A Chinese podcast · Same story, 4 levels
两小时五十五分爬完九百米：El Capitan 速攀纪录保持者坠亡，三十岁
He Climbed 900 Metres of El Capitan in 2 Hours 55. He Died at 30.
About this story
He Climbed 900 Metres of El Capitan in 2 Hours 55. He Died at 30. HSK 1 Chinese listening practice.
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 9 key vocabulary words such as 爬、山、石头 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
Today we are going to talk about a person.
This person is called Jake.
Jake is American.
Jake loved climbing mountains.
What is mountain climbing?
Look: here is a mountain.
This mountain is high — very, very high.
You are at the bottom of the mountain, and you want to get to the top.
Your hands are on the rock.
Bit by bit, you go up, and up.
That is called climbing.
In America there is a very big mountain.
This mountain is all rock.
This mountain is very, very, very high.
A lot of people want to climb this mountain.
This mountain is so high that climbing it takes a long time.
Some people climb for a day.
Some climb for two days, or three.
While you are climbing, it is exhausting, and it is slow.
Jake was not that kind of person.
Jake climbed fast — very, very fast.
Two years ago, Jake and a friend climbed this mountain together.
How long did they take?
Not three days.
Not one day.
Not ten hours either.
Two hours, fifty-five minutes.
In two hours and fifty-five minutes, they were at the top.
Before Jake, there were people who climbed fast too.
Those people took ten minutes longer than Jake.
So now Jake was the fastest.
In May, Jake went to climb this mountain again.
In one day, he went up twice.
Twice in one day!
Up, down, and up again.
A lot of climbers knew Jake.
They said: Jake climbs fast, and he climbs well.
In August, Jake went to a mountain.
There, Jake fell.
He did not come home.
Jake was thirty years old — very young.
His friends are all very sad.
They said: when we climb, we will think of him.
Think about it: would you want to climb a very, very high mountain?
Listen again
Try it without the transcript and notice what sounds clearer.
What vocabulary does this episode teach?
词汇很快很快 = very, very fast. Repetition intensifies.
和一个朋友一起 = together with a friend.
很多爬山的人都知道杰克 = a lot of climbers knew Jake.
会想他 = will think of him. Also 想去 = want to go.
山的上面 = the top of the mountain. Pairs with 下面.
爬山 = to climb a mountain. The verb the whole episode turns on.
很高很高的山 = a very, very high mountain.
这个山，都是石头 = this mountain is all rock.
用了多长时间？= how long did it take?
* beyond level超纲词
What grammar patterns appear in this episode?
语法太……了
"too …" — more than is workable.
这个山太高了，爬上去要很长时间。
不是……，也不是……
Ruling out options one by one before giving the real answer.
不是三天。不是一天。也不是十个小时。
一点一点
"bit by bit". Reduplication that makes the action feel slow and steady.
你一点一点，上去，上去。
Proper Nouns
专有名词Sources
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