7:20
天上的亮亮的东西
Bright Things in the Sky — The US Government Talks About UFOs
HSK 1 Chinese listening practice. A simple story about UFOs — bright things in the sky and what the US government has been looking at.
This is an HSK 1 Chinese listening episode that runs about 7 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 18 key vocabulary words such as 天、看、星星 and walks through 7 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.
今天晚上，小明在家。
Tonight, Xiao Ming is at home.
他在看一个很有意思的东西。
He's looking at something very interesting.
他在看天上。
He's looking at the sky.
天上有星星。
There are stars in the sky.
有月亮。
There's a moon.
都很漂亮。
All very pretty.
但是小明看到一个东西。
But Xiao Ming sees something.
那个东西不是星星。
That thing isn't a star.
也不是月亮。
It isn't the moon either.
也不是飞机。
It isn't a plane either.
那是什么？
What is it?
那个东西很亮。
That thing is very bright.
很黄。
Very yellow.
也很奇怪。
Also very strange.
它在天上飞。
It's flying in the sky.
飞得很快。
Flying very fast.
然后，没有了。
Then, it's gone.
小明看不见了。
Xiao Ming can't see it anymore.
小明说：哇！
Xiao Ming says: wow!
小明跑去找爸爸。
Xiao Ming runs to find his dad.
爸爸，爸爸！
Dad, dad!
我看到了一个东西！
I saw something!
爸爸说：你看到什么？
Dad says: what did you see?
小明说：天上有一个亮亮的东西。
Xiao Ming says: there's a bright thing in the sky.
不是星星，也不是月亮。
Not a star, not the moon.
飞得很快。
Flying very fast.
我没看清楚。
I didn't see it clearly.
爸爸说：哦。
Dad says: oh.
我也听过。
I've heard about this too.
小明说：你也看过吗？
Xiao Ming says: have you seen it too?
爸爸说：没有。
Dad says: no.
但是很多人看过。
But many people have seen it.
不只是中国人。
Not just Chinese people.
美国人也看过。
Americans have seen it too.
日本人也看过。
Japanese people have too.
全世界都有人看过。
People all over the world have seen it.
小明问：那是什么？
Xiao Ming asks: what is it?
爸爸说：我们都不知道。
Dad says: we don't know.
真的不知道。
Really, we don't know.
小明说：怎么会不知道？
Xiao Ming says: how can we not know?
爸爸说：是真的。
Dad says: it's true.
我给你说一件事。
Let me tell you something.
昨天，
Yesterday,
美国政府放出了一些东西。
the US government released some things.
他们放出了一百六十二份。
They released 162 documents.
有照片。
There are photos.
有视频。
There are videos.
也有文字。
There are also written texts.
都是关于天上的亮亮的东西。
All about the bright things in the sky.
他们叫这些东西"UFO"。
They call these things "UFO."
U-F-O。
U-F-O.
是英文的简写。
It's an English abbreviation.
意思是：
It means:
"我们看见了一个东西。
"We saw something.
但是我们不知道它是什么。
But we don't know what it is."
小明说：哇。
Xiao Ming says: wow.
小明说：那美国政府知道吗？
Xiao Ming asks: does the US government know?
爸爸说：他们也不知道。
Dad says: they don't know either.
他们看了很久。
They looked for a long time.
他们查了很久。
They investigated for a long time.
但是最后，
But in the end,
他们说：
they said:
"我们也不知道。
"We don't know either."
小明说：好奇怪。
Xiao Ming says: how strange.
爸爸说：是。
Dad says: yes.
我给你说一些有意思的事。
Let me tell you some interesting things.
有一次，
One time,
七个警察在美国的山里。
seven police officers in the US mountains
他们一起看见。
all saw it together.
天上有亮亮的球。
There were bright orbs in the sky.
不是一个。
Not one.
是好几个。
Several of them.
是橘色的。
They were orange.
还会"生"小球。
And they would "give birth" to smaller orbs.
听起来像玩具。
Sounds like toys.
但是他们都看到了。
But they all saw it.
七个人都看到了。
All seven of them saw it.
他们也都画了。
They all drew pictures too.
都觉得很奇怪。
They all found it strange.
小明说：哇。
Xiao Ming says: wow.
还有更厉害的事。
There's something even more amazing.
五十多年以前，
Over fifty years ago,
人去了月亮。
people went to the moon.
你知道月亮吗？
You know the moon?
天上的那个白色的圆球。
That white round ball in the sky.
人去过那里。
People went there.
他们坐很大的火箭。
They rode a very big rocket.
飞到月亮。
They flew to the moon.
他们到了月亮。
They reached the moon.
他们走在上面。
They walked on it.
他们看天上的时候，
When they looked at the sky,
也看到了亮亮的东西。
they also saw bright things.
他们说：
They said:
"哇，这里有好多个亮亮的东西。
"Wow, there are so many bright things here.
就在我们旁边。
Right beside us."
他们也说：
They also said:
"它们在飞。
"They're flying.
不是眼睛看错。
It's not our eyes playing tricks.
是真的。
It's real."
小明说：太厉害了。
Xiao Ming says: amazing.
小明问：那这些都是外星人吗？
Xiao Ming asks: so are these all aliens?
爸爸说：不知道。
Dad says: don't know.
有的人说是。
Some people say yes.
有的人说不是。
Some people say no.
美国政府说：
The US government says:
"我们没有证据。
"We have no evidence."
"证据"就是真的东西。
"Evidence" means real things.
你可以看，可以摸。
You can see them, you can touch them.
现在我们没有证据。
Right now we have no evidence.
所以不能说是外星人。
So we can't say they're aliens.
也不能说不是。
And we can't say they aren't.
小明说：那怎么办？
Xiao Ming says: so what now?
爸爸说：等。
Dad says: wait.
等以后慢慢看。
Wait and slowly see.
也许有一天，
Maybe one day,
我们会知道。
we'll know.
也许我们永远不知道。
Maybe we'll never know.
但是有一件事很有意思。
But there's one interesting thing.
那就是：
That is:
全世界都有人看到。
people all over the world have seen them.
一百年前有人看到。
A hundred years ago people saw them.
现在也有人看到。
Now people see them too.
警察看到。
Police see them.
飞机里的人也看到。
People in planes see them.
月亮上的人也看到。
People on the moon saw them too.
不是一个人骗大家。
Not one person fooling everyone.
是真的有这些事。
These things really happened.
小明说：哇。
Xiao Ming says: wow.
那我也想看。
I want to see one too.
爸爸笑了。
Dad smiles.
他说：你今天看到了。
He says: you saw one today.
小明说：是。
Xiao Ming says: yes.
但是我没看清楚。
But I didn't see it clearly.
爸爸说：没关系。
Dad says: that's okay.
看到了，就是看到了。
What you saw, you saw.
小明，
Xiao Ming,
也许下一次，
maybe next time,
你看得更清楚一点。
you'll see more clearly.
小明说：好。
Xiao Ming says: okay.
我会再看的。
I'll watch again.
爸爸说：那你早点睡。
Dad says: then go to bed early.
明天我们再去看星星。
Tomorrow we'll watch the stars again.
小明说：好。
Xiao Ming says: okay.
爸爸，
Dad,
谢谢你告诉我。
thank you for telling me.
爸爸说：不客气。
Dad says: you're welcome.
你今天学了一个新东西。
You learned something new today.
你学了 UFO。
You learned about UFOs.
你学了：
You learned:
我们的世界，
in our world,
还有很多事我们不知道。
there are still many things we don't know.
这个也很好。
This is also good.
因为，
Because
不知道才有意思。
not knowing is what makes it interesting.
不知道才有故事。
Not knowing is what makes a story.
小明点点头。
Xiao Ming nods.
他回房间，去睡觉。
He goes back to his room and goes to bed.
但是他还在想：
But he's still thinking:
那个亮亮的东西，
that bright thing —
到底是什么呢？
what was it really?
他不知道。
He doesn't know.
全世界，
The whole world
也都不知道。
also doesn't know.
但是大家都在看。
But everyone is watching.
都在等。
Everyone is waiting.
也许有一天，
Maybe one day,
我们会知道。
we'll know.
那时候，
By then,
小明已经长大了。
Xiao Ming will have grown up.
也许他会跟自己的孩子说：
Maybe he'll tell his own children:
"我小时候也看过一个。
"I saw one when I was little too."
故事就到这里。
The story ends here.
今天小明学了：
Today Xiao Ming learned:
天上有亮亮的东西。
there are bright things in the sky.
我们都不知道是什么。
We all don't know what they are.
全世界都在看。
The whole world is watching.
昨天，
Yesterday,
美国政府也说："我们也不知道。
the US government also said: "We don't know either."
那很奇怪。
That's strange.
但是也很真。
But it's also true.
HSK 1. 天上 = in the sky. The episode anchor.
HSK 1. 看到了 = saw it. The episode is built on 看.
HSK 2. 天上有星星 = there are stars in the sky.
HSK 2. People went to the 月亮. Featured in the Apollo angle.
HSK 2. 亮亮的 = bright (reduplicated for cuteness/emphasis). The keyword of the episode title.
HSK 2. 在天上飞 = flying in the sky. Used for both planes and UFOs.
HSK 2. 很奇怪 = very strange. The whole episode is about 奇怪 things.
HSK 1. 不知道 = don't know. The Pentagon's actual answer.
HSK 2. 听过 = have heard. 我没听过 = I haven't heard of it.
HSK 4. 你记住一件事 = remember one thing.
Beyond. English acronym kept as-is. Glossed inline as '我们看见了一个东西。但是我们不知道它是什么。'
HSK 4. 美国政府 = the US government. The actor that released the files.
HSK 6. 档 (file) + 案 (case). The 162 official files released.
HSK 5. Glossed inline as 真的东西，你可以看，可以摸. Central to the 'we don't know' framing.
Beyond. 外 (outside) + 星 (star) + 人 (person). The big question of the episode.
HSK 4. 七个警察 = seven officers (in the orbs case). The episode's 'professional witness' angle.
HSK 5. 火 (fire) + 箭 (arrow). 坐火箭，飞到月亮 = take a rocket to the moon.
HSK 3. 不知道才有故事 = without knowing, there's a story. The episode's closing line.
* beyond level超纲词
X 不是 ... 也不是 ...
'X is not A, nor is it B.' Used to rule out options before introducing the unknown.
那个东西不是星星。也不是月亮。也不是飞机。
不是飞机，不是鸟，不是云，什么都不是。
不是一个人骗大家。
X 也 + Verb
也 = also. Comes BEFORE the verb. Adds a parallel idea.
我也听过。
美国人也看过。
月亮上的人也看到了。
也许 ...
'Maybe / perhaps.' Used to express uncertainty without committing.
也许有一天，我们会知道。
也许我们永远不知道。
也许下一次，你看得更清楚一点。
X 就是 Y (definition)
The teaching pattern. Used to define new words inline.
"证据"就是真的东西。
意思是："我们看见了一个东西。但是我们不知道它是什么。"
X 不是 ... 是 ...
Corrective: 'not A, but B.' Used for emphasis.
不是眼睛看错。是真的。
看到了，就是看到了。
Verb + 过 (experiential)
Verb + 过 = have done V (at some point). Used for past experiences.
我也听过。
你也看过吗？
美国人也看过。
X 就是 / 才 ... (emphasizer)
'Precisely / only.' Used for emphasis at the end of a clause.
不知道才有意思。
不知道才有故事。
看到了，就是看到了。