A Chinese podcast · Same story, 4 levels

等了五十三年,纽约队终于拿了第一
After Fifty-Three Years, the New York Team Finally Took First Place
About this story
The New York Knicks end a 53-year championship drought: what basketball and first place mean, the 5-game Finals win over the Spurs, Brunson's 45-point clincher, and the record comeback — a story about a dream waited on for half a century. HSK 2 Chinese listening practice.
This is an HSK 2 Chinese listening episode that runs about 5 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 14 key vocabulary words such as 运动、第一、努力 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
Today we'll talk about something that has many people very excited.
This thing is connected to basketball.
First, let's talk a bit about basketball.
Basketball is a kind of ball game.
Many people play together.
Everyone splits into two teams.
When you play, there's a basket up above.
You have to put the ball into the basket.
When the ball goes into the basket, your team gets a point.
In the end, the team with more points wins.
The team with fewer points loses.
This is basketball.
In America, basketball is one of the most popular sports.
Almost everyone watches it.
America has many basketball teams.
Every big city has its own team.
Today we're talking about one city's team.
This city is called New York.
New York is one of the biggest cities in America.
New York's team is just called the New York team.
New Yorkers especially love their own team.
They watch from childhood into old age.
A whole family watches together.
The father watches, the son watches too.
But in New Yorkers' hearts,
there has always been one very sad thing.
What is it?
We'll go slowly.
Basketball is played every year.
All the teams play through a whole year,
and in the end, only one team can take first place.
The team that takes first place
is that year's most formidable team.
Every team wants first place.
Of course the New York team wants it too.
But the New York team
hadn't taken first place for a very, very long time.
How long?
Fifty-three years.
You didn't hear wrong — fifty-three years.
The last time the New York team took first
was in 1973.
Back then,
many New Yorkers today hadn't even been born yet.
In these fifty-three years,
the New York team played every year.
But every year, they came up just short.
They simply couldn't get that first place.
New Yorkers waited year after year.
Their fathers waited.
Their grandfathers waited too.
Many old people, right up until they passed,
never got to see the New York team take first again.
So for New Yorkers,
taking first place had almost become a dream.
A dream waited on for fifty-three years.
But this year, this dream woke up.
This year, the New York team played better and better.
They won team after team.
In the end, they reached the final step.
Across from them was another very strong team.
The two teams played five games.
The New York team won four.
Just yesterday,
they won the last game.
The score was close: 94 to 90.
The New York team finally took first place!
First place, waited on for fifty-three years!
In that moment, all of New York went wild.
Many people on the streets cried and laughed at once.
Some old people said:
'In my whole life, I finally got to see it.'
For this first-place win,
on the New York team, one person was the most formidable.
He's called Brunson.
He's the leader of the team.
In the last game, he alone scored 45 points.
Across the whole series, he averaged nearly 30 points.
So everyone says
he was the best one this time.
He won a very big award.
By the way, there's one more thing that's especially interesting.
In an earlier game,
there was one where the New York team was far behind in the first half.
Behind by almost 30 points.
Everyone thought this game was a sure loss.
But the New York team didn't give up.
In the second half, they chased point by point.
In the end, they actually turned it around and won.
This is the biggest comeback
in basketball history.
Finally, let's think together.
A team waited fifty-three years.
Along the way there were countless disappointments.
But they never stopped playing.
This year, they finally got there.
Finally, I want to ask you.
In your heart, is there a dream
you've waited a very, very long time for?
Are you still working hard for it?
Listen again
Try it without the transcript and notice what sounds clearer.
What vocabulary does this episode teach?
词汇HSK 3. 篮球是最火的运动之一 = basketball is one of the most popular sports.
拿第一 = take first place. The episode's plain word for championship.
HSK 3. 你还在为它努力吗 = are you still working hard for it?
HSK 1-2. interesting.
HSK 1-2. meaning / interest.
HSK 1-2. history.
HSK 1-2. to feel / to think.
Glossed inline: 把球放到篮子里,球进了就有分 = put the ball in the basket, scoring a point.
大家分成两个队 = everyone splits into two teams; 纽约队 = the New York team.
HSK 3. 每个大城市都有自己的队 = every big city has its own team.
拿第一几乎成了一个梦,一个等了五十三年的梦 = first place became a dream, a 53-year-old dream.
年年都差一点 = every year they came up just short.
HSK 4. 纽约队没有放弃 = the New York team didn't give up.
最大的一次反败为胜 = the biggest comeback. A classic 4-character idiom.
* beyond level超纲词
What grammar patterns appear in this episode?
语法X 是 ... 之一 (one of...)
'X is one of the...'. Marks membership in a top group.
篮球是最火的运动之一。
纽约,是美国最大的城市之一。
从 X 到 Y (from X to Y)
Marks a span or range.
他们从小看,看到老。
从小孩,等成了老人。
差一点 + Verb
'almost / came up just short of doing X'.
年年都差一点。
竟然 + Clause (unexpectedly)
Marks a surprising outcome.
最后,竟然反过来赢了。
越来越 / 越 V 越 Adj
'more and more'. Marks escalation.
今年,纽约队,越打越好。
对...来说 (for / from the perspective of)
Topicalizes whose viewpoint is discussed.
对纽约人来说,拿第一,几乎成了一个梦。
终于 + Verb (finally)
Marks a long-awaited result.
纽约队,终于拿到了第一!
我这辈子,终于等到了。
Proper Nouns
专有名词Free account
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