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四百年前的"谋杀案"？科学家用 DNA 揭开 Medici 兄弟的死因
A 400-Year-Old "Murder"? Scientists Use DNA to Reveal How the Medici Brothers Died
An easy Chinese listening story: for four centuries people believed two Medici brothers were poisoned, but scientists took DNA from their old bones and found the real killer was a disease, malaria.
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 11 key vocabulary words such as 身体、早、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.
在意大利，有一个很有名的大家族，叫 Medici。
In Italy, there was a very famous great family called the Medici.
Medici 家很有钱，也很有权力。
The Medici family was rich and powerful.
家里有两个兄弟。
In the family were two brothers.
哥哥是一个大公爵。
The older brother was a grand duke.
四十六岁那年，他突然死了。
At the age of 46, he suddenly died.
弟弟也很早就死了。
The younger brother had died young too.
两个兄弟死了，很多人都说：是有人给他们吃了毒。
When the two brothers died, many people said: someone poisoned them.
大家怀疑的，是家里想要权力的人。
The one people suspected was another family member who wanted power.
这个问题，很多人说了四百多年。
People argued over this question for more than four hundred years.
最近，科学家看了两兄弟的骨头。
Recently, scientists examined the two brothers' bones.
他们看了骨头里的 DNA。
They looked at the DNA inside the bones.
结果，大家都很吃惊。
The result stunned everyone.
两个人的身体里，都有一个很不好的病，叫疟疾。
Inside both men was a very nasty disease, called malaria.
真正害死两兄弟的，是这个病。
What really killed the two brothers was this disease.
不是有人给他们吃了毒。
It wasn't that someone poisoned them.
四百多年的一个大问题，科学，慢慢找到了答案。
A four-hundred-year-old puzzle was, at last, slowly solved by science.
两个人的身体里 = inside both men's bodies.
弟弟也很早就死了 = the younger brother died early too.
Medici 家很有钱 = the Medici family was rich.
想要权力的人 = someone who wanted power.
给他们吃了毒 = poisoned them (fed them poison).
看了两兄弟的骨头 = examined the brothers' bones.
很有名的大家族 = a very famous great family.
很有权力 = very powerful.
一个大公爵 = a grand duke.
给他们吃了毒 = poisoned them.
一个很不好的病，叫疟疾 = a nasty disease called malaria.
* beyond level超纲词
又……又……
又 A 又 B = "both A and B".
Medici 家很有钱，也很有权力。
真正……的，是……
真正 X 的，是 Y = "what really X is Y".
真正害死两兄弟的，是这个病。
不是……
不是 X = "it was not X".
不是有人给他们吃了毒。
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