Today we are pleased to publish another sample HSK test for students preparing to take China's official mandarin proficiency exam for the first time. The fifteen questions on this mock exam will test your knowledge of the same vocabulary and grammar points found on the official HSK test. So put aside five minutes and see how good your Chinese actually is. Would you pass the real exam?

Ever been asked a question you didn't feel like answering because of indifference to the plight of your fellow man? In this Chinese lesson for Absolute Beginners, we focus on the art of deflecting questions. As anyone who has lived or worked in China knows, this is a critical skill for maintaining your sanity here. We're sure you'll be able to use this right away.

Since we've been getting a lot of new people to the site lately, it is probably worth mentioning that our goal with the Absolute Beginner level is making each lesson accessible to people without any background in mandarin, Chinese. This lesson is a bit more difficult than most at this level though, so if you're a total beginner, we recommend clicking through to our text page to read our annotated transcript while listening to our dialogue and podcast.

The HSK hit the snooze button with a groan. In retrospect, the Chinese proficiency test should never have picked up this early morning teaching job. There had been a clear conflict of interest there, but the test-prep school had been willing to overlook it and the job seemed an easy way of making money on the side. Also - at least as the HSK test told itself - it really was the most qualified teacher for the students anyway.

And yet, instead of a class of bright students eager to imbibe its wisdom, the HSK found its class a motley assortment of students with little real interest in the Chinese language. It was no wonder the school had had such a hard time finding a qualified teacher. The serious students had already moved almost entirely online, where materials were more abundant, far less expensive and more personal. Who could compete with the Internet?

The once tidy house on the corner of Nathan and Barker Street had grown dilapitated over the years. Its unkempt lawn was now overgrown with weeds and strewn with debris, while the house itself seemed to have settled back into the shadows, its bright green shutters long ago darkened to the color of the slate-gray yard. Could there be any surprise that - in the eyes of the neighborhood children - this was a malevolent place guarded by a malevolent phantom?

It is no secret that our Popup Towers facility includes various traps intended to dissuade careless children from stumbling too close to our production facilities. That said, we know that not all of you are as lucky as us and some may have occasion to deal with the curious offspring of prolific neighbours from time to time. And that's where this lesson comes in. Yelling at them to get off your lawn may not make a lot of sense in a country where grass is a rare, mystical creature, but if you put some emotion into it the sentiment should carry through. Good luck!

Been to the mall in the last seven years? How about listened to the radio? If you can answer yes to either of those questions, we think you're more or less statistically guaranteed to have heard our song for today. Or perhaps not exactly this version... but one quite similar to it. This is the theme song to a popular Taiwanese television show. Take a listen and see what you think. It may sound strangely familiar.

If you're having trouble placing the melody, try listening to the original song on Youtube. We've embedded the official music video from the recording band above, but if you're looking for a more upbeat version, you may want to check out this Chinese stalker edition filled with photos of the cast and crew. And if you're in China and can't access Youtube, try watching this version hosted on Youku. Enjoy!

As the tropical breeze tugged at her sleeve, Rachel felt torn. She was certain things were moving too quickly between her and Eric, and yet there was a connection between them she couldn't resist. But something held her back yet, a murmured warning in her heart not to fall too far too fast. And so her dilemma hung on her thoughts, reminding her of everything that still remained unsaid between the two of them.

We received an email the other day from someone who wanted more romance in our dialogues. This suggestion was received warmly by the members of our Bradley Cooper fan club and with a confused silence by the rest of the office ("We just did one last month," David remarked). But since we are unable to turn down such hopeful requests, we hit the studio to record this romantic gem. We hope you enjoy it. Or please don't send us hate mail at least.

When the Harvard Crimson called the job market depressed, it may as well have been describing its readership. Browsing through the classifieds, Susan was shocked to see so few opportunities for summer employment. Her uncle had been urging her to take a break from academia and "get her hands dirty" at the family business, and she had avoided the thought at first, but -- and then she noticed Michael leafing through the paper a few seats away. Hadn't he been the first in her cohort to land a good position?

First things first, calm down. Our advanced Chinese listening test for today is not fork-in-eye difficult. It is fast and long but not terribly punishing, so if you've been pushing yourself through our Intermediate podcasts and have the endurance for a longer challenge, take a listen and see how much you understand. It may be more than you expect.

You may like Hollywood movies, but how many can you identify from nothing more than their Chinese soundtrack? Film Friday is a regular lesson series here at Popup Chinese. In every episode, we play a short clip from a Hollywood film that's been dubbed into mandarin. If you can guess the original from nothing more than our brief clip, send your guess in to echo@popupchinese.com for a chance to win a month of free premium access to our site. And good luck!

Are Chinese-American maritime relations running aground? The recent sinking of the South Korean corvette the Cheonan, most likely by China's unruly client state North Korea, has led to the U.S.S. George Washington participating in naval exercises off the Korean coast. Heightening tensions, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, appearing at an ASEAN forum in Hanoi, challenged China's long-standing claims to the Paracel and Spratly Islands -- small reefs and assorted flecks of coral that happen to sit atop rich hydrocarbon stores in the South China Seas.

This week, the Sinica gang takes a lively look at Beijing and Washington's maneuverings in China's troubled coastal waters. Appearing with Kaiser are regulars Jeremy Goldkorn, Gady Epstein, and Bill Bishop. Joining us as well is special guest Stephanie Kleine-Ahlbrandt, the North East Asia project director for the International Crisis Group. This is a podcast you do not want to miss.

On a closing note, Bill Bishop's family has just opened a bakery in Beijing and is being gracious enough to let us give away some great freebies to Sinica listeners. If you're also in Beijing, listen in for instructions on how to stake your claim to some free chocolate deliciousness. And remember, to subscribe to the Sinica show through RSS, just open up iTunes, click on the "Advanced" menu and select the option "Subscribe to Podcast". When prompted, copy the URL http://popupchinese.com/feeds/custom/sinica into the box. You can also download this mp3 directly from our site by grabbing it as a standalone mp3 file. Enjoy!

Considering taking the HSK test? There is no better place to prepare for China's mandarin proficiency exam than Popup Chinese. Our sample HSK exam for today will test your knowledge of the same vocabulary and grammar points as the official exam. And there is no easier way to get truly objective feedback on your level of Chinese proficiency. So see how you do, and feel free to ask questions. We're here to help.