A Chinese podcast · Same story, 4 levels
三十万家停电，抢修队半夜出去查线，被人开了两枪。一颗子弹卡在座位头枕后面。
300,000 Homes Lost Power. The Crew Sent Out at Midnight Was Shot At — One Bullet Lodged in a Headrest.
About this story
300,000 Homes Lost Power. The Crew Sent Out at Midnight Was Shot At — One Bullet Lodged in a Headrest. 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 12 key vocabulary words such as 过去、马上、外面 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
In August, a very big storm hit Gary, in America.
After the storm passed, a lot of places lost power.
How many homes lost power?
Three hundred thousand.
August is hot; with no power at home, you can do nothing.
So the power company’s workers went straight out to repair it.
That night, past twelve o’clock, two workers were still out there.
They drove out to see where things were broken.
Behind their vehicle was a police officer, protecting them.
And right at that moment, somebody fired at their vehicle.
Twice.
Neither worker was hurt.
But one shot hit the part of the seat where your head rests.
Right behind a person’s head.
The next day, the company said: stop for now.
The company said: going out to repair now is not safe.
So all the repair work stopped completely.
And the homes with no power?
They could only keep waiting, still with no power at home.
Only at four in the afternoon did the workers go out again.
This time there were police in front and others behind, protecting them together.
With people protecting them, the workers could repair.
Afterwards, the power came back house by house.
Think about it: they go out so that you have power at home.
But somebody has to protect them before they can do it.
Listen again
Try it without the transcript and notice what sounds clearer.
What vocabulary does this episode teach?
词汇暴风雨过去以后 = after the storm passed.
工人马上出去修 = the workers went straight out to repair it.
两个工人还在外面 = two workers were still out there.
打在了座位上放头的地方 = hit the part of the seat where your head rests.
一起保护他们 = protecting them together.
很多地方停电了 = a lot of places lost power.
工人马上出去修 = the workers went out to repair it.
有人开枪 = somebody fired.
车后面有一个警察 = behind the vehicle was a police officer.
保护他们 = protecting them.
现在出去修，不安全 = going out to repair now is not safe.
他们只能继续等 = they could only keep waiting.
What grammar patterns appear in this episode?
语法就在这个时候
"and right at that moment". Drops the turn into an ongoing scene.
就在这个时候，有人开枪。
只能
"can only". Marks having no other option.
他们只能继续等。
才 + verb
"only then". Both uses mark a delay imposed from outside.
工人才又出去。
工人才能修。
Proper Nouns
专有名词Sources
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