A Chinese podcast · Same story, 4 levels
让全亚洲熬夜的东野圭吾去世，遗作《永远的记忆》八月见
Keigo Higashino Dies, Leaving Final Novel
About this story
A medium Chinese listening story on Keigo Higashino: the mystery master behind The Devotion of Suspect X and White Night died of colon cancer at 68, and his final novel The Eternal Memory publishes August 5. HSK 4 Chinese listening practice.
This is an HSK 4 Chinese listening episode that runs about 1 minute. 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 世界、经历、电影 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 the world of mystery fiction, Keigo Higashino was number one in many people's hearts.
In his lifetime he wrote more than a hundred books, and so many of them were both gripping and full of surprises.
His most famous ones — like Journey Under the Midnight Sun, The Devotion of Suspect X, and The Miracles of the Namiya General Store — have huge numbers of readers in China.
Plenty of people have had this experience: you open one of his books at night meaning to read just a few pages, and end up reading till dawn.
His stories are about crimes, but also about the human heart; inside them is the deepest love, and the deepest pain.
That's why his books were adapted, again and again, into films and TV dramas.
But just this month, a piece of heartbreaking news came.
On July 23rd, Keigo Higashino died of colon cancer, only sixty-eight.
Many readers, hearing it, felt as if they'd lost an old friend.
What no one expected was that he left behind one last gift.
His final novel, The Eternal Memory, will be officially published on August 5th.
In other words, even after he's gone, readers can still read one brand-new Higashino.
Some say the title reads like his goodbye to everyone.
Keep him, and the stories he wrote, in your heart forever.
Listen again
Try it without the transcript and notice what sounds clearer.
What vocabulary does this episode teach?
词汇在推理小说的世界里 = in the world of mystery fiction.
有过这样的经历 = have had this experience.
被拍成电影和电视剧 = adapted into films and TV dramas.
里面有最深的爱 = inside is the deepest love.
一个让人难过的消息传来 = a piece of heartbreaking news came.
像是失去了一位老朋友 = as if they had lost an old friend.
一位老朋友 = an old friend.
他的最后一本小说 = his final novel.
在中国有很多很多读者 = has huge numbers of readers in China.
因为结肠癌去世 = died of colon cancer.
东野圭吾因为结肠癌去世了 = Higashino died of colon cancer.
写的是案子，也是人心 = about crimes, and about the human heart.
* beyond level超纲词
What grammar patterns appear in this episode?
语法又……又……
又 A 又 B = "both A and B (at once)".
很多都又好看又让人意外。
本来……，结果……
本来 X，结果 Y = "originally X, but in the end Y".
本来只想看几页，结果一直看到天亮。
像是……
像是 = "feels like / as if".
都觉得像是失去了一位老朋友。
Proper nouns
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