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Primary 4 Chinese exam paper analysis: 2018

PaperLah has 17 Primary 4 Chinese exam papers from 2018, set by 8 Singapore primary schools, with 402 questions worth 705 marks. The topics carrying the most marks were 词语 Vocabulary (44%), 阅读理解 Comprehension (23%) and 作文 Composition (15%); together the top 2 topics account for half of all marks. 词语 Vocabulary appears in 100% of the papers. Multiple-choice questions make up 37% of marks, and 5% of questions are worth 3 marks or more, which usually means showing working. A typical paper has about 24 questions and 41 marks.

Based on 17 papers from 8 schools · Updated 2026-10-13

These figures describe the school papers in PaperLah's collection, not official MOE or SEAB weightings. They help with planning revision; they can't predict a particular exam.

Compared with all years: 词语 Vocabulary took 44% of marks in 2018 (all years: 42%); 阅读理解 Comprehension took 23% of marks in 2018 (all years: 29%); 作文 Composition took 15% of marks in 2018 (all years: 7.3%).

17papers from 8 schools
24questions in a typical paper
41marks in a typical paper
2topics carry half of all marks

Where the marks are

Topics ranked by their share of all marks. The blue ones above the line together make up half.

词语 Vocabularyin 17 of 17 papers43.8%
阅读理解 Comprehensionin 17 of 17 papers22.6%
Above this line: 2 topics carry half of all marks
作文 Compositionin 14 of 17 papers15.2%
词语搭配 Collocationsin 13 of 17 papers12.2%
短文填空 Clozein 2 of 17 papers2.3%
句子 Sentencesin 2 of 17 papers1.7%
汉字 Charactersin 2 of 17 papers1.1%
汉语拼音 Hanyu Pinyinin 2 of 17 papers0.9%
关联词与语法 Grammarin 1 of 17 papers0.3%
听力理解 Listeningin 1 of 17 papers0%
Show as table
Topic% of marksPapers
词语 Vocabulary43.8in 17 of 17 papers
阅读理解 Comprehension22.6in 17 of 17 papers
作文 Composition15.2in 14 of 17 papers
词语搭配 Collocations12.2in 13 of 17 papers
短文填空 Cloze2.3in 2 of 17 papers
句子 Sentences1.7in 2 of 17 papers
汉字 Characters1.1in 2 of 17 papers
汉语拼音 Hanyu Pinyin0.9in 2 of 17 papers
关联词与语法 Grammar0.3in 1 of 17 papers
听力理解 Listening0in 1 of 17 papers

What a paper is made of

How children answer, as a share of marks.

  • Multiple choice 37%
  • Word bank 23%
  • Composition 15%
  • Short answer 10%
  • Other 16%
Show as table
Format% of marks
Multiple choice36.6
Word bank22.8
Composition15.2
Short answer9.8
Open-ended (show working)7.8
Cloze passage3.4
Fill in the blank2.7
Rewrite / synthesis1.7
Listening0

Marks per question

Share of questions worth 1, 2, 3, 4 or 5+ marks. 7% have no marks printed. Higher-mark questions usually need working.

1: 30% of questions30%12: 58% of questions58%23: 1% of questions1%34: 3% of questions3%45+: 1% of questions1%5+
Show as table
Marks% of questions
129.6
258
31
43
5+1

How likely a topic comes up

The share of papers with at least one question on the topic.

词语 Vocabulary100%
阅读理解 Comprehension100%
作文 Composition82.4%
词语搭配 Collocations76.5%
短文填空 Cloze11.8%
句子 Sentences11.8%
汉语拼音 Hanyu Pinyin11.8%
汉字 Characters11.8%
听力理解 Listening5.9%
关联词与语法 Grammar5.9%
Show as table
Topic% of papers
词语 Vocabulary100
阅读理解 Comprehension100
作文 Composition82.4
词语搭配 Collocations76.5
短文填空 Cloze11.8
句子 Sentences11.8
汉语拼音 Hanyu Pinyin11.8
汉字 Characters11.8
听力理解 Listening5.9
关联词与语法 Grammar5.9

Exam types

Which school exams these papers come from.

Mid-Year / SA17 papers41.2%
End-of-Year / SA26 papers35.3%
Weighted Assessment / CA4 papers23.5%

Key facts

  • 17 papers, 402 questions, 705 marks, from 8 schools.
  • 2 topics carry half of all marks.
  • Most-tested topic: 词语 Vocabulary, 44% of marks.
  • Most common topic across papers: 词语 Vocabulary, in 100% of papers.
  • 5% of questions are worth 3 marks or more.
  • Exam types: Mid-Year / SA1, End-of-Year / SA2 and Weighted Assessment / CA.

Questions parents ask

What topics come up most in Primary 4 Chinese exam papers in 2018?

By share of marks, the most-tested topics were 词语 Vocabulary (44%), 阅读理解 Comprehension (23%), 作文 Composition (15%), 词语搭配 Collocations (12%) and 短文填空 Cloze (2.3%).

How many questions and marks are in a Primary 4 Chinese paper?

A typical paper in this set has about 24 questions and 41 marks. Papers vary by school and by exam (weighted assessments are shorter than mid-year and end-of-year exams).

Which exams and schools are included?

17 papers from 8 schools, from these exam types: Mid-Year / SA1, End-of-Year / SA2 and Weighted Assessment / CA. The schools are listed further down this page.

Can I download these papers?

No. PaperLah doesn't share the papers as downloads. Children practise them online one question at a time, with instant marking, and parents see which topics need work.

Schools included

ACS (Junior) · ACS (Primary) · Ai Tong · Anglo-Chinese School · CHIJ · CHIJ St Nicholas Girls' · Catholic High · Henry Park · Maha Bodhi · Maris Stella High · Methodist Girls' · Nan Chiau · Nan Hua · Nanyang · Paya Lebar Methodist Girls' · Pei Chun · Pei Hwa · Raffles Girls' · Red Swastika · Rosyth · Rulang · Singapore Chinese Girls' · St Hilda's · St Joseph's · Tao Nan · Temasek

Schools with Primary 4 Chinese papers in the collection (all years). Papers are past school assessments; PaperLah is not affiliated with MOE, SEAB or the schools.

How this analysis is made

Every question in each paper is tagged with its topic, format and marks as printed. The figures above are counts over those questions: a topic's share of marks, the share of papers that include it, and so on. Topic names come from the papers and their answer keys, so similar topics can appear under slightly different names. Only aggregate figures are shown here; the questions themselves are practised inside PaperLah.

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