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日本南部大地震：商场塌了，几十万人离开家
Big Earthquake in Southern Japan: A Mall Collapses, Hundreds of Thousands Leave Home
An easy Chinese listening story: a strong earthquake struck southern Japan, a tsunami warning came and went, a mall's second floor collapsed, people died and were hurt, and huge numbers had to evacuate.
This is an HSK 2 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 东西、离开、家 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.
七月二十八号，日本南边，来了一个很大的地震。
On July 28th, a very big earthquake hit southern Japan.
地震很强，有七级多。
The earthquake was strong, over magnitude 7.
房子在摇，很多东西都从上面掉了下来。
Houses shook, and many things came tumbling down.
一开始，大家很怕，怕会有大浪打过来。
At first, everyone was afraid a big wave might come rushing in.
后来，大浪没有来，大家松了一口气。
Later, the big wave never came, and everyone breathed a sigh of relief.
可是，地震还是坏了很多东西。
But the earthquake still wrecked a lot of things.
在一个地方，一个大商场的二楼，塌了下来。
In one place, the second floor of a big mall collapsed.
有一些人，被压在里面，出不来。
Some people were pinned inside and couldn't get out.
这一次地震，有人死了，也有人受伤了。
In this earthquake, some people died, and others were hurt.
因为太危险，很多很多人，都要离开自己的家。
Because it was so dangerous, huge numbers of people had to leave their homes.
政府也说：这几天，可能还会有地震，大家一定要小心。
The government said too: over the next few days there may be more quakes, so everyone must be careful.
对日本人来说，地震并不少见，可是每一次，都让人很害怕。
For the Japanese, earthquakes aren't rare, but every one is still terrifying.
很多东西都掉了下来 = many things came down.
都要离开自己的家 = all had to leave their homes.
离开自己的家 = leave their own home.
一个很大的地震 = a very big earthquake.
—
地震很强 = the earthquake was strong.
一个大商场的二楼 = a big mall's second floor.
商场的二楼塌了 = the mall's second floor collapsed.
因为太危险 = because it was so dangerous.
都让人很害怕 = it terrifies everyone.
* beyond level超纲词
一开始……后来……
一开始 X，后来 Y = "at first X, later Y".
一开始，大家很怕……后来，大浪没有来。
因为……
因为 = "because".
因为太危险，很多很多人，都要离开自己的家。
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