A Chinese podcast · Same story, 4 levels
1:09
日本熊本7级大地震：发海啸警报、商场坍塌，数十万人避难
Magnitude-7 Quake in Kumamoto, Japan: Tsunami Warning, a Collapsed Mall, Hundreds of Thousands Evacuate
A medium Chinese listening story: a magnitude-7 earthquake struck Kumamoto in southern Japan; a brief tsunami advisory was issued and cancelled, a mall's second floor collapsed, and hundreds of thousands evacuated.
This is an HSK 3-4 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 10 key vocabulary words such as 城市、担心、离开 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.
Read the complete story in Chinese. Reveal pinyin and English only when you need them.
On the afternoon of July 28th, a big earthquake struck Kyushu in southern Japan.
The quake's magnitude was first put at 7.1, then revised down to 6.8.
The epicenter was right south of Kumamoto, Kyushu's largest city, very close by.
Because the source was shallow, the shaking was especially fierce, and many houses swayed.
The moment it hit, Japan issued a tsunami warning, fearing a one-meter wave.
Thankfully, no tsunami appeared in the end, and the warning was soon cancelled.
But the quake still caused real damage.
In a small town called Kashima, the second floor of a big mall collapsed straight down, trapping people inside.
So far, at least two people have died, and more than ten are injured.
Fearing more strong quakes, tens of thousands of people were told to leave home and take shelter.
Japan sits on an earthquake belt and shakes often anyway.
But every big quake still leaves everyone's nerves on edge.
Try it without the transcript and notice what sounds clearer.
九州最大的城市 = Kyushu's largest city.
担心会有海浪 = worried a wave might come.
离开家去避难 = leave home to take shelter.
离开家 = leave home.
一场大地震 = a big earthquake.
发生了一场大地震 = a big earthquake struck.
地震的震级 = the quake's magnitude.
发出了海啸警报 = issued a tsunami warning.
海啸警报 = a tsunami warning.
大商场的二楼塌了 = the mall's 2nd floor collapsed.
* beyond level超纲词
因为……，……
因为 X = "because X".
因为震源很浅，晃动特别厉害。
并没有……
并没有 emphatically negates: "did not at all …".
最后并没有出现海啸。
到目前为止
到目前为止 = "so far / up to now".
到目前为止，已经有至少两个人死亡。
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