A Chinese podcast · Same story, 4 levels
中国：买股票的软件，出事了
China: Stock-Trading Apps Get Into Trouble
About this story
China: Stock-Trading Apps Get Into Trouble. HSK 1 Chinese listening practice.
This is an HSK 1 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 12 key vocabulary words such as 今天、钱、买 and walks through 4 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 I'll tell you a news story.
This news
is about money.
It's also about "stocks."
What is a "stock"?
Let me tell you first.
Do you know what a company is?
A big company
has a lot of money.
You can buy
a small piece of a company.
This small piece
is called a stock.
If the company does well,
your stock is worth money.
If the company does badly,
your stock is not worth money.
Many people buy stocks.
They want to use money
to earn more money.
In the past, buying stocks
was a little troublesome.
Now it's not troublesome.
Now, with a phone,
you can buy.
Inside the phone
there are some apps.
With these apps,
you can buy stocks at home.
Very convenient.
In today's news,
there are three such apps.
Their names are:
Tiger,
Futu,
Longbridge.
In China,
many people use them
to buy the stocks of foreign companies.
For example, American companies.
They are convenient to use,
so a lot of people use them.
But,
on May 22,
something happened.
China has a department
that specially manages stocks.
This department said:
Tiger, Futu, and Longbridge
did something wrong.
Why was it wrong?
In China,
to do this kind of business,
you must first ask the state.
Only when the state says "yes"
may you do it.
These three apps
did not ask,
and just did it.
So the state said:
this is wrong.
The state will penalize them.
"To penalize"
means you did something wrong,
so you are punished.
After this news came out,
many people were talking about it.
These three companies
also ran into big trouble.
So,
the people who use these apps —
what should they do?
The state said:
you don't need to be afraid.
Your money
is still yours.
Your stocks
are still yours.
No one will take them away.
But from now on,
this kind of app
will become fewer and fewer in China.
I read this news,
and I thought about one thing.
Being convenient
is a good thing.
But convenient things
are not necessarily all right.
For some things,
you should first ask clearly
whether you can do them,
and only then do them.
Finally I ask you:
Have you ever bought stocks?
Do you think
buying stocks with a phone
is good or not?
Think about it.
Okay.
That's all for today.
Talk tomorrow.
Listen again
Try it without the transcript and notice what sounds clearer.
What vocabulary does this episode teach?
词汇Today. The narrator opens with 今天我给你说一个新闻 — 'today I'll tell you a news story.'
Money. The episode says 这个新闻，是关于钱的 — 'this news is about money.'
To buy. The whole story is about 买股票 — buying stocks — and three apps that make it easy.
To want, to think. 他们想用钱赚更多的钱 — 'they want to use money to earn more money.'
To do. 老虎、富途、长桥，做了不对的事 — 'they did something wrong.'
To know. The episode checks in with the listener: 你知道公司吗？ — 'do you know what a company is?'
Company. Beyond HSK1. A stock is 一个公司的一小块 — 'a small piece of a company.'
Mobile phone. Beyond HSK1. The new way to buy stocks: 用手机就可以买 — 'you can buy with a phone.'
A stock, a share. Beyond HSK1. The episode glosses it: 一个公司的一小块 — 'a small piece of a company.'
Software, an app. Beyond HSK1. 手机里有一些软件 — phone apps that let you buy stocks from home.
Convenient. Beyond HSK1. 在家就可以买股票，很方便 — buying stocks from home is convenient; the episode's key idea.
To punish, to penalize. Beyond HSK1. The episode glosses it: 你做错了事，所以你要被罚 — 'you did wrong, so you are punished.'
* beyond level超纲词
What grammar patterns appear in this episode?
语法X，就是 Y
A simple way to explain a new word: say the word, then 就是, then a plain definition. The episode uses it to teach hard words like 股票 and 处罚.
这一小块，就叫股票。
"处罚"，就是你做错了事。
用 + tool + 就可以…
用 introduces the means, and 就可以 says it makes something easy or possible. The episode uses it for the convenience of phone apps.
用手机，就可以买股票。
用这些软件，在家就可以买。
A，B 才 C
才 marks C as conditional — it happens only once A is satisfied. The episode uses it for the rule that you need permission first.
国家说"可以"，你才可以做。
不一定
不一定 says something is not certain — not always true. The episode's quiet point: convenient things are 不一定 right.
方便的东西，不一定都对。
Proper Nouns
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