Healthy eating 健康饮食

Food and drink nouns each take a specific 量词 (measure word), and defaulting to 个 (gè) is a marks-losing imprecision. 茶 (chá, tea) takes 杯 (bēi, cup): 一杯茶 (yì bēi chá); 米饭 (mǐfàn, rice) takes 碗 (wǎn, bowl): 一碗米饭 (yì wǎn mǐfàn). ✗ 我喝了一个茶。 ✓ 我喝了一杯茶。(Wǒ hē le yì bēi chá.) — I drank a cup of tea.

In a 比 (bǐ) comparison the adjective must NOT be modified by 很 (hěn) or 非常 (fēicháng). To show degree use 更 (gèng, even more) or 得多 (de duō, much more). ✗ 蔬菜比零食很健康。 ✓ 蔬菜比零食更健康。(Shūcài bǐ língshí gèng jiànkāng.) — Vegetables are even healthier than snacks.

For an opinion article such as whether students should eat fast food, weaker candidates repeat the two given comments almost word for word. Top marks DEVELOP each idea with connectives (因为……所以……, 虽然……但是……) and add your own view. Example: 快餐很方便，但是因为它太油腻，所以常吃对身体有害。(Kuàicān hěn fāngbiàn, dànshì yīnwèi tā tài yóunì, suǒyǐ cháng chī duì shēntǐ yǒuhài.)

In Paper 1 writing (Ex4 and Ex5) you must write in characters only — pinyin is not credited, so substituting pinyin for a character you cannot recall scores nothing for that word. Pinyin is tolerated only in the LISTENING paper, and even there it must be unambiguous. ✗ 我们应该多吃shūcài。 ✓ 我们应该多吃蔬菜。(Wǒmen yīnggāi duō chī shūcài.) — eat more vegetables.

Copying a whole passage sentence, with its irrelevant clauses, is not credited; extra or wrong material can even cancel a correct point. Select the exact point and re-express it in your own words: from a passage on cutting out soft drinks, answer 他开始多喝水，少喝汽水 (tā kāishǐ duō hē shuǐ, shǎo hē qìshuǐ) rather than copying the line.

Comprehension questions distinguish the 原因 (yuányīn, reason) from the 结果 (jiéguǒ, result); giving one when the other is asked loses the mark. Asked WHY someone changed their diet, give the cause (因为他以前常吃垃圾食品 — he used to eat a lot of junk food), not the new habits that followed. Use cause language: 因为……所以……, 由于 (yóuyú), 导致 (dǎozhì, to lead to).

Healthy eating does not just mean eating as little as possible or dieting. In fact 健康饮食 (jiànkāng yǐnshí) means a BALANCED, nutritious diet — right foods, regular meals, less sugar/grease — not simply eating less. Skipping breakfast (不吃早餐) to lose weight is UNhealthy. A mature answer talks about 均衡 (jūnhéng, balance), 营养 (yíngyǎng, nutrition) and 运动 (yùndòng, exercise).

Learners treat 了 (le) as an English past-tense switch and attach it to every past or repeated action. In fact 了 marks COMPLETION or a CHANGE OF STATE, not tense, and is NOT used with habitual actions marked by 每天 (měitiān) or 常常 (chángcháng). ✗ 我每天都吃了早餐。 ✓ 我每天都吃早餐。(Wǒ měitiān dōu chī zǎocān.) Completion 了 fits a single event: 我今天已经吃了早餐 (Wǒ jīntiān yǐjīng chī le zǎocān).