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Ticketmaster：演唱会的票，为什么这么贵？
Ticketmaster: Why Are Concert Tickets So Expensive?
HSK 1 Chinese listening practice. Taylor Swift concert tickets are very expensive. A US court said Ticketmaster took too much money from people.
This is an HSK 1 Chinese listening episode that runs about 5 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 票、贵、选择 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.
说到买东西，我们来说一个关于"贵"的故事。
Speaking of buying things, let me tell you a story about "expensive."
你去过演唱会吗？
Have you ever been to a concert?
演唱会就是很多人一起去看一个歌手唱歌。
A concert is when many people go together to watch a singer sing.
在一个很大的地方。
In a very big place.
几千人。
Thousands of people.
甚至几万人。
Even tens of thousands.
大家一起听歌。
Everyone listens to music together.
一起跳舞。
Dances together.
一起开心。
Is happy together.
去演唱会要买票。
Going to a concert requires buying a ticket.
票就是一张纸。
A ticket is a piece of paper.
或者手机上的一个东西。
Or something on your phone.
有了票你才能进去。
With a ticket you can go in.
没有票你不能进去。
Without a ticket you can't go in.
在美国。
In America.
大部分演唱会的票都在一个地方买。
Most concert tickets are bought in one place.
这个地方叫Ticketmaster。
This place is called Ticketmaster.
Ticketmaster是一个卖票的公司。
Ticketmaster is a company that sells tickets.
你想去看Taylor Swift的演唱会。
You want to go see Taylor Swift's concert.
你要去Ticketmaster买票。
You go to Ticketmaster to buy tickets.
你想去看Justin Bieber。
You want to go see Justin Bieber.
也要去Ticketmaster。
You also go to Ticketmaster.
几乎所有的票都在那里。
Almost all tickets are there.
为什么呢？
Why?
因为Ticketmaster太大了。
Because Ticketmaster is too big.
它控制了百分之八十的市场。
It controls eighty percent of the market.
百分之八十。
Eighty percent.
就是说如果有一百张票。
That means if there are a hundred tickets.
八十张都是Ticketmaster卖的。
Eighty of them are sold by Ticketmaster.
只有二十张是别人卖的。
Only twenty are sold by others.
这样的话。
In that case.
你没有别的选择。
You have no other choice.
你只能在Ticketmaster买。
You can only buy from Ticketmaster.
Ticketmaster知道你没有选择。
Ticketmaster knows you have no choice.
所以它收的钱很多。
So it charges a lot of money.
票的价格已经很贵了。
The ticket price is already expensive.
但是Ticketmaster还要加钱。
But Ticketmaster still adds more money.
加什么钱？
What extra money?
加"服务费"。
A "service fee."
服务费是什么？
What is a service fee?
就是你买票的时候多付的钱。
It's extra money you pay when buying a ticket.
票是一百块。
The ticket is a hundred dollars.
但是你实际上要付一百二十块。
But you actually have to pay a hundred and twenty.
多出来的二十块就是服务费。
The extra twenty is the service fee.
很多人觉得这不公平。
Many people think this isn't fair.
票已经贵了。
Tickets are already expensive.
为什么还要加钱？
Why add more money?
而且服务费不是一点点。
And the service fee isn't just a little bit.
有时候很多。
Sometimes it's a lot.
大家都不开心。
Everyone is unhappy.
但是没办法。
But there's no way around it.
因为你只能在那里买。
Because you can only buy there.
没有别的地方。
There's no other place.
这就是"垄断"。
This is called a "monopoly."
垄断是什么？
What is a monopoly?
垄断就是只有一个卖家。
A monopoly means there's only one seller.
没有竞争。
No competition.
你只能找他买。
You can only buy from them.
他想卖多少钱就卖多少钱。
They can charge whatever they want.
你没有选择。
You have no choice.
美国有一个法律说垄断不可以。
America has a law that says monopoly is not allowed.
因为垄断对买东西的人不好。
Because monopoly is bad for people who buy things.
所以美国政府去了法院。
So the American government went to court.
政府说：Ticketmaster是垄断。
The government said: Ticketmaster is a monopoly.
他们多收了钱。
They overcharged people.
这不公平。
This isn't fair.
法院开了五个星期的审判。
The court held a five-week trial.
然后十二个人一起商量。
Then twelve people discussed together.
商量了四天。
They discussed for four days.
最后他们说：政府说的对。
In the end they said: the government is right.
Ticketmaster是垄断。
Ticketmaster is a monopoly.
他们多收了买票人的钱。
They overcharged ticket buyers.
每张票多收了一块七毛二。
Each ticket was overcharged by one dollar and seventy-two cents.
一块七毛二听起来不多。
One dollar seventy-two doesn't sound like much.
但是想一想。
But think about it.
每年有几亿张票。
Every year there are hundreds of millions of tickets.
几亿张票每张多一块七。
Hundreds of millions of tickets times one dollar seventy-two each.
加在一起是很多很多钱。
Added together that's a lot of money.
现在怎么办？
What happens now?
法官要决定怎么处罚。
The judge has to decide the punishment.
有的人说要把Ticketmaster拆开。
Some people say Ticketmaster should be split up.
拆开就是分成两个公司。
Split up means divided into two companies.
一个卖票。
One sells tickets.
一个办演唱会。
One organizes concerts.
不能是同一个公司。
They can't be the same company.
这样就有竞争了。
That way there would be competition.
有竞争票就会便宜。
With competition, tickets would be cheaper.
Ticketmaster说他们不同意。
Ticketmaster says they disagree.
他们说要上诉。
They say they will appeal.
上诉就是让更高的法院再看一次。
Appeal means asking a higher court to look again.
所以这个事情还没有结束。
So this matter isn't over yet.
但是对买票的人来说。
But for ticket buyers.
这是一个好消息。
This is good news.
因为法院说了：你们被多收了钱。
Because the court said: you were overcharged.
这是不对的。
That's wrong.
也许以后买票会便宜一点。
Maybe in the future tickets will be a little cheaper.
也许以后你有更多选择。
Maybe in the future you'll have more choices.
不用只在一个地方买。
You won't have to buy from just one place.
这就是这个故事。
This is this story.
一个关于"太贵"和"不公平"的故事。
A story about "too expensive" and "not fair."
下次你买演唱会的票。
Next time you buy concert tickets.
你可以想一想这个故事。
You can think about this story.
那个服务费到底值不值那么多钱。
Whether that service fee is really worth that much money.
A pass that lets you enter an event.
Costing a lot of money.
Having options to pick from.
Not costing much money.
HSK 1. we; us.
HSK 1. you (plural).
A live music performance by a singer for a large audience.
Extra money charged on top of the ticket price.
Just and equal treatment.
When one company controls an entire market with no competition.
When multiple companies compete for customers.
A place where legal cases are decided.
* beyond level超纲词
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