3 hao3.-nǐ hǎo.
2）How are you? ni3 hao3 ma?-nǐ hǎo ma？
3）Fine, and you? wo3 hen3 hao3, ni3 ne?-wǒ hěn hǎo，nǐ ne?

Lesson 2 (第二课 你忙吗 )

Listening and Speaking Exercises

1. Circle the right sound according to what you hear on the tape.

1. (t) 2. (g) 3. (f) 4. (ei) 5. (ou)
6. (eng) 7. (tiao) 8. (diu) 9. (kan) 10. (fei)

2. Circle the right tone according to what you hear on the tape.

1. (c) 2. (d) 3. (b) 4. (c) 5. (a)
6. (d) 7. (b) 8. (c) 9. (d) 10. (d)

3. Make the correct tone on the following syllables according to what you hear on the tape.

1) ding1-dīng 2)kou3-kǒu 3)teng2-téng 4)bu4-bù 5)gang1-gāng 6)dou1-dōu

4. Circle the neutral tones; note that in each group, the neutral may appear more than once.

1. (B,C) 2. (A) 3. (C,D) 4. (B,D) 5. (C)

6. Listen to the dialogue and do the exercises.

1) Imitate the dialogue.

The dialogue is:

A: 雨平，你好吗？
B: 我很好，林娜，你呢？
A: 我也很好，你爸爸，妈妈好吗？
B: 他们都很好。你男朋友好吗？
A: 他很好。他很忙。
B: 你忙吗？
A: 我不忙。你呢？
B: 我很忙。

2) Decide whether the statements are true (T) or false (F).

A. （F） B. （F） C. （T）

7. Listen and write in pinyin.

不忙 bu4 mang2-Bù máng
妈妈 ma1ma-mā ma
他们 ta1 men-tā men
男朋友nan2 peng2 you – nán péng you
咖啡 ka1 fei1- kā fēi
哥哥 ge1 ge – gē ge

8. Listen and write characters.

也，妈妈，哥哥，吗，呢

9. Role-play.

林娜：力波，你要咖啡吗？
力波：我要咖啡。
弟弟：我也要咖啡。
林娜：你们都要咖啡，我也要咖啡。

Reading and Writing Exercises

1. Trace over the characters, following the correct stroke order.

口，大，尼，可，不，又，丁，六，刀，土

2. Write the characters in the blanks spaces, paying attention to the character components.

妈，呢，吗，哥

3. Give the pinyin of the following characters and write the stroke numbers in the parenthese.

1） 呢ne（8） 2）吗ma（6） 3）妈ma1-mā（6） 4）哥ge1-gē（10）
5）妹mei4-mèi（8）

4. Find the correct drawing of each Chinese character. Draw a line to connect the two.

1）妈— 4 2）丁—3 3）刀—1 4）口—2

5. Translate the following sentences into Chinese pinyin.

1） lin2 na4 hen3 mang2. – lín nà hěn máng.
2） ta1 ye3 hen3 mang2. – tā yě hěn máng.
3） ni3 men dou1 mang2 ma? – nǐ men dōu máng ma?
4） ni3 yao4 ka1 fei1 ma? – nǐ yào kā fēi ma?

Chinese Calligraphy

Chinese calligraphy is an art unique to Asian cultures. Originated and developed from China, the Chinese calligraphy has been widely spreaded and revered in the other Asian countries, including Sinosphere, Japan, Korea, and Vietnam.  

Calligraphy is often thought to be most revealing of one's personality. During the imperial era, calligraphy was regarded as a critical criterion for selection of executives to the Imperial court. Unlike other visual art techniques, all calligraphy strokes are permanent and incorrigible, demanding careful planning and confident execution. Such are the skills required for an executive. While one has to conform to the defined structure of words, the expression can be extremely creative. To exercise humanistic imagination and touch under the faceless laws and regulations is also a virtue well appreciated.

To practise calligraphy, we need the basic tools called four treasures of study (ink brush, ink stick, paper, and ink stone ) as well as much concentration on guiding the soft writing brush charged with fluid ink, and writing on the paper where the ink will diffuse quickly. Once the brush movement hesitates, a black mark is created, so speed, strength and agility is the essence of fine artwork.

About the Four Treasures of Study

The brush is the traditional writing implement in Chinese calligraphy. The body of the brush can be made from either bamboo, or special materials such as red sandalwood, glass, ivory, silver, and gold. The head of the brush can be made from the hair (or feathers) of some animals, including the deer, wolf, rabbit,etc.

A good ink stick should be ground so as to be refined black with luster. With the invention of paper, they were improved accordingly. Ink sticks are made from pine soot, using other procedures that include mixing with glue, steaming and molding.

Calligraphy requires a special paper- Xuanzhi (in Chinese宣紙), which is made from the Tatar wingceltis or other materials including rice, bamboo, hemp, etc.

Inkstone is used to grind the solid inkstick into liquid ink and to contain the ink once it is liquid.

Choose Chinese textbooks for Kids

Choosing Chinese textbooks for kids is a big decision. The learning materials are now far more abundant than before. But it's still important to have good criteria before making your selection. we recommend you read the following general guidelines first to avoid waste your time and money.

1. Good Chinese materials, whether books or videos, should be designed according to children’s familiar and interested topics and be better if they are funny story-centered.

2. We strongly recommend those lessons based on conversational situation, which introduces your kids to a real life communication. Those materials can help children to build the confidence to communicate with others in Chinese.

3. Most of our kids are visual learners. Sound supporting materials, such as CD, videos or tapes attached with the text-book help your children learn the correct pronunciation effectively.

If you are seriously let your children learn Chinese language, you may consider a comprehensive set of learning material. Besides above general criteria, a good set of Chinese textbook should adopt the spiral approach and review.

1. Happy Chinese: KUAILE HANYU consists of six books with three levels, with both a student's book and teacher's book. The assistant materials include flash cards, charts, audio cassettes and videos. With vivid design and colorful illustrations, the series suits the students from 11 to 16 years old and focuses on the training of Chinese communicative competence.

2. Easy Steps to Chinese Textbook: Fun and effective, this excellent textbook series adopts an exciting new approach to teaching Chinese as a foreign language. The task-based program, designed by the authors of the popular Chinese Made Easy and Chinese Made Easy for Kids, is based on feedback and helpful suggestions from teachers who use those series in their classrooms.

3. Learn Chinese with Me: Learn Chinese with Me is a series designed for students of 15 to 18 years old whose native language is English. It guides the students from beginner to low-intermediate level. The series is composed of four volumes each of which contains Student's Book, Teacher's Book, Workbooks, and phonetic and listening materials.

Brotherhood Forged in the Peach Garden

Toward the end of the Eastern Han Dynasty(25-220) China was war-stricken. After a royal edict to recruit soldiers in Zhuozhou, three heroes surfaced. One was Liu Bei, a descendent of Liu Sheng, Prince Jin of Zhongshan during the Han Dynasty. Liu Bei was sighing while reading the posted edict when he heard an impatient voice behind, " What use is just sighing, without a man's devotion to his country?"
Then the man introduced himself: "I'm Zhang Fei and my livelihood is selling wine and slaughtering hogs."
"I do want to devote myself to the country," Liu explained after telling Zhang his name. "But how can I help if I'm empty handed?"
"You needn't worry," said Zhang. "I'm willing to give up my fortune to build an army and embark on this new career with you."
While the two talked merrily over cups in a small restaurant, in came a martial looking, handsome man with a huge build and a red complexion. Liu and Zhang invited him to join them. They learned that the man was named Guan Yu. As he had upheld justice by killing a local tyrant, he had fled home and wandered about for many years. During an amiable conversation the three found that they shared a common ambition and the next day in a peach garden they swore brotherhood to heaven and earth before lit candles and joss sticks, Liu Bei the eldest, Guan Yu the second-oldest and Zhang Fei the youngest. They vowed devotion to China. Later, the three sworn brothers had successful career. Liu Bei ascended to the throne of the State of Shu in 221A.D in present-day Sichuan.

Culturally, due to the popularity of the novel Romance of the Three Kingdoms by Luo Guanzhong, Liu Bei is widely known as the ideal benevolent, humane ruler who cared for his people and selected good advisors for his government. His fictional character was a salutary example of a ruler who adhered to the Confucian set of moral values, such as loyalty and compassion. Historically, Liu Bei was a brilliant politician and leader whose skill was a remarkable demonstration of a Legalist. His political philosophy can best be described by the Chinese idiom "Confucian in appearance but Legalist in substance," a style of governing which had become the norm after the founding of the Han Dynasty.

Zhang Fei was described to be an alcoholic, and his obsession with wine caused his judgement to be affected from time to time. Throughout the novel Three Kingdoms, Zhang Fei was shown as an exceedingly loyal and formidable warrior, but also a short-tempered man, who often got into trouble more often when he was not on the battlefield. Zhang Fei's impulsive and reckless nature was demonstrated in one incident at Gucheng.

Guan Yu (died 220)was a general serving under the warlord Liu Bei during the late Eastern Han Dynasty of China. He played a significant role in the civil war that led to the collapse of the Han Dynasty and the establishment of the state of Shu Han during the Three Kingdoms period, of which Liu Bei was the first emperor.

Battle of Red Cliffs - Three Kingdoms

The Battle of Red Cliffs, otherwise known as the Battle of Chibi, was one of the novel Three Kindoms' secondery stories. During the confrontation of the Three Kingdoms in China, The Battle of Red Cliffs was a decisive battle at the end of the Han Dynasty, immediately prior to the Three Kingdoms period of Chinese history. It was fought in the winter of 208/9 AD[1] between the allied forces of the southern warlords Liu Bei and Sun Quan and the numerically superior forces of the northern warlord Cao Cao. 
After the Duke of Wei, Cao Cao had controlled all of the North China Plain, he led the troop of 800.000 soldiers to south aiming to eliminate his main southern rivals swiftly and unify China. Meanwhile, Zhou Yu and Lu Su, the generals of Wu and Zhuge Liang of Shu accurately analyzed the situation and disadvantages of Cao army, including its unstable rear supply despite of the claimed 800 thousand soldiers, exhausting expedition and inexperience in water battle, and developed their strategy of confronting the army.
There were altogether 50,000 soldiers, including 30,000 trained naval soldiers led by Zhou Yu, the general of Wu and others led by Liu Bei of Shu organized to confront the Cao army. Since Cao Cao's troop was already decimated by seasickness and lack of water experience, it lost control in battle effectiveness and had to camp northern of the Yangtze River with the Wu and Shu troops in the south. Later Cao Cao ordered to chain his entire fleet together with strong iron chains to drill the navy. Zhou Yu then adopted Huang Gai’s plan of an attack that he pretended to surrender to Cao Cao and got the chance to get close to Cao’s fleet and attacked Cao Cao with fire ships. Cao Cao simply assumed that superiority in number would eventually defeat the Wu and Shu navy and gave Huang Gai the chance to approach his fleet. This eventually brought the debacle of his fleets, which were intruded by Huang Gai’s boats with all firewood ignited at the same time. The Cao army became a sea of fire immediately, which extended to the camps on bank and caused decisive damage of the army. Zhou Yu and others seized the opportunity and chased the Cao force along the way and successfully beat it. Cao Cao had to flee with the remaining troops. The ally then chased to enlarge their victory.
The decisive battle of red cliffs was brought to an end under the background that Cao Cao held the favorable position but underestimated his enemy and made the wrong decision that led to his defeat. During the battle, Sun and Liu allied to repel the strong enemy, leveraged their advantage in water battle and adopted the fire attack to finally defeat the stronger with the weaker. The battle laid the foundation for the confrontation of the latter three kingdoms, Wei, Shu and Wu.
A combination of Cao Cao's strategic errors and the effectiveness of Huang Gai's ruse had resulted in the allied victory at the Battle of Red Cliffs. Zhou Yu had previously observed that Cao Cao's generals and soldiers comprised mostly cavalry and infantry, and few had any experience in naval warfare. Cao Cao also had little support among the people of Jing Province, and thus lacked a secure forward base of operations. Despite the strategic acumen Cao Cao had displayed in earlier campaigns and battles, in this case he had simply assumed that numerical superiority would eventually defeat the Sun and Liu navy. Cao's first tactical mistake was converting his massive army of infantry and cavalry into a marine corps and navy: with only a few days of drills before the battle, Cao Cao's troops were ravaged by sea-sickness and lack of experience on water. Tropical diseases, to which the southerners had long been immune, also plagued the soldiers of the north with the debilitating effects of sickness rampant in Cao Cao's camps. Although numerous, Cao Cao's men were already exhausted by the unfamiliar environment and the extended southern campaign, as Zhuge Liang observed: "Even a powerful arrow at the end of its flight cannot penetrate a silk cloth"

How to prepare for HSK test

As a standardized test of general language proficiency, HSK is not based on any particular textbook or course of study. Therefore candidates may refer to any textbook in preparing for the test. Nevertheless, it is important that all candidates read HSK Test Syllabus carefully, a guide for the pre-test preparation. It contains an introduction to HSK, a sample HSK test paper and the key, HSK glossary and a CD of the sample listening questions.

    To be admitted to the test room, every examinee will be required to present his or her admission ticket and a photo-bearing ID certificate (ID card, passport or a residence permit). No candidates will be allowed to enter the test room without the afore-mentioned two evidences. The candidates whose admission ticket is missing can only be admitted to the test room till the ticket is reissued (with handling charges). Tape recorders, cameras, dictionaries, notebooks, textbooks and other unnecessary objects mustn’t be taken into the room. Mobile phones and MP3 shall be switch off and put inside bags, which shall be placed at an area designated by the invigilators.

    Candidates arriving five minutes late (since the start of listening comprehension test) may be admitted to the testing room and start the test right away. If examinees are 5 to 35 minutes late for the test, they may not start until the next section begins and no extra test time is to be offset for the late arrivals. Thirty-five minutes after the beginning of the exam, no candidates will be admitted to the test room.

Things to note during the test
（1）Once in the test room, candidates shall put the admission ticket and the ID certificate on the upper right corner of the desk for the inspection of invigilators. All the activities of the candidates are subject to the instructions of the supervisor.

（2）Duration for HSK (Basic) is about 135 minutes; HSK (Elementary-Intermediate) about 145 minutes without break; and HSK (Advanced) about 180 minutes with a break after the written test. In principle candidates shall not leave the test room during the course of the test. If so under some exceptional circumstances, the candidate shall gain the permission from the supervisor.

（3）HSK test has a strict control of the time limits for each section of the test and candidates shall answer the corresponding test questions within a given time period and avoid jumping to the later sections or turning back to the previous ones during the test.

（4）Candidates shall not take the test papers or answer sheets out of the room, or tear apart, replace or copy the contents of the test.

（5）Candidates shall abide by the test instructions and rules and those who violate the rules will be warned and not even allowed to continue the test by the organizer.

（6）Before answering the test questions, candidates shall fill in their names (Chinese and English), the test paper code, nationality code, the test center code and the candidate’s number according to the admission ticket. Candidates should also draw a bar like this [■] to indicate their sex. The test paper code is on the upper right corner. The nationality code is a fixed number created by the test center for each country and nationality for all HSK tests. For example, the code for Japan is 525, France 610, etc. The candidate’s number is a serial number of registration. The test center code is the number for the place where the test is held. For example, the admission ticket of a Japanese student called Kimula Yuko is like this.
While filling in the information, candidates should write the numbers first in the blanks on the left and then draw a bar on the corresponding numbers on the right like this [■].

（7）Answers should be made by drawing a bar like this: [■].

Please note that the bar should be drawn thick and bold to make sure that the card-reading machine can recognize the answers. The candidate should bear the consequences due to his or her failure in following the instructions about how to answer the questions.

A Dream of Red Mansions, also known as Dream of the Red Chamber. The Story of the Stone, or Chronicles of the Stone is one of the masterpieces of Chinese fiction. It was composed sometime in the middle of the eighteenth century during the Qing Dynasty. Its authorship is attributed to Cáo Xuěqín (Cao Zhan), though the last forty chapters of the work were apparently created later by another author. The novel is usually grouped with three other pre-modern Chinese works of fiction, collectively known as the Four Great Classical Novels. Of these, A Dream of Red Mansions is often taken to be the zenith of Chinese classical fiction.

It is believed that the novel is semi-autobiographical, mirroring the fortunes of Cao Xueqin's own family, and was intended to be a memorial to the women Cao knew in his youth: friends, relatives, and servants.

The novel provides a detailed, episodic record of the two branches of the wealthy and aristocratic Jia clan — the Rongguo House and the Ningguo House — who reside in two large, adjacent family compounds in the capital Beijing. Their ancestors were made dukes, and as the novel begins the two houses are among the most illustrious families in the capital. One of the clan's offspring was made an Imperial Consort, and a gigantic landscaped garden is built to receive her visit. The novel describes the Jias' wealth and influence in great naturalistic detail, and charts the Jias' fall from the height of their prestige, following some thirty main characters and over four hundred minor ones. Eventually the Jia clan falls into disfavor with the Emperor, and their mansions are raided and confiscated.

In the story's frame story, a sentient Stone, abandoned by the goddess Nüwa when she mended the heavens aeons ago, begs a Taoist priest and Buddhist monk to bring it with him to see the world. The Stone and Divine Attendant-in-Waiting are separate beings (while in Cheng-Gao versions they are merged into the same character).

The main character, Jia Baoyu (whose name means "precious jade"), is the adolescent heir of the family, a reincarnation of the Divine Attendant-in-Waiting. The Crimson Pearl Fairy is incarnated as Baoyu's sickly cousin, the emotional Lin Daiyu, who loves Baoyu. Baoyu, however, is predestined in this life to marry another cousin, Xue Baochai. This love triangle against the backdrop of the family's declining fortunes forms the main story in the novel. When the young Jia Baoyu, finally grows up, the paradise-like home of his childhood is destroyed and his friends are scattered to the four winds.