Contemporary Life
What this unit covers
The topics below follow the published Chinese Lang course framework for Unit 5. Chinese Lang publishes no per-unit weighting, so there is no percentage to chase here.
Lessons in this unit
- The Aspect Marker 了 (le)14 min · 3 objectivesUse verb-了 to mark a completed action · Use sentence-final 了 to signal a change of state or new situation · Negate completed actions correctly with 没 (méi) rather than 不 (bù)
- The Experiential Aspect 过 (guo)12 min · 3 objectivesUse verb-过 to say someone has had the experience of doing something · Distinguish experiential 过 from completed-action 了 · Negate experiences with 没 while keeping 过
Every term in Unit 5
All 23 terms we publish for Contemporary Life, with definitions. Reading them through is the fastest way to find the ones you cannot define — then drill those in cram mode until you can produce them without the prompt.
- 生活方式 (shēng huó fāng shì)
- Lifestyle. 健康的生活方式 a healthy lifestyle.
- 职业 (zhí yè)
- Occupation, profession. 职业规划 career planning; 就业 employment.
- 实习 (shí xí)
- Internship; to intern. 实习生 intern.
- 面试 (miàn shì)
- Job interview; to interview. 参加面试 to attend an interview.
- 留学 (liú xué)
- To study abroad. 留学生 international student; 出国留学 to go abroad to study.
- 考试压力 (kǎo shì yā lì)
- Exam pressure. 高考, the national college entrance examination held each June, is the single most useful cultural reference for this theme.
- 爱好 (ài hào)
- Hobby. 业余爱好 spare-time hobby. Distinguish from 兴趣, interest.
- 旅游 (lǚ yóu)
- Tourism, to travel for pleasure. 名胜古迹 scenic spots and historical sites; 长城 the Great Wall; 兵马俑 the Terracotta Army.
- 交通 (jiāo tōng)
- Transportation, traffic. 地铁 subway; 公交车 bus; 堵车 traffic jam; 共享单车 shared bicycles.
- 购物 (gòu wù)
- Shopping. 打折 discount; 便宜 cheap; 划算 good value; 讨价还价 to haggle.
- 饮食 (yǐn shí)
- Diet, food and drink. 川菜 Sichuan cuisine, 粤菜 Cantonese, 鲁菜 Shandong, 淮扬菜 Huaiyang — the four major traditions.
- 健康 (jiàn kāng)
- Health; healthy. 保持健康 to stay healthy; 中医 traditional Chinese medicine; 针灸 acupuncture; 太极拳 tai chi.
- 住房 (zhù fáng)
- Housing. 房租 rent; 房价 housing prices — a standard topic in discussions of urban life.
- 城市化 (chéng shì huà)
- Urbanization. The 化 suffix forms abstract nouns: 现代化 modernization, 全球化 globalization.
- 农村 / 城市 (nóng cūn / chéng shì)
- Countryside / city. 城乡差距 the urban-rural gap is a common essay theme.
- 环境 vs 环保 (huán jìng / huán bǎo)
- 环境 is the environment itself; 环保 is environmental protection, short for 环境保护. Do not swap them.
- 了 (le): the two uses
- After a verb it marks completion (我吃了饭); at the end of a sentence it marks a change of state or new situation (我不去了 — I'm not going any more). Many sentences carry both.
- 过 (guo) vs 了 (le)
- 过 marks past experience at some point (我去过中国); 了 marks a completed event (我去了中国). "Have you ever" always takes 过.
- 正在 / 在 / 着
- 正在 and 在 mark an action in progress; 着 marks a continuing state. 他在开门 — he is opening the door. 门开着 — the door is open.
- duration and frequency phrases
- Time-spent follows the verb: 我学了两年中文. Time-when precedes it: 我昨天学中文了. Reversing them is a frequent error.
- 比 字句 with degree
- 比 comparisons take 一点儿, 得多 or a quantity after the adjective: 他比我高一点儿 / 高得多 / 高五公分. Never 很: 比我很高 is wrong.
- 除了⋯⋯以外 (chú le … yǐ wài)
- With 都 it means "except"; with 还/也 it means "besides, in addition to". The second clause decides which.
- 电子邮件的格式
- Email response: open with a greeting and a thank-you, answer every question asked, add one piece of relevant detail, close with 祝好 or 此致敬礼 and a signature. Failing to answer all parts is the most common lost mark.
What examiners penalize here
- When narrating events on the exam, use verb-了 for the completed steps of a story and sentence-final 了 for a resulting new situation: 我到了北京，天气变冷了 (Wǒ dàole Běijīng, tiānqì biàn lěng le, “I arrived in Beijing, and the weather had turned cold”). Handling both 了s correctly is a clear sign of intermediate-high control.
- On the interpersonal task, questions about experience are common ice-breakers: 你学过中文多长时间了？(Nǐ xuéguo Zhōngwén duō cháng shíjiān le?) “How long have you been learning Chinese?” Comfort with 过 lets you both ask and answer about experiences fluently.
Practice Chinese Lang
Our practice bank is drawn from across the whole course rather than filtered to one unit, which is closer to how the exam asks anyway — it will not tell you which unit a question is testing.
Questions about this unit
How much of the AP Chinese Language & Culture exam is Unit 5?
The Chinese Lang course framework does not publish a per-unit weighting, so there is no percentage to quote for Unit 5 and anyone who gives you one is guessing. Spread your time by where your own errors are instead.
What topics are covered in Chinese Lang Unit 5?
Contemporary Life covers School, Work, Food and Travel. We publish 23 terms with definitions for this unit, all of them on this page.
How should I study Chinese Lang Unit 5?
Read the 2 lessons below first — about 25 minutes — then drill the 23 terms in cram mode until you can produce each definition from memory rather than just recognize it. Recognition is what makes a unit feel finished when it is not. Finish with practice questions and read the explanation for every one you get right by elimination as well as the ones you miss.
All 6 units of AP Chinese Language & Culture
Unit names, topics and exam weights follow the published College Board course framework for AP Chinese Language & Culture. AP® is a trademark registered by the College Board, which does not endorse this site.