A Chinese podcast · Same story, 4 levels
阿拉斯加的选票上有两个丹·沙利文。要把他们分开，只能靠中间那一个字母。
Alaska's Senate Ballot Will List Two Men Named Dan Sullivan. The Only Thing Telling Them Apart Is One Middle Initial.
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Alaska's Senate Ballot Will List Two Men Named Dan Sullivan. The Only Thing Telling Them Apart Is One Middle Initial. HSK 3 Chinese listening practice.
This is an HSK 3-4 Chinese listening episode that runs about 3 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 6 key vocabulary words such as 名字、老师、简单 and walks through 3 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.
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原文Read the complete story in Chinese. Reveal pinyin and English only when you need them.
English transcript reference
Start with one very simple fact, and everything messy that follows will make sense.
This November, Alaska has to elect a United States senator.
Two people will appear on the ballot with exactly the same name. Both are called Dan Sullivan.
The first Dan Sullivan is the sitting senator, and he has already served two terms.
The second Dan Sullivan is a retired teacher.
He has never held office, and he has said publicly that he does not like the current president.
Two people, one name, the same ballot, the same slot.
The reason this can happen has to do with the way Alaska runs its elections.
Alaska’s primary does not separate the parties. Everyone goes in together.
The top four vote-getters all go through to the November ballot, whatever their party.
In other words, if you make the top four, your name gets printed.
That retired teacher took three thousand six hundred votes and finished third.
Three thousand six hundred votes might be nothing anywhere else.
In Alaska, that was enough, because making the top four is all it takes.
Also advancing with him was former Representative Mary Peltola.
She is a Democrat, and the only challenger in this race with a real chance.
So here is the question: how does the ballot tell these two Dan Sullivans apart?
The election office’s solution is to add one letter.
The sitting senator is printed as Dan S. Sullivan.
The retired teacher is printed as Daniel J. Sullivan Jr.
One S, one J.
What the voter has to spot is that single letter.
The whole difference between the two men, on the ballot, is that one letter in the middle.
The sitting senator’s side puts it bluntly: this is no coincidence.
They believe the teacher was pushed onto the ballot to make voters misread the name and split the vote.
In a race this close, splitting off a few percentage points is enough to decide it.
Mary Peltola’s side denies this, and says it has nothing to do with them.
And there is one part of this that is almost a joke.
In Alaska, there is a third Dan Sullivan.
He was mayor of Anchorage, he is older than the others, and this time he is not running.
He came out publicly for the sitting senator, and the way he worded it is worth hearing.
He said: as the original Dan Sullivan, I urge Alaskans to vote for Senator Daniel S. Sullivan.
So the position now is: three Dan Sullivans, two on the ballot, one shouting from the sideline.
Think this through one layer further and it turns slightly cruel.
A person’s name is supposed to be the thing that separates him from everyone else.
Here, the name stopped working. It no longer points at one person.
What separates the two men is that middle letter — a letter most people skip over in one glance.
Think about it:
If your name cannot prove you are you, what can?
Listen again
Try it without the transcript and notice what sounds clearer.
What vocabulary does this episode teach?
词汇名字完全一样 — the names are completely identical.
一个退休的老师 — a retired teacher.
先说一个很简单的事实 — start with one very simple fact.
理由写得很有意思 — the way he worded his reason is interesting.
你就上选票 — and you get onto the ballot.
这不是巧合 — this is no coincidence.
* beyond level超纲词
What grammar patterns appear in this episode?
语法之所以……，和……有关
"The reason X happens has to do with Y." A formal way to open an explanation.
这件事之所以能发生，和 Alaska 的选举方式有关。 — The reason this can happen has to do with the way Alaska runs elections.
只要……，就……
As long as A, then B. The condition is minimal and sufficient.
只要你进了前四名，你就上选票。 — As long as you make the top four, you get onto the ballot.
足以 + verb
"Enough to" — more formal than 够. Takes a verb directly.
分掉几个百分点，就足以决定结果。 — Splitting off a few points is enough to decide the outcome.
Proper Nouns
专有名词Sources
来源Free account
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