The book is divided into three chapters:

Chapter 1 briefly introduces the Chinese as a second language (0523) course to help students know about the exam requirements for the new 2018 syllabus which has the first exam in 2020. This chapter also includes the basic text formats, language points, conjunction words and question words to help students well prepare for their writing and speaking exams.

Chapter 2 aims to improve writing skills on short essays with instruction bullet points and long argumentative essays based on the four themes. Apart from the model well-written essays, the book also includes suggestions on how to respond to the questions. The purpose is to let students know what kind of essays can meet the writing requirements of the course syllabus. For helping students know about the typical mistakes that appear in the essays and how to avoid

the similar mistakes in their own writing, the book includes some examples of essays with typical mistakes and marking scheme. At the end of each theme, there are “question bank” and “the most frequently used words on the theme”. Students can practice writing according to the questions. “Practice makes perfect”. More practice will make students’ writing skills improve.

Chapter 3 focuses on the oral exam. This chapter is also based on the four themes specified in the course outline. For students to have a clearer understanding of the oral exam mode, the book gives a full transcript sample of the oral exam including part 1 “presentation”, part 2 “follow-up questions and answers” and part 3 “general questions and answers”. Apart from this, the book also has plenty of model transcript texts on different themes as well as a “question list” so that students can well prepare for their oral exam.