I painstakingly extracted all the idioms that appear for the Primary School Leaving Examination (Chinese) from 2012 to 2024.
2012 改过自新 赞不绝口 装模作样 鸟语花香 灵机一动 兴高采烈 不慌不忙 慢条斯理
2013 怒气冲冲 慢条斯理 三五成群 费尽心机 东张西望 装模作样
2014 一举两得 心甘情愿 美味可口 左邻右舍 依依不舍 东倒西歪 得寸进尺 火冒三丈
2015 异口同声 争先恐后 慢条斯理 赞不绝口 目不转睛：形容注意力集中 洋洋得意
2016 改过自新 不约而同 左挑右选 愁眉苦脸 左思右想 半信半疑 赞不绝口 一言为定 井然有序 四面八方 坐立不安 乱七八糟 万紫千红
2017 大吃一惊 异口同声 昏昏沉沉 闷闷不乐 装模作样 筋疲力尽 珠光宝气 一言不发： 不说一句话
2018 吃苦耐劳 粗心大意 洋洋得意 千辛万苦 七嘴八舌 奔走相告 不约而同 兴高采烈 眉头紧锁
2019 恍然大悟 - 忽然明白 获益不浅 左思右想 垂头丧气 东倒西歪 五颜六色 人来人往 凹凸不平 不慌不忙 七嘴八舌 依依不舍 兴高采烈 齐心协力 眉开眼笑 美味可口 与众不同 恍然大悟
2021 (高兴得）眉开眼笑 异口同声 闷闷不乐 怒气冲冲 恍然大悟： 突然间一切都明白了 2022 津津有味 心满意足 恍然大悟 灵机一动 喜出望外
2023 一言为定 神机妙算 信以为真 死记硬背 害人害己 手忙脚乱 小心翼翼 火冒三丈 一模一样 面无表情 恍然大悟
2024 目不转睛 雨过天晴 五彩缤纷 闷闷不乐 恍然大悟 轻手轻脚 手舞足蹈 争先恐后 东摇西摆
Some observations
- 成语 is a hit or miss game. Some years, many idioms came up. Other years, not so much. If the child is weak in Chinese, I will just study those that have appeared before and hope for the best
- the idioms that I grew up with like 饮水思源/见义勇为/不务正业/ 倾盆大雨/ 知错能改have never come up before!
- must teach child the Chinese definition instead of over-relying on English translation. Some times, they expect the child to match the meaning to the idiom (eg 恍然大悟：突然间一切都明白了)
- must teach child to infer the meaning of obscure idioms. I have never come across 眉头紧锁 (2018) before!
- sometimes, the testing is quite evil. They use four idioms for 短文填空 and ask the candidates to choose the most appropriate one. Again, the child must be able to infer the answer from contextual clues
- I am trying to match some 成语 with phrases a child can use for English composition. Stuff like 改过自新 (turned over a new leaf). (https://diaperfinancingfund.blogspot.com/2025/12/psle-their-english-equivalents.html?m=1) Trying to reduce cognitive load. Stay tuned haha
- similarly, teach idioms in clusters （eg 美味可口 -> 津津有味 -> 赞不绝口)