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高考 (gāo kǎo) — National College Entrance Examination (Gaokao); (in Taiwan) Senior Government Service Examination

Definition

高考 (gāokǎo) is the mainland China's national university entrance exam, taken at the end of 高中. In Taiwan the same word refers to the senior civil-service exam instead.

noun
National College Entrance Examination (Gaokao)(in Taiwan) Senior Government Service Examination
Measure word · 场

Examples

  • 高考。
    Tā wèi le gāo kǎo zhǔn bèi le yì nián.
    He prepared for a year for the Gaokao.
  • 高考。
    gāo kǎo De chéng jì duì shàng dà xué hěn zhòng yào.
    Gaokao results are very important for going to university.
  • 高考。
    Hěn duō xué shēng jué de gāo kǎo yā lì hěn dà.
    Many students feel that the Gaokao is very stressful.

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.

高gāohigh
考kǎoexam

高 means high or higher, and 考 means exam; together they name the national college entrance test.

Characters in this word

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

高 was drawn as a tall building.

Open 高 →

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 →
Appears in
HSK 3.0 Level 4HSK 2.0 Level 6Exams & Grades

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