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Nolan's Odyssey Becomes Year's Top-Grossing Film — episode cover art
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诺兰把三千年前的希腊史诗《奥德赛》搬上银幕,成了今年最卖座的电影。

Nolan's Odyssey Becomes Year's Top-Grossing Film

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Nolan's Odyssey Becomes Year's Top-Grossing Film. HSK 5-6 Chinese listening practice.

This is an HSK 5-6 Chinese listening episode that runs about 2 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 10 key vocabulary words such as 电影、妻子、想 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.

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原文

Read the complete story in Chinese. Reveal pinyin and English only when you need them.

先问你一个问题:一个三千年前的故事,能不能变成今年全球最卖座的电影?
今年夏天,Christopher Nolan 用《奥德赛》给了大家答案:能。
《奥德赛》是古希腊的一部长诗,作者叫荷马,讲的是一个叫 Odysseus 的国王,打完特洛伊战争之后,在海上漂了整整十年,才回到家的故事。
这十年里,他几乎什么倒霉事都碰上了:吃人的独眼巨人、会用歌声迷惑水手的海妖、把人变成猪的女巫。
而在家乡,他的妻子 Penelope 一直在等他,一群人却想趁机娶走她、抢走他的王位。
说白了,这就是人类最早的"回家"故事之一,几乎每个西方人从小都听过。
这一次,把它搬上银幕的,是拍过《盗梦空间》和《奥本海默》的诺兰。
《奥本海默》三年前拿了七项奥斯卡,所以大家对他的这部新片,期待值拉得极高。
诺兰这次几乎请来了半个好莱坞:Matt Damon 演 Odysseus,Anne Hathaway 演他的妻子,Tom Holland、Zendaya 等一大批明星也都在里面。
更夸张的是,他坚持用最大的 IMAX 胶片摄影机,把整部电影实拍了出来,光是场面就足够震撼。
结果一上映,这部电影就打破了诺兰自己的开画纪录,成了他职业生涯里首周末票房最高的一部,全球很快冲过了七亿美元。
问题来了:一个这么老的故事,为什么今天还这么多人买账?
其实答案不复杂。
科技、明星、大场面,都只是外壳;真正打动人的,是"回家"这两个字。
不管是三千年前的水手,还是今天坐在电影院里的你我,心里都装着一个想要回去的地方。
诺兰只是把这份古老的心情,用最现代的方式,重新讲了一遍。
所以最后想问你:如果你也在外面漂了十年,你最想回到的,是哪里?
English transcript reference

Let me start with a question: can a 3,000-year-old story become the year's biggest box-office movie worldwide?

This summer, Christopher Nolan answered it with The Odyssey: yes.

The Odyssey is an ancient Greek epic poem by Homer, telling of a king named Odysseus who, after the Trojan War, drifts at sea for a full ten years before making it home.

In those ten years, almost every misfortune befalls him: a man-eating one-eyed giant, sirens who bewitch sailors with their song, a witch who turns men into pigs.

And back home, his wife Penelope waits for him, while a crowd of men try to seize the moment — to marry her and steal his throne.

Put plainly, this is one of humanity's earliest “going home” stories, one nearly every Westerner grows up hearing.

This time, the one bringing it to the screen is Nolan, who made Inception and Oppenheimer.

Oppenheimer won seven Oscars three years ago, so expectations for his new film were sky-high.

Nolan brought in half of Hollywood: Matt Damon as Odysseus, Anne Hathaway as his wife, and a huge cast of stars like Tom Holland and Zendaya.

Even wilder: he insisted on shooting the whole film for real with the largest IMAX film cameras — the sheer spectacle alone is staggering.

The result: on release it broke Nolan's own opening record, the biggest opening weekend of his career, quickly passing $700 million worldwide.

So here's the question: why does such an old story still win over so many people today?

The answer, honestly, isn't complicated.

Technology, stars, spectacle — those are just the shell; what truly moves people is those two words: going home.

Whether a sailor 3,000 years ago or you and me sitting in a theater today, we all carry a place we long to return to.

Nolan simply took that ancient feeling and told it again, in the most modern way possible.

So, one last question: if you'd also drifted out there for ten years, where would you most want to return to?

Listen again

Try it without the transcript and notice what sounds clearer.

What vocabulary does this episode teach?

词汇
diànyǐngmovie

今年全球最卖座的电影 — the year’s biggest box-office movie.

qīziwife

他的妻子 Penelope 一直在等他 — his wife Penelope waited for him.

xiǎngto want, to long for

心里都装着一个想要回去的地方 — we all carry a place we long to return to.

wèntíquestion, problem

先问你一个问题 — let me start with a question.

yǎnyuánactor

请来了半个好莱坞的演员 — cast half of Hollywood’s actors.

gǔ Xīlàancient Greece

《奥德赛》是古希腊的一部长诗 — The Odyssey is an ancient Greek epic.

guówángking

一个叫 Odysseus 的国王 — a king named Odysseus.

jùréngiant

吃人的独眼巨人 — the man-eating one-eyed giant.

piàofángbox office

首周末票房最高的一部 — the highest opening-weekend box office.

shèyǐngjī(film) camera

用最大的 IMAX 胶片摄影机 — using the largest IMAX film cameras.

* beyond level超纲词

What grammar patterns appear in this episode?

语法

说白了,……

"put plainly, ...". A casual host frame that cuts to the point.

说白了,这就是人类最早的“回家”故事之一。

不管是……,还是……,都……

"whether ... or ..., all ...".

不管是三千年前的水手,还是今天坐在电影院里的你我,心里都装着一个想要回去的地方。

A 只是 B;真正……的,是……

"A is only B; what truly ... is ..." — reframes to the real point.

科技、明星、大场面,都只是外壳;真正打动人的,是“回家”这两个字。

Proper nouns

专有名词
OdysseusOdysseusthe hero-king of The Odyssey (Matt Damon)荷马HémǎHomer, the ancient Greek poetChristopher Nolan诺兰director of Inception, Oppenheimer, and this filmPenelopePenelopeOdysseus's faithful wife (Anne Hathaway)奥斯卡Àosīkǎthe Academy Awards

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