5:37
小红的舅舅
Xiao Hong's Uncle — A Family Story Behind the Shanxi Coal Mine Disaster
HSK 1 Chinese listening practice. A simple family story about a girl whose uncle works in a Shanxi coal mine, set against China's worst mining disaster in 15 years: 82 dead at the Liushenyu mine on May 22, 2026.
This is an HSK 1 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 12 key vocabulary words such as 工作、家、看 and walks through 6 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.
说一个新闻。
Let me tell you a news story.
小红九岁。
Xiao Hong is nine years old.
她在中国。
She lives in China.
她的家在山西。
Her home is in Shanxi.
山西在中国的北边。
Shanxi is in northern China.
小红有一个舅舅。
Xiao Hong has an uncle.
舅舅四十岁。
Her uncle is forty.
他是好人。
He is a good person.
小红很喜欢舅舅。
Xiao Hong really likes her uncle.
舅舅是工人。
Her uncle is a worker.
他在哪里上班？
Where does he work?
他在矿里上班。
He works in a mine.
矿是什么？
What is a mine?
矿在山下面。
A mine is under a mountain.
人去山下面挖。
People go down under the mountain to dig.
挖什么？
Dig what?
挖煤。
Dig coal.
煤是黑的。
Coal is black.
煤可以烧。
Coal can burn.
人用煤做电。
People use coal to make electricity.
人用煤做饭。
People use coal to cook.
所以很多人挖煤。
So many people dig coal.
舅舅每天去挖煤。
Her uncle goes to dig coal every day.
他早上去。
He leaves in the morning.
晚上回家。
He comes home at night.
他很累。
He is very tired.
他的衣服是黑的。
His clothes are black.
他的脸也是黑的。
His face is also black.
小红看见他，说：舅舅，你回来了。
Xiao Hong sees him and says: uncle, you're back.
舅舅笑了。
Her uncle smiles.
他说：我回来了。
He says: I'm back.
小红的妈妈说：吃饭吧。
Xiao Hong's mom says: let's eat.
他们一起吃饭。
They eat together.
小红看着舅舅。
Xiao Hong watches her uncle.
她想：舅舅好累。
She thinks: uncle is so tired.
她问妈妈：山下面好吗？
She asks mom: is it okay under the mountain?
妈妈说：山下面不好。
Mom says: it's not good under the mountain.
山下面又黑又热。
Under the mountain it's dark and hot.
有的时候，山下面有气。
Sometimes there's gas under the mountain.
气不好。
The gas isn't good.
气会出事。
The gas can cause accidents.
小红很怕。
Xiao Hong is scared.
她问：舅舅有事吗？
She asks: will uncle be in trouble?
妈妈说：希望舅舅没事。
Mom says: I hope uncle will be okay.
小红听了，不说话。
Xiao Hong listens and doesn't speak.
有一天，是五月二十二号。
One day, it was May 22.
那天是晚上。
That day was at night.
小红在家。
Xiao Hong was at home.
她在做作业。
She was doing her homework.
妈妈在做饭。
Mom was cooking.
忽然，妈妈的手机响了。
Suddenly, mom's phone rang.
妈妈接电话。
Mom answered the phone.
电话里的人说：出事了。
The person on the phone said: something happened.
山西的一个矿出事了。
A mine in Shanxi had an accident.
山下面有气。
There was gas under the mountain.
气爆炸了。
The gas exploded.
矿里有很多人。
There were a lot of people in the mine.
两百多人。
More than two hundred people.
现在不知道有多少人没事。
Right now, we don't know how many are okay.
妈妈听了，脸白了。
Mom listened and her face went white.
小红也怕了。
Xiao Hong was scared too.
她问：是舅舅的矿吗？
She asked: is it uncle's mine?
妈妈说：不是。
Mom said: no.
是另外一个矿。
It's a different mine.
但是，也在山西。
But it's also in Shanxi.
也是很多人。
There are a lot of people too.
小红听了，松了一口气。
Xiao Hong listened and let out a breath.
但是她还是很难过。
But she was still very sad.
她想：那些矿工，也是别人的舅舅。
She thought: those miners — they're also someone's uncle.
也是别人的爸爸。
They're also someone's father.
那一天晚上，小红看新闻。
That night, Xiao Hong watched the news.
新闻里说：山西有一个矿，出事了。
On the news it said: a mine in Shanxi had an accident.
里面有两百四十七个人。
There were 247 people inside.
后来知道：八十二个人没了。
Later they found out: 82 people are gone.
两个人，找不到。
2 people, they can't find.
一百多个人，受伤了。
Over 100 people are injured.
小红听了，哭了。
Xiao Hong listened and cried.
她想：八十二个人。
She thought: 82 people.
那是很多很多的人。
That's a lot of people.
他们也有家。
They also have families.
他们也有孩子。
They also have children.
他们也喜欢吃饭。
They also like to eat.
他们也喜欢回家。
They also like to go home.
但是他们再也回不了家了。
But they can never go home again.
后来，新闻又说：这个矿，本来就不好。
Later, the news said: this mine was bad to begin with.
两年以前，国家就说：这个矿，不安全。
Two years ago, the country said: this mine is not safe.
但是，矿还是开着。
But the mine was still open.
还是有人下去。
People still went down.
还是有人挖。
People still dug.
现在，警察去查。
Now, the police are investigating.
矿里的老板，被抓了。
The boss of the mine was arrested.
小红的妈妈说：希望以后好一点。
Xiao Hong's mom said: I hope it gets better from now on.
希望大家都安全。
I hope everyone stays safe.
小红看着舅舅。
Xiao Hong looked at her uncle.
舅舅那天晚上没去矿里。
That night her uncle didn't go down to the mine.
他在家。
He was at home.
他抱着小红。
He hugged Xiao Hong.
他说：舅舅没事。
He said: uncle is okay.
舅舅会一直在。
Uncle will always be here.
小红抱着舅舅。
Xiao Hong hugged her uncle.
她哭了一会儿。
She cried for a while.
她说：舅舅，你也小心。
She said: uncle, you be careful too.
舅舅说：好。
Uncle said: okay.
你呢？
What about you?
你家里有这样的人吗？
Are there people like this in your family?
他们做的工作，是不是很累？
Is the work they do very tiring?
是不是很危险？
Is it dangerous?
你担心过他们吗？
Have you ever worried about them?
这个新闻，叫"5·22 山西矿难"。
This news story is called "5·22 Shanxi mining disaster."
"矿难"，就是矿里出大事了。
"Mining disaster" means a big accident at a mine.
"5·22"，就是五月二十二号。
"5·22" means May 22.
这一天，是二零二六年的五月二十二号。
This day was May 22, 2026.
是中国十五年里，最大的一次矿难。
It's China's biggest mining disaster in 15 years.
死了八十二个人。
82 people died.
失踪了两个人。
2 people went missing.
受伤了一百多个人。
Over 100 people were injured.
他们都有家。
They all had families.
都有人在等他们回家。
They all had people waiting for them to come home.
但是他们不能回家了。
But they can't go home.
我们记住这一天。
Let's remember this day.
也记住他们。
And let's remember them.
HSK 1. Both a verb and a noun. 他每天去挖煤 — his work is digging coal.
HSK 1 noun. The script uses it many times: 回家 (go home), 在家 (at home), 他们也有家 (they have families too).
HSK 1 verb. 小红看着舅舅 = Xiao Hong looked at her uncle. 看新闻 = to watch the news.
HSK 1 verb. Used many times in the script for Xiao Hong's inner thoughts: 她想 = she thought.
HSK 1 noun/adverb. 现在不知道有多少人没事 = right now we don't know how many are okay.
HSK 1 verb. 小红听了，哭了 = Xiao Hong listened, then cried.
Beyond HSK 1. The central topic noun. The script teaches it: 矿在山下面 = a mine is under the mountain. 煤矿 = coal mine. 矿工 = miner.
Beyond HSK 1. The other central topic noun. 煤是黑的 = coal is black. 挖煤 = to dig coal. The script glosses what coal is used for: 做电 (make electricity), 做饭 (cook).
HSK 3, beyond the HSK 1 target. Used to describe the miner's work: 是不是很危险 = is it dangerous? Can be both an adjective and a noun.
HSK 2, beyond the HSK 1 target. Used at the end: 你担心过他们吗 = have you worried about them?
HSK 2, beyond the HSK 1 target. The script uses it both literally — 煤是黑的 (coal is black), 他的脸也是黑的 (his face was black) — and to describe the dark underground.
HSK 2, beyond the HSK 1 target. 他很累 = he is very tired. Recurs as a theme — the uncle comes home exhausted every day.
* beyond level超纲词
Basic identity sentence in Chinese — 是 links the subject to a noun.
她在中国。
他是工人。
煤是黑的。
Subject + 不 / 没 + Verb
Negate verbs with 不 for general negation, or 没 to mark that something didn't happen.
山下面不好。
他们再也回不了家了。
舅舅那天晚上没去矿里。
Use 很 (very) before adjectives. Even when 'very' isn't strictly meant, 很 is often needed.
他很累。
小红很怕。
他们也是别人的舅舅。
Subject + 也 + Verb
也 (also) goes between subject and verb, never at the start of the sentence.
舅舅也四十岁。
小红也怕了。
他们也喜欢回家。
了 after a verb marks a completed action. Often translates as English past tense.
气爆炸了。
小红听了，哭了。
矿里的老板，被抓了。