How many questions are in the O-Level Chinese listening exam?

Ten, all multiple choice (多项选择式), worth 20 marks in total — 10% of the Chinese Language subject. They cover three short dialogues or passages and three comprehension passages.

How long is the Chinese 听力理解 paper?

About 30 minutes. It is a separate paper from the oral and is sat on its own day.

Is 听力理解 part of the Chinese oral exam?

No. The syllabus numbers both as 试卷三, which is why they are often confused, but they are sat separately: the oral is spoken and runs about 15 minutes; 听力理解 is heard and answered on paper, and runs about 30 minutes.

G3 Chinese Language · K320 · 试卷三听力理解

听力理解: ten questions, 20 marks, and almost nothing written about it

The listening paper is 10% of the Chinese Language grade — the same share as two-thirds of the oral — and it is the part of the subject with the least written about it anywhere. That is not because it is unimportant. It is because there is no technique to sell: the questions are multiple choice, and either you followed the recording or you did not.

There is nothing to practise on here yet.

What you can read today is the exam itself — the format, the marks and the published band descriptors, taken from the syllabus and cited. Practice is being built and will be here in time for the 2027 orals. This page will say so the day it opens, and not before.

What is in the Chinese 听力理解 paper?

Ten multiple-choice questions over six recordings, in about 30 minutes, worth 20 marks — 10% of the subject. The six are three short dialogues or passages and three comprehension passages.

三个简短对话或语段，以及三个理解篇章，共有 10 道选择题。考生先听录音，然后回答问题。

That is the whole of what the syllabus says about the paper’s structure. It gives the number of recordings, the number of questions and the total marks — and it does not say how those 20 marks are distributed across the ten questions. Ten into 20 averages two, but an average is not a statement that every question is worth two, and this page will not turn one into the other.

What is certain is the shape of the thing: multiple choice throughout, no long answer to build, nothing to structure. That cuts both ways. A candidate cannot write their way to partial credit, and a single lapse in attention costs a whole question rather than a few marks inside one.

Source: SEAB syllabus K320 (PDF), read 13 September 2026. Listed on SEAB’s G3 syllabus page.

What kind of recordings come up?

The syllabus names them: 日常会话、广告、说明、故事和新闻报道等 — everyday conversation, advertisements, explanations, stories and news reports.

This is the most useful line on the whole paper, and it is the one almost nobody quotes. “Listen to more Chinese” is not a revision plan. “Listen to a news report, then an advertisement” is, because those two are not the same listening task at all — a news report is dense, formal and front-loads its facts; an advertisement is short, persuasive, and hides its point in tone.

Named in the syllabus	In English
日常会话	Everyday conversation
广告	Advertisements
说明	Explanations
故事	Stories
新闻报道	News reports

The list ends with 等 — “and so on”. It is what SEAB names, not an exhaustive list of what can appear.

Is 听力理解 part of the oral exam?

No, and the confusion is the syllabus’s own doing: it numbers both the oral and the listening paper as 试卷三. They are sat separately, on different days. The oral is spoken and runs about 15 minutes; this one is heard, answered on paper, and runs about 30 minutes.

Together they are 70 of the subject’s 200 marks — a little over a third of the Chinese grade decided by speaking and listening rather than writing. Families who think of Chinese as a writing subject are budgeting their revision against about two-thirds of it.

What the syllabus does not tell you

How long each recording is, how many times it is played, and whether the questions can be read before listening. All three are reasonable questions and the syllabus answers none of them.

These are exactly the gaps a content site is tempted to fill, because a confident answer reads better than an honest one. We are not going to. The syllabus states that candidates listen to the recording and then answer the questions, and it stops there — so this page stops there too. The school will know how the paper is administered.

Common questions

How many questions are in the O-Level Chinese listening exam?: Ten, all multiple choice (多项选择式), worth 20 marks in total — 10% of the Chinese Language subject. They cover three short dialogues or passages and three comprehension passages.
How long is the Chinese 听力理解 paper?: About 30 minutes. It is a separate paper from the oral and is sat on its own day.
Is 听力理解 part of the Chinese oral exam?: No. The syllabus numbers both as 试卷三, which is why they are often confused, but they are sat separately: the oral is spoken and runs about 15 minutes; 听力理解 is heard and answered on paper, and runs about 30 minutes.
What kind of recordings are used in the Chinese listening exam?: The syllabus names the content examined: 日常会话、广告、说明、故事和新闻报道等 — everyday conversation, advertisements, explanations, stories and news reports, and so on.
How many times is the recording played?: The syllabus does not say, and neither will we. It states only that candidates listen to the recording and then answer the questions. Ask the school if it matters to your preparation.

Last checked against the SEAB syllabus documents on 13 September 2026. This page was updated on 2026-09-13. OralPrep is not affiliated with SEAB or MOE.