A Chinese podcast · Same story, 4 levels
Lidl 开酒馆：北爱尔兰的卖酒法律
Lidl Opens Its First Pub in Northern Ireland After Six-Year Licensing Battle Over Alcohol Laws
About this story
Lidl opens The Middle Ale pub in Dundonald, Northern Ireland, after six years and 500,000 pounds, using a closed pub's licence to sell alcohol. HSK 3 Chinese listening practice.
This is an HSK 3 Chinese listening episode that runs about 4 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 12 key vocabulary words such as 超市、地方、因为 and walks through 8 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
In Northern Ireland, if a supermarket wants to sell alcohol, it first needs to have a pub.
This sounds very strange.
A supermarket is a place that sells food.
A pub is a place where you drink beer.
A place that sells food.
Why does it need to have a place where you drink beer?
Because Northern Ireland's laws are different from other places.
Here, if you want to sell alcohol, you need to have a licence.
This licence belongs to a pub that is not open.
That pub has closed.
This licence can be given to a new shop.
There is one more thing: this place cannot have too many pubs.
If there are too many pubs here, you cannot open a new one.
These two things make opening a pub very difficult.
Many small shops also need this licence.
These small shops have to wait for a pub to close.
So, there will not be many places selling alcohol in Northern Ireland.
Lidl, this supermarket company, is very big.
Lidl has many supermarkets.
Lidl has a supermarket in Dundonald in Northern Ireland.
Lidl wants to sell alcohol in this supermarket.
Lidl does not have a pub.
Lidl applies for a supermarket licence.
But Lidl did not pass this requirement.
Because there is still a shop selling alcohol here.
The owner of this shop objected.
Lidl did not give up.
Lidl applied for a pub licence again.
This time, Lidl said: two pubs here have already closed.
So, there are not many pubs here.
Lidl got this licence.
The owner of a shop selling alcohol went to court again.
He said: Lidl doing this is not right.
The court listened, but Lidl won.
The court said: Lidl can open a pub.
This owner is unhappy.
But he cannot do anything.
For this pub, Lidl waited six years.
For six years, Lidl was thinking about this pub.
In April 2026, many people learned about this.
In June 2026, this pub opened.
The name of this pub is The Middle Ale.
For this pub, Lidl spent 500,000 pounds.
500,000 pounds is a lot of money.
This pub hired eight people.
In the pub, there is food and drink from the supermarket.
People drink beer in the pub, and they can also eat.
One person said: there is new beer here, very good.
Another person said: a supermarket opening a pub.
This is different from other pubs.
One woman said: I probably will not go.
A person who lives here said: this pub is very good.
He said: in three years, four years, several pubs here have closed.
He said: this place needs a new place.
Another person said: the people here have nowhere to go.
She said: there was no place to drink here, now there is.
Some people here said: this pub is a new place.
They feel that people can come here.
They said: the pub can have new jobs.
Some people are also unhappy.
They said: big companies have money, small shops do not have money.
People at a university studied this.
They said: this law is good for big companies.
It is not good for small shops.
Lidl's manager said, Dundonald has more people now.
Lidl said: we have no plans to open more pubs.
Will you go and take a look at this supermarket's pub?
Listen again
Try it without the transcript and notice what sounds clearer.
What vocabulary does this episode teach?
词汇HSK 2. 超市 is a common noun for supermarket; 一家超市 means 'one supermarket'.
HSK 2. 卖东西的地方 means 'a place that sells things'.
HSK 2. Often paired with 所以 (so): 因为…所以…
HSK 2. 可以给一个新的店 means 'can be given to a new shop'.
HSK 2. 这家超市公司很大 means 'this supermarket company is big'.
HSK 2. 小商店 means 'small shop'; 卖酒的商店 means 'shop that sells alcohol'.
HSK 2. 已经有2个酒馆关了 means 'two pubs have already closed here'.
HSK 2. 等了6年 means 'waited six years'.
HSK 2. 卖酒 means 'to sell alcohol'; opposite is 买 (to buy).
HSK 2. 北爱尔兰的法律 means 'Northern Ireland's law'.
HSK 2. 这个商店的老板 means 'the owner of this shop'.
Beyond HSK 2. 酒馆 is a place where people drink alcohol; 开酒馆 means 'to open a pub'.
* beyond level超纲词
What grammar patterns appear in this episode?
语法要 + Verb + 先要 + Verb
Expresses a prerequisite: in order to do something, you must first do something else.
一家超市想卖酒，先要有一个酒馆。
你要卖酒，要有一个执照。
因为…所以…
A cause-and-effect pair meaning 'because… therefore…'.
因为北爱尔兰的法律，和别的地方不一样。
因为这里还有一个卖酒的商店。
所以，北爱尔兰卖酒的地方，不会很多。
让 + Noun + Adjective/Verb
The causative 让 means 'to make/let someone do or be something'.
这两件事，让开酒馆很难。
又 + Verb
又 marks a repeated action: 'again' or 'once more'.
Lidl 又申请一个酒馆的执照。
一个卖酒的商店的老板，又去了法院。
为了 + Noun/Verb
Means 'for the sake of / in order to', introducing a purpose.
为了这个酒馆，Lidl 等了6年。
为了这个酒馆，Lidl 花了500,000英镑。
有 + Number + Measure word + Noun
States an existing quantity: 'there are N of something'.
这里已经有2个酒馆关了。
这个酒馆，请了8个人。
和…不一样
Means 'different from', used to compare two things.
因为北爱尔兰的法律，和别的地方不一样。
这和别的酒馆不一样。
对 + Noun + 好/不好
Means 'good/bad for someone or something'.
这个法律，对大公司好。
小商店就不好。
Proper nouns
专有名词Sources
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