New means of communication 新的沟通方式

Weaker candidates give only basic facts: which app, how often, with whom. The General Conversation expects new-communication topics MATURELY — opinions and both sides. Add a view: 我觉得网络拉近了距离，但是也让人更少面对面交流。(Wǒ juéde wǎngluò lājìn le jùlí, dànshì yě ràng rén gèng shǎo miànduìmiàn jiāoliú.) — closer, but less face-to-face contact.

为什么现在的人更喜欢发信息，而不是打电话？(Wèishénme…?) asks for a REASON (原因), not a RESULT (结果). ✗ Giving only 发信息不用马上回复 (a consequence). ✓ 因为发信息比打电话方便，也不会打扰别人。(Yīnwèi fā xìnxī bǐ dǎ diànhuà fāngbiàn, yě bú huì dǎrǎo biéren.) — because texting is more convenient and does not disturb others. Give the cause first, the effect after.

Reading and form-completion marks need the EXACT key word. ✗ Writing 电脑 (diànnǎo, computer) or a vague 上网 (shàngwǎng, go online) when the passage names 智能手机 (zhìnéng shǒujī, smartphone) or 视频通话 (shìpín tōnghuà, video call). ✗ The sub-category 微信 when the question wants 社交媒体 (shèjiāo méitǐ, social media). ✓ Reproduce the precise noun exactly — 视频通话, not just 打电话 or 聊天.

In the writing paper (Ex4 diary/email and Ex5) write characters only — pinyin is not credited. Do not fall back on pinyin like shìpín tōnghuà for a character you cannot write; choose a word you know, e.g. 手机 (shǒujī, phone) or 上网 (shàngwǎng, go online). Pinyin is accepted only in the Listening answers, never in Paper 1 writing.

In reading short-answer questions, do not copy a whole passage sentence — lifting is not credited, and extra material copied with it can cancel a correct point. Select the point and re-express it in your own words: if a text says phones 让家人的心更近, answer with your own 手机也可以拉近家人的距离, not the copied clause. Keep answers short and on-target.

Functional writing must cover every bullet exactly; a near-version of a bullet is the common lost mark. In the s23-style no-devices summer-camp diary, if the bullet asks why the organisers banned devices, answering why you joined the camp misses it. Read each bullet and answer that bullet, not a similar one. Match the diary format and cover all points.

Learners often think any past-time sentence needs 了. In fact 了 marks COMPLETION or a CHANGE OF STATE, not past tense. A habitual past action uses a time word alone, no 了: ✗ 以前人们常常了写信。 ✓ 以前人们常常写信。(Yǐqián rénmen chángcháng xiě xìn.) — people often wrote letters. 了 suits one completed event: 他上个月买了一部新手机。(Tā shàng ge yuè mǎi le yí bù xīn shǒujī.) — he bought a phone last month.