AP Chinese Language and Culture

Exam questions assess the course concepts and skills outlined in the course framework. For more information, download the AP Chinese Language and Culture Course and Exam Description (CED) and the CED’s companion audio files.

Encourage your students to review the overview and to visit the AP Chinese Language and Culture student page for exam information.

The AP Chinese Language and Culture Exam has consistent question types, weighting, and scoring guidelines every year, so you and your students know what to expect on exam day.

Section IA: Multiple Choice Listening
25–35 Questions | 20 Minutes | 25% of Exam Score

• This section consists of a variety of audio materials. It is divided into two subsections:
  • Identify the appropriate continuation of a conversation
  • Answer questions about different types of listening stimuli (e.g., transportation announcements, voice messages, school conversations, radio reports, instructions, and uncontextualized dialogues)
• Students will be asked to:
  • Identify the main ideas and supporting details in the audio material
  • Determine the meaning of a variety of vocabulary and deduce the meaning of unfamiliar words
  • Decide the meaning of a text based on cultural and/or interdisciplinary information
  • Infer implied meaning through context  

Section IB: Multiple Choice Reading
30–40 Questions | 60 Minutes | 25% of Exam Score

• This section consists of a variety of print materials (e.g., notes, emails about a sequence of events, pen pal letters, poster announcements, and short stories).
• Students will be asked to:
  • Identify the main ideas and supporting details in the written material
  • Determine the meaning of a variety of vocabulary and deduce the meaning of unfamiliar words
  • Decide the meaning of a text based on cultural and/or interdisciplinary information
  • Infer implied meaning through context  

Section IIA: Free Response Written
2 Tasks | 30 Minutes | 25% of Exam Score

• Presentational Writing: Narrate a story suggested by a series of pictures (15 minutes)
• Interpersonal Writing: Read and answer an email message (15 minutes)

Section IIB: Free Response Spoken
2 Tasks | 10 Minutes | 25% of Exam Score

• Interpersonal Speaking: Respond to a series of thematically linked questions as part of a simulated conversation (4 minutes)
• Presentational Speaking: Deliver a presentation on a given aspect of Chinese culture (choose and describe one Chinese cultural practice or product, and explain its significance) (1 prompt; 7 minutes, preparation time: 4 minutes; response time: 2 minutes)