A Chinese podcast · Same story, 4 levels
名厨做高档菜，下班后却爱吃塔可钟
Top Chefs Cook Fine Food and Reach for Taco Bell After Work
About this story
A chef makes a $99 chicken dish but loves Taco Bell tacos with hot, cold, crunchy, and soft fillings. HSK 1 Chinese listening practice.
This is an HSK 1 Chinese listening episode that runs about 1 minute. 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 菜、做、吃 and walks through 4 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
Harold Moore is a person who cooks.
Cooking for other people is his job.
He makes very expensive dishes.
Expensive means you have to give a lot of money.
He has a dish, it is chicken, and it costs ninety-nine dollars.
Ninety-nine dollars means you have to give a lot of money.
But he loves to eat Taco Bell.
He says Taco Bell's tacos are very good.
In one taco, there are hot things, and there are also cold things.
There is beef and vegetables, and also sour cream.
Hot, cold, crunchy, and soft are all in one taco.
He says this is very good.
He cooks for other people, and he also loves to eat what other people make.
You worked today — what do you want to eat?
Listen again
Try it without the transcript and notice what sounds clearer.
What vocabulary does this episode teach?
词汇HSK 1. In this script it means a prepared dish, as in 做菜 (to cook) and 很贵的菜 (very expensive dishes).
HSK 1. Common verb for making food or doing work: 做菜 (cook), 做很贵的菜 (make very expensive dishes).
HSK 1. Used for eating food: 爱吃 (love to eat), 想吃什么 (what do you want to eat).
HSK 1. In the script: 是他的工作 (is his job) and 你今天工作了 (you worked today).
HSK 1. Used with 给 (give): 要给很多钱 (have to give a lot of money).
HSK 1. In the script: 热的东西 (hot things) and 冷的东西 (cold things).
Beyond HSK 1. Describes high price: 很贵的菜 (very expensive dishes), 贵就是 (expensive means...).
Beyond HSK 1. Currency word: 九十九美元 (ninety-nine US dollars).
Beyond HSK 1. Food word: 有牛肉和菜 (there is beef and vegetables).
Beyond HSK 1. Texture word used in the taco description: 热、冷、脆、软 (hot, cold, crispy, soft).
Beyond HSK 1. Texture word paired with 脆: 热、冷、脆、软都在一个 taco 里.
Beyond HSK 1. In the script: 给别人做菜 (cook for other people), 别人做的东西 (things other people make).
* beyond level超纲词
What grammar patterns appear in this episode?
语法是 + Noun
Use 是 to identify what someone is or describe their job. The noun phrase can include 的 to describe the person or work.
Harold Moore 是一个做菜的人。
给别人做菜是他的工作。
要 + number + 钱 — cost / need to pay
要 (yào) here means 'requires' or 'costs'. It is used with money amounts: 要九十九美元 (costs ninety-nine dollars) and 要给很多钱 (need to give a lot of money).
他有一个菜，是鸡，要九十九美元。
九十九美元，要给很多钱。
有……也有…… — there is ... and also ...
Used to list two things that both exist. 有 introduces the first item, and 也有 adds the second: '有热的东西，也有冷的东西'.
一个 taco 里，有热的东西，也有冷的东西。
也 + verb — also do something
也 (yě) means 'also' and comes before the verb. It connects two actions or qualities: '也爱吃别人做的东西' (also loves to eat what others make).
他给别人做菜，也爱吃别人做的东西。
Proper nouns
专有名词Sources
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