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 3 Chinese listening practice.
This is an HSK 3-4 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 10 key vocabulary words such as 垂直、记录、搭档 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
Two hours, fifty-five minutes, thirty-two seconds.
That is how long it took one man to climb nine hundred metres of vertical rock.
That rock face is called El Capitan, in California.
The man who climbed it was Jake Whisenant, thirty years old.
In early August he fell to his death while climbing in the Sierra Nevada.
El Capitan is nine hundred metres high and close to vertical.
Most people take two or three days to climb it, sleeping at night hanging off the wall.
But there is a small group who compete on speed.
Two years ago in October, Whisenant and a partner climbed one route in two hours fifty-five.
The fastest record before that was three hours and five minutes.
They cut nearly ten minutes off it in one go.
In this discipline, ten minutes is a generational gap.
This May, he climbed the most famous route on it twice in a single day.
In American climbing circles, his is the kind of name that gets remembered.
Then came August 3rd.
The cause of death is recorded as accidental; the circumstances are still under investigation and officials have released no details.
One thing to be clear about: it did not happen on El Capitan.
After the news spread, the climbing community wrote a great deal.
What came up most was how steady he was when he was leading other people.
Speed climbing looks like a thrill from outside. People inside know it is thousands of repetitions.
Think about it: something both dangerous and beautiful — how does a person decide whether to do it?
Listen again
Try it without the transcript and notice what sounds clearer.
What vocabulary does this episode teach?
词汇最快记录 = the fastest record.
一代人的差距 = a generational gap.
经过还在调查 = the circumstances are still under investigation.
官方没有公布细节 = officials have released no details.
消息传开后 = after the news spread.
他带人时有多稳 = how steady he was leading others. The thing people remembered.
九百米垂直岩壁 = nine hundred metres of vertical rock face.
和搭档一起 = together with a climbing partner.
速度攀岩 = speed climbing, the discipline he set the record in.
挂在岩壁上睡觉 = sleeping hanging off the wall.
* beyond level超纲词
What grammar patterns appear in this episode?
语法这里要说清楚：……
A host flagging a correction before the audience assumes wrong.
这里要说清楚：出事地点，不是酋长岩。
外人……，圈里人……
"outsiders … , insiders …". Contrasts two readings of the same thing.
速度攀岩，外人看是刺激，圈里人知道，那是几千次重复练出来的。
属于……的那一类
"belongs to the kind that …". Places someone in a category.
他的名字，属于被记住的那一类。
Proper Nouns
专有名词Sources
来源Free account
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