In this work, we have specially carried out the catalytic cracking experiments of heavy distillate oil in the high temperature range of 500~700°C. The composition of dry gas generated in the catalytic cracking process was analyzed, with emphasis on the variation of yield of C1 and C2 products. Two cracking mechanism ratios (CMRs) were redefined by replacing the (C1 + C2) products in the traditional definition of CMR with CH4, and the feasibility of using them to characterize the thermal cracking reaction in the catalytic cracking process in the high temperature range was investigated. The results showed that CH4 was more sensitive to temperature than (C1 + C2) and it was feasible and more accurate to use CH4 instead of (C1 + C2) corrected R3 to characterize the thermal cracking reaction in the catalytic cracking process in the high temperature range. In addition, it was found that the corrected R3 had the effect of distinguishing and identifying catalysts.