Test Information Guide

Field 29: Chinese (Mandarin)
Reading Comprehension

The following materials contain:

Sample Test Directions for the Reading Comprehension Assignment

In this section of the test, you will read a passage and respond in writing to the assignment that follows the passage. Your response may be written either in the target language or in English. This should be your original work, written in your own words, and not copied or paraphrased from some other work.

You may use the erasable notebooklet to make notes, write an outline, or otherwise prepare your response. If you choose to respond in English, type your response in the response box presented on-screen. If you choose to respond in the target language, your final response must be written on the response sheet provided. Please label your response sheet with the appropriate exercise (e.g., "Reading Comprehension"). Your response sheet must be scanned using the scanner provided at your workstation.

Instructions for scanning your Response Sheet are available by clicking the "Scanning Help" button at the top of the screen.

Your response will be evaluated based on the following criteria.

Any time spent responding to the assignment, including scanning the response sheet(s), is part of your testing time. Monitor your time carefully. When your testing time expires, a pop-up message will appear on-screen indicating the conclusion of your test session. Only response sheets that are scanned before you end your test or before time has expired will be scored. Any response sheet that is not scanned before testing ends will NOT be scored.

Select the Next button to continue.

Description of the Reading Comprehension Open-Response Item

In this section of the test, the candidate is presented with an assignment that requires comprehension and interpretation of a written passage. The passage may be taken from a work of literature or from a nonliterary source (e.g., a newspaper or magazine article, an expository text). After reading the passage, the candidate provides a written response to an assignment that tests literal and inferential comprehension of the passage. The assignment may require the candidate to demonstrate the ability to perform such tasks as summarizing information stated in the passage, inferring the author's implied attitude, or relating one or more details to the writer's main theme. The assignment may also require the candidate to analyze the cultural context of the passage and/or the author's literary style and techniques. The assignment is designed to test reading comprehension and not writing ability; therefore, the response may be written either in English or in the target language.

Sample questions are provided in the Chinese (Mandarin) sample items Link opens a PDF document..

Scoring Rubric

Performance Characteristics

The following characteristics guide the scoring of responses to the reading comprehension assignment.

Table outlining performance characteristics.
Literal Comprehension Accuracy and completeness in comprehending literal content of written language.
Inference Demonstrated ability to analyze elements of a written text and infer implied information.

Scoring Scale

The scoring scale below, which is related to the performance characteristics for the tests, is used by scorers in assigning scores to responses to the reading comprehension assignment.

Score Scale with description for each score point.
Score Point Score Point Description
4
  • The candidate demonstrates thorough understanding of the literal content of the written text, including significant details.
  • The candidate accurately analyzes and infers information from a written text, demonstrating awareness of subtleties.
3
  • The candidate demonstrates understanding of the main idea of the text but misses some details.
  • The candidate shows some ability to analyze and infer information from the text but may misinterpret or miss some subtleties.
2
  • The candidate shows partial understanding of the main idea of the text but fails to understand significant supporting ideas and details.
  • The candidate generally fails to analyze and/or infer information from the text.
1
  • The candidate fails to extract the main idea from the text, demonstrating comprehension only of isolated words and phrases.
  • The candidate fails to analyze or infer any information from the text.
U The response is unrelated to the assigned topic, illegible, not written in the required language, not of sufficient length to score, or merely a repetition of the assignment.
B There is no response to the assignment.