A Chinese podcast · Same story, 4 levels
六万人涌向西班牙的 Ceuta 想进入欧洲，至少七十多人死在海里
Ceuta Crossing: 60,000 Try, 70 Never Return
About this story
Ceuta Crossing: 60,000 Try, 70 Never Return. HSK 2 Chinese listening practice.
This is an HSK 2 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 9 key vocabulary words such as 工作、钱、远 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
Today we're talking about something very sad; many people feel heartbroken.
Far away, there's a small place called Ceuta.
Ceuta is special: it's part of Europe, but it sits right there in Africa, with the sea in front of it.
In Europe, many people live well — they have money and jobs.
In Africa, many people have a hard life — no money, no work.
So many people in Africa want to go to Europe, to live a little better.
But to reach Europe, you have to cross the sea, and the sea is huge, and dangerous.
In July, all at once, huge numbers of people came — nearly 60,000.
They wanted to swim across the sea, to Ceuta, to Europe.
But the sea was too big and the water too deep; many, as they swam, were lost.
In the end, nearly seventy-some people died in the sea.
Spain — Ceuta belongs to it — quickly called in the army.
The soldiers stood on the shore and wouldn't let others come across.
Spain also built a very, very long wall on the sea.
This has left many people heartbroken.
So many people just wanted a slightly better life, and in the end died in the sea.
On one side of the sea, people have money and work; on the other side, people have nothing.
It's that tiny difference that sent so many people down such a dangerous road.
And you?
If your life were very, very hard, would you too want to travel such a long way?
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Try it without the transcript and notice what sounds clearer.
What vocabulary does this episode teach?
词汇有钱，也有工作 — have money and jobs.
没有钱，也没有工作 — no money, no work.
走这么远的路 — travel such a long way.
都想去欧洲 — all want to go to Europe.
想去过好一点的生活 — want to live a little better.
都想去欧洲 — all want to go to Europe.
在非洲，很多人过得很难 — in Africa, many live hard lives.
海很大，也很危险 — the sea is huge, and dangerous.
很快叫来了军队 — quickly called in the army.
* beyond level超纲词
What grammar patterns appear in this episode?
语法所以……
"so / therefore ...".
所以，非洲有很多人，都想去欧洲。
要……就要……
"to do X, you have to do Y".
要去欧洲，就要过海。
一边……，另一边……
"on one side ..., on the other ...".
在海的一边，人有钱；在海的另一边，人什么都没有。
Proper nouns
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