1. + Describe 2 aspects of Hong Kong’s main railway
station which led to a sense of disappointment on
the part of the author.
Such fantasising was instantly ended by the functional façade of
Hong Kong’s main railway station……Should any of your
romantic illusions have survived this far, the long ticket queue will
give you a corrective experience of life in modern China.
 Functional façade
(Façade: a superficial appearance or illusion of something)
 Long ticket queue
 The railway station’s functional façade and long ticket queue
led to the author’s sense of disappointment

2. +
My imagination smouldered with
exotic images
 Smouldered
 to burn without flame; undergo slow or suppressed combustion.
 to display repressed feelings, as of indignation, anger, or the
like: to smolder with rage.
 to exist or continue in a suppressed state or without outward
demonstration: Hatred smoldered beneath a polite surface.

3. +
 Exotic
 offoreign origin or character; not native; introduced
from abroad, but not fully naturalized or
acclimatized: exotic foods; exotic plants.
 strikingly
unusual or strange in effect or appearance:
an exotic hairstyle.
 of a uniquely new or experimental nature
 Thismeans that the author’s is
constantly/continuously thinking about the unique
environment

4. + What impression of the station does the author wish to
convey by referring to it as a “concrete box”?
 Plain/Uninteresting/Dull/Boring
 Functional
 Small

5. + 4a) He feels that the Chinese in Hong Kong are better off
/wealthier / more exposed than the Chinese in China.
4b) “Deprived relations”
6) Three features – Do not need to rephrase
i. Stark high-rise apartment blocks packed together
ii. Rising hills littered with shanties half-submerged in wild
undergrowth.
iii. Industrial Sprawl that obscured the view of the South China
landscape.

6. + 5) What reason does the author give for the tolerant
attitude, shown by the Chinese government, towards
the small traders, trafficking goods from Hong Kong to
the mainland
Others on the train are small-traders exploiting the
shortages on the mainland. In the past few
years, stimulating their economy, the Chinese
government has turned a blind eye to such trafficking.
It is the first phase in the eventual marriage between
Hong Kong and the mainland……
The reason was that the Chinese government
wants to stimulate their economy.

7. + 7) The word is “hullabaloo”
8) The author thought so because he was in the longest queue
he had ever seen.
Or
The author thought so because every Chinese in the queue had
at least three huge bundles.
9) The word is “chaos”
10) An alternative word is “fake / forced / artificial / insincere”

8. +
11) The distinction between them is that the First
Class carriage is more luxurious than the Third Class
carriage.
12) The author wants me to understand that the train
was comfortable in a dowdy, old fashioned way.
OR
The author wants me to understand that the train was
uncomfortable by his standards.

9. +
What does “Big Brother” refer to?
Big Brother may not be watching you but rest assured
that Little Sister will be speaking to you, advising you,
exhorting you……punctuated with station
announcements and admirable urgings to give up
spitting in public places and to keep China tidy.
“Big Brother” refers to the Chinese Government.
Big Brother state: Commonly used phrase to describe a country
where the ruling party holds total control.

10. +
14) The phrase is “far more desirable than a soft
pillow”.
15i) Three features that the writer found attractive are
the rice fields, the mountains in the distance and the
villages made of mud bricks.
(One more feature: the glint of sun on the water)
Glint: Quick flash of light

11. + What evidence is there, in the paragraph, that
life was not as attractive as it seemed?
The first sight of the Chinese landscape is
attractive……Everywhere, gangs of human labour move
earth, rock, building materials and long lengths of metal
pipe, no burden too heavy to be manhandled into position.
China is short of most things but rich in unskilled man-power
and, one must add, as one watches them shoulder to
shoulder with the workmen, womanpower……
China was short of most things but rich in unskilled
manpower.

12. + In your own words, state how the idyllic view
perceived by the author, serves to belie the life of the
Chinese villagers.
……These idyllic views belie the wretched life of many villagers
whose only ambition is to escape to the higher living standards of
the industrial cities. Not for nothing were the victims of the
Cultural Revolution sent for punishment down on the farm……
The life of the villagers are far from beautiful and relax
as portrayed by the view, instead their lives are that of
hardship, poverty and suffering.