KiasuParents - Parenting in Singapore

Yesterday son was asking me how to write burning of coal causes global warming in chinese. My jaws dropped. So he used google translator, but it sure looks funny to me.

燃煤导致全球变暖

What about blast fishing? Google translated that to 炸鱼作业 Isn't that fried fish homework?

I've always avoided reading chinese papers and watching the chinese news on tv. I find them too tedious to process. Perhaps it's time I start.

We watch both English and Chinese news but due to timing, dd would watch Chinese news. Its indeed a very good training on oral and speaking skill. Not only that, they use profund Mandarin and really useful if we could pick up from them.

Its a must to read Chinese newspaper for dd's school and they do a lot of reflective writings based on the Chinese newspaper articles.

For this case here, I think, it should be 燃煤导致全球暖化

It seems at my son's school, they only need to read the zbcomma weekly. Thanks for the translation, daisyt. What about blast fishing?

Hi mathsparks, I am not expert, so using google to search keywords, here is what I have found. 炸鱼捕捞

Hi Daisyt and Mathsparks,

I know this may not fit this topic, but can you or your child give the following a go? I want an opinion. Do you think this is easy or difficult for Express Chinese (not HCL)?

综合填空

人人都 Q1 (渴望 向往 期待 盼望)被理解，但理解在哪儿呢?它无形无色，抽象得不可 Q2 (捉摸 思议 理喻 分析)。然而，理解对于人生又那么重要。难怪人人都希望能被理解，人人都觉得自己被人理解得太少，感到生活中更多的是误解、曲解、费解，甚至是大惑不解。人世间之所以有很多 Q3 ( 利害 隔阂 分歧 迷惑)和矛盾，就是由于缺乏理解造成的啊!

理解尽管玄妙，但却也 Q4 (掺杂 混合 渗透 出现)在我们生活之中。音乐会上的掌声，雪天送来的炭火，对走路不便的老人的搀扶，献给失败者的鲜花，Q5 (志同道合 风雨同舟 一帆风顺 同心协力)的伴侣等等，还有很多，不知道你可曾留意过。

为了 Q6 (增加 增添 补充 弥补)孤父寡母自己无法替代的感情，子女主动为他们牵线搭桥，寻找伴侣; 自己虽然被打倒了，但却赢得对手的佩服，这比同伴的 Q7 (鼓掌 欢呼 赞美 喝彩)更令人激奋。有些人相处了一辈子，彼此仍不甚了解; 有些人只需要一道眼波，双方便 Q8 (心心相印 相濡以沫 同甘共苦 温故知新)。有些人宁可要一个聪明的敌人， 也不愿意要一个愚蠢的朋友。有一些人一 Q9 (片 副 颗 套)铁石心肠，却被一声问候叩开了泪的闸门。这些，不正是理解在起作用吗?

理解事物是困难的，理解人更困难。你得 Q10 (忍受 忍心 忍耐 残忍)，探求，斗争，甚至做出牺牲。

Is this for Sec 1 level? Looks tough
a. this passage's topic is abstract
b. the given helping words are very close
eg. (志同道合 风雨同舟 一帆风顺 同心协力)的伴侣 all except 一帆风顺 can describe the 伴侣 on its own but you have to comprehend the passage's line of thoughts to choose the right answer in this case.

My choice is 风雨同舟 because the other 2 suggest smooth relationships, I think eventful relationships need more attention and understanding.

Thanks Ks2me, for having a look. This was my DS recent S3 test. He was told this would be O Level standard. I only got 50% correct and I thought this test was tough. DS who is weak at Chinese, 吃鸡蛋。He was very discouraged. The answers are as follows.

1.渴望 2.捉摸 3.隔阂 4.渗透 5.志同道合
6.弥补 7.喝彩 8.心心相印 9.副 10.忍耐

MintLeaf wrote:Thanks Ks2me, for having a look. This was my DS recent S3 test. He was told this would be O Level standard. I only got 50% correct and I thought this test was tough. DS who is weak at Chinese, 吃鸡蛋。He was very discouraged. The answers are as follows.

1.渴望 2.捉摸 3.隔阂 4.渗透 5.志同道合
6.弥补 7.喝彩 8.心心相印 9.副 10.忍耐

This is indeed discouraging for S3 and this is not even HCL? *sigh*
I got 3,4,5 wrong too. I still feel some answers have more than 1 choice.

I tried this VJC one and got better results, ask yr ds to try and see if it is easier as the subject matter is less abstract and the choices are quite clear, not much ambiguity.

http://www.vjc.moe.edu.sg/fasttrack/chi ... /ZHTK9.htm

If he does better, then I believe the passage subject matter is important. So reading on wider range of topics may be useful.

I agree with all the answers except for Q5. For that, I think ks2me's answer is somehow, better as it seems more in keeping with the gist of the passage.

I must say this is quite tough. I think you've got to read a lot of chinese books, classic as well as modern novels, before you can get a feel for such questions. For me, I just answer by gut feeling. Sorry, can't explain very clearly.

Btw, this is a very lovely, lyrical passage. Anyone knows who the author is?

ks2me wrote:I got 3,4,5 wrong too.

Good for you! At least you got an A. I was very surprised by Q9 as I have never used a 数量单位词 for 铁石心肠 in my life.

ks2me wrote:I tried this VJC one and got better results, ask yr ds to try and see if it is easier as the subject matter is less abstract and the choices are quite clear, not much ambiguity.

http://www.vjc.moe.edu.sg/fasttrack/chi ... /ZHTK9.htm

If he does better, then I believe the passage subject matter is important. So reading on wider range of topics may be useful.

Thanks for this URL. I will definitely get DS to try this.

pea wrote:I must say this is quite tough. I think you've got to read a lot of chinese books, classic as well as modern novels, before you can get a feel for such questions. For me, I just answer by gut feeling. Sorry, can't explain very clearly.

Thanks for your feedback. I just needed to confirm this is not considered the norm by the majority. And I know what you mean by gut feel. My third language teacher used to term it as 'usage'.

pea wrote: Btw, this is a very lovely, lyrical passage. Anyone knows who the author is?

Unfortunately, I don't know the author. And yes, it is a nice passage, a little deep though for kids that age.