BCT Business Chinese Test Practice: Listening, Reading and Writing for BCT (A)

By the end you can

• Know the BCT (A) on one page. Listening is 30 items in about 20 minutes, reading 30 items in 30 minutes and writing 10 items in 10 minutes. Page 3 shows each section with a sample line.
  会议改到星期五上午了。 · Huìyì gǎidào xīngqīwǔ shàngwǔ le. · The meeting has moved to Friday morning.
• Hear times, places and changes of plan in work calls and announcements. Judge true or false and pick one of three answers for late flights, visitors at the front desk, moved meetings and an office closed on Friday.
  今天的会改到下午两点半了，在五楼的大会议室。 · Jīntiān de huì gǎidào xiàwǔ liǎng diǎn bàn le, zài wǔ lóu de dà huìyìshì. · Today's meeting has moved to half past two this afternoon, in the big meeting room on the fifth floor.
• Follow short work dialogues on the phone and about prices. Catch when a manager is back, what a bulk discount comes to and when a colleague will send the documents.
  一台四千五。买十台以上，每台便宜三百。 · Yì tái sìqiān wǔ. Mǎi shí tái yǐshàng, měi tái piányi sānbǎi. · 4,500 each. If you buy ten or more, each one is 300 cheaper.
• Find the facts in notices, trip plans and price lists. Work out when a meeting ends, which day a trip visits the factory and what 200 photocopies cost once the discount applies.
  打八折 · dǎ bā zhé · 20% off (you pay 80%)
• Read emails, sales reports, business news and job ads. Fill gaps with 收到, 准时, 附近, 安排 and 方便, then answer questions on an order email, a monthly sales report, a news story and a hotel's meeting-room ad.
  林先生，邮件收到了。买二十台，每台可以便宜两百块。 · Lín xiānsheng, yóujiàn shōudào le. Mǎi èrshí tái, měi tái kěyǐ piányi liǎngbǎi kuài. · Mr Lin, I got your email. If you buy twenty, I can take 200 yuan off each one.
• Write missing characters, a visitor form and short notes. Write the character from its pinyin as in the BCT (A) writing items, then fill in a front-desk form and leave one-line notes for colleagues.
  请把文件发给我。 · Qǐng bǎ wénjiàn fā gěi wǒ. · Please send me the file.
• Write a polite short email to a manager. Choose the lines that fit an email with 您, fill gaps with 收到, 改到 and 参加, then write four or five sentences to move a meeting, with a model answer.
  王经理，星期四的会能不能改到星期五？ · Wáng jīnglǐ, xīngqīsì de huì néng bu néng gǎidào xīngqīwǔ? · Manager Wang, could we move Thursday's meeting to Friday?
• Act out a meeting and a booking call, then sit a mini test. Report this month's sales, book a hotel meeting room by phone, and try seven listening, reading and writing items in test order.
  你好，我想订一个会议室，下星期二上午，十个人。 · Nǐ hǎo, wǒ xiǎng dìng yí ge huìyìshì, xià xīngqī'èr shàngwǔ, shí ge rén. · Hello, I'd like to book a meeting room for next Tuesday morning, for ten people.

What’s inside

• The test: BCT (A) on One Page
• Listening: Listening 1: True or False · Listening 2: Pick the Picture · Listening 3: Short Dialogues
• Reading: Reading 1: Notices and Price Lists · Reading 2: Emails and Reports · Reading 3: Business News and Ads
• Writing: Writing 1: Characters and Notes · Writing 2: A Short Business Email
• Business words: Business Words for BCT (A)
• Speaking: A Meeting and a Phone Call
• Mini test: Mini Practice Test
• Plan: Your Four-Week BCT Plan

How to use this book

The book has its own four-week plan on page 15: about 20 minutes a day, with the free audio. Twenty minutes of listening and saying lines out loud counts for more than finishing pages.

1. Week 1: The test and the listening pages. Read page 3, then do one listening page a day (pages 4 to 6) with the audio. Later in the week, redo them with the book closed and say every line in the pause.
2. Week 2: Reading against the clock. Do one reading page a day (pages 7 to 9) with a 10-minute timer and read each notice aloud. Pick out the time, place and action of one real sign or notice each day.
3. Week 3: Writing. Do pages 10 and 11, then write ten words from page 12 from their pinyin each day. Write one short email a day to an imaginary colleague and read it aloud.
4. Week 4: Speaking and the mini test. Act out page 13 every day until you can say both scenes without the book. Do the mini test on page 14 with a timer, check the key and redo every item you missed.
5. The day before: Rest. Check your test time and place, and go to bed early.

Who it’s for

Working adults and students taking the BCT (A), the Business Chinese Test at about HSK 3, who want practice for its listening, reading and writing sections in office scenes: meetings, calls, prices, trips and emails.

Before you start: Everyday Chinese at about HSK 3: times, dates, numbers and prices. Practice pages print characters only, as the test does. The learn and word pages add pinyin, and the answer key prints every listening line.

Frequently asked questions

How close is the book to the BCT (A) test?

It practises the BCT (A) task types: true-or-false and pick-the-picture listening, short dialogues, gap fills, notices, emails and charts, and writing a character from its pinyin. SayMei wrote every item and every office scene. The mini test on page 14 is short, seven items in test order, so use it as a check rather than a full-length paper.

Why are some listening answers words instead of pictures?

On the test you choose between pictures. In the book each picture is stood in for by a word, like 火车 for a train or 两点半 for a clock at half past two, so you circle the word that matches what you hear.

Where are the audio and the listening lines?

The free audio is on this book's page on saymei.app, with every Chinese line recorded and a pause to say it back. Listening lines are heard, not printed on the practice pages. The answer key prints each one in its audio script, so you can check what you missed afterwards.

Is this workbook free?

Yes. The whole 22-page PDF is free, and you can look through its pages here before you download. There's no card and nothing to pay.

Do I need a SayMei account?

Yes, to download the PDF, and the account is free: sign up with Google, Apple or your email address. With it we email you a copy of the workbook, keep every workbook you download on your account on all your devices, save your place in the free online practice, and you can practise speaking with Mei Lin, SayMei's AI tutor.

How do I print it?

The PDF is US Letter size. On A4 paper, choose "Fit to page" (or "Scale to fit") in the print dialog so nothing is cut off. Print the whole workbook or only the pages you need; colour looks best, and black and white works too.

Can I print copies for my class?

Yes. Print as many copies as you like for your own class or family. To share it, send this page: everyone can download their own copy.

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