HSK 6 reading practice

Every passage here is written inside HSK 6 — the grammar and the vocabulary stay in the level, so you read rather than decode. Shortest first.

Who Eats the Last Piece最后一块该谁吃At the end of a home dinner party, one piece of fish sits untouched on the plate while everyone insists they are already full. A newcomer to the table…HSK 6 · 525 characters · 6 min · foodA White Horse Is Not a Horse白马非马An online fight over whether a hot dog is a sandwich reminds one friend of an ancient Chinese logic riddle: the philosopher Gongsun Long argued a whit…HSK 6 · 534 characters · 6 min · philosophyThe Seat You Give Up on the Subway地铁上让出去的座位A young commuter gives up her subway seat to an elderly passenger without being asked, and instead of thanking her, he seems almost offended, mutterin…HSK 6 · 535 characters · 6 min · cultureWho Sits Where at the Table饭桌上的座位A young employee sits down at a business banquet before checking who else is at the table, and takes the seat facing the door, the seat meant for the…HSK 6 · 539 characters · 6 min · foodThe Meeting That Could Have Been a Message本可以是一条消息的会议An employee argues that most of her week's meetings only restate a document nobody read, and exist to make the organizer look busy. Her manager pushes…HSK 6 · 541 characters · 6 min · current-eventsThe Poet Who Kept Getting Demoted一贬再贬的诗人Two readers notice that Su Shi wrote many of his most famous works only after being demoted and exiled, first to Huangzhou, later to Huizhou and Haina…HSK 6 · 620 characters · 7 min · literatureWhy We Pickle为什么要腌菜Every autumn a grandmother still fills jars with pickled vegetables, decades after the refrigerator made it unnecessary. Her granddaughter pushes back…HSK 6 · 645 characters · 7 min · foodThe Novel Everyone Rereads Differently每一代人读出不同的红楼梦Two friends compare notes on a classic novel neither of them read the same way: one saw a love story at seventeen, the other just reread it and saw a…HSK 6 · 650 characters · 7 min · literatureThe Group Buy团购的麻烦事Every evening a resident spends twenty minutes in her building's group chat organizing a bulk vegetable order, and defends it as cheaper and fresher t…HSK 6 · 667 characters · 7 min · dailyYour Face Is the Password你的脸就是密码林悦 pays for groceries by smiling at a face-scanning register and finds it wonderful, nothing to carry, nothing to forget. 周凯 has kept his own phone ca…HSK 6 · 676 characters · 8 min · techThe Noise Upstairs楼上的声音A resident posts a polite complaint about footsteps overhead in the building's group chat, and the neighbor upstairs is hurt rather than apologetic, p…HSK 6 · 695 characters · 8 min · dailyThe Doorman Who Knows Everyone认识所有人的门卫新住户 finds it faintly annoying that the building's elderly doorman 张师傅 always notes exactly when she leaves and comes home and comments on it, until a…HSK 6 · 738 characters · 8 min · dailyDoes the Old Medicine Still Work老中医还有用吗林然这几个月一直腰疼，检查不出原因，最后去看了一位老中医，把脉看舌头之后喝了一副苦中药，三个星期后疼真的轻了不少。学西医的朋友周涛替她高兴，却不愿意承认是中药真的起了作用，他说一个人吃了药感觉好一点，证明不了什么，还提到有的中药材是后来实验室提炼出成分才证明管用的。两个人谁也说服不了谁，谁也没说对方…HSK 6 · 752 characters · 8 min · cultureThe Argument About Simplification简化字的那场争论王磊 grew up using simplified characters in mainland China; 林华 grew up using traditional characters in Taiwan. Looking at an old family photo, they work…HSK 6 · 760 characters · 8 min · historyReading the Classical in the Modern现代话里的古文A journalist and a translator friend talk about why classical Chinese never fully disappeared. It survives in formal written Chinese, in fixed charact…HSK 6 · 839 characters · 9 min · literatureWhat the Wheelwright Told the Duke轮扁对国君说的话A friend gives up on a cooking video for the fourth time, convinced there is a step nobody films. Another tells Zhuangzi's story of the old wheelwrigh…HSK 6 · 849 characters · 9 min · philosophyDoes the Dialect Die with the Grandparents方言会随着老人消失吗晓琳 went home for her grandmother's eightieth birthday and could only follow half of what she said in dialect; her cousin 阿珍, who stayed in the hometow…HSK 6 · 869 characters · 10 min · cultureDoes Your Zodiac Animal Matter属相重要吗Chen Jing's parents are quietly checking whether her new boyfriend's zodiac animal is compatible with hers, and she is annoyed about it and also, she…HSK 6 · 896 characters · 10 min · culture

What is in HSK 6 reading practice

18 passages, each between 525 and 896 characters (6 to 10 minutes). Themes: culture, food, literature, daily, philosophy and current-events. The shortest is Who Eats the Last Piece; the longest is Does Your Zodiac Animal Matter.

How to read HSK 6 passages

Start with the shortest and work up. Each passage ends in comprehension questions (77 across this level), so you find out whether you followed it before you move on. They flag 61 new words between them. Unknown words are worth looking up in the dictionary.

Around HSK 6

HSK 5 readings · printable HSK 6 word list · HSK 6 grammar · how to pass HSK 6 · free HSK 6 practice test

Questions about HSK 6 readings

How many HSK 6 readings are there?

18 passages, from 525 to 896 characters.

How long does a passage at HSK 6 take?

About 6 to 10 minutes.

What is in each HSK 6 reading?

Pinyin, a full English translation, narration, a new-word list and comprehension questions. This page shows titles and summaries; the full text opens in the study room.

Where should I start at HSK 6?

With Who Eats the Last Piece, the shortest. Then work up by length.