A Chinese podcast · Same story, 4 levels
美国九百万人上街抗议
9 Million Join No Kings Protests in New York, Los Angeles and Chicago as Government Shuts Down
About this story
9 million Americans march in the No Kings protests across New York, Los Angeles and Chicago as the US shuts down. HSK 2 Chinese listening practice.
This is an HSK 2 Chinese listening episode that runs about 6 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 13 key vocabulary words such as 关门、为什么、机场 and walks through 5 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.
Read at your level
原文Read the complete story in Chinese. Reveal pinyin and English only when you need them.
English transcript reference
A very big thing happened in America.
March twenty-eighth, Saturday.
About nine million people went to the streets.
They were protesting.
Protesting means expressing that you are not happy.
Telling others you think something is wrong.
You come out and say your thoughts.
This protest is called No Kings.
In Chinese it means no king.
Why is it called this name?
Because the protesters think.
The American president acts too much like a king.
In America, the president is not a king.
The president should listen to the people.
But they feel the president doesn't listen.
The president does whatever he wants.
So they came out to express their thoughts.
How big was this protest?
All across America more than three thousand places were protesting.
Big cities had them, small cities too.
New York had protests.
Los Angeles had protests.
Chicago also had protests.
Even many small towns had people come out.
About two-thirds of the protests were in small places.
This is very important.
Because it shows not only big city people are unhappy.
Even small town people are unhappy.
Everywhere people are not happy.
This was not the first No Kings protest.
Last June there was one.
That time about five million people joined.
That was already a lot.
Last October there was another one.
That time about seven million people joined.
Even more.
This is the third time.
Also the biggest one.
Nine million people.
Every time more people than the last.
Five million, seven million, nine million.
More every time.
This shows more and more people are joining.
The situation didn't get better, it got worse.
Why are the protesters unhappy?
There are mainly several reasons.
First is the immigration problem.
Immigration workers are arresting people.
Sometimes the way they arrest is very violent.
Several people died while being arrested.
Their names are Renee Good.
And Keith Porter.
And Alex Pretti.
This made many people very angry.
They feel this should not be done to people.
Second is the government shutdown.
The American government has been shut down for several weeks.
What does this mean?
It means many government workers have no wages.
They go to work every day.
But there is no money.
Like airport security workers.
They have not been paid for several weeks.
But they still have to continue working.
Go to the airport every day.
Check luggage.
Check passengers.
But no wages.
Think about it.
Going to work but no money.
Who would be happy?
Third is the president's behavior.
Many people feel the president doesn't listen to others.
Doesn't listen to Congress.
Doesn't respect court decisions.
Does whatever he wants.
This is too much like a king.
So they say No Kings.
No king.
All these things together.
Made many people feel it's not fair.
So they decided to come out and protest.
How did the protesters do it?
They went to the streets.
Holding signs with words on them.
Shouting slogans.
They were peaceful.
No violence.
No hitting people.
No breaking things.
In Los Angeles.
Some highway entrances were closed early.
Because there were too many people.
The roads were full of people.
Cars couldn't drive through at all.
The group that organized this protest is called Indivisible.
They have been organizing since 2025.
Nine million people stood up together.
This might be the biggest protest in American history.
Whether you agree with their ideas or not.
This many people expressing their opinion together.
Is very rare in history.
The whole world is watching what is happening in America.
Many countries' news are talking about this.
Because America is a very big country.
What happens in America affects other countries.
Some people support the protesters.
They think protesting is right.
Some people think protesting is wrong.
They support the president.
Both sides think they are right.
But no matter what.
Nine million people coming out together.
This itself is a very big thing.
There have never been this many people before.
This shows many people have a lot to say.
They want others to hear their voice.
There have never been this many people coming out before.
This shows many people have a lot of things they want to say.
They want others to hear their voice.
What will happen next?
Nobody knows.
But this many people came out.
There will be some changes.
Everyone is watching what happens next.
Listen again
Try it without the transcript and notice what sounds clearer.
What vocabulary does this episode teach?
词汇Here it means the government stopped working.
HSK 1-2. why.
HSK 1-2. airport.
HSK 1-2. problem / question.
HSK 1-2. meaning / interest.
HSK 1-2. matter/thing.
HSK 1-2. news.
To come out and express disagreement publicly.
The leader of a country.
To say what you think or feel.
People who move to another country.
Hurting people or breaking things.
The group that runs a country.
* beyond level超纲词
What grammar patterns appear in this episode?
语法Proper Nouns
专有名词Sources
来源Free account
Keep learning from this story
Create a free account to keep saved words and your preferred level together.
- Keep words with their story context
- Remember your preferred level
- Build your vocabulary over time