中考 (zhōng kǎo) — high school entrance examination (in China)

Definition

The high school entrance exam taken at the end of middle school (junior high graduation), required for admission to senior high school. Conceptually pairs with 高考, the university entrance exam taken three years later.

noun
high school entrance examination (in China)
Measure word · 场

Examples

  • 中考，。
    Tā zhōng kǎo kǎo dé hěn hǎo, jìn le shì lǐ zuì hǎo de gāo zhōng.
    He did very well on the high school entrance exam and got into the best high school in the city.
  • 中考，。
    Wèi le zhǔn bèi zhōng kǎo, tā měi tiān xué xí dào hěn wǎn.
    To prepare for the high school entrance exam, she studied late every day.
  • 中考，。
    zhōng kǎo Chéng jì gōng bù hòu, jiā zhǎng hé xué shēng dōu sōng le yì kǒu qì.
    After the high school entrance exam results were announced, both parents and students breathed a sigh of relief.

Origin

Compound word
构词法gòucífǎ
偏正piānzhèngModifier + head

The first part narrows down the second: it says what kind of thing the head is.

中zhōngmiddle school
考kǎoexam

中 refers to middle school, and 考 refers to an exam, naming the school entrance test.

Characters in this word

A drawing of the thing itself, worn down over three thousand years into a few strokes.

The original picture showed a flagpole with a drum in the middle, set up in the center of a field.

Open 中 →

Two or more meaningful parts placed together so that their meanings combine into a new one.

  • 耂耂lǎoan old man with long hair, bent over
  • 丂丂kǎoa walking cane

In 考, the upper 耂 is an old man with long hair, bent over, and the lower 丂 is a walking cane.

Open 考 →

Browse more HSK 7-9 words or search the full 43,000-word dictionary.