These seven original questions mix the four skills from classical Chinese meaning in context. They move from single words to whole-sentence explanations, so later questions need the earlier skills.
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Questions 1 to 3: words and subjects
Question 1
Sentences: (a) 客至，主人迎之。(b) 主人之犬卧于门。 Decide the function of 之 in each.
Answer
(a) 之 is a pronoun, the object of 迎, meaning “him” (the guest).
(b) 之 sits between two nouns and shows possession: “the host’s dog”.
Test: putting “him” into (b) gives “host him dog”, which makes no sense. Check the function every time.
Question 2
Sentences: (a) 雨大而不止。(b) 路远而不惧。 What does 而 mean in each?
Answer
(a) “and”: heavy and not stopping, the two parts agree.
(b) “yet”: a far road but no fear, the two parts pull against each other.
Question 3
Passage: 李生入市，见布美，购一匹，负而归。 Name the subject of 入, 见, 购 and 归, and explain.
Answer
All four verbs belong to 李生, the only named subject. No new name, speech marker or object appears to take over. Translation: Li went to the market, saw that the cloth was good, bought one bolt and carried it home.
Questions 4 and 5: translation
Question 4
Translate: 王生归家，见灯未熄，入视之，妻已睡。
Answer
王生回到家，看见灯没有熄，进去一看，妻子已经睡了。
Invented details to avoid: 疲惫地, 担心, 轻轻地. The text says none of these. 之 in 入视之 points to the room, so “went in and looked” is enough.
Question 5
A student translated 客至，主人喜而迎之 as “客人来了，主人因为很久没见面，高兴地迎接他”. What was added?
Answer
The phrase 因为很久没见面 (because they had not met for a long time) has no source in the text. 喜 supports “happily”, so 高兴地 is fair.
Corrected: 客人来了，主人高兴地迎接他。
Questions 6 and 7: relationship and explanation
Question 6
Passage: 山路险，然行者不绝。 Name the relationship and explain what the line shows.
Answer
The relationship is contrast, marked by 然. The road is dangerous, yet travellers do not stop coming.
Model explanation: 文中用“然”表示转折，山路虽险，行者仍不绝，说明危险没有阻止人们前行。
Question 7
Passage: 天大旱，田裂，故农人夜汲河水溉苗。 A student says the farmers worked at night to avoid the heat. Is this supported?
Answer
No. The text gives the cause with 故: the fields were dry and cracked, so farmers watered the seedlings. It says nothing about heat or the reason for night.
Supported answer: 因为天大旱，田地干裂，禾苗缺水，所以农人夜里取河水灌溉。
If you got these wrong
- Questions 1 and 2: recognising when one classical word has different functions.
- Question 3: recovering an omitted subject.
- Questions 4 and 5: translating without inventing detail.
- Questions 6 and 7: explaining an interpretation through the sentence relationship.
A teacher in online one-to-one Chinese tuition can set fresh passages for the lesson that keeps appearing in your mistake log.