A Chinese podcast · Same story, 4 levels
他打类固醇、一天喝二十多杯、一次都没练。健美比赛首秀，他拿了最后一名。
He Took Steroids, Drank 24 a Day and Never Trained Once. At His First Bodybuilding Contest, He Came Last.
About this story
He Took Steroids, Drank 24 a Day and Never Trained Once. At His First Bodybuilding Contest, He Came Last. HSK 2 Chinese listening practice.
This is an HSK 2 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 15 key vocabulary words such as 身体、医生、别人 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
In America there is a man called Peter.
Peter wanted to enter a contest.
What kind of contest?
The kind where everyone goes on stage and lets people look at their bodies.
People who enter that kind of contest train every single day.
One year of training, two years, many years of it.
But Peter did not train.
Not for a single day.
He thought: what if I do not train — can that work?
He took a drug.
This drug can make the body grow bigger.
Most people who take this drug still train every day.
Peter only took the drug. He did not train.
He also drank every day.
How much in a day?
By his own account: more than twenty glasses.
Later, when the contest was close, he cut back a little.
How much is "a little"?
He said: under twelve a day.
No training. The drug. The drink.
He put all of it online.
Many people watched, and many said he was wrong.
Doctors said that taking this drug while drinking that much is very bad for the body.
Someone asked him: are you not afraid?
He said: I just want to see whether a body can grow without training.
On the eighth of August, he really did go on stage.
There were eight men on the stage.
Of the eight, seven trained every day.
One did not.
That one was Peter.
The other men’s bodies were big and looked good.
And his?
Not like theirs.
One look and you knew which one had not trained.
That day there was one round in the morning and another in the evening.
The morning round ended, and there were a few hours in between.
Those few hours — where did Peter go?
He went off to drink.
He drank and drank, and lost track of the time.
By the time he came back, the evening round was already over.
He never went on stage.
In the end, out of eight men, Peter placed eighth.
Eight men, eighth place.
That is last.
Peter himself does not see it that way.
He said: in my view my body was the best up there, or the second best.
But the people handing out the scores did not see it that way.
Now Peter says: the drug, I have stopped.
I am going to start training.
Think about it: people who badly want something but will not work for it — are there many of them?
Listen again
Try it without the transcript and notice what sounds clearer.
What vocabulary does this episode teach?
词汇让人看身体的那种比赛 = the kind of contest where people look at your body.
医生说，对身体很不好 = doctors said it is very bad for the body.
别人的身体，又大又好看 = the other men’s bodies were big and looked good.
一看就知道 = one look and you knew.
他真的上台了 = he really did go on stage.
晚上那一次已经完了 = the evening round was already over.
我觉得，我的身体是最好的 = I think my body was the best.
我要开始练了 = I am going to start training.
去这种比赛的人，都天天练 = people who enter that kind of contest train every day.
Peter 想去一个比赛 = Peter wanted to enter a contest.
这种药，可以让身体大起来 = this drug can make the body grow bigger.
他也天天喝酒 = he also drank every day.
大家上台 = everyone goes on stage.
一天喝二十多杯 = more than twenty glasses a day.
Peter 是第八名 = Peter placed eighth.
What grammar patterns appear in this episode?
语法……的那种……
"the kind of X where…". Defines an unfamiliar noun by describing it.
大家上台，让别人看身体的那种比赛。
又……又……
"both A and B". Stacks two qualities of the same thing.
别人的身体，又大又好看。
V 着 V 着
"while doing X, and then…" — an action running on until something slips.
他喝着喝着，忘了时间。
Proper Nouns
专有名词Sources
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