A Chinese podcast · Same story, 4 levels
丹麦首相刚从乌克兰回来，收到整形医生的私信："我可以帮你把鼻子上那块弄掉。"
Denmark’s PM Came Home From Ukraine to a Plastic Surgeon’s DM Offering to "Fix That Little Spot" on Her Nose.
About this story
Denmark’s PM Came Home From Ukraine to a Plastic Surgeon’s DM Offering to "Fix That Little Spot" on Her Nose. 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 7 key vocabulary words such as 医生、手机、身体 and walks through 2 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
Denmark has a prime minister, called Mette Frederiksen.
This week she went to Ukraine, where there is a war.
While she was in Ukraine, she heard air raid sirens.
When the siren sounds, everyone has to go downstairs, to somewhere safe.
She was there a few days, and heard that siren several times.
Then she went home.
Back in Denmark, back at home, she opened her phone.
On the phone there was a direct message.
The person who wrote it was a plastic surgeon.
The doctor said: I can help you get rid of that little spot on your nose.
On one side, air raid sirens. On the other, "there is a little spot on your nose".
She read that message and was extremely angry.
On Instagram, she wrote a few paragraphs.
She said: over the years, I have lost count of how many messages like this I have had.
Some said her teeth were not nice.
Some said her hair was too thin.
Some said that thing on her nose was ugly.
Some suggested she get injections, saying it would make her look younger.
Beyond counting. Truly beyond counting.
The problem is not that any one of them is especially bad. The problem is that they have never stopped.
This time, she answered.
She said: I am nearly fifty, I am a woman of nearly fifty.
She said: my body is exactly as it is, and I am perfectly happy with it.
She said: messages like this make me feel awful.
She did not explain what the thing on her nose is.
And she did not say why she has not had it removed.
She said only one thing: my body — I decide.
Finally, she did one more thing.
She took a screenshot of that doctor’s message and posted it on Instagram.
But she did not write his name. Not one character of it.
She said what she had to say, but she did not do to him what he had done to her.
That step is not easy.
Because the least effortful thing to do is always to put the name up.
Think about it:
If someone passes judgement on your appearance, would you answer back?
Listen again
Try it without the transcript and notice what sounds clearer.
What vocabulary does this episode teach?
词汇A plastic surgeon, sending an unsolicited offer.
She came home from a war and opened her 手机.
我的身体，我自己说了算 — my body, I decide.
The thing she deliberately did not write.
Denmark’s head of government.
私 private, 信 message. The object of the whole story.
空袭警报 — an air raid siren.
* beyond level超纲词
What grammar patterns appear in this episode?
语法一边是……，一边是……
On one side X, on the other Y — sets two things against each other.
一边是空袭警报，一边是"你的鼻子有一小块"。
数不清
Too many to count. 数 to count, 不清 unable to do it clearly.
我已经数不清了。 — I have lost count.
Proper Nouns
专有名词Sources
来源Free account
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