A Chinese podcast · Same story, 4 levels
印尼监狱惊现“豪华公寓”：大电视、豪车和高尔夫模拟器
Luxury Apartments Inside an Indonesian Prison: Big TVs, Fancy Cars and a Golf Simulator
About this story
In a surprise inspection on Sept. 23, 2026, Indonesia's Ombudsman found inmates at Cibinong prison near Jakarta living in staff houses with flat-screen TVs and a gym, luxury cars parked outside, a golf simulator under construction and an unguarded exit into the forest. Five officials, including the warden, have been suspended while investigators look for bribes. Chinese listening practice at four levels. HSK 2 Chinese listening practice.
This is an HSK 2 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 房间、让、贵 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
Do you have a TV at home?
Today we're talking about a very unusual prison.
The people who live in prison have done bad things, and they can't go home.
In Indonesia, many prisons are overcrowded, with lots of people living in one room.
But in one prison, some people were living very well.
This prison is next to Jakarta, the capital of Indonesia.
On September 23, a few inspectors suddenly showed up at the prison.
At first, the people at the prison wouldn't let them in.
But in the end they got in; what did they see?
Some prisoners weren't living inside the prison, but in houses outside it.
These houses were originally meant for prison staff.
The houses were big, with very big TVs inside and a place to exercise.
Outside the houses, expensive cars were parked.
There was also a room for playing golf, which wasn't finished yet.
Behind the houses there was a door that nobody guarded, and people could go out and come in through it as they pleased.
On the other side of the door was a forest.
Why could these prisoners live in such nice houses?
Now people suspect that they gave money to the prison staff.
One prisoner also admitted to living in one of these houses.
Now five staff members at this prison, including the top boss, have been stopped from working.
One of the inspectors said: what we saw may be only a small part.
In Indonesia, things like this have happened before.
Prison staff are paid very little, so some of them take money from prisoners.
What do you think could stop this from happening again?
Listen again
Try it without the transcript and notice what sounds clearer.
What vocabulary does this episode teach?
词汇HSK 2. 一个房间里要住很多人.
HSK 2. 不让他们进去.
HSK 2. 停着很贵的车.
HSK 2. 一个很特别的监狱.
HSK 2. 还有地方可以运动.
HSK 2. 可能只是一小部分.
很多监狱人太多.
犯 (to commit) + 人 (person).
监狱的员工.
突然来到这个监狱.
HSK 3. 检查的人.
HSK 4. 大家怀疑.
* beyond level超纲词
What grammar patterns appear in this episode?
语法本来
Originally, (it was) supposed to…
这些房子，本来是给监狱里的员工住的。
包括……
Including…
现在，这个监狱的五个员工，包括最大的领导，都不能工作了。
……，所以……
…, so… — cause and result.
监狱里的员工钱很少，所以，有的人会收犯人的钱。
Proper nouns
专有名词Free account
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