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不是毒杀，是疟疾：DNA 解开美第奇兄弟四百年谜案
Not Poison but Malaria: DNA Solves the Medici Brothers' 400-Year Mystery
A medium Chinese listening story: the Medici ruled Florence, and for 400 years a duke's sudden death fueled poisoning rumors, until Yale and Pisa scientists found malaria's parasite in the brothers' bones.
This is an HSK 3-4 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 城市、发现、最 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.
在几百年前的意大利，Medici（美第奇）家族，是佛罗伦萨真正的主人。
A few centuries ago in Italy, the Medici family were the true masters of Florence.
他们又有钱，又有权，几乎掌控着整座城市。
They were both rich and powerful, controlling almost the entire city.
可就是这样一个显赫的家族，却留下了一桩四百多年的谜案。
Yet this very illustrious family left behind a mystery more than four hundred years old.
一五八七年，家族里的大公爵弗朗切斯科，四十六岁就突然去世，几乎和妻子同时离世。
In 1587, the family's grand duke Francesco died suddenly at 46, almost at the same time as his wife.
他走得太蹊跷，于是很快就有人怀疑：他是被毒死的。
His death was so strange that suspicion quickly arose: he had been poisoned.
被怀疑的，正是他的弟弟——一心想要继承大位的费迪南多。
The one suspected was his own brother, Ferdinando, who was set on inheriting the throne.
传说中，凶器是当时最常用的毒药，也就是砒霜。
As the story went, the weapon was the poison most common at the time: arsenic.
家里另一个哥哥乔瓦尼，也在很年轻的时候就去世了。
Another brother in the family, Giovanni, had also died very young.
这些死亡，让"Medici 家族被下毒"的说法，流传了几百年。
These deaths kept the tale of "the poisoned Medici" alive for centuries.
直到最近，来自耶鲁和比萨大学的科学家，从两兄弟四百年前的肋骨里，提取出了古老的 DNA。
Only recently did scientists from Yale and Pisa extract ancient DNA from the brothers' 400-year-old rib bones.
他们在两个人的骨头里，都发现了一种引起疟疾的寄生虫。
In the bones of both men, they found a parasite that causes malaria.
也就是说，真正的凶手，很可能是疟疾这种病。
In other words, the real killer was most likely malaria, the disease.
四百多年后，冰冷的科学，为一桩古老的传言，给出了一个全新的答案。
Four centuries later, cold science gave an old rumor a brand-new answer.
掌控着整座城市 = controlling the whole city.
发现了一种寄生虫 = found a parasite.
当时最常用的毒药 = the most common poison of the time.
家里另一个哥哥 = another brother in the family.
也就是说 = in other words.
Medici 家族 = the Medici family.
大公爵弗朗切斯科 = Grand Duke Francesco.
当时最常用的毒药 = the most common poison then.
凶器是砒霜 = the weapon was arsenic.
引起疟疾的寄生虫 = the parasite that causes malaria.
* beyond level超纲词
又有……，又有……
又有 A，又有 B = "have both A and B".
他们又有钱，又有权。
正是……
正是 X = "it is precisely X".
被怀疑的，正是他的弟弟费迪南多。
也就是说，……
也就是说 = "in other words / that is to say".
也就是说，真正的凶手，很可能是疟疾。
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