3:15
徒手登顶帝国大厦：网红情侣的惊天一爬，是浪漫还是玩命？
Free-Climbing to the Top of the Empire State Building: The Influencer Couple's Stunt — Romance, or a Death Wish?
HSK 3 Chinese listening practice. Russian rooftoppers Ivan and Angelina free-climbed the Empire State Building, unfurled a peace banner and got engaged, then faced eight charges — and a reflection on how our clicks turn danger into fame.
This is an HSK 3-4 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 14 key vocabulary words such as 刷爆、徒手、摩天大楼 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.
今天我们聊一件，这几天刷爆全世界社交媒体的事。
Today we'll talk about something that's been all over the world's social media these past few days.
主角是两个来自俄罗斯的年轻人。
The stars are two young people from Russia.
他们做了一件让人看了手心冒汗的事——徒手爬上了纽约的帝国大厦。
They did something that makes your palms sweat just watching — they free-climbed New York's Empire State Building.
帝国大厦，是纽约最有名的地标，也是世界上最有名的摩天大楼之一。
The Empire State Building is New York's most famous landmark, and one of the most famous skyscrapers in the world.
就在前几天，这两个人，从大楼外面，一路爬到了最顶端的那根天线塔上。
Just days ago, the two climbed up the outside all the way to the antenna tower at the very top.
注意，是徒手，身上没有任何绳子和安全设备。
Note: bare-handed, with no ropes or safety equipment at all.
在那么高的地方，只要一个动作出错，就是粉身碎骨。
At that height, a single wrong move means being smashed to pieces.
可他们不但爬了上去，还在楼顶，展开了一面写着"和平"的旗子。
Yet they not only climbed up, but at the top unfurled a banner reading 'peace'.
然后，最戏剧性的一幕发生了。
Then, the most dramatic moment happened.
这两个人其实是一对情侣。
The two are actually a couple.
男生在楼顶，单膝跪地，向女生求婚。
On the roof, the man knelt on one knee and proposed.
女生答应了，两个人在纽约的夜景前，戴上了戒指。
She said yes, and they put on rings against the New York night skyline.
一时间，这些照片和视频，传遍了整个网络。
In no time, the photos and videos spread across the entire internet.
那么，他们究竟是什么来头？
So, who exactly are they?
他们并不是普通的游客。
They are not ordinary tourists.
这两个人，一个叫伊万，一个叫安吉丽娜，是圈子里非常有名的"爬楼族"。
The two — Ivan and Angelina — are famous 'rooftoppers' in the scene.
他们专门挑战世界各地的超高建筑，而且全程不用任何保护。
They specialize in challenging super-tall buildings worldwide, using no protection at all.
他们的经历，甚至还被拍成了一部很受欢迎的纪录片。
Their exploits were even made into a popular documentary.
值得一提的是，他们的成名作里，就有一座中国的摩天大楼，在天津。
Worth noting: among the climbs that made them famous is a Chinese skyscraper, in Tianjin.
可以说，爬遍全球的地标，就是他们的事业，也是他们出名的方式。
You could say climbing the world's landmarks is both their career and how they got famous.
但这一次，故事的结尾，没有那么浪漫。
But this time, the ending was not so romantic.
当他们从大楼上下来，等着他们的，是纽约的警察。
When they came down, the New York police were waiting.
两个人当场被捕，一共被起诉了八项罪名。
Both were arrested on the spot and charged with eight counts in all.
里面包括非法闯入、鲁莽危害他人安全等等。
These include unlawful entry, reckless endangerment, and more.
帝国大厦也发表声明说，整个过程，楼里的租户和游客，都没有受到危险。
The Empire State Building also stated that throughout, its tenants and visitors were never in danger.
说到这里，我想和你多聊几句。
At this point, I want to say a bit more to you.
这件事，之所以让人纠结，是因为它同时是两件事。
The reason this is so conflicting is that it's two things at once.
它既是一个浪漫到极点的爱情故事，又是一次危险到极点的违法行为。
It's both an extremely romantic love story and an extremely dangerous illegal act.
我们坐在手机屏幕前面，看得心跳加速、大呼过瘾。
We sit in front of our phone screens, hearts racing, crying out how thrilling it is.
可我们的每一次点赞、每一次转发，其实都在告诉他们：这样做，是有用的，是能红的。
But every like and every share is telling them: this works, this makes you famous.
而这，恰恰可能会鼓励更多没有经验的人，去模仿这种要命的举动。
And this may well encourage more inexperienced people to imitate such deadly acts.
最后，我想留给你两个问题。
Finally, I want to leave you two questions.
第一，把生命当成赌注，去追求刺激和名气，这条线，到底应不应该有？
First, gambling with your life to chase thrills and fame — should there be a line, or not?
第二，当我们为这样的视频点赞、欢呼的时候，我们是不是，也成了这场危险游戏的一部分？
Second, when we like and cheer these videos, do we too become part of this dangerous game?
这两个问题，没有标准答案，但是值得我们认真想一想。
These two questions have no standard answer, but they're worth thinking about seriously.
刷爆全世界社交媒体的事 = something that blew up all over the world's social media.
徒手爬上了纽约的帝国大厦 = free-climbed the Empire State Building.
世界上最有名的摩天大楼之一 = one of the world's most famous skyscrapers.
爬到了最顶端的那根天线塔上 = climbed to the antenna tower at the very top.
一个动作出错，就是粉身碎骨 = one wrong move means being smashed to pieces.
男生在楼顶，单膝跪地，向女生求婚 = on the roof, he knelt on one knee and proposed.
圈子里非常有名的爬楼族 = famous rooftoppers in the scene.
被拍成了一部很受欢迎的纪录片 = made into a popular documentary.
爬遍全球的地标 = climbing landmarks all over the world.
两个人当场被捕 = both were arrested on the spot.
一共被起诉了八项罪名 = charged with eight counts in all.
鲁莽危害他人安全 = reckless endangerment of others.
我们的每一次点赞、每一次转发 = every like and share of ours.
把生命当成赌注 = treating life as a bet.
* beyond level超纲词
让人看了 ... 的事 (a thing that makes you ...)
Describes the effect on the viewer.
一件让人看了手心冒汗的事。
不但 ... ，还 ... (not only..., but also...)
Adds a further, more striking point.
可他们不但爬了上去，还在楼顶，展开了一面写着和平的旗子。
值得一提的是 ... (worth mentioning is...)
Flags a noteworthy aside.
值得一提的是，他们的成名作里，就有一座中国的摩天大楼。
之所以 ... ，是因为 ... (the reason ... is that...)
Explicitly frames cause.
这件事，之所以让人纠结，是因为它同时是两件事。
既是 X，又是 Y (it is both X and Y)
Asserts two natures at once.
它既是一个浪漫到极点的爱情故事，又是一次危险到极点的违法行为。
其实都在 + Verb (are, in fact, all doing...)
Reveals an unnoticed effect.
我们的每一次点赞，其实都在告诉他们：这样做，是能红的。
这两个问题，没有标准答案，但是值得 ... 想一想
The channel's reflective close.
这两个问题，没有标准答案，但是值得我们认真想一想。