Young people 青少年生活

To describe the DEGREE or EXTENT of an action or feeling, Chinese needs the complement marker 得 (de) between the verb or adjective and the complement — it cannot be dropped. ✗ 我很忙没有时间做家务。 ✓ 我忙得没有时间做家务。(Wǒ máng de méiyǒu shíjiān zuò jiāwù.) Same for pressure: 他压力大得睡不着觉。(Tā yālì dà de shuì bu zháo jiào.)

Asked why a young person feels stressed, weaker candidates give the RESULT of the stress (staying up late, feeling tired) instead of the REASON (too much homework, frequent exams). Use 因为……，所以…… to keep them apart. ✗ 你为什么觉得压力大？—— 我常常很晚睡觉。(the result) ✓ 因为作业太多，考试也很频繁，所以我常常觉得压力很大。(Yīnwèi zuòyè tài duō, kǎoshì yě hěn pínfán, suǒyǐ wǒ chángcháng juéde yālì hěn dà.)

For an opinion article (e.g. should parents give teenagers more freedom), weaker candidates repeat the two given views almost word for word. Top marks need each idea DEVELOPED with reasons and connectives (因为……所以……, 虽然……但是……) plus your own view. Read the prompt so you argue the side actually asked. Development: 父母管得太严，青少年就没有机会学习自己解决问题。

Asked what a passage says, weaker candidates lift a whole sentence — with irrelevant clauses — instead of selecting the point and re-expressing it. Lifting is not credited, and copied extra material can cancel a correct point. ✓ Re-express: 这份兼职让他学会了跟人沟通，也更会安排时间。(Zhè fèn jiānzhí ràng tā xuéhuì le gēn rén gōutōng, yě gèng huì ānpái shíjiān.)

Reading and short-answer marks turn on the exact key word: a near-synonym or a broader sub-category loses the mark. For this theme use the precise term — 同伴压力 (tóngbàn yālì, peer pressure), 兼职工作 (jiānzhí gōngzuò, part-time job) — not a vague 朋友的问题 or a bare 工作.

了 marks completion or a change of state, not tense, so it is not attached to a habitual action signalled by 每天 or 常常. ✗ 我每天都做了运动。 ✓ 我每天都做运动。(Wǒ měitiān dōu zuò yùndòng.) — I exercise every day. 了 is right for one completed event: 我昨天赚了一点零用钱。(Wǒ zuótiān zhuàn le yìdiǎn língyòngqián.)

A common but wrong idea: independence (独立, dúlì) means freedom from all rules and duties. In fact more independence comes PAIRED with more responsibility (责任, zérèn) — making your own decisions also means accepting the consequences and looking after yourself. ✗ 只要独立，就什么都可以自己决定，不用负责任。 ✓ 越独立，就应该承担越多的责任。(Yuè dúlì, jiù yīnggāi chéngdān yuè duō de zérèn.)

English speakers drop but after although (Although it is tiring, I like it), so they drop 但是. Chinese pairs 虽然…… with 但是/可是…… — both parts are normally needed even though English uses only one word. ✗ 虽然做兼职很累，我觉得很有意义。 ✓ 虽然做兼职很累，但是我觉得很有意义。(Suīrán zuò jiānzhí hěn lèi, dànshì wǒ juéde hěn yǒu yìyì.)