A Chinese podcast · Same story, 4 levels

飞机能上网了,旁边的人开始开会了
Fast Plane Wi-Fi Brings Noisy Work Calls
About this story
HSK 1-3 Chinese listening. Fast airplane Wi-Fi enables work calls, raising questions about airline rules and other passengers wanting quiet.
This is an HSK 3-4 Chinese listening episode that runs about 2 minutes. The full Mandarin script is shown with tap-for-pinyin and a line-by-line English translation, so you can listen and read at once — comprehensible input in the sense of Stephen Krashen's i+1 theory. It teaches 12 key vocabulary words such as 飞机、电话、打电话 and walks through 4 grammar patterns, each explained in English with examples. The same news story is retold at 4 difficulty levels — use the level selector above to find the version that is challenging but still understandable for you.
Read at your level
原文Read the complete story in Chinese. Reveal pinyin and English only when you need them.
English transcript reference
This year, Mosby took a plane from Chicago to Denver.
The plane had very fast internet, called Starlink.
Starlink uses many satellites to make the internet very fast.
In the past, internet on planes was very slow and also very expensive.
But after the plane had flown for fifteen minutes, he heard someone next to him holding a meeting.
That person said, "Can you see my screen?"
Mosby thought: I don't want to join your meeting.
On a plane, everyone sits very close, so when one person talks, many people can hear.
Louis often takes planes, and he said that once, a person behind him talked on the phone for two hours.
At that time, most people wanted to sleep.
So talking on the phone on a plane will make other people unhappy.
The United States has a rule that you cannot use a phone's mobile network to make calls on a plane.
This rule does not include using the plane's wireless network to make calls; whether you can call still depends on the airline's rules.
So some airlines say you cannot use the internet to make video calls.
If you make a video call, it may mean you can never fly with this company again.
This year, some lawmakers proposed the "Quiet Skies Act," hoping to make the government ban voice calls on planes.
But some people disagree; they say some people just want to tell their family one sentence: "I've arrived."
Boeing came up with an idea: they made a small room, like a phone booth.
This design is meant to let people make calls inside, so that less sound travels outside.
This is still just a design; passengers cannot directly go inside to make calls now.
Now, internet on planes is getting faster and faster, and more people may make calls.
If someone next to you starts a video meeting, what would you do?
Listen again
Try it without the transcript and notice what sounds clearer.
What vocabulary does this episode teach?
词汇HSK 3. Common noun for airplane; appears in 坐飞机 and 飞机上.
HSK 3. Used in 打电话 and 视频电话.
HSK 3. Verb-object phrase; appears as 打电话 and 打视频电话.
HSK 3. Used for airlines and businesses, e.g. 航空公司.
HSK 3. Appears as 规定 and 航空公司的规定.
HSK 3. Used in 声音少传到外面一些.
Proper name for SpaceX's satellite internet service; 星 means star, 链 means chain.
Beyond HSK 3. Refers to satellites used by Starlink.
Beyond HSK 3. Used for politicians proposing the Quiet Skies Act.
Beyond HSK 3. Appears in 禁止飞机上的语音通话.
Beyond HSK 3. 亭 means booth or kiosk; used for Boeing's small room.
Beyond HSK 3. Compound of 航空 (aviation) and 公司 (company).
* beyond level超纲词
What grammar patterns appear in this episode?
语法从 + Place A + 去 + Place B
Expresses movement from one place to another: 'from A to B'.
今年,莫斯比坐飞机,从芝加哥去丹佛。
让 + someone/something + verb phrase
Causative pattern meaning 'make/let someone or something do something'.
星链用很多卫星,让网络变得很快。
所以,在飞机上打电话,会让别人不高兴。
如果 + condition, 可能/会 + result
Conditional pattern: 'if..., then possibly/will...'.
如果你打视频电话,可能会让你以后都不能坐这个公司的飞机。
越来越 + adjective
Means 'more and more...', showing a gradual increase.
现在,飞机上的网络越来越快,打电话的人可能会更多。
Proper nouns
专有名词Sources
来源Free account
Keep learning from this story
Create a free account to keep saved words and your preferred level together.
- Keep words with their story context
- Remember your preferred level
- Build your vocabulary over time