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 sells a $99 dish but loves Taco Bell tacos — hot and cold, soft and crunchy, spicy and mild, all in one bite. HSK 2 Chinese listening practice.
This is an HSK 2 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、叫、说 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
A person who cooks makes dishes that cost ninety-nine dollars, but he loves fast food.
In the United States, there is a restaurant called Taco Bell.
Taco Bell sells a kind of food called a taco.
The outside of a taco is a flatbread, and inside there is meat and vegetables.
Taco Bell is a fast-food restaurant.
But some famous chefs say they love eating at Taco Bell.
Famous chefs are people who are very good at cooking.
The dishes they make are very expensive and look very good.
There is a famous chef named Moore.
In his restaurant, there is a dish that sells for ninety-nine dollars.
But he says he loves Taco Bell's tacos.
He says that inside a taco there are hot things and also cold things.
There are soft things and also crunchy things.
There are spicy things and also not-spicy things.
With one bite, there is everything.
There is also another famous chef named Deng.
After work, he goes to Taco Bell to eat.
He adds steak and beef to a chicken flatbread and eats it in his car.
After work, do you want to cook for yourself, or go out to buy food?
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Try it without the transcript and notice what sounds clearer.
What vocabulary does this episode teach?
词汇HSK 1. Can mean a cooked dish or vegetables. In this script it means dishes.
HSK 1. Used to give names: 叫塔可钟 (called Taco Bell).
HSK 1. Common verb for saying. Appears as 他说 (he says).
HSK 1. 爱吃 means love to eat. Expresses strong preference.
HSK 1-2. Refers to things in general. Used for hot and cold items in a taco.
HSK 2. Conjunction showing contrast. Common in simple sentences.
HSK 2. Refers to the outside of something. Here: outside of a taco.
HSK 2. Used in questions to offer choices: A 还是 B?
HSK 1-2. 做 (to make) + 菜 (dish). Common phrase for cooking food.
HSK 1-2. Numbers: 九 (9), 十 (10), 九 (9). Used for the price $99.
HSK 3. 快 (fast) + 餐 (meal). Common term for fast food.
HSK 4+. 名 (famous) + 厨 (chef). Used for well-known cooks.
* beyond level超纲词
What grammar patterns appear in this episode?
语法Noun + 叫 + Name
Used to state what something or someone is called.
在美国,有一个饭店,叫塔可钟。
有一个名厨,叫穆尔。
有 + A,也有 + B
Lists two things that both exist: 'there is A, and also B'.
他说,塔可里有热的东西,也有冷的东西。
有软的,也有脆的。
有辣的,也有不辣的。
A 还是 B?
Offers a choice between two options in a question.
你下班以后,想自己做饭,还是出去买吃的?
Proper nouns
专有名词Sources
来源Free account
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