STEM Chinese 理科中文
Professional Chinese is sat in one of two streams. If you are applying to a Chinese-taught science, engineering, technology or medical programme, you take STEM Chinese (理科中文) rather than Humanities Chinese.
The grammar and reading technique are shared with the other stream — what changes is the register. STEM Chinese passages describe experiments, state physical laws, work through calculations and present data in charts. This module builds the technical vocabulary those passages assume you already know.
What the Exam Tests
理科中文 (STEM Chinese) is the Professional Chinese stream for Chinese-taught science, engineering, technology and medical programmes. The paper is 80 questions in 90 minutes, scored out of 100, and is available in Chinese only. The syllabus lists its topics as basic mathematical, physical and chemical concepts and lab terms; course content in higher mathematics, university physics, basic chemistry and computer programming terms; and academic settings — describing experiments, reading data charts, reading papers and taking part in class discussion — so subject vocabulary is tested alongside general reading comprehension. The question types are the same six as in 文科中文: 识解汉字, 选词填空, 辨析词语, 选词成段, 补全语句, 阅读理解. Candidates applying to programmes in literature, philosophy, law, education, history, the arts and related fields take 文科中文 (Humanities Chinese) instead; for programmes the two syllabi do not name, such as economics or management, check which stream the university asks for.
Why This Vocabulary Matters
You may know how to solve an equation perfectly well and still lose the mark because you could not read the instruction. STEM Chinese assumes you recognise the standard mathematical vocabulary on sight.
Core Objects
- 方程 (fāngchéng) — equation, containing an unknown 未知数
- 等式 / 不等式 — equality / inequality
- 函数 (hánshù) — function; 自变量 independent variable, 因变量 dependent variable
- 集合 set; 交集 ∩ intersection, 并集 ∪ union, 子集 ⊆ subset
- 常数 constant, 系数 coefficient
Operations
- 求导 differentiate, 积分 integrate
- 开方 take a root, 平方根 square root, 立方根 cube root
- 取对数 take a logarithm, 倒数 reciprocal
- 绝对值 absolute value, written | |
Geometry and Graphs
垂直 perpendicular, 平行 parallel, 相交 intersecting, 相似 similar, 全等 congruent. For a line, 斜率 is the gradient and 截距 the intercept.
Instruction Verbs
These tell you what to actually do, and misreading one costs the whole question: 求解 solve, 化简 simplify, 计算 calculate, 证明 prove, 画图 draw a graph, 判断 determine whether.
Almost every Chinese maths question is framed by a few more words: 已知 (given), 设 (let), 若…则… (if … then …), 满足 (satisfies) and 求…的取值范围 (find the range of values of …). 已知 f(x) = x² − 2x，求 f(x) 的最小值 means "Given f(x) = x² − 2x, find the minimum value of f(x)".
Reading an Expression Aloud
In 3x² the 3 is the 系数 (coefficient) and the 2 is the 指数 (exponent); in 2⁵ the 2 is the 底数 (base). In a fraction the top is the 分子 and the bottom the 分母 — 母 meaning mother, the one underneath. A term with no variable, like the 5 in 3x² + 5, is the 常数项.
Domain, Range and Behaviour
定义域 is the domain, the values x may take; 值域 is the range, the values y comes out as. A function that only ever rises across an interval is 单调递增, one that only falls is 单调递减. A local maximum is a 极大值 and a local minimum a 极小值, together the 极值; the largest and smallest values over the whole interval are the 最值 (最大值 / 最小值), which need not be the same thing.
More Instruction Verbs
因式分解 means factorise — rewrite a sum as a product — and its opposite is 展开, expand. 代入 means substitute: 把 x = 2 代入 tells you to replace every x with 2. 移项 is moving a term across the equals sign, and 消去 is eliminating a variable between two equations. When a question asks for the 解集 it wants the whole solution SET, usually an interval, not a single number.
Numbers and Sequences
偶数 even, 奇数 odd, 整除 divides exactly, 余数 remainder. A 质数 (also 素数) is a prime and a 合数 is composite. In an 等差数列 the constant difference is the 公差; in an 等比数列 the constant ratio is the 公比. 首项 is the first term and 通项 the general term.
Vectors, Complex Numbers and Solids
A 向量 (vector) has both 大小 and 方向; a 标量 or 数量 has only magnitude. In a 复数 a + bi, a is the 实部 and b the 虚部, the 虚数单位 i satisfies i² = −1, and 共轭 means conjugate. For solids, 面积 is area, 体积 volume and 表面积 surface area; 半径 is the radius and 直径 the diameter, which is twice it.
How Precise Is Precise Enough
保留两位小数 counts places after the decimal point, so 3.14159 becomes 3.14. 保留两位有效数字 counts from the first non-zero digit, so 0.012345 becomes 0.012. The two instructions give different answers and both appear on Chinese papers.
Key takeaway: Learn the instruction verbs (求解, 化简, 证明, 计算) before anything else — they decide what the question is asking. Then the objects: 方程, 函数, 自变量, 集合, 斜率.
Worked Example 1
Example 1: 化简下列表达式。 What is being asked?
化简 means simplify. You are not being asked to solve for a value — just to rewrite the expression more compactly.
Worked Example 2
Example 2: 求函数 y = 2x + 1 的斜率和截距。
求 = find, 斜率 = gradient, 截距 = intercept. The gradient is 2 and the intercept is 1.
Worked Example 3
Example 3: 集合 A 与 B 的交集是什么？
交集 is the intersection — the elements in both A and B. Had it said 并集, it would be the union.
Exam tip: Read the instruction verb first — 化简, 求解 and 证明 demand completely different work.
Exam tip: Learn 自变量 and 因变量 as a pair; graph questions rely on knowing which axis is which.
Exam tip: 交集 (∩) and 并集 (∪) look similar in a hurry. 交 means to cross, so it is the overlap.
Exam tip: 保留两位小数 and 保留两位有效数字 are different instructions — check which one the paper asked for.
Common mistake: Confusing 平方 with 平方根: 平方 is the square, 平方根 is the square root.
Common mistake: Mixing up 求导 and 积分: 导 relates to the derivative, 积 to accumulation and therefore integration.
Common mistake: Reading 不等式 as 等式: the single character 不 flips the meaning to inequality.
Common mistake: Reading 公差 as 公比: 差 is a difference (arithmetic), 比 is a ratio (geometric).
Try This Yourself
题目：求解不等式 2x + 3 > 7。 What are you being asked to do?
Module Summary
你已完成理科中文模块。You now have the technical register STEM Chinese assumes: mathematical objects and instruction verbs, physics quantities with their units and the named laws, chemistry reaction and solution vocabulary, the language of lab work, apparatus and data charts (including 倍, 百分点 and 同比/环比), computing terms, and how to read science texts and complete a 选词成段 paragraph.
Pair this with the Vocabulary, Reading and Grammar modules — the grammar and reading technique are shared across both Professional Chinese streams.
Open and read all sections to complete this module