A Chinese podcast · Same story, 4 levels
你玩过的游戏背后，那个低调的法国人走了
Ubisoft Co-Founder Claude Guillemot Dies
About this story
Claude Guillemot, co-founder of Ubisoft (Assassin's Creed), died in a plane crash in France aged 69. The story of five brothers, a tiny mail-order company that became a global giant, and the quiet brother who built it from behind the scenes. HSK 2 Chinese listening practice.
This is an HSK 2 Chinese listening episode that runs about 4 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 游戏、公司、老板 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.
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原文Read the complete story in Chinese. Reveal pinyin and English only when you need them.
English transcript reference
Today, we'll talk about a sad piece of news.
There was a man
who, this week,
died in an accident.
His name was Claude Guillemot.
You may never have heard this name.
But
you very likely
have played the games he made.
Claude was French.
He was, of a big company,
one of the founders.
This company
was called Ubisoft.
Ubisoft makes games.
And
it's one of the world's biggest
game companies.
Many famous games
were made by it.
For example,
Assassin's Creed.
Many people
have played this game.
How did Ubisoft come to be?
The story starts a long time ago.
About forty years ago,
that is, in 1986,
five brothers,
in France,
started this company together.
Claude
was, among these five brothers,
one of them.
At first,
the company was tiny.
They
just sold some
small computer software.
But slowly,
the company grew bigger and bigger,
and in the end,
became a company
the whole world knows —
a giant company.
Among these five brothers,
there was a younger brother
named Yves.
Yves
was the company's boss,
often out speaking in public;
everyone knew him.
Claude, by contrast,
was just the opposite.
He kept a low profile.
He didn't much like
standing out front.
What he did
was, inside the company,
the more 'invisible' things.
For example,
managing the money,
managing how the company runs.
You could say:
the younger brother out front,
him in the back.
The two of them,
together, the company,
held it up.
So this time,
what exactly happened?
This Friday evening,
Claude
boarded a small plane.
It was
a very small private plane.
On board,
there were only two people.
The plane flew to
the seaside in western France,
and just as it was about to land,
it suddenly had an accident.
The plane fell,
and caught fire.
Both people
did not survive.
Claude
was sixty-nine this year.
After the news spread,
many gamers
were very sad.
Because they realized:
it turned out
the games they'd played since childhood,
behind them,
stood a man like this.
A man
we had almost never
seen.
Finally,
I'd like to talk with you.
Every day,
we use many things,
play many games.
But the people who make these things,
we
often don't know a single one of them.
So,
I want to ask you a question:
behind the things you love,
is there a person
you'd like
to say a thank-you to?
Listen again
Try it without the transcript and notice what sounds clearer.
What vocabulary does this episode teach?
词汇HSK 3 考纲词. 育碧，是做游戏的 = Ubisoft makes games.
HSK 2 考纲词. 一家大公司 = a big company.
HSK 3 考纲词. 伊夫，是公司的老板 = Yves was the company's boss.
HSK 3 考纲词. 都很难过 = were all very sad.
HSK 1-2. problem / question.
HSK 1-2. to start / to begin.
HSK 1-2. but; however.
出事去世了 = died in an accident. A respectful word for death.
他是一家大公司的，创始人之一 = he was one of the founders of a big company.
只是卖一些，电脑上的小软件 = they just sold small computer software.
他很低调 = he kept a low profile — the key trait of Claude.
而克劳德，正好相反 = Claude was just the opposite (of his public brother).
管公司怎么运转 = managing how the company runs.
很小的私人飞机 = a very small private plane.
* beyond level超纲词
What grammar patterns appear in this episode?
语法是 ... 之一 (one of...)
Marks membership in a set.
他是一家大公司的，创始人之一。
是世界上最大的，游戏公司之一。
从 ... 说起 (to start telling from...)
A storytelling device for going back in time.
故事，要从很久以前说起。
只是 + Verb (merely / just)
Downplays the scale of an action.
他们，只是卖一些，电脑上的小软件。
正好相反 (exactly the opposite)
Sets up a contrast between two people or things.
而克劳德，正好相反。
把 + Object + Verb + 起来 (disposal + resultative)
Foregrounds what is done to the object.
一起把公司，撑了起来。
原来 ... (it turns out that...)
Marks a realization that differs from prior belief.
原来，自己从小玩到大的游戏，背后，站着这样一个人。
有没有 ... ？(is there ...?)
A yes-no question used in the reflective close.
在你喜欢的东西背后，有没有哪个人，是你想，说一声谢谢的？
Proper nouns
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