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Henry Nowak Dies After Plea for Help — episode cover art
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那天晚上,警察先信了说谎的那个人

Henry Nowak Dies After Plea for Help

About this story

The story of Henry, an 18-year-old UK student: his attacker lied to police and posed as the victim, police handcuffed the wrong person, and the truth came out in court — a sober story about believing the person who tells the truth. HSK 2 Chinese listening practice.

This is an HSK 2 Chinese listening episode that runs about 4 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 相信、问题、意思 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.

今天我们说一件,有一点难过的事。
这件事,发生在英国。
英国,是一个很远的国家。
今天的主角,是一个年轻人。
他叫亨利。
那一年,他才十八岁。
十八岁,还很年轻。
他是一个学生。
他在上大学。
他有家人,也有朋友。
本来,他还有很长的路要走。
本来,他会有很好的将来。
但是,这一切,都停在了那个晚上。
那是一个晚上。
亨利一个人,在外面。
就在那时,
另一个人,向他动了手。
那个人,比亨利大几岁。
那个人,用刀,伤了亨利。
伤得很重。
亨利受了很重的伤。
他流了很多血。
他很需要人来救他。
在英国,出了这种事,
人们会马上找警察。
警察,就是专门来帮人、
来管这种事的人。
很快,警察就来了。
警察来了,本来是好事。
他们可以救亨利。
但是,问题就出在这里。
警察到的时候,
现场有两个人。
一个,是受了伤的亨利。
还有一个,
就是那个动手的人。
这两个人,都在说话。
但是,他们说的,完全不一样。
那个动手的人,很狡猾。
他抢先对警察说:
"我才是受害者。
是他先要害我的。
我是因为肤色,被人欺负的。
他在说谎。
但是,他说得很急、很像真的。
警察一时之间,
竟然信了他的话。
于是,警察没有先去救亨利。
他们反而,
把受了重伤的亨利,
当成了坏人,给铐了起来。
亨利已经很虚弱了。
他用尽力气,对警察说:
"我喘不上气了。
我喘不上气了。
这句话,意思是:
他快不行了,求他们救救他。
但是,那个警察,
只是对他说了一句:
"我看你没事吧。
警察,没有相信他。
等到警察发现不对,
解开亨利、想救他的时候,
已经太晚了。
亨利,没能活下来。
他才十八岁。
后来,这件事闹得很大。
警察重新查了整件事。
真相,慢慢清楚了。
真正动手的,
就是那个一开始喊"我是受害者"的人。
他不但伤了人,
还对警察说了谎。
最后,法院判他,犯了最重的罪。
他要坐很多年的牢。
警察那边,
也为那天晚上的事,
公开说了"对不起"。
现在,还有专门的人,
在查警察那天,到底做错了什么。
最后,我想和你聊一聊。
这件事,最让人难过的,
不只是一个年轻人走了。
而是:那天晚上,
有两个人,站在警察面前。
一个,说了真话。
一个,说了假话。
但是,被先相信的,
偏偏是那个说假话的人。
我们都会犯错。
我们都可能,一时看错人。
但是这件事提醒我们:
当一个人,说他很痛、说他需要帮助的时候,
请,不要那么快,就不信他。
因为他说的,也许,就是真的。
最后我想问你。
你有没有过,
说了真话,却没人信你的时候?
那个时候,你心里,是什么感觉?
English transcript reference

Today we'll talk about something a little bit sad.

This happened in the UK.

The UK is a faraway country.

Today's main character is a young man.

He's called Henry.

That year, he was only eighteen.

Eighteen is still very young.

He was a student.

He was in university.

He had family, and friends too.

He should have had a long road ahead.

He should have had a very good future.

But all of it stopped on that night.

It was one night.

Henry was alone, outside.

Right then,

another person attacked him.

That person was a few years older than Henry.

That person used a knife to wound Henry.

Wounded him badly.

Henry was badly injured.

He lost a lot of blood.

He badly needed someone to save him.

In the UK, when something like this happens,

people immediately find the police.

The police are the ones whose job is to help people

and handle this kind of thing.

Very soon, the police came.

The police coming should have been a good thing.

They could save Henry.

But here is where the problem appeared.

When the police arrived,

there were two people at the scene.

One was the injured Henry.

The other

was the one who attacked him.

Both of them were talking.

But what they said was completely different.

The attacker was very cunning.

He spoke to the police first:

'I'm the victim.

He was trying to hurt me first.

I was being bullied because of my skin color.'

He was lying.

But he said it fast, and it sounded real.

For a moment, the police

actually believed his words.

So the police didn't go save Henry first.

Instead, they

took the badly-injured Henry,

treated him as the bad one, and handcuffed him.

Henry was already very weak.

Using all his strength, he said to the police:

'I can't breathe.

I can't breathe.'

This sentence means:

he was about to be gone, begging them to save him.

But that police officer

only said one thing to him:

'I think you're fine.'

The police did not believe him.

By the time the police realized something was wrong,

and unlocked Henry, wanting to save him,

it was already too late.

Henry didn't survive.

He was only eighteen.

Later, this thing became a huge deal.

The police re-investigated the whole thing.

The truth slowly became clear.

The one who actually attacked

was the very person who first shouted 'I'm the victim'.

He not only hurt someone,

he also lied to the police.

In the end, the court found him guilty of the most serious crime.

He has to serve many years in prison.

On the police's side,

they also, for what happened that night,

publicly said 'sorry'.

Now, there are still people whose job it is

to investigate what exactly the police did wrong that day.

Finally, I want to talk with you.

The saddest part of this thing

isn't only that a young man is gone.

It's that: that night,

two people stood before the police.

One told the truth.

One told a lie.

But the one believed first

happened to be the one who lied.

We all make mistakes.

We might all misjudge someone in a moment.

But this thing reminds us:

when a person says they're in pain, says they need help,

please, don't be so quick to disbelieve them.

Because what they're saying, maybe, is true.

Finally, I want to ask you.

Have you ever

told the truth, but no one believed you?

At that time, what did you feel in your heart?

Listen again

Try it without the transcript and notice what sounds clearer.

What vocabulary does this episode teach?

词汇
xiāngxìnto believe

HSK 3. 警察,没有相信他 = the police didn't believe him. The heart of the story.

wèntíproblem / question

HSK 1-2. problem / question.

yìsimeaning / interest

HSK 1-2. meaning / interest.

bāngzhùto help

HSK 1-2. to help.

kāishǐto start / to begin

HSK 1-2. to start / to begin.

yíyàngthe same

HSK 1-2. the same.

qīngchǔclear

HSK 1-2. clear.

zhǔjuémain character; protagonist

今天的主角,是一个年轻人 = today's main character is a young man.

shòuhàizhěvictim

我才是受害者 = I'm the victim — the attacker's false claim. 受害 (be harmed) + 者 (person).

jiǎohuácunning; sly

那个动手的人,很狡猾 = the attacker was very cunning.

dòngshǒuto start a fight; to attack physically

另一个人,向他动了手 = another person attacked him. 动 (move) + 手 (hand).

qiǎngxiānto get in first; preempt

他抢先对警察说 = he spoke to the police first (before the victim could).

jìngránunexpectedly; to one's surprise

竟然信了他的话 = actually (surprisingly) believed his words.

kàoto handcuff; handcuffs

给铐了起来 = put handcuffs on him. The key wrongful act.

* beyond level超纲词

What grammar patterns appear in this episode?

语法

本来 + Clause (should have / originally)

Marks what was supposed to happen before things went wrong.

本来,他还有很长的路要走。

警察来了,本来是好事。

竟然 + Clause (surprisingly)

Marks an unexpected, often dismaying, outcome.

警察一时之间,竟然信了他的话。

反而 + Clause (instead / on the contrary)

Marks an outcome opposite to what's expected.

他们反而,把受了重伤的亨利,当成了坏人。

把 + Object + 当成 + Noun

'treat / mistake X as Y'.

把受了重伤的亨利,当成了坏人。

不但 ... 还 ... (not only... but also...)

Escalating addition.

他不但伤了人,还对警察说了谎。

偏偏 + Clause (of all things, precisely)

Marks an ironic / frustrating coincidence.

被先相信的,偏偏是那个说假话的人。

当 ... 的时候 (when...)

Marks a condition or moment.

当一个人,说他很痛、说他需要帮助的时候,请,不要那么快,就不信他。

Proper nouns

专有名词
亨利HēnglìHenry — Henry Nowak, the 18-year-old student at the center of the story英国Yīngguóthe United Kingdom警察jǐngcháthe police法院fǎyuànthe court of law

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