The word 高中生 is formed by sequentially stacking three distinct conceptual blocks of the Chinese education system: 高 (gāo, "high") modifies 中 (zhōng, "middle school") to create the specific stage of "high school", and this compound unit then modifies 生 (shēng, "student") to specify the person who belongs to that stage. It is a straightforward, logical construction where each component narrows the focus, moving from the broad category of "student" to the specific type of student in the "high school" level of education.