A Chinese podcast · Same story, 4 levels

火了好几年的"鹅腿阿姨",原来卖的是鸭腿
'Goose Leg Auntie' — Famous for Years — Was Actually Selling Duck Legs
About this story
The full story of Beijing's viral street vendor 'Goose Leg Auntie': how she became famous outside top universities, the moment she admitted her goose legs were actually duck legs, and the lesson about integrity (诚信) at the heart of the scandal. HSK 2 Chinese listening practice.
This is an HSK 2 Chinese listening episode that runs about 5 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 14 key vocabulary words such as 腿、便宜、告诉 and walks through 7 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 we'll talk about something everyone has been discussing lately.
This thing is related to a person.
This person is Chinese.
She is in China.
She is in a place in China.
This place is called Beijing.
Beijing is a very big place.
It has very, very many people.
Also very, very many universities.
A university is a big school.
When students grow up, they go to university.
Today's person is related to these universities.
She sells things outside the universities.
What she sells is food.
She has been selling for many years.
More than ten years.
So what kind of food does she sell?
What she sells is meat.
What kind of meat?
She says: 'What I sell is goose meat.'
What is a goose?
A goose is a kind of animal.
A goose has two legs.
A goose is a bit like a chicken.
But bigger than a chicken.
What she sells is the goose's leg.
We call it 'goose leg'.
Goose leg is very tasty.
Students who ate it all liked it.
One student told other students.
Other students came to buy too.
More and more people came to buy.
Sometimes you had to wait a long time.
Wait an hour.
Sometimes wait even longer.
But students were willing to wait.
They said:
'For Goose Leg Auntie's goose leg, waiting is worth it.'
Just like that, everyone called her: 'Goose Leg Auntie'.
Goose Leg Auntie slowly became hot (famous).
On the Chinese internet, she became very well-known.
Newspapers wrote about her.
Television talked about her.
Many people liked her.
And many people came to buy her goose legs.
She was very busy every day.
She made more and more money.
Several years passed like this.
Goose Leg Auntie sold outside the universities every day.
Students also came to line up every day.
Everyone was happy.
But, in the last few days, something changed.
Goose Leg Auntie herself said something.
What she said, many people didn't expect.
She said:
'I'm sorry.
I want to tell everyone something.
What I sell is actually not goose leg.
What I sell is duck leg.'
A duck is also a kind of animal.
A duck is a bit smaller than a goose.
A duck leg looks a bit like a goose leg.
But duck leg is much cheaper than goose leg.
How much cheaper?
Let's give a number.
One frozen duck leg costs about one yuan something.
One frozen goose leg costs about ten yuan.
In other words, a duck leg costs about one-tenth of a goose leg.
Hearing this.
Students who liked her were all very unhappy.
They said:
'We thought we were eating goose.
Actually we were eating duck.
What we spent was the price of a goose.
What we ate was the meat of a duck.
So what about all the times we bought it before?'
So why didn't she tell everyone earlier?
Goose Leg Auntie said:
'Many, many years ago, I really sold goose leg.
That was in 2011.
Later, geese became fewer and fewer.
I couldn't find good geese.
But students were still waiting.
So I used duck.
The other vendors nearby also used duck.
I want to say to everyone: I'm sorry.
I never told you.
I wanted to say.
But I never said it.
I also know this was not right.'
Now, someone is looking into this thing.
Looking at what to do next.
Also looking at whether she needs to pay back the money.
Honestly, this isn't just about goose and duck.
More than that, it's about 'integrity'.
What is 'integrity'?
'Integrity' means: what you say and what you do should be the same.
You say you sell goose.
Then you sell goose.
You say you sell duck.
Then you sell duck.
Your heart is also at peace.
Finally, I want to ask you something.
Around you, is there something like this?
Someone says one thing.
What they do is not the same as what they say.
Maybe someone else did it.
Maybe you did it yourself.
It's okay.
What matters is from now on.
From now on, can what is said and what is done be the same?
Listen again
Try it without the transcript and notice what sounds clearer.
What vocabulary does this episode teach?
词汇HSK 4 noun. The physical object. 鹅腿 = goose leg; 鸭腿 = duck leg.
HSK 2 adjective. 鸭腿比鹅腿便宜很多 = duck leg is much cheaper than goose leg.
HSK 2 verb. 为什么以前不告诉大家呢? = Why didn't you tell everyone earlier?
HSK 3. 重要的,是以后 = what matters is from now on.
HSK 1-2. why.
HSK 1-2. side / beside.
HSK 1-2. hour.
HSK 3 noun. Here it's the public nickname: 鹅腿阿姨 = Goose Leg Auntie.
Glossed inline as 一种动物 = a kind of animal. Central to the story.
Glossed by contrast: 鸭比鹅小 = a duck is smaller than a goose. 鸭比鹅便宜 = a duck is cheaper.
Glossed inline: 你说的话,跟你做的事,要一样 = what you say and what you do should match. The moral lesson.
HSK 3 adverb. Used to mark the reveal: 其实不是鹅腿.
HSK 3. 学生愿意等 = students were willing to wait.
HSK 4 verb. 学生每天都来排队 = students lined up every day.
* beyond level超纲词
What grammar patterns appear in this episode?
语法Subject + 觉得 / 以为 + Clause
'X feels/thinks/assumes that Y'. 以为 marks a wrong assumption.
我们以为吃的是鹅。
他们觉得不高兴。
A 比 B + 更 / Adj + 一点 / 很多
Comparison with degree marker.
鸭比鹅小一点。
鸭腿比鹅腿便宜很多。
其实 + Clause (reversal)
Marks 'actually X is not what you thought'. Central pattern for the reveal.
我卖的,其实不是鹅腿。
其实吃的是鸭。
越来越 + Adj / 越 + V + 越 + Adj
'more and more'. Marks gradual change.
来买的人越来越多。
钱也越赚越多。
鹅越来越少。
也就是说 + Clause (in other words)
Discourse marker that summarizes / rephrases.
也就是说,鸭腿的钱,只有鹅腿的差不多十分之一。
Subject + 是 + 一个 + Noun (definition)
Used to gloss new terms.
鹅是一种动物。
鸭也是一种动物。
什么是 X 呢? + complete answer
Rhetorical question to gloss vocabulary.
鹅是什么呢?
什么肉呢?
便宜多少呢?
Proper Nouns
专有名词Free account
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