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
Sixty Thousand People Headed for Spain's Ceuta to Enter Europe, and at Least 70 Died at Sea
About this story
Sixty Thousand People Headed for Spain's Ceuta to Enter Europe, and at Least 70 Died at Sea. 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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