3:27
广西出了一件事：什么是地震？
A 5.2 Earthquake Hit Guangxi: Did You Feel It?
This is an HSK 1 Chinese listening episode that runs about 3 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 看、跑、家 and walks through 4 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.
你昨天晚上睡得好吗？
Did you sleep well last night?
广西的人没有。
The people in Guangxi didn't.
广西在哪儿？
Where is Guangxi?
广西在中国的南方。
Guangxi is in southern China.
广西很大。
Guangxi is big.
有很多人。
There are many people.
昨天晚上，
Last night,
广西出了一件事。
something happened in Guangxi.
是什么事？
What happened?
是地震。
An earthquake.
什么是地震？
What is an earthquake?
地震就是"地动了"。
An earthquake is when "the ground moves."
地动了，
The ground moved,
家里的桌子也动了。
the tables at home moved too.
家里的杯子也动了。
The cups at home moved too.
床也动了。
The beds moved too.
人睡了，
People were asleep,
人都醒了。
people all woke up.
人都跑出去。
People ran outside.
这个地震不小。
This earthquake wasn't small.
是5.2级。
It was magnitude 5.2.
5.2 级是什么？
What is 5.2?
不大，
Not big,
也不小。
not small either.
时间是 5 月 18 号。
The date was May 18.
是凌晨的 0 点 21 分。
It was 0:21 in the early morning.
就是晚上 12 点多。
That's after midnight.
那个时候，
At that time,
很多人都在睡。
many people were sleeping.
地震的中间是柳州。
The center was Liuzhou.
柳州是广西的一个大城市。
Liuzhou is a big city in Guangxi.
柳州有很多人。
Liuzhou has many people.
地震的时候，
During the earthquake,
有的房子倒了。
some houses fell.
房子倒了，
A house falling means
就是房子没有了。
the house is gone.
有人在房子里。
Some people were inside the houses.
他们出不来了。
They couldn't get out.
很多人来帮。
Many people came to help.
医生来了。
Doctors came.
也有别的人来。
Other people came too.
他们想：
They thought:
"我们要让里面的人出来。
"We have to get the people inside out.
广西的别的地方呢？
What about other places in Guangxi?
广西的别的地方也动了。
Other places in Guangxi shook too.
南宁也动了。
Nanning shook.
桂林也动了。
Guilin shook.
还有香港。
Hong Kong too.
香港也动了一点。
Hong Kong shook a little.
可是这个地震，
But this earthquake
没有很大。
wasn't huge.
我们听到的是：
What we heard:
有 3 个人不见了。
3 people are missing.
有 4 个人不太好。
4 people are not doing well.
也有的房子，
Some houses
没有倒，
didn't fall,
可是不太好了。
but they're not good now.
门不太好。
The doors aren't good.
广西的人，
The people of Guangxi
昨天晚上很怕。
were very scared last night.
很多人不回家。
Many people didn't go home.
他们都在外面。
They stayed outside.
他们一起。
They stayed together.
他们说话。
They talked.
他们等。
They waited.
等什么？
Wait for what?
等到早上。
Wait until morning.
到了早上，
When morning came,
他们回家看。
they went home to look.
有的家还好。
Some homes were okay.
有的家不好。
Some homes were not.
不好的家，
The homes that weren't okay,
不可以回去了。
they can't go back to.
广西的别的人，
Other people in Guangxi
也都在帮。
are all helping.
中国的别的地方，
Other places in China
也都在看。
are all watching.
大家都想：
Everyone is thinking:
"广西的人，没事吧？
"Are the people of Guangxi okay?
我看了新闻。
I watched the news.
我也想：
I also thought:
"广西的人，
"People of Guangxi,
"你们要好好的。
"please be okay.
这是一个新闻，
This is a news story,
也是一个事情。
and a real event.
我给你说，
I'm telling you,
也想你知道。
because I want you to know.
最后，
Finally,
我问你一个问题：
I'll ask you a question:
你住的地方有地震吗？
Are there earthquakes where you live?
你看见过地震吗？
Have you ever seen an earthquake?
地震来了的时候，
When an earthquake comes,
你怎么做？
what do you do?
你想一下。
Think about it.
好。
Okay.
今天我们就说到这里。
That's all for today.
明天再聊。
Talk tomorrow.
To look or watch. Used in '看新闻' (watch the news) and '回家看' (go home to look at the damage).
To run. People in Liuzhou 跑出去 (ran outside) when the ground shook — what humans instinctively do during an earthquake.
Home (the place); family (the people). Both senses appear: 不能回家 (can't go home) and 找家里的人 (looking for family).
Doctor. 医生来了 — doctors came to help the injured. One of the few HSK 1 professions.
Big. Used throughout to describe magnitude: '不大' (not big), '柳州是一个大城市' (Liuzhou is a big city).
To think (about), to want to, to miss. The episode uses two senses: 大家都想 (everyone is thinking / hoping) and 你想一下 (think about it for a moment).
Earthquake. The headword of the episode. Compound: 地 (ground) + 震 (to shake / tremble). Defined inline as 地动了 (the ground moved).
News. 'I watched the news' = 我看了新闻. HSK 2 — your gateway word for hearing about events anywhere in the world.
A city. Liuzhou is described as '广西的一个大城市'. Compound: 城 (city walls) + 市 (market).
House, building. The story turns on which 房子 fell and which didn't. HSK 2 but used constantly.
To fall over, collapse. 房子倒了 = the house fell. Crucial earthquake vocabulary.
To be afraid. 很怕 (very scared) — the universal experience during an earthquake. The polysyllabic form 害怕 is HSK 3, but 怕 alone is used in everyday speech.
* beyond level超纲词
X 也 Verb
也 = 'also.' Goes between subject and verb, never before subject. The episode stacks 也 to spread the action: 桌子也动了, 杯子也动了, 床也动了 — the tables also moved, the cups also moved, the beds also moved.
桌子也动了。
南宁也动了。桂林也动了。
X 了的时候
的时候 = 'when, at the time of.' Common HSK 1 connector for setting the time of a story. The episode uses it for the moment of disaster: 地震的时候 — when the earthquake happened.
地震的时候，有的房子倒了。
地震来了的时候，你怎么做？
出不来
Resultative verb with negation: Verb + 不 + direction. 出 (out) + 来 (come) = come out; insert 不 between → can't come out. The episode uses it for the people trapped under collapsed houses: 他们出不来了.
他们出不来了。
门不太好，我开不开。
等到 + Time/Event
等 = wait; 到 = arrive at / until. Pairs naturally: 等到早上 = wait until morning. The whole night of the earthquake is captured in this phrase — people couldn't go home, so they waited outside until 等到早上.
等到早上。
到了早上，他们回家看。