A Chinese podcast · Same story, 4 levels
英国国王对特朗普说："对不起，我们烧了你们的房子"
King Charles Jokes About 1814 White House Fire
About this story
King Charles III jokes to Trump about Britain burning the White House in 1814, during America's 250th anniversary visit. HSK 2 Chinese listening practice.
This is an HSK 2 Chinese listening episode that runs about 12 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 18 key vocabulary words such as 国王、王后、国家 and walks through 7 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
Speaking of the most interesting story this week — it's about the English king coming to America.
Let's go through it bit by bit.
The English king's name is Charles III.
"III" means there were two earlier kings also named Charles.
He's the third one.
Charles is over seventy this year.
He also has a wife.
His wife's name is Camilla.
Camilla is the queen.
A "queen" is the king's wife.
Charles and Camilla came to America together.
They arrived Monday and leave Thursday.
They will stay in America for four days.
So why is this visit especially important?
Because this year is America's 250th birthday.
A big birthday.
Let me first tell you some history.
"History" means things that happened in the past.
After listening, you'll see why this story is interesting.
Two hundred and fifty years ago, America wasn't a country.
At that time, the place we now call America belonged to England.
England ruled the people there.
Whatever the English king said, the people there had to listen.
Later, the people there didn't want to be ruled by England anymore.
They said: we want to make our own new country.
So they fought England.
"Fight" here means hurting each other with guns.
The two countries fought for many years.
In the end, America won.
England lost.
That year was America's first year.
This year is exactly 250 years.
The English king at that time was named George III.
George III and today's Charles III are family.
Not directly father.
They're family from very long ago.
The English king passed down from George III, one after another.
And it's been passed down to Charles III.
So you see:
250 years ago, George III lost to America.
250 years later, Charles III comes to wish America happy birthday.
Isn't that interesting?
And there's something even more amazing.
After the war, some decades passed.
England came to fight America again.
This time, the English soldiers fought all the way to America's capital.
The capital is called Washington.
It's where the American president lives.
The English soldiers reached Washington and did something shocking.
They burned down the White House.
The White House is where the American president lives and works.
It's a big white house.
That's why it's called the "White House."
England really did burn the White House. It's true.
This was in 1814.
The White House we see today is not that old one.
That old one is long gone.
Today's White House was rebuilt later.
OK, knowing this history, let's come back to today.
April 2026, Charles III came to America.
He came together with Queen Camilla.
Trump invited them to the White House.
Trump is the president of America.
You may have heard of him.
That night, Trump invited Charles to dinner.
It was a very big meal.
Many important people came.
While they ate, Trump spoke first.
He said: England and America are the most special friends in the world.
Then he said many polite things.
"Polite" means speaking nicely.
So no one gets upset.
When it was Charles's turn to speak, something especially interesting happened.
You need to know one thing first.
Trump is currently building a very large new room next to the White House.
It's a meeting and dancing room.
Everyone in America knows about this.
Some like it, some don't.
Anyway, the White House is now full of construction workers.
Charles stood up and smiled.
He said to Trump:
"I see you're building a new room at the White House."
"I have something a bit awkward to say to you."
"I'm sorry that we English people once burned down your White House."
After he said it, he laughed.
The diners all burst out laughing.
Think about how good this joke is.
Charles is the English king.
His family burned the White House over two hundred years ago.
The current White House is new.
Trump is even building a new room.
So Charles said: "Sorry, we burned your house."
It sounds polite.
But it's also interesting.
Trump heard it and laughed too.
He wasn't upset.
Charles also said another line.
He said something an English person once said.
That English person was named Wilde.
Wilde was a person from long ago who wrote books.
Charles said Wilde once said:
"England and America have everything in common, except the language."
What does this mean?
England speaks English.
America also speaks English.
Both countries speak the same kind of language.
But it sounds different.
English from England and English from America have different pronunciations and different word choices.
So Wilde said: "Everything is the same, only the speech is different."
Everyone laughed again.
Charles used two jokes to do one big thing.
What big thing?
He turned bad things from the past into something everyone could laugh at together.
No serious words.
No loud talking.
Just a smile, a few sentences.
But everyone understood his meaning:
The past is past.
We are friends now.
The jokes were over.
But Charles's truly impressive thing was on the second day.
The next day, Charles went to a really important place.
He went to the American Congress.
Congress is where some important Americans meet.
They speak there, and make America's laws.
"Laws" are the rules everyone has to follow.
The English king going to American Congress is a very rare thing.
The previous time was Charles's mother.
Her name was Elizabeth II.
She was also a king of England.
She went there once in 1991.
That was over thirty years ago.
So this time for Charles is the second time in history.
Charles spoke for about twenty-five minutes in Congress.
He said several especially important things.
First, he said:
The world is changing very fast right now.
There are many problems.
One country, alone, cannot find solutions.
So America and England must help each other.
And work together with their other friends in Europe.
You can't do it alone.
Why is this important?
Because lately, Trump has been saying:
America shouldn't be involved in other countries' affairs.
Let other countries handle their own problems.
Charles is telling Trump:
"That's not right — we should do this together."
He didn't say "Trump, you're wrong" directly.
He just talked about reasoning.
But everyone listening understood what he was saying.
Second, Charles talked about rules.
He said: a country needs rules.
People who do big things cannot just do whatever they want.
There must be others watching.
"Watching" means: others are also there.
If you do something wrong, someone will tell you.
That way you won't do bad things.
Think about it:
The English king, in the American Congress, talking about rules.
England is a country with a king.
But the English king cannot just do whatever he wants.
England has had this rule for a very long time.
So Charles told America: you should be like this too.
After hearing this, the people in Congress all stood up.
They all clapped.
"Clapping" is making a sound with two hands.
It means agreement.
"Agreement" means saying "yes, I agree."
The third thing was the most surprising.
Charles said: America and England must keep helping Ukraine.
Ukraine is a country in Europe.
Ukraine has been attacked by another country recently.
That country is called Russia.
Russia is much bigger than Ukraine.
One country alone, Ukraine cannot win.
So Ukraine needs other countries to help.
But the problem is:
Many Americans recently don't want to help Ukraine anymore.
They think it costs too much.
Trump thinks the same.
Charles said help Ukraine "without stopping."
After he said this sentence, the people in Congress all stood up.
They clapped strongly.
Not just those who supported helping Ukraine.
Even those who originally didn't want to help, also stood up.
With one sentence, Charles made even those who originally didn't agree, also stand up to support.
This is a very impressive thing.
So this time, Charles did really well in America.
He used the most polite way to do several big things.
He wasn't loud.
He didn't argue with anyone.
He just smiled, told a joke, said a few words.
But what he wanted to say, he said it all.
He even made the Americans agree with him.
The English have a saying.
They say: there's a kind of strength that's not from fists.
It's from a smile, from politeness, from clever words.
That's the kind of strength Charles used.
So what does this story tell us?
First, bad things from the past can pass.
England and America were at war 250 years ago.
England even burned America's White House.
But today, they can have dinner together, laugh together.
People are the same way.
You've had bad things with a friend — that's okay.
You can be friends again later.
Don't stay angry.
Second, speaking doesn't have to be loud.
A small joke can do big things.
Polite words are more useful than angry words.
Smart people do things with smiles.
That's what Charles told us.
Today's story ends here.
At the end of April, English king Charles III came to America.
He used a joke to turn the old story of burning the White House into something everyone laughed at.
He spoke in Congress, and made everyone stand up and clap.
He used a very polite way to do several big things.
That's the most interesting story this week.
Listen again
Try it without the transcript and notice what sounds clearer.
What vocabulary does this episode teach?
词汇国 (country) + 王 (monarch). 英国国王 = the king of England.
Glossed inline. 王 (king) + 后 (consort). Distinguished from 女王 (a reigning queen).
HSK 2. 一个国家 = one country. The episode features four 国家: 英国, 美国, 中国, 俄罗斯.
HSK 4 but very common. 美国总统 = the US president. 英国 has a 国王 instead of a 总统.
HSK 3. Glossed inline as 'things that happened in the past.' 二百多年前的历史 = over 200 years of history.
HSK 3. 美国的首都是华盛顿. 中国的首都是北京.
HSK 2. Often paired with 很/非常. 一件很重要的事 = a very important matter.
HSK 3. Glossed inline as 'speaking nicely so no one gets upset.' 不客气 = you're welcome.
HSK 3. 决定独立 = decide to become independent. Both verb and noun.
HSK 3. 乌克兰需要别的国家帮忙 = Ukraine needs other countries' help. Common modal.
Glossed inline. 国 (country) + 会 (meeting). The body that makes a country's laws.
国 (state) + 宴 (banquet). The most formal type of dinner — when one country's leader hosts another's. (Note: appears in higher levels of the same episode.)
工 (work) + 程 (course). The episode uses it for Trump's White House ballroom 工程.
HSK 5. Glossed inline as 'some people like it, others don't.' 有争议的工程 = a controversial project.
HSK 4. 守规则 = follow the rules. The keyword of Charles's checks-and-balances message.
HSK 4. 支持乌克兰 = support Ukraine. Both verb and noun.
HSK 5. Glossed inline as 'won't change, keep doing it.' Charles's call to support Ukraine 'firmly' is the rhetorical climax.
HSK 5. Glossed inline as 'saying yes, I agree.' Often used for political/formal agreement.
* beyond level超纲词
What grammar patterns appear in this episode?
语法X 就是 Y (definition)
The teaching pattern used to gloss new terms inline. Whenever a less-familiar word appears, the speaker often follows up with 'X 就是 ...' to define it.
拍手就是用两只手做声音。
客气就是说话很好听。
争议就是有些人喜欢，有些人不喜欢。
为什么 ... ？因为 ...
Self-Q&A structure. The speaker poses a question and immediately answers it. Very common in spoken explanation.
为什么这话重要？因为最近，特朗普一直说：...
为什么大家都笑？
什么意思呢？
虽然 ... 但是 ...
Concession structure. The 但是 clause is the main point. Both halves usually appear together.
查尔斯没有大声。但是大家都听他的。
听起来很客气。但是又有意思。
Verb + 起来 (resultative)
Directional complement. 站起来 = stand up; 笑起来 = burst out laughing; 想起来 = come to mind.
国会里的人都站起来。
吃饭的人都大笑起来。
想一想这个画面。
比 comparison
A 比 B + adjective + (quantity). To say 'by how much,' add a measure phrase after the adjective.
俄罗斯比乌克兰大很多。
客气的话，比生气的话更有用。
把 sentence (BA construction)
把 fronts the object so the verb can carry a result/disposal. 'Took A and did Y to it.' Common with verbs of placement, change, removal.
他们把白宫给烧了。
他把以前不好的事情，变成了大家一起笑的事。
Topic + 让 + Object + Verb (causative)
让 is the basic causative: 'make X V' or 'let X V.' Very common for describing what an action causes others to do.
查尔斯说了一句让所有人都笑出来的话。
他还让美国的人都同意他。
Proper nouns
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