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Exam Content
The AP Chinese Language and Culture Exam is approximately three hours in length. It assesses interpretive, interpersonal, and presentational communication skills in Mandarin Chinese, along with knowledge of Chinese culture.
The exam is computer-based. Each student works at an individual computer, which processes everything read, heard, written, or spoken by the student. That is, the student reads on the screen, listens through headphones, types using the keyboard, and speaks into a microphone. There is no paper component; although the student may use paper to take notes during the exam, the proctor will collect the notes at the end of the exam, and they will not be graded.
Students have some choices for reading and writing in Chinese. The display and input options selected by the student have no effect on the student's grade.
- All Chinese text displayed on the screen is available to students in either traditional characters or simplified characters. Students can toggle between the two versions if necessary.
- Students have two options for typing Chinese text. The available input methods are the Microsoft Pinyin IME (MSPY), which is based on Hanyu Pinyin, and the Microsoft New Phonetic IME, which is based on Zhuyin Fuhao (Bopomofo).
There are two sections in the exam:
Section I consists of multiple-choice questions that assess communication skills in the interpersonal and interpretive modes.
Part A assesses interpersonal communication skills in the listening modality by requiring the student to identify the appropriate continuation of a conversation. It also assesses interpretive communication skills by requiring the student to answer questions about different types of listening stimuli.
Part B assesses interpretive communication skills by requiring the student to answer questions about different types of reading texts.
Section II, the free-response section, assesses communication skills in the interpersonal and presentational modes by requiring the student to produce written and spoken responses.
Part A assesses writing in the presentational mode by requiring the student to narrate a story suggested by a series of pictures. It also assesses writing in the interpersonal mode by requiring the student to read and answer an e-mail message.
Part B assesses speaking in the interpersonal mode by requiring the student to respond to a series of thematically linked questions as part of a simulated conversation. It also assesses speaking in the presentational mode by requiring the student to make a presentation on a given aspect of Chinese culture.
Each part of the exam contributes a specific portion of the final AP grade. Grouped by communicative mode, the various parts contribute as follows: Interpretive -- 40 percent, Interpersonal -- 30 percent, and Presentational -- 30 percent. Grouped by language modality, the various parts contribute as follows: Listening -- 25 percent, Reading -- 25 percent, Writing -- 25 percent, and Speaking -- 25 percent.
Multiple-Choice Questions
For sample multiple-choice questions, refer to the Course Description.
 AP Chinese Course Description (.pdf/3.5 MB)
Free Response Questions
2009: Free-Response Questions
2008: Free-Response Questions
2007: Free-Response Questions
Important Note: PDF Files
The links to exam questions for this course are in Adobe® PDF format, and you will need to use the Adobe® Acrobat® Reader® to view them. If you don't have Acrobat Reader 6.0 or higher installed on your computer, choose the link for the Adobe Web site below for installation instructions. For help downloading and printing PDF files, choose the link "PDF Troubleshooting" below in "See also."
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