The Times Newspaper Reading Course of Advanced Chinese (时代: 高级汉语报刊阅读教程) is a two-volume textbook series published by Beijing Language and Culture University Press . Designed for international students, it uses contemporary newspaper extracts to improve reading skills and provide insight into modern China .
While "repacks" are often associated with unofficial file distributions, you can find legitimate digital and physical versions through the following resources:
Official & Retail Versions: Physical copies, often including answer keys, are available through international retailers like Aolifo.de and China Books . Digital Previews & PDF Hosting:
Hanoi University of Industry: Provides a full PDF of Volume II (Newspaper Reading Course of Advanced Chinese II) for open access .
DigitalShu: Lists PDF versions for both Volume I and Volume II for purchase .
Scribd: Contains various community-uploaded advanced Chinese reading materials and similar titles, though specific "repacks" may be subject to removal . Key Details of the Series:
Target Audience: Students with intermediate to advanced Chinese proficiency .
Content: Each volume contains 12 lessons divided into three units, focusing on idioms, journalistic sentence patterns, and up-to-date international topics .
Authors: Wu Xieyao (吴卸耀) and Shi Xudeng (石旭登) . The Times Newspaper Reading Course of Advanced Chinese
The Times Newspaper Reading Course of Advanced Chinese (时代高级汉语报刊阅读教程) is a two-volume series designed by Beijing Language and Culture University Press to help international students rapidly improve their ability to read modern Chinese journalism. It is typically used by students in their third year of study. Course Structure & Content
The course is divided into two main volumes, Volume I (上册) and Volume II (下册), each containing 12 lessons organized into 3 specialized units.
Volume I (Upper Volume): Focuses on social and cultural themes.
Unit 1: Environmental Protection (e.g., climate change, biodiversity, green living).
Unit 2: Cultural Inheritance (e.g., museum culture, intangible heritage, traditional medicine).
Unit 3: New Lifestyle (e.g., career, internet, travel, body building).
Volume II (Lower Volume): Targets advanced learners in their final semester, selecting current international issues and journalistic sentence patterns to prepare students for professional-level reading. Pedagogical Features
Each lesson is designed to mirror professional reading requirements through: Why Advanced Learners Are Obsessed with This PDF
Article Variety: Each lesson contains five distinct newspaper articles.
Language Focus: Special emphasis is placed on idioms, journalistic sentence patterns, and learned vocabulary frequently found in media.
HSK Alignment: Exercises are modeled after the reading comprehension sections of the Intermediate and Advanced HSK exams.
Appendices: Textbooks often include idiom indexes, answer keys, and vocabulary translations. Available Formats
While "repack" often refers to unofficial digital bundles, the material is officially published in paperback with accompanying answer booklets.
Official Publisher: Beijing Language and Culture University Press.
Digital Access: Limited previews or digital versions are hosted on educational platforms like Twirpx for Volume II and various bookstore sites like DigitalShu. AI responses may include mistakes. Learn more Times: Newspaper Reading Course of Advanced Chinese (II)
You might ask: Why not just read the news online with a pop-up dictionary? Because passive reading doesn’t equal acquisition. The "Times Newspaper Reading Course" offers three unique advantages that raw digital media cannot match: Goal: 98% comprehension of one article per week
To read 《环球时报》, you need to know the subtext of terms like "台湾问题" or "维稳". The course includes footnotes that explain why a phrase is used, not just what it means. This cultural scaffolding is the true value of the repack.
Here is a simulated exercise taken directly from the "Times Newspaper Reading Course of Advanced Chinese PDF Repack" (Unit 4, Article 2):
Headline: "政商学界共议'新质生产力'：高质量发展何以破局"
Task 1 (Vocabulary): Define the following from context without a dictionary:
Task 2 (Grammar): The structure "何以" is a classical remnant. Rewrite the question "高质量发展何以破局" into modern colloquial Chinese starting with "怎样才能..."
Task 3 (Speed Read): Set a timer for 90 seconds. Read the first 300 characters. The article mentions three "bottlenecks" (瓶颈). List them.
Task 4 (Paraphrase): The article says "No country has achieved high-income status without first mastering frontier technology." Rewrite this to sound like a CCP editorial (use: 纵观…, 无一例外, 关键在于).
(Answers are in the "Teacher's Notes" PDF included in the repack.)
For advanced learners of Mandarin, moving beyond textbook dialogues is the ultimate challenge. You know the grammar. You have a solid vocabulary base. But when you open a real Chinese newspaper—The Times (or similar prestige publications like People’s Daily or Southern Weekend)—you hit a wall of idioms, political jargon, and condensed cultural references.
Enter the legendary Times Newspaper Reading Course of Advanced Chinese. And now, with the emergence of carefully curated PDF repacks, accessing and mastering this material has never been more efficient.
