高考 gāokǎo college entrance exam
college entrance exam (especially as short for 普通高等学校招生全国统一考试); (Taiwan) entrance exam for senior government service posts (short for 公务人员高等考试)
How to remember 高考: 高 high + 考 to test = college entrance exam.
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How it is used
- China's national college entrance exam, taken every June by graduating high schoolers - a proper-noun-like term with heavy cultural weight (huge family and social pressure attached).
- Used bare, without 的 or extra modifiers, much like a fixed institution name: 参加高考 (cānjiā gāokǎo) - sit the gaokao.
- Contrast with the generic word for any test, 考试 (kǎoshì).