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China's Spring Festival Box Office: How Did Films Do? — episode cover art
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China's Spring Festival Box Office: How Did Films Do?

About this story

A simple story about why China's Spring Festival movie tickets are slow — no new Ne Zha and cheap trips instead. HSK 1 Chinese listening practice.

This is an HSK 1 Chinese listening episode that runs about 5 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 16 key vocabulary words such as 电影、票、去年 and walks through 5 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.

过年时候大家什么很多电影电影
电影一件高兴
今天是过年
大家都不工作
大家都在家里
我们事情
什么
我们电影
我有几个朋友
他们想去电影
我们很喜欢电影
电影电视
很多
大家坐在一起
有意思
我们去年事情
去年过年时候电影非常
真的很多
想去
因为大家想去
去年电影很好
一个电影
大家喜欢
大人喜欢
孩子喜欢
所以去年卖得很好
那里都是
很多
电影高兴
因为他们赚了很多
那是去年
现在我们今年
今年怎么
今年去年一样
今年我想去
打开电脑
看了一下
我不高兴
为什么
因为很少
真的很少
去年少了很多
我们可以看看数字
如果去年个人
今年只有个人或者个人
为什么
大家都去哪儿
大家电影
一个问题
我们看看今年电影
今年很多电影
电影很多
电影打架
那是功夫电影
里面功夫
爸爸喜欢这样电影
电影好笑
大家看了都会
妈妈喜欢这样电影
因为过年高兴
高兴就要
还有电影孩子
里面动物
孩子很喜欢
既然这么电影为什么少了
我们看看电影
电影
他们很有
他们也是老朋友
我们认识他们几十年
爸爸认识他们
妈妈认识他们
可是我的儿子认识
现在年轻认识
年轻觉得他们老了
年轻想看新的东西
年轻想看年轻
去年电影
所以年轻喜欢
今年电影年轻觉得没意思
所以他们
一个原因
还有一个原因
今年过年我们休息很多
我们休息九天
时间
我们可以很多
不一定电影
我们可以旅游
我们可以飞机
别的地方看看
看看
看看
因为时间大家都在外面
大家回家
不在家不去电影
所以电影很少
电影着急
他们
他们卖票
怎么
他们想了一个办法
就是便宜一点
他们一点
优惠
如果你有这个花钱
比如一张五十
现在只要三十
这样好不好
很好事情
湖北很多这样
政府给钱
人去电影
他们希望大家都能
希望大家高兴
就是今年事情
我们现在知道
今年过年电影少了
少了
少了
就是我要说的事情
这个故事的是什么
的是中国电影
的是票房
票房就是
新闻今年过年很少
去年少了大半
一个很大新闻
大家知道去年很好
今年没有去年
就是现在情况
English transcript reference

Speaking of what everyone does during the Spring Festival, many people go to the cinema to watch movies.

Watching movies is a very happy thing.

Today is the Spring Festival.

Everyone is not working.

Everyone is at home.

We need to find something to do.

What should we do?

Let's go watch a movie.

I have a few friends.

They also want to go watch a movie.

We all like watching movies very much.

In the cinema, there is a big screen.

There are many people.

Everyone sits together.

This is very interesting.

Let's talk about last year first.

During the Spring Festival last year, there were very many people watching movies.

Really a lot.

Did you want to buy a ticket?

It was very hard to buy.

Because everyone wanted to go.

Last year's movies were very good.

There was a movie called "Nezha".

Everyone liked watching it.

Adults liked it.

Children also liked it.

So last year's tickets sold very well.

There were people everywhere.

The money from ticket sales was also a lot.

The filmmakers were very happy.

Because they earned a lot of money.

That was last year.

Now let's talk about this year.

How is it this year?

This year is different from last year.

This year, I wanted to go buy a ticket.

I turned on the computer.

I took a look.

I became unhappy.

Why?

Because there were very few people buying tickets.

Really very few.

Much fewer than last year.

We can look at the numbers.

If ten people bought tickets last year,

this year there are only three or four people.

Why is this?

Where did everyone go?

Does everyone not love watching movies anymore?

This is a big question.

Let's look at this year's movies.

There are many new movies this year.

There are many kinds of movies.

Some movies are about fighting.

Those are Kung Fu movies.

The people in them do Kung Fu.

Dad likes to watch this kind of movie.

Some movies are funny.

Everyone laughs when watching them.

Mom likes to watch this kind of movie.

Because one should be happy during the Spring Festival.

To be happy, one must laugh.

There are also movies for children.

There are animals in them.

There are bears.

There are cats.

Children like watching them very much.

Since there are so many movies, why are there fewer people?

Let's look at the people in the movies.

Who are the actors in the movies?

They are very famous people.

They are also old friends.

We have known them for decades.

Dad knows them.

Mom also knows them.

But, my son doesn't know them.

Young people nowadays don't know them.

Young people think they are too old.

Young people want to see new things.

Young people want to see young people.

Last year's movies were very new.

So young people liked them.

This year's movies, young people think are uninteresting.

So they don't buy tickets.

This is one reason.

There is another reason.

This Spring Festival, we rest for many days.

We are resting for nine days.

This is a very long time.

We can do many things.

We don't necessarily have to watch movies.

We can go traveling.

We can take a plane.

Go to other places to take a look.

Go see mountains.

Go see water.

Because the time is long, everyone is playing outside.

Everyone doesn't go home.

If not at home, one won't go watch movies.

So there are very few people in the cinema.

The filmmakers are very anxious.

They want people to come.

They want to sell tickets.

So what to do?

They thought of a method.

Which is to make tickets a bit cheaper.

They give you a little money.

This is called a "coupon".

If you have this coupon, you spend less money buying a ticket.

For example, one ticket is fifty yuan.

Now it only costs thirty yuan.

Is this good?

This is a very good thing.

In Hubei, there are many such coupons.

The government gives money.

To let people go watch movies.

They hope everyone can go.

They hope everyone is happy.

You see, this is the situation this year.

We know now.

This Spring Festival, fewer people are watching movies.

Fewer people are buying tickets.

The money is also less.

This is what I wanted to say.

What is this story talking about?

It's talking about Chinese movies.

It's talking about "box office".

Box office is the money from ticket sales.

The news says, before the Spring Festival this year, ticket sales were very low.

More than half less than last year.

This is big news.

Everyone knows last year was very good.

This year is not as good as last year.

This is the current situation.

Listen again

Try it without the transcript and notice what sounds clearer.

What vocabulary does this episode teach?

词汇
diànyǐngmovie

A very common noun. Measure word is 部 (bù) or 场 (chǎng).

piàoticket

Used for movies, trains, etc. Measure word is 张 (zhāng).

qùniánlast year

Time word referring to the previous year.

xiūxito rest

Verb meaning to take a break or have time off work/school.

lǚyóuto travel

Verb or noun for traveling for pleasure.

piányicheap

Adjective describing low price.

juédeto feel; to think

Used to express an opinion or physical sensation.

gāoxìnghappy

Adjective describing a happy mood.

gōngfuKung Fu / Martial Arts

Chinese martial arts.

zhuànto earn

Usually used with money: 赚钱 (zhuàn qián).

jìránsince; given that

Conjunction indicating a premise. Often used in the pattern '既然..., 就...'.

yōuhuìquàncoupon; voucher

A specific term for discount tickets or vouchers.

zhèngfǔgovernment

The political administration.

piàofángbox office

Literally 'ticket room', refers to total ticket sales revenue.

zháojíanxious; worried

Adjective describing a state of worry or haste.

qíngkuàngsituation

Noun referring to circumstances or state of affairs.

* beyond level超纲词

What grammar patterns appear in this episode?

语法

A + 比 + B + Adjective

This structure is used to make comparisons. It means 'A is more [adjective] than B'.

比去年少了很多。

今年没有去年好。

Verb + 得 + Adjective/Complement

The particle 得 (de) connects a verb to a complement that describes the degree, manner, or result of the action.

去年的票卖得很好。

电影票卖得怎么样

有的... 有的...

This pattern means 'some... others...'. It is used to list different types within a group.

有的电影是打架的。

有的电影是好笑的。

如果... (就)...

This is a conditional pattern meaning 'If... (then)...'. The word 就 is often used in the second clause.

如果去年有十个人买票。

如果你有这个券,买票就少花钱。

Subject + 吧

When 吧 is placed at the end of a sentence, it indicates a suggestion or a proposal ('Let's...').

我们去看电影吧。

Proper Nouns

专有名词
哪吒NézhāNezha (a Chinese mythological figure and movie title)湖北HúběiHubei Province中国ZhōngguóChina

Sources

来源

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