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挑战#12: 台北的小吃 (Cloze Sentences)

creamyhorror

Entry posted by creamyhorror

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Here's a 综合填空 (cloze) passage taken from a grade 10 Higher Chinese practice book from Singapore. Can you pick the best word for each blank? Native speakers are welcome to take part!

Instructions:

1. Answer any number of questions in the passage. Simply post your answers as [spoilers] in this blog, and optionally give a quick reason why you chose each answer (in English or Chinese). If you want, say whether you used a dictionary or researched the questions. (Note: This passage was apparently modified from material on the web, so be careful in your searching, else you might spoil your practice.)

2. I'll then send you your score and list the questions you got wrong.

3. After 3 days, I'll post the model answers given in the book. You can then decide and discuss whether the book's answers are right. (They may not be: see the thread that spawned this challenge for an example.)

The passage may look long, but it's really not that difficult. Feel free to answer just a few questions here and there - I'll let you know how you did on those.

Here's the scanned passage. It's a simple one this time, about 台北的小吃. I've also OCRed the passage and edited it, so you can do all the e-dictionary looking up you want. Typos may still be present, so watch out. Here it is:

台北是个国际都会, 饮食非常国际化。 除了日本餐、意大利餐、法国餐外, 中国大江南北的 Q1（1品味 2韵味 3口味 4滋味）到处可见, 其中有台菜、广东菜、潮州菜、辛辣川菜, 以及其他江浙名菜。在台北, 各式各样的馆子可多了, 除了各类中餐之外, 最普遍的要算日本餐馆了。台北的街头巷尾, 都可看到或大或小的日本餐馆。

说到“吃”,不禁想起学生时代的情境。吃厌了学校提供的饭菜, 又无机会到 Q2（1筵席 2餐饮 3用膳 4坐席）上大饱口福, 因此便 Q3（1宴请 2搭配 3引导 4偕同）一帮同学到街上找小吃。往往于星期天及假日, 我们都会三五成群地去西门町, 找些小吃店去吃香的、喝辣的，所以西门町成为了我们的美食乐园。记得当时有许多小吃, 觉得样样都是 Q4 (1垂涎三尺 2美味佳肴 3津津有味 4脍炙人口)。尤其是卤鸭舌、鸭脚和鸭翅，更是令人回味无穷, 不仅台北人爱吃, 许多观光客也千里迢迢来捧场。据店家说是用祖传秘方, 加上特别的香料加以烹调的, 卤品皮嫩, 肉脆, 耐 Q5 (1咀嚼 2嚼舌 3品尝 4回味), 真是顶级的美食。这里经常 Q6 (1芸芸众生 2人头攒动 3济济一堂 4如火如荼), 吃客络绎不绝。许多客人吃得红光满面, 两 Q7 (1嘴 2腮 3鬓 4颊) 沾油, 还舍不得离去。

台湾人对面线好像情有独钟, 当某人遇到一些不如意的事后, 他的亲人都会为他煮一碗猪脚面线, 以洗涤霉气, 转危为安。鸡蛋面线也是生日祝寿、保平安的美食。在西门町的峨嵋街有一间 Q8 (1万古流芳 2近水楼台 3举世闻名 4远近驰名）的大肠面线店, 只有一个小店面, 没有摆桌椅, 生意很好, 有时还要排队, 顾客们捧着热腾腾的大肠面线当街站着吃, 形成一幅有趣的街景。

台北的几个夜市里都有许多令人回味的小吃, 有贡丸汤、大肠面线、臭豆腐、福州胡椒饼等等。这些小吃大都经济实惠, 味道也好, 夜市里小吃摊的灯光, 煮炒的声音, 以及顾客们围坐在简陋桌椅旁的吃相, 构成一幅生动的画面。有时精神萎靡不振时, 到小吃摊逛一圈, 挑几样小吃尝尝, 就会变得精神振奋, Q9 (1神采奕奕 2龙马精神 3心猿意马 4如释重负)。

离开台北后, 盼望再次光顾那里的小吃, 便成了几年来我的一个小小 Q10 (1誓愿 2请愿 3夙愿 4祝愿)。

填空，GO！

(This is the first time we're doing this, so feedback on the 挑战 is welcome.)

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jbradfor

jbradfor 681

Posted

The sad part is I, as a native English speaker, had to look up what a "cloze test" was..... Now that I did, I've certainly done them before, but I never knew what they were called.

Now on to the test!

jkhsu

jkhsu 306

Posted

I just spent an hour looking at the first few questions and have learned the following:

1. I am no where near the Singapore grade 10 higher Chinese

2. Even with all of the dictionary and Google resources, I can't get any more insight into the answers.

So I am waving the white flag here and going to be watching from the sidelines.

  • Like 1
creamyhorror

creamyhorror 216

Posted

1. I am no where near the Singapore grade 10 higher Chinese

2. Even with all of the dictionary and Google resources, I can't get any more insight into the answers.

No shame at all, man - grade 10 Higher Chinese is intended to be at first language level, and it's the last level of Chinese that students proficient in Chinese are required to take (after 10 years of formally studying the language). Most students don't even take Higher Chinese; they do it as a second language, like I did.

What I like about cloze passages is that you can get some good insights on the (subtler) use of words when someone explains the answers to you. So hopefully some of our resident native speakers will 不吝赐教 ;)

  • Like 1
skylee

skylee 1913

Posted

In Hong Kong we call such exercises 填充(題).

Q1. 3口味

Q2. None of the choices, but if I must choose one then 1筵席

Q3. 4偕同

Q4. 2美味佳肴

Q5. 1咀嚼

Q6. 2人头攒动

Q7. 4颊

Q8. 4远近驰名

Q9. 1神采奕奕 (but it seems to be a bit repetitive as there is already 精神振奋)

Q10. None of the choices. I think it should be 心願. But if I must choose one, then 3夙愿.

PS - I don't really understand the charm of that 阿忠麵綫 at Ximending. I couldn't figure out why we should use a spoon to eat noodles ... :)

  • Like 2
creamyhorror

creamyhorror 216

Posted

In Hong Kong we call such exercises 填充(題).

Q1. 3口味Q2. None of the choices, but if I must choose one then 1筵席Q3. 4偕同Q4. 2美味佳肴Q5. 1咀嚼Q6. 2人头攒动Q7. 4颊Q8. 4远近驰名Q9. 1神采奕奕 (but it seems to be a bit repetitive as there is already 精神振奋)Q10. None of the choices. I think it should be 心願. But if I must choose one, then 3夙愿.

PS - I don't really understand the charm of that 阿忠麵綫 at Ximending. I couldn't figure out why we should use a spoon to eat noodles ... :)

We (used to) call them 填充 too. I think 填空 may just be the official name. Thanks for giving your opinion on better answers than the options - it helps to know which expressions aren't so suitable. Do you think parts of the passage are awkwardly written?

Also, what school level do you think this passage might appear at in HK? I assume it would be lower, since HK is Chinese-using.

BTW, we have some "Shilin Taiwan Street Snacks" outlets here, and they serve 蚵仔麵線 with spoons too. But the 麵線 is really light and 滑 and sticks to the spoon, so the spoon works okay. I think it's mainly so that you can have a lot of the 汤 with the 麵線 in each mouthful.

skylee

skylee 1913

Posted

what school level do you think this passage might appear at in HK? I assume it would be lower, since HK is Chinese-using.

I am not sure what grade 10 means ... I guess it is something like Year 1 of senior high school (15/16 of age)?

Anyway I left school decades ago so I know almost nothing about today's scene. My initial impression was that the exercise was too easy. I thought that a native speaker of 15/16 should have (almost) finished their study of 白話文 and be focussing on more classical stuff and comprehension. But then this is just what my memory tells me.

The only person I know who is studying in high school is my niece (she will graduate next year). I've observed that she is not able to discuss much on classical Chinese/poems/quotes, has little knowledge on Western literature, and does not know much about the Bible / other religions, as far as memorisation is concerned. Perhaps my expectation is too high. She certainly (hmmm ?) knows more about computer than I.

I have found this on the internet, which shows what is expected of HK students at different levels.

jkhsu

jkhsu 306

Posted

But the 麵線 is really light and 滑 and sticks to the spoon, so the spoon works okay. I think it's mainly so that you can have a lot of the 汤 with the 麵線 in each mouthful.

What they need to provide is a spork.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spork

feihong

feihong 615

Posted

This was tougher than I thought it would be. I got Q5 completely wrong (didn't even read that sentence correctly). My answer for Q10 wasn't the same as skylee's, but at least it was in the ballpark.

xiaocai

xiaocai 235

Posted

I have found this on the internet, which shows what is expected of HK students at different levels.

How do you find the difficulty of the 中文 questions? Maybe it is because I have been out of school for too long, but they are far from basic IMHO, especially the classical part. Well, I have never been good at classical Chinese after all.

@ creamyhorror

I do find the passage strange at certain points, grammatically and lexically. But I do realise that different regions have their different approach to written Chinese, so I'd say they are tolerable to me.

skylee

skylee 1913

Posted

I think it is about right. As I said I expect high school students to have finished learning 白話文 (the basics) and build a foundation of Classical Chinese. 孟子 and 短歌行 are about right for F. 4/F. 5 I would think. And analysis and comprehension are very appropriate for senior students ...

Ah I think I have forgotten (it was really too long ago) that I took Chinese literature on top of Chinese language, which is probably why I find my niece's Chinese level disappointing and the exercise above too easy. I went to a Chinese middle school which was why I studied Chinese literature. My niece's school does not require her to spend so much time on Chinese.

xiaocai

xiaocai 235

Posted

Obviously I didn't really spend much time building foundation of Classical Chinese in high school. As a matter of fact, Classical Chinese used to be the part I dreaded the most in 语文 exams...

skylee

skylee 1913

Posted

3. After 3 days, I'll post the model answers given in the book.

And the model answers are?

feihong

feihong 615

Posted

I assume you got them all (but maybe I'm wrong).

creamyhorror

creamyhorror 216

Posted

Sorry for the delay, folks. Skylee's answers match the model answers except for qn 7, which should be 2 (腮). Thank you for participating, jkhsu, skylee, feihong (and perhaps jbradfor). Also thank you for your comments, skylee and xiaocai.

@skylee: I think our standard of "first language" only includes being proficient at using the modern language. As I didn't take Chinese as a first language, I don't know how much 文言文/古文 Higher Chinese covered. Probably not too much. I guess being primarily English-oriented means we don't have the time/capacity on average to be at a standard equivalent to HK's Chinese education.

@xiaocai: It's okay as long as you find the writing tolerable. If it's incorrect, do let us know so we can be sure we don't learn something wrong.

edit: I think 填充s at this level might be a bit inapplicable to most people here. You need a lot of exposure and 语感 to get the answers easily, and that comes only with lots and lots of reading.

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