胰腺

[Scoobyqueen]

That is probably the meaning of these characters.

[anonymoose]

I think what you have to remember is that HSK grades are awarded on a relative scale, so the objective difficulty or level of the exam is not really relevant. All that counts is your performance relative to the others taking the exam.

Now, admittedly, 'pancreatic gland' is a rather obscure term, but you can't expect to understand every single word when reading something, even in your own native language, so why should it be any different when you're reading chinese?

[davidj]

Are these words from the official vocabulary or from a sample paper?

Either way, part of what is being tested in HSK is the ability to cope with material that you don't fully undestand. It is also biassed towards academic study in universities and these terms are high school level biology, and, in fact known to many members of the public who have ever read about diabetes (or watched or listened to a documentary about it), even if they didn't do biology to that level.

[Scoobyqueen]

Thanks for your comments.

Are these words from the official vocabulary or from a sample paper?

A large number of words occur in the official HSK exam that are not on that "approved" list of HSK vocab

[melop]

胰腺 means pancreas. The Islet of Langerhans is called 胰島 (pancreas island).

[zhxlier]

I think the key is to notice the “月” radical, therefore you can guess 胰腺 is a body part.

[Scoobyqueen]

I think the key is to notice the “月” radical, therefore you can guess 胰腺 is a body part.

Not possible in a listening test.