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你玩过的游戏背后，那个低调的法国人走了
The Quiet Frenchman Behind the Games You've Played Is Gone
HSK 2 Chinese listening practice. 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.
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 去世、创始人、游戏 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.
今天，我们说一件让人难过的事。
Today, we'll talk about a sad piece of news.
有一个人，
There was a man
在这个星期，
who, this week,
出事去世了。
died in an accident.
他叫克劳德·吉尔莫。
His name was Claude Guillemot.
你可能没听过这个名字。
You may never have heard this name.
但是，
But
你很可能，
you very likely
玩过他做的游戏。
have played the games he made.
克劳德，是法国人。
Claude was French.
他是一家大公司的，
He was, of a big company,
创始人之一。
one of the founders.
这家公司，
This company
叫育碧。
was called Ubisoft.
育碧，是做游戏的。
Ubisoft makes games.
而且，
And
是世界上最大的，
it's one of the world's biggest
游戏公司之一。
game companies.
很多有名的游戏，
Many famous games
都是它做的。
were made by it.
比如，
For example,
《刺客信条》。
Assassin's Creed.
很多人，
Many people
都玩过这个游戏。
have played this game.
育碧，是怎么来的呢？
How did Ubisoft come to be?
故事，要从很久以前说起。
The story starts a long time ago.
大概四十年前，
About forty years ago,
也就是一九八六年，
that is, in 1986,
有五个兄弟，
five brothers,
在法国，
in France,
一起开了这家公司。
started this company together.
克劳德，
Claude
就是这五个兄弟里的，
was, among these five brothers,
一个。
one of them.
一开始，
At first,
公司很小很小。
the company was tiny.
他们，
They
只是卖一些，
just sold some
电脑上的小软件。
small computer software.
但是慢慢地，
But slowly,
公司越做越大，
the company grew bigger and bigger,
最后，
and in the end,
变成了一家，
became a company
全世界都知道的，
the whole world knows —
大公司。
a giant company.
在这五个兄弟里，
Among these five brothers,
有一个弟弟，
there was a younger brother
叫伊夫。
named Yves.
伊夫，
Yves
是公司的老板，
was the company's boss,
经常出来说话，
often out speaking in public;
大家都认识他。
everyone knew him.
而克劳德，
Claude, by contrast,
正好相反。
was just the opposite.
他很低调。
He kept a low profile.
他不太喜欢，
He didn't much like
站在前面。
standing out front.
他做的，
What he did
是公司里面，
was, inside the company,
那些更"看不见"的事。
the more 'invisible' things.
比如，
For example,
管钱，
managing the money,
管公司怎么运转。
managing how the company runs.
可以说，
You could say:
弟弟在前面，
the younger brother out front,
他在后面。
him in the back.
两个人，
The two of them,
一起把公司，
together, the company,
撑了起来。
held it up.
那这次，
So this time,
到底发生了什么？
what exactly happened?
这个星期五的傍晚，
This Friday evening,
克劳德，
Claude
坐上了一架小飞机。
boarded a small plane.
那是一架，
It was
很小的私人飞机。
a very small private plane.
上面，
On board,
只有两个人。
there were only two people.
飞机飞到了，
The plane flew to
法国西边的海边，
the seaside in western France,
快要落地的时候，
and just as it was about to land,
突然出了事。
it suddenly had an accident.
飞机掉了下来，
The plane fell,
还烧了起来。
and caught fire.
两个人，
Both people
都没能活下来。
did not survive.
克劳德，
Claude
今年六十九岁。
was sixty-nine this year.
消息传开以后，
After the news spread,
很多玩家，
many gamers
都很难过。
were very sad.
因为他们发现：
Because they realized:
原来，
it turned out
自己从小玩到大的游戏，
the games they'd played since childhood,
背后，
behind them,
站着这样一个人。
stood a man like this.
一个，
A man
我们几乎从来，
we had almost never
没有见过的人。
seen.
最后，
Finally,
我想和你聊一聊。
I'd like to talk with you.
我们每天，
Every day,
用着很多东西，
we use many things,
玩着很多游戏。
play many games.
但是做这些东西的人，
But the people who make these things,
我们，
we
常常一个都不认识。
often don't know a single one of them.
所以，
So,
我想问你一个问题：
I want to ask you a question:
在你喜欢的东西背后，
behind the things you love,
有没有哪个人，
is there a person
是你想，
you'd like
说一声谢谢的？
to say a thank-you to?
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.
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.
很多玩家，都很难过 = many gamers were very sad.
自己从小玩到大的游戏，背后，站着这样一个人 = behind the games they played since childhood stood a man like this.
一起把公司，撑了起来 = together they held the company up.
* beyond level超纲词
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？