3:11
一个有名的人，做错了一件事
A Famous Man Made a Mistake
This is an HSK 1 Chinese listening episode that runs about 3 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 电影、看、想 and walks through 4 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.
今天我给你说一个新闻。
Today I'll tell you a news story.
是中国的一个电影的事。
It's about a Chinese movie.
电影叫《监狱来的妈妈》。
The movie is called "Mother From Prison."
你听过吗？
Have you heard of it?
可能你没听过。
You probably haven't.
因为这个电影还没有上。
Because this movie hasn't been released.
现在也不会上了。
And now it won't be.
电影里的那个妈妈，
The mother in the movie
是一个真的人。
is a real person.
她叫赵小红。
Her name is Zhao Xiaohong.
赵小红在很多年前，
Many years ago, Zhao Xiaohong
做了一件不好的事。
did a bad thing.
她杀了她的丈夫。
She killed her husband.
她去了监狱。
She went to prison.
她在监狱里 15 年。
She was in prison for 15 years.
15 年后，
15 years later,
她出来了。
she came out.
有一个导演，
A director
把她的事，
took her story
做成了一个电影。
and made it into a movie.
导演让赵小红，
The director had Zhao Xiaohong
自己演自己。
play herself.
电影说：
The movie says:
赵小红是好的。
Zhao Xiaohong is good.
她的丈夫打她。
Her husband beat her.
她受不了，
She couldn't take it,
才杀了他。
so she killed him.
可是法院的纸上不是这样写的。
But the court papers don't say that.
法院的纸上说：
The court papers say:
那一晚，
that night,
他们吵了一个小的事。
they argued about a small thing.
赵小红就拿了一把刀，
Zhao Xiaohong took a knife
杀了他。
and killed him.
法院没有说她的丈夫打她。
The court did not say her husband beat her.
也就是说：
That is to say:
电影里的"妈妈"，
the "mother" in the movie
跟真的"妈妈"，
and the real "mother"
不一样。
are not the same.
电影说她可怜。
The movie says she is pitiable.
法院说她不是。
The court says she is not.
这个电影还有一个人。
This movie has another person too.
是一个很有名的男的。
It's a very famous man.
他叫汪涵。
His name is Wang Han.
汪涵是中国的一个有名的电视人。
Wang Han is a famous TV personality in China.
很多中国人都喜欢他。
Many Chinese people like him.
汪涵的名字，
Wang Han's name
也在这个电影上。
is also on this movie.
他是这个电影的一个老板。
He is one of the bosses of this movie.
很多中国人看了，
Many Chinese people saw this
都很生气。
and were very angry.
他们说：
They said:
"汪涵，
"Wang Han,
"你怎么能让一个杀人的人，
"how could you let a person who killed someone
"做电影？
"make a movie?
汪涵 5 月 20 号晚上说话了。
On the evening of May 20, Wang Han spoke.
汪涵说：
Wang Han said:
"对不起。
"I'm sorry.
"我没有好好看这个电影。
"I didn't look at this movie carefully.
"我没有给钱。
"I didn't put in money.
"现在我不和他们一起做了。
"Now I'm no longer working with them.
电影也不上了。
The movie also won't be released.
赵小红的电话也不能用了。
Zhao Xiaohong's account no longer works either.
我看了这个新闻，
I read this news,
我想：
and I thought:
每一个人都做过错事。
everyone has done something wrong.
有的小，
Some things are small,
有的大。
some are big.
我们可以让一个做了大错事的人，
Can we let a person who did a big wrong
回来吗？
come back?
可以。
Yes.
但是不可以说：
But we can't say:
"她其实没有做。
"She actually didn't do it.
不可以让真的事，
We can't turn a real thing
变成不真的电影。
into an untrue movie.
最后我问你：
Finally I'll ask you:
你觉得，
Do you think
做错了大事的人，
a person who did a big wrong
可以做电影吗？
can make a movie?
你想一下。
Think about it.
好。
Okay.
今天就说到这里。
That's all for today.
明天再聊。
Talk tomorrow.
Movie, film. The whole episode is about one 电影 — 《监狱来的妈妈》— and why it will not be shown.
To watch, to look at. The narrator 看 the news; the public 看 the movie's description and got angry; Wang Han didn't 看 the film carefully.
To think. '我看了这个新闻，我想……' — the narrator's reflection at the end uses 想.
To do, to make. 做错事 = to do something wrong; 做电影 = to make a movie. The episode's core question uses it.
Money. Wang Han's defense: '我没有给钱' — I didn't put money in. Whether he paid or not became part of the debate.
China — where this story takes place. 'Many 中国 people were angry.'
News. The narrator's framing word: '今天我给你说一个新闻.'
Famous, well-known. Wang Han is described as a 有名 TV personality. Built from 有 (to have) + 名 (name) — 'to have a name.'
Prison. The film's title is 《监狱来的妈妈》 — 'the mother who came from prison.' Zhao Xiaohong spent 15 years in 监狱.
To kill. The fact at the center of the whole story: Zhao Xiaohong 杀了 her husband.
A court of law. The episode contrasts what the 电影 says with what the 法院 (the court papers) actually recorded.
To apologize. On May 20, Wang Han 道歉 — he apologized publicly for being a producer of this film.
* beyond level超纲词
S + 把 + O + Verb
The 把 construction moves the object before the verb to emphasize what is done to it. 电影把她的事做成了一个电影 — the director took her story and made it into a movie. Very common once you describe doing something TO an object.
导演把她的事做成了一个电影。
电影把真的事变成了不真的电影。
也就是说 + clause
Used to restate something in clearer terms. The episode uses it to spell out the gap: '也就是说：电影里的妈妈，跟真的妈妈，不一样。'
也就是说：电影里的'妈妈'，跟真的'妈妈'，不一样。
可是 + clause (but)
可是 marks a contrast — the conversational 'but.' The episode's key pivot: the movie says one thing, 可是 the court papers say another.
可是法院的纸上不是这样写的。
他道歉了。可是有人说：道歉就够吗？
做错事
做 (do) + 错 (wrong) + 事 (thing). A fixed everyday phrase. The closing reflection turns on it: 每一个人都做过错事 — everyone has done something wrong.
每一个人都做过错事。
做错了大事的人，可以做电影吗？