A Chinese podcast · Same story, 4 levels
电脑一坏，American Airlines 的飞机全停了
When the Computers Broke, Every American Airlines Plane Stopped
About this story
An easy Chinese listening story: a computer failure grounded American Airlines' planes, passengers were stuck at airports, flights were delayed, and it showed how much even air travel depends on computers. HSK 2 Chinese listening practice.
This is an HSK 2 Chinese listening episode that runs about 1 minute. 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 11 key vocabulary words such as 电脑、坐、走 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
American Airlines is the biggest airline in America.
On the evening of July 28th, American Airlines had a big problem.
The company's computer systems broke down.
With the computers broken, none of the planes could take off.
The company had all the planes stay on the ground.
Many people waited for planes at the airport and couldn't go anywhere.
Everyone was upset.
Thankfully, the planes weren't grounded for long.
In under an hour, the systems were fixed and planes could take off again.
That day, many flights were delayed.
Many people's trips were delayed too.
For now, the company still hasn't said where the problem was.
It made everyone realize: today, even flying depends on computers.
Listen again
Try it without the transcript and notice what sounds clearer.
What vocabulary does this episode teach?
词汇电脑系统坏了 = the computer systems broke.
坐飞机也要用电脑 = even flying needs computers.
走不了 = couldn't go.
出了大问题 = had a big problem.
系统好了 = the systems were fixed.
飞机能起飞了 = planes could take off.
在机场里等飞机 = waiting for planes at the airport.
美国最大的航空公司 = America's biggest airline.
电脑系统坏了 = the computer systems broke.
飞机都不能起飞 = planes couldn't take off.
很多航班都晚点了 = many flights were delayed.
* beyond level超纲词
What grammar patterns appear in this episode?
语法不到……
不到 X = "less than X / under X".
不到一个小时，系统好了。
好在，……
好在 = "fortunately".
好在，飞机停的时间不长。
连……也/都……
连 X 也 = "even X".
今天，坐飞机也要用电脑。
Proper Nouns
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