A Chinese podcast · Same story, 4 levels

恒大许家印:伦敦最贵的房子,没有人住
Evergrande's Xu Jiayin: London's Priciest House Sits Empty
About this story
Evergrande's Xu Jiayin: London's Priciest House Sits Empty. HSK 1 Chinese listening practice.
This is an HSK 1 Chinese listening episode that runs about 4 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 10 key vocabulary words such as 钱、买、认识 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, let's talk about a house.
This house is in London.
This house is very, very big.
This house costs a lot, a lot of money.
In London, this house costs the most money.
But no one lives in it.
Inside the house, there's no one at all.
Let's talk about it.
Let's talk about a person.
He has a lot, a lot of money.
His name is Xu Jiayin.
Xu Jiayin was the richest person.
Many people knew him.
Many people wanted to know him.
He had a very big company.
This company is called Evergrande.
Evergrande was very, very big.
Many, many people worked at Evergrande.
Evergrande built houses.
Evergrande built houses and sold houses.
He built many, many houses.
So he made a lot of money.
He bought this house in London.
This house is very, very big.
Inside the house, there are many, many things.
Many, many people could live inside.
A family living inside would be wonderful.
Many people would love to have this big house.
But now, no one lives there.
This big house — no one lives in it.
Because Evergrande ran into big trouble.
Evergrande had a lot, a lot of debt.
Debt is money that must be paid back.
Evergrande couldn't pay back its huge debt.
So Xu Jiayin also ran into big trouble.
Now, whose house is it?
On the house, the name written is Ding Yumei.
Who is Ding Yumei?
She was Xu Jiayin's family.
But now, they're no longer family.
Ding Yumei wants to sell this house.
But she can't sell it.
Because someone says: right now it can't be sold.
Evergrande also wants this house.
But Evergrande can't have it either.
So no one buys this house.
And no one lives in it.
Inside the house, there's no one.
One year, two years, three years.
All that time, no one is inside.
But outside the house, there's a person.
This person lives outside the house.
He is not a rich man.
He has no big house.
He's here today, and here tomorrow too.
He has lived here for many days.
He has lived here for three years.
Inside the house, no one.
Outside the house, one person.
Look, this house is very, very big.
Inside, there's no one at all.
Outside, one person has lived for three years.
This house costs the most money.
But inside, there's no one.
One person lives outside the house.
Okay, today we talked about this house.
A very big house, with no one living in it.
A very expensive house, standing empty.
Listen again
Try it without the transcript and notice what sounds clearer.
What vocabulary does this episode teach?
词汇HSK 1. money. 他有很多钱 = he has a lot of money.
HSK 1. to buy. 他买了这个房子 = he bought this house.
HSK 1. to know / recognize. 很多人都认识他 = many people knew him.
HSK 1. to live / stay. 没有人住 = no one lives there.
HSK 1. home / family. 一家人住在里面 = a family living inside.
HSK 1. to want. 丁玉梅想卖这个房子 = Ding Yumei wants to sell.
The whole story. 伦敦最贵的房子 = London’s most expensive house.
A company. 一个很大的公司,叫恒大 = a big company called Evergrande.
Debt. 恒大有很多很多债 = Evergrande had a lot of debt.
To sell. 恒大做房子,也卖房子 = Evergrande builds and sells houses.
* beyond level超纲词
What grammar patterns appear in this episode?
语法Proper Nouns
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