A Chinese podcast · Same story, 4 levels
41 岁的汉密尔顿，为法拉利赢了第一场
Hamilton Wins His First Ferrari Race at 41
About this story
The story of a 41-year-old racing legend who left his old team for a famous red team, endured over a year without a win and crowds calling him finished — then finally won. Told slowly in beginner-level Chinese. HSK 1 Chinese listening practice.
This is an HSK 1 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 12 key vocabulary words such as 快、没关系、我们 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 a thing.
Today's thing is good.
It's a good thing.
We'll go slowly.
Today's thing is about a person.
Let's talk about this person.
He's not young anymore.
This year, he is forty-one.
He's not in China.
What does he do?
He drives cars.
Does your family have a car?
Maybe yes, maybe no.
Either way, it's okay.
The person we're talking about also drives.
But his car is different.
His car drives very fast.
Extremely, extremely fast.
Much faster than your family's car.
His car is fast.
He drives, and he drives fast.
The car he drives is really, really fast.
He's driven fast cars for many years.
Okay.
When he drives,
many cars drive together with him.
Everyone wants to get to the very front.
Whoever gets to the front first wins.
Whoever is behind doesn't win.
This is what he does.
He drives, and he drives the fastest.
He's been driving for many years.
He's won many times.
More than anyone else.
So, many people say:
he drives the best.
He's the best one.
Okay.
Now you know him.
He drives fast, and he drives well.
So today, what happened?
We'll go slowly.
The people who drive
are all in 'teams'.
What is a team?
A team is some people, together.
Doing things together, driving together.
Before, he was in one team.
He was in that team for many years.
In that team, he won many times.
That team was very good to him.
But, last year,
he did something.
This thing surprised many people.
He left.
He left that old team.
He went to a new team.
Why?
Because this new team is very special.
Many people who drive,
when they were little, wanted to join this team.
This team's cars are red.
Very beautiful.
This red team is very famous.
For many, many years, it's been famous.
He thought:
'I want to drive a red car too.
I want to win once for this red team too.'
So, at forty-one, he still went.
But, after he went,
things weren't so good.
He drove the new team's red car
for over a year.
Not once did he win.
Not a single time.
Many people started to say:
'He's old.
He's finished.
He switched teams — he made a mistake.'
He himself felt bad inside too.
But, he didn't stop driving.
He still drove, day after day.
He was waiting for a chance.
Waiting to drive the red car and win once.
Today, that chance came.
Today's race was in a faraway place.
That place is called Spain.
Today, he drove his red car.
He drove extremely, extremely well.
He was in front the whole time.
In the end,
he was the first to drive to the finish.
He won!
He really won!
This was his first win driving the red car.
He waited over a year for this one.
He's forty-one,
but he still did it.
When the race ended, he was so happy.
The people who like him were all happy.
Some people even cried.
Because everyone knew
he had waited too long for this win.
Finally, let's think together.
A person, forty-one years old.
Many people said he was finished.
He himself hadn't won in a long time.
But he didn't give up.
He kept driving, day after day.
In the end, he won.
Finally, I want to ask you.
Has anyone ever said to you:
'You're finished.
It's too late for you.'
Did you believe it?
Are you still doing the thing you want to do?
Think about it.
Listen again
Try it without the transcript and notice what sounds clearer.
What vocabulary does this episode teach?
词汇HSK 1. 他的车，开得很快 = his car is very fast. Repeated to anchor the racing idea.
HSK 1. it doesn't matter.
HSK 1. we; us.
HSK 1. what.
HSK 1. today.
HSK 1. time / moment.
他开车 = he drives. 开 (HSK 1, operate/drive) + 车 (car). The whole story is about driving.
他的车，开得很快 = his car drives very fast. The central object.
谁开到最前面，谁就赢 = whoever reaches the front first wins. Central verb.
Glossed inline: 队就是一些人在一起，一起做事 = a team is some people together, doing things together.
这个队的车，是红色的 = this team's cars are red. The Ferrari red.
HSK 3. 他在等一个机会 = he was waiting for a chance.
* beyond level超纲词
What grammar patterns appear in this episode?
语法Verb + 得 + Adjective (degree)
Describes how an action is done. 开 + 得 + 很快 = drives very fast.
他的车，开得很快。
他开车，开得最快。
他开得非常非常好。
A 比 B + Adjective (comparison)
'A is more Adj than B'.
比你家的车，快很多。
比别人，都多。
谁 ... 谁就 ... (whoever... that one...)
Pairs a condition with its result using 谁.
谁开到最前面，谁就赢。
谁在后面，谁就没有赢。
什么是 X 呢? + answer (gloss)
Rhetorical question to define a new word, then answered.
什么是队呢？
队，就是一些人，在一起。
一次都没有 + Verb (not even once)
Emphatic total negation.
一次，都没有赢。
一次都没有。
Subject + 还是 + Verb (still / nonetheless)
Marks persistence despite obstacles.
他四十一岁，还是去了。
他还是一天一天地开。
没有放弃 / 没有不开 (didn't give up)
Negation marking persistence — the story's emotional core.
但是他没有放弃。
但是，他没有不开。
Proper nouns
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