中英关系: trade, cultural exchange and educational exchange

Write roughly 140 characters answering 中英关系近年来有什么变化? - what has changed in UK-China relations in recent years? The paragraph must be accurate, must attribute every position, and must reach a view of your own.

1. 01Open with what is documented and dated

   中英两国 1972 年建交, 1984 年签署了中英联合声明, 1997 年香港的主权移交给中国. 签署 is to sign a document, more formal than 签. 主权移交 is the transfer of sovereignty, the standard formulation. Three dated facts in one sentence, none of them contested, and they give the paragraph a floor to stand on.

2. 02State the high point, attributed to the moment rather than asserted

   2015 年双方曾把两国关系称为 黄金时代. 曾 is the formal marker of a past occurrence - once did, at one time - and it does exactly the work you need: the description belonged to that moment. 把…称为… is the disposal construction with a naming verb: called it a golden era. Note that the sentence reports who used the phrase and when, without endorsing it.

3. 03Name the change without characterising it

   近年来, 双方在一些问题上的立场明显不同, 这种分歧也比以前更公开. 立场 is a stated position. 明显不同 states the strength of the difference without saying who is right. 比以前更公开 is a comparison about visibility rather than about substance, which is precisely the claim you can actually support.

4. 04Give the counterweight, concretely

   不过, 贸易和教育方面的联系并没有断: 中国学生仍然是英国大学最大的国际学生群体之一, 不少英国大学也在中国合作办学. 并没有断 is emphatic negation plus a resultative - has not been severed. 之一 (one of) keeps the claim modest and therefore safe. Two concrete instances beat any adjective.

5. 05Take a position with a condition

   在我看来, 正因为政治上存在分歧, 教育和文化交流才更值得保护, 因为这是普通人能直接参与的部分. 正因为…才… gives the claim its shape and its force. 值得 plus a verb is worth doing. The closing reason - that this is the part ordinary people can take part in - is your own and is defensible, which is what the AO4 grid means by a justified point of view.

6. 06Why this counts as argument

   Five sentences: three dated facts, one attributed description, one visibility claim, two concrete counterweights and a conditional judgement. Nothing in it endorses a government, nothing in it invents a number, and every sentence would survive a follow-up question. That combination is unusual in candidate work on this sub-theme and it is exactly what the top AO4 band describes.

Result: 中英两国 1972 年建交, 1984 年签署了中英联合声明, 1997 年香港的主权移交给中国. 2015 年双方曾把两国关系称为 黄金时代. 近年来, 双方在一些问题上的立场明显不同, 这种分歧也比以前更公开. 不过, 贸易和教育方面的联系并没有断: 中国学生仍然是英国大学最大的国际学生群体之一, 不少英国大学也在中国合作办学. 在我看来, 正因为政治上存在分歧, 教育和文化交流才更值得保护, 因为这是普通人能直接参与的部分.

Translate into English. 支持者认为, 中英之间的贸易让两国的消费者和企业都受益: 一方面价格更低, 另一方面市场更大. 批评者则担心, 过度依赖一条供应链会带来风险, 一旦出现问题, 影响可能很广. 事实上, 在中国生产并不等于由中国企业设计. 很多产品的品牌仍然属于英国公司, 只是把制造这一步放在了国外.

1. 01支持者认为, 中英之间的贸易让两国的消费者和企业都受益

   支持者 is those who support, formed with the agentive suffix 者 from the Appendix 3 noun list. 中英之间的 is a pre-nominal attributive: the trade between China and Britain. 让 is the causative and 受益 is to benefit, so 让…受益 is causes to benefit. 都 covers both consumers and firms and is pre-verbal. Render: supporters argue that trade between China and Britain benefits consumers and businesses in both countries.

2. 02一方面价格更低, 另一方面市场更大

   一方面…另一方面… is the two-sided frame from the Appendix 3 conjunction family. Both halves use bare comparatives - 更低, 更大 - whose standard is understood from context, which English will normally supply: prices are lower and the market is bigger. Note that the colon before this pair in the Chinese does the same explanatory work as an English colon or dash.

3. 03批评者则担心, 过度依赖一条供应链会带来风险

   则 is the formal correlative adverb, pre-verbal, marking the second party's contrasting position: critics, for their part, worry that. 过度 is a bound morpheme meaning excessively, prefixed to 依赖 (depend on). 一条 is the measure word for chains and long thin things - 条 - and getting it right is a visible mark. 带来风险 is to bring risk.

4. 04一旦出现问题, 影响可能很广

   一旦 is once, in the event that - a conditional conjunction introducing an unwelcome possibility. 出现问题 is for problems to arise. 影响 here is a noun, the effect, and 广 (wide) is the adjective. English will want should anything go wrong, the effects could be wide-ranging. Do not translate 一旦 as one day; it is conditional, not temporal.

5. 05事实上, 在中国生产并不等于由中国企业设计

   事实上 is in fact, a sentence adverb at the head. 在中国生产 is a whole clause used as a subject: being produced in China. 并不等于 is emphatic negation plus is not equal to. 由 is the agentive coverb - by, at the hands of - so 由中国企业设计 is designed by Chinese firms. The sentence is a definition-correcting move and its English should be equally crisp.

6. 06很多产品的品牌仍然属于英国公司, 只是把制造这一步放在了国外

   属于 is to belong to. 只是 is merely, it is just that. 把制造这一步放在了国外 is the 把 construction: 制造这一步, the manufacturing step, is taken and placed abroad. 这一步 (this step) is the measure phrase turning a verb into a stage of a process, and it is elegant Chinese. 放在了国外 is verb plus locative complement plus 了.

7. 07Where the marks are

   The awardable joints are the 者 agentive nouns, 让…受益, the 一方面…另一方面… frame, 则 in its pre-verbal position, the measure word 条, 一旦 as conditional, 并不等于, the agentive 由, and the 把 construction with a locative complement. Nine sections of language in six short sentences - which is why the recommended twenty minutes for Section C is enough only if you translate structurally rather than word by word.

Result: Supporters argue that trade between China and Britain benefits consumers and businesses in both countries: prices are lower on the one hand, and the market is larger on the other. Critics, for their part, worry that excessive dependence on a single supply chain brings risk, and that should anything go wrong the effects could be far-reaching. In fact, being manufactured in China is not the same as being designed by a Chinese company. The brands of many products still belong to British firms, which have simply placed the manufacturing stage abroad.

The card statement reads: 文化活动是了解另一个国家最好的方式 - cultural events are the best way to understand another country. The compulsory questions are 你同意吗? and 你参加过这样的活动吗? Build the opening answer.

1. 01Answer, and immediately narrow the claim

   我部分同意. 我觉得文化活动是最容易的入口, 但不一定是最深的方式. 部分同意 buys the rest of the answer. 入口 (entry point) versus 方式 (way, method) is the distinction the whole answer will develop, and making a distinction in your second sentence is what separates a controlled answer from an accumulating one.

2. 02Answer the second compulsory question with something you actually did

   我参加过我们城市的春节活动. 有舞狮, 有小吃, 也有书法体验. 那天我第一次自己写了一个 福 字. 参加过 with 过 is the past-experience aspect marker. 书法体验 (a calligraphy taster) and the detail of writing 福 yourself are specific in a way no textbook example can be, and specificity is the currency of this grid.

3. 03Turn the experience into a claim about mechanism

   这样的活动很受欢迎, 因为它不需要语言. 可是也正因为不需要语言, 它只能停在表面. 受欢迎 is well received. The move here is elegant and worth stealing: the same feature that explains the success also explains the limitation. 正因为…才/只能… states it, and 停在表面 (stop at the surface) is the phrase that carries it.

4. 04Attribute the counter-position

   有人认为, 长期的交流项目, 比如学生互访, 效果更好, 因为参加的人必须用对方的语言. 互访 is mutual visits. Attribution keeps the answer even-handed and gives you a second position to weigh, which is precisely what the AO4 descriptors mean by evaluating.

5. 05Judge and hand over

   所以我的看法是: 文化活动能减少刻板印象, 但要真正减少误解, 还是需要语言. 您觉得英国人对中国最大的误解是什么? Two of the section's key nouns are doing work in one sentence. The closing question is genuinely interesting to answer, which is what makes it feel natural rather than contrived - the exact word the interaction grid uses.

6. 06What the grids saw

   AO4: a first-hand example, a mechanism, a limitation that follows from the same mechanism, an attributed counter-position and a judgement. AO3: 部分同意, 参加过 with 过, 受欢迎, 正因为…只能…, 停在表面, 互访, 刻板印象, 误解. AO1: answered both compulsory questions, took the lead, elicited a view. That is upper-band material in all three grids inside eighty seconds.

Result: 我部分同意. 我觉得文化活动是最容易的入口, 但不一定是最深的方式. 我参加过我们城市的春节活动: 有舞狮, 有小吃, 也有书法体验, 那天我第一次自己写了一个 福 字. 这样的活动很受欢迎, 因为它不需要语言; 可是也正因为不需要语言, 它只能停在表面. 有人认为, 长期的交流项目, 比如学生互访, 效果更好, 因为参加的人必须用对方的语言. 所以我的看法是: 文化活动能减少刻板印象, 但要真正减少误解, 还是需要语言. 您觉得英国人对中国最大的误解是什么?

Translate into Chinese. Chinese students are one of the largest groups of international students at British universities, but far fewer British students go to China. Since 2016 the Department for Education has funded a programme designed to teach Mandarin intensively in English schools. Several British universities now also run joint institutions in China.

1. 01Chinese students are one of the largest groups of international students at British universities

   中国学生是英国大学最大的国际学生群体之一. 之一 (one of) goes at the very end, after the whole noun phrase - this is the single most commonly misplaced item in Chinese written by English speakers, who put it where English puts one of. 英国大学 needs no 的 before 最大的 because 最大的 modifies 群体, and stacking two 的 would be clumsy. 群体 is a group in the collective sense.

2. 02but far fewer British students go to China

   但是去中国的英国学生要少得多. Two things worth noticing. First, the English post-modifying phrase who go to China becomes a pre-nominal attributive 去中国的. Second, 要 before a comparative degree complement is idiomatic and slightly emphatic - 要少得多, far fewer indeed. Writing 但是英国学生去中国很少 is understandable but weaker and loses the comparison.

3. 03Since 2016 the Department for Education has funded a programme

   从 2016 年起, 英国教育部一直资助一个项目. 从…起 is since, from the point of. 一直 (continuously, all along) is the adverb that renders the English perfect continuous and it must precede the verb - Chinese has no tense to carry it. 资助 is to fund or subsidise, more precise than 支持. 一个项目 needs the measure word.

4. 04designed to teach Mandarin intensively in English schools

   目的是在英国的学校里密集地教中文. English designed to becomes 目的是 (the aim is), which is far more natural than a passive. 在英国的学校里 is a coverb phrase with the enclosing 里, standing before the verb. 密集地 uses the adverbial marker 地 from the Appendix 3 structural-marker list - an adjective becomes an adverb of manner with 地, and getting that 地 right rather than writing 的 is a visible accuracy mark.

5. 05Several British universities now also run joint institutions in China

   现在也有几所英国大学在中国合作办学. 几所 uses 所, the measure word for schools and institutions - a small detail that signals real knowledge. Chinese prefers the existential 有 here where English uses a plain subject-verb. 在中国 precedes the verb. 合作办学 is a fixed four-character expression meaning to run educational provision jointly, and using it rather than a paraphrase is worth a mark on its own.

6. 06Where the points-based marks sit

   The awardable sections are the final position of 之一, the pre-nominal attributive 去中国的, 要 before the comparative, 从…起 with 一直, 资助, 目的是 for designed to, the adverbial 地, the measure words 个 and 所, and the fixed expression 合作办学. Nine marks-worth of decisions in four sentences, and eight of them are structural or lexical precision rather than raw vocabulary.

Result: 中国学生是英国大学最大的国际学生群体之一, 但是去中国的英国学生要少得多. 从 2016 年起, 英国教育部一直资助一个项目, 目的是在英国的学校里密集地教中文. 现在也有几所英国大学在中国合作办学.

Here is a paragraph in which the three kinds of sentence are mixed. Label each sentence, find the errors, and rewrite so that every sentence is what it claims to be.

1. 01The original, unsorted

   中英关系一直很好, 因为两国都需要对方. 中国政府真正想要的是英国的技术. 大概 1997 年香港回归了中国. 孔子学院是一个很有问题的机构. Four sentences: a judgement dressed as a fact, a claim about private intention, a documented fact wrongly hedged, and a contested position stated as a verdict. All four fail, and all four are the kind of sentence a candidate writes under time pressure.

2. 02Sentence one: a judgement dressed as a fact

   中英关系一直很好 is not a fact, and 一直 makes it stronger still. Rewrite as a documented fact plus an attribution: 中英两国 1972 年建交, 双方在贸易和教育上有长期的联系. 关于关系的整体状况, 两国政府近年来的说法并不一致. Now the first half is checkable and the second half names a disagreement instead of hiding one.

3. 03Sentence two: a claim about intention, which you cannot know

   中国政府真正想要的是英国的技术 asserts a private motive. You cannot know it and it cannot be evidenced. Rewrite in terms of what is stated and done: 中方多次表示希望在科技领域加强合作. 至于双方的具体动机, 外界很难判断. 至于 shifts the topic and 外界很难判断 (outside observers find it hard to judge) is an honest and sophisticated closing.

4. 04Sentence three: a fact wrongly hedged

   大概 1997 年 undermines a date that is not in doubt. Rewrite flatly: 1997 年 7 月 1 日, 香港的主权移交给中国. The precision here costs nothing and buys credibility for the hedged sentences elsewhere, because the reader can now see that you hedge only when hedging is warranted.

5. 05Sentence four: a contested position stated as a verdict

   孔子学院是一个很有问题的机构 takes a side. Rewrite as an attributed disagreement plus a conditional judgement: 关于孔子学院, 支持者认为它提供了语言学习的机会, 批评者则担心学术独立会受到影响. 在我看来, 如果学校能够公开合作的条件, 那么这种担心就比较容易解决. Both sides named, then a conditional view of your own.

6. 06Why this counts as argument

   The rewritten paragraph is about twice the length and contains one flat date, three attributions, one honest admission of what cannot be judged and one conditional judgement. It takes no side and yet says something. That combination is what the AO4 top band means by convincing interpretations consistently justified, and in a bilateral topic it is the only route to that band.

Result: 中英两国 1972 年建交, 双方在贸易和教育上有长期的联系; 关于关系的整体状况, 两国政府近年来的说法并不一致. 中方多次表示希望在科技领域加强合作, 至于双方的具体动机, 外界很难判断. 1997 年 7 月 1 日, 香港的主权移交给中国. 关于孔子学院, 支持者认为它提供了语言学习的机会, 批评者则担心学术独立会受到影响. 在我看来, 如果学校能够公开合作的条件, 那么这种担心就比较容易解决.