Paper 2 Reading: scan, match and infer
Work through the seven reading question groups, from short descriptions and picture matching to longer articles and Chinese short answers.
Section R4 · R4 · Reading assessment objective
Exam scope and assessment notes
This is an original StudyForA starter sequence, not the approximately 130 guided learning hours Cambridge uses as a planning guide. A qualified Mandarin teacher still needs to check every Chinese sentence, character form, vocabulary choice, register and pronunciation cue. The complete 2025–2027 and 2028–2030 vocabulary lists have not yet been reconciled word by word. Browser speech synthesis is variable practice audio, not Cambridge recordings. Speaking rehearsal and written self-checks do not award Cambridge marks; the centre conducts, marks and records Paper 3 and Cambridge moderates it. No full-length timed mock papers are included. All Chinese examples and practice prompts are original StudyForA material, not copied Cambridge assessment content.
Before you begin
Work on paper. Try each question before revealing help, and explain why your method works.
Quick readiness check
A text says «她本来坐地铁，后来改坐公共汽车». What is the final choice?
What you will learn
- 2028 Paper 2: seven question groups, 40 marks, 1 hour 15 minutes
- Groups 1–3: MC on simple descriptions, picture matching, then a short message/email/postcard/letter
- Groups 4–5: short answers from a longer personal text and matching across four practical texts
- Groups 6–7: longer-article multiple choice and short responses in Chinese
- Understand facts, opinions, events, attitudes and relevant information
Scan for the kind of information requested
Read the question first and decide whether it asks for a time, person, opinion, reason or purpose. Then scan the text for a matching phrase and read the whole sentence around it.
The seven 2028 groups progress from simple short descriptions and picture matching to messages and longer texts. The later groups test both a supported choice and concise answers in Chinese.
Treat distractors as meaning checks
A distractor may repeat a noun but reverse the time, negation, person or reason. Check every part of the option against the sentence; one matching word is not enough.
For a Chinese short response, reuse the exact relevant detail with a clear subject or time phrase. Do not copy unrelated material or add information that the text does not state.
Sources for this lesson
- Cambridge IGCSE Mandarin Chinese Foreign Language 0547 subject page
- 0547 syllabus for exams in 2025–2027
- 0547 syllabus, version 2, for exams in 2028–2030
- 0547 2028–2030 syllabus update
- 0547 vocabulary list for 2028
- 0547 specimen Paper 1 mark scheme for exams from 2028
- Cambridge guidance on simplified and traditional responses
Pause and explain
A question asks why a club moved rooms. Which evidence should you use?
Worked example
Read «学校网站上周通知，图书馆从十月开始周五延长开放到晚上七点。学生需要出示校园卡，但不用提前预约。» Which detail changed, and what is required to enter?
Show the worked solution
- Find the time marker «从十月开始».
- Identify the new opening time.
- Separate the required card from the explicitly unnecessary booking.
Answer From October, Friday library opening extends to 7 p.m. Students need to show a campus card; they do not need to book ahead. The text does not say the library opens later on other days.
Try a topic test
Choose Easy, Normal or Difficult. Save your answers and open worked review after finishing.
Test this topic →From guided practice to a new situation
Write your answer and reasoning first. Use a hint only if you are stuck. The model solution is for self-checking; your written work is not automatically marked.
Read «社区中心周三有免费的中文电影。电影七点开始，观众可以提前半小时入场。请从东门进入。» Extract day, price, start time, early-entry time and entrance.
Give me a hint
Look for the words tied to each requested field, including «提前».
Compare my reasoning
- Find the weekday and price.
- Find the start time and subtract 30 minutes.
- Find the entrance instruction.
Wednesday; free; starts at 7 p.m.; entry begins at 6:30 p.m.; use the east gate. The notice gives no film title.
Look for these in your work
- Captures all five fields
- Calculates the early entry time
- Does not invent a title
Read «莉莉觉得骑自行车上学很方便，因为不用等车。不过下雨的时候，她会坐爸爸的车。她希望学校以后能建一个有顶的自行车棚。» Give her opinion, reason, exception and hope.
Give me a hint
Track «因为», «不过», «的时候» and «希望».
Compare my reasoning
- State the opinion and reason.
- Find what she does when it rains.
- Report the future hope as a hope, not a fact.
Lili thinks cycling to school is convenient because she does not have to wait for a bus. When it rains she rides with her father. She hopes the school will build a covered bike shelter in future; it has not been built yet according to this text.
Look for these in your work
- Separates opinion from reason
- Identifies the rainy-day exception
- Keeps the shelter as a future hope
Create a four-text matching activity about after-school services. Each short advert should distinguish itself by time, cost, activity or age group; provide the answer key with evidence.
Give me a hint
Make the clues mutually exclusive and use only facts each advert states.
Compare my reasoning
- Write four short adverts on one common theme.
- Write four learner needs that use different clues.
- Match each need to one advert and quote the decisive phrase.
One valid key might be: A→1 (ends at 6 p.m.), B→2 (free for under-12s), C→3 (lends sports equipment), D→4 (starts after 5 p.m.). Each match is justified by a phrase in its advert, not by a shared keyword.
Look for these in your work
- Uses a common theme
- Makes the matches unambiguous
- Provides evidence for every answer
Common mistakes
- Selecting an option because one noun repeats
- Missing «不用» and reversing a requirement
- Writing an inference as though the article states it
What can you explain now?
What does «不但……而且……» signal?
Compare with the explanation
The sentence adds a second point
The structure means not only…but also, so both clauses matter.
After trying it yourself, choose your next review. This is your self-assessment.
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Make it stick
Before leaving paper 2 reading: scan, match and infer, explain one idea from memory, answer the checkpoint and name one syllabus detail you still need to practise.
If you needed the solution, close it and solve the problem again from a blank page. A correct answer is stronger when you can explain the reason for each step.