A Chinese podcast · Same story, 4 levels
个人癌症疫苗让黑色素瘤更少回来
Personalized Melanoma Vaccine Cuts Recurrence Risk
About this story
A personalized vaccine made from each patient’s tumor helped keep melanoma from coming back in a 1,137-person test. HSK 2 Chinese listening practice.
This is an HSK 2 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 12 key vocabulary words such as 医生、东西、工作 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.
English transcript reference
On August 19, a large trial reported good news: a personalized vaccine made one type of skin cancer less likely to return.
The vaccine is made according to each patient’s tumor.
A personalized vaccine is a vaccine made for one patient.
The trial included 1,137 patients.
All had surgery; one group received the vaccine and the other did not.
Cancer returned less often and spread elsewhere less often among those who received it.
How can a vaccine do that?
Melanoma is a type of skin cancer.
Doctors first examine the patient’s tumor.
A tumor is something harmful growing inside the body.
Every tumor is slightly different.
Researchers study those differences and make a vaccine for that patient.
The vaccine sends information to the immune system.
The immune system protects the body.
When it sees something harmful, it helps the body attack it.
Every patient had surgery.
One group received the existing cancer medicine.
That medicine helps the immune system work.
The other group received the existing medicine and a personalized vaccine.
Cancer returned and spread elsewhere less often among patients receiving both.
This is the first personalized vaccine to succeed in a large final-stage trial.
However, only the initial results have been released.
Doctors still need the complete results and need to examine possible problems.
The personalized vaccine has not been formally approved.
The result is hopeful, but it still needs further examination.
Patients cannot ask their doctors to use this personalized vaccine immediately.
Doctors must learn how many patients it helps and whether it causes unpleasant effects.
The existing cancer medicine remains in use while the personalized vaccine remains in testing.
Would a vaccine made from your own tumor make you feel more reassured?
Listen again
Try it without the transcript and notice what sounds clearer.
What vocabulary does this episode teach?
词汇HSK 1. 医生先看病人的肿瘤。
HSK 1. 肿瘤是身体里长出来的坏东西。
HSK 1. 这种药会帮助免疫系统工作。
HSK 2. 为什么一支疫苗可以这样做？
HSK 2. 它看到坏东西，会帮助身体打坏东西。
HSK 2. 用疫苗的人，癌症更少回来，也更少去身体别的地方。
HSK 2. 医生还要看这种治疗会不会有问题。
HSK 2. 现在的结果让人有希望，也需要继续检查。
个人疫苗，就是给一个病人做的疫苗。
这支疫苗是按照每个病人的肿瘤做的。
疫苗把信息给免疫系统。免疫系统是身体里的保护系统。
个人疫苗还没有正式批准。 Patients cannot get it yet.
* beyond level超纲词
What grammar patterns appear in this episode?
语法Defines a term in simple words. Here it tells you what “personalized vaccine” means.
个人疫苗，就是给一个病人做的疫苗。
为什么……？
Asks for the reason, then the episode answers by teaching tumor and immune system.
为什么一支疫苗可以这样做？
一组……另一组……
Splits the trial into two arms: vaccine versus no vaccine.
他们都做过手术，一组用疫苗，另一组不用。
Proper nouns
专有名词Sources
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