A Chinese podcast · Same story, 4 levels
Photo: Pau Audouard Deglaire · Public domain
高迪知道自己看不到圣家堂完工。他去世一百年后的今年，它封顶了，成为全世界最高的教堂。
Sagrada Família Tops Out 100 Years After Gaudí
About this story
Sagrada Família Tops Out 100 Years After Gaudí. HSK 3 Chinese listening practice.
This is an HSK 3-4 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 设计、接手、整整 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.
Read at your level
原文Read the complete story in Chinese. Reveal pinyin and English only when you need them.
English transcript reference
This year, a church that took one hundred and forty-four years to build was topped out.
It is in Barcelona, and it is called the Sagrada Família.
The man who designed it was Gaudí, an architect.
He took it over in 1883, at thirty-one.
He worked on it until his death — a full forty-three years.
For the last twelve he turned down other work, did only this, and later moved onto the site to live.
He knew perfectly well: this church, he would not live to see finished.
When people complained about the pace, he said a line that became famous: my client is not in a hurry.
The client he meant was the one above.
In June 1926, walking on a street in Barcelona, he was knocked down by a tram.
He was dressed shabbily that day, and carried no papers.
Passers-by took him for a beggar, cabs would not take him, and he was sent to a hospital for the poor.
Only the next day did anyone recognise who he was.
Three days later, he died.
The church was of course unfinished, and other people carried on building upward.
This February, the last section of the cross was fitted onto the highest tower.
That tower is one hundred and seventy-two and a half metres, which makes the Sagrada Família the tallest church in the world.
Why not a little higher?
Because the hill beside it is one hundred and seventy-seven metres.
Gaudí’s rule was: what man makes should not stand higher than what God made.
So he kept the tower below the hill, four and a half metres short.
On the tenth of June this year, the Pope presided over the tower’s inauguration.
That day was exactly one hundred years after Gaudí’s death.
Think about it: something you cannot finish in your lifetime — would you begin it?
Listen again
Try it without the transcript and notice what sounds clearer.
What vocabulary does this episode teach?
词汇设计它的人叫高迪 = the man who designed it was Gaudí.
一八八三年他接手时 = when he took it over in 1883.
整整四十三年 = a full forty-three years.
他推掉别的活 = he turned down other work.
高迪的规矩是 = Gaudí’s rule was.
是一位建筑师 = he was an architect.
被一辆有轨电车撞倒 = knocked down by a tram.
路人把他当成乞丐 = passers-by took him for a beggar.
我的主顾不着急 = my client is not in a hurry.
教皇为这座塔，主持落成 = the Pope presided over the inauguration.
高迪逝世一百周年 = a hundred years after Gaudí’s death.
它在巴塞罗那，叫圣家堂 = it is in Barcelona, called the Sagrada Família.
What grammar patterns appear in this episode?
语法当成
"to take X for Y". A judgement made on appearance alone.
路人把他当成乞丐。
由此
"and thereby". Links a small act to its large consequence.
圣家堂由此，成为全世界最高的教堂。
不该……
"ought not to". States a principle rather than a fact.
人造的东西，不该高过神造的东西。
Proper nouns
专有名词Sources
来源Free account
Keep learning from this story
Create a free account to keep saved words and your preferred level together.
- Keep words with their story context
- Remember your preferred level
- Build your vocabulary over time