A Chinese podcast · Same story, 4 levels
美国最年长的参议员，为一台用了四十九年的吸尘器写了段告别。它叫贝丝。
The Oldest US Senator Wrote a Farewell to His 49-Year-Old Vacuum Cleaner. Its Name Was Beth.
About this story
The Oldest US Senator Wrote a Farewell to His 49-Year-Old Vacuum Cleaner. Its Name Was Beth. HSK 1 Chinese listening practice.
This is an HSK 1 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 老、岁、用 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 America there is a very old man.
He is ninety-two.
His name is Grassley.
Right — now about something in his home.
In Grassley’s home there is a vacuum cleaner.
What is a vacuum cleaner?
Things in the house — it can do them.
This vacuum cleaner is very, very old.
He calls it Beth.
Grassley — how many years did he use it?
Forty-nine years.
Forty-nine years, one vacuum cleaner.
Forty-nine years, and it did not break.
Forty-nine years, he used it the whole time.
Forty-nine years, used every single day.
In America, he is the oldest one.
And the vacuum cleaner in his house is a very, very old one too.
For fifteen years, it was at his family’s place.
For the next thirty-four years, it was in Grassley’s home.
One year, one year, one year — it was always this one.
One year, one year, one year — still this one.
But in August, it broke.
Its electrics were not good any more.
To use it again would not be good.
On the eighth of August, Grassley wrote something.
He wrote: you will not see Beth any more.
He wrote: it cannot be used again.
He wrote: thank you, Beth.
He wrote: I will miss you.
It was a ninety-two-year-old who wrote this.
What he wrote about was not a big matter.
What he wrote about was a vacuum cleaner.
A vacuum cleaner used for forty-nine years.
Afterwards, a lot of people wrote too.
They said: we will miss Beth as well.
One vacuum cleaner, and a lot of people were thinking about it.
Think about it: is there something very old in your home?
You have used it for many years.
If it broke, would you miss it?
Listen again
Try it without the transcript and notice what sounds clearer.
What vocabulary does this episode teach?
词汇有一个很老的人 = there is a very old man.
他九十二岁 = he is ninety-two.
用了多少年？ = how many years did he use it?
格拉斯利写了一个东西 = Grassley wrote something.
我会想你 = I will miss you.
格拉斯利家里，有一个吸尘器 = in Grassley’s home there is a vacuum cleaner.
一个吸尘器，四十九年 = one vacuum cleaner, forty-nine years.
八月的时候，它坏了 = in August, it broke.
它不能再用了 = it cannot be used again.
他是最老的那一个人 = he is the oldest one.
他叫它贝丝 = he calls it Beth.
在美国，有一个很老的人 = in America there is a very old man.
What grammar patterns appear in this episode?
语法四十九年，……
Leading with the number and repeating it is how spoken Chinese makes a span feel long.
四十九年，一个吸尘器。
四十九年，它没有坏。
再也不……了
"never again". Stronger and more final than a plain negative.
你们再也看不见贝丝了。
他写：……
Quoting line by line, with 写 repeated, keeps a written message clear when heard aloud.
他写：谢谢你，贝丝。
Proper Nouns
专有名词Sources
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