A Chinese podcast · Same story, 4 levels
英国首相斯塔默，要走了
UK Prime Minister Starmer Is Stepping Down
About this story
The story of Britain's prime minister Starmer — a leader everyone chose two years ago who is now stepping down — told slowly in beginner Chinese: rising prices, lost hope, officials quitting one by one, and what makes a good leader. HSK 1 Chinese listening practice.
This is an HSK 1 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 13 key vocabulary words such as 希望、贵、我们 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 person.
This person
lives in a faraway
country.
This country
is not China.
It's very, very far away,
to the west.
This person —
what does he do?
He is, of this country,
the highest official.
What is the highest official?
It means
the country's affairs,
many of them, he
has the final say on.
He has to manage
very, very many people.
He has to manage
a very big country.
A person like this
is very important.
Two years ago,
everyone liked him very much.
Very, very many people
chose him.
At that time,
he was very happy.
Everyone
also had high hopes for him.
But
today, two years later,
things
have completely changed.
Now,
many people
no longer like him.
Why?
Let's take it slowly.
These two years,
the people of this country
have not had it easy.
Things
are more and more expensive.
Money
is less and less enough.
Buying food
costs a lot of money.
Using electricity, using water,
have gotten expensive too.
In everyone's hearts,
no one is happy.
They think:
you are the highest official,
you should handle these things well.
But
life is still hard.
Slowly,
more and more people
lost hope in him.
It wasn't only ordinary people.
The people who worked with him
also began,
one by one,
to leave.
Today,
this one quits.
Tomorrow,
that one quits too.
Some managed the sick,
some managed the army.
It was as if they were saying:
we
don't want to follow you anymore.
The people leaving
grew more and more.
The people helping him
grew fewer and fewer.
In the end,
he himself knew:
he
could not go on.
So,
just this week,
he stepped forward,
and said to everyone:
I
am leaving.
This person —
which country is he from?
Britain.
His name
is Starmer.
His title, the highest official,
has another name:
prime minister.
Now,
he no longer wants to be prime minister.
Britain
must find a new person
to be prime minister.
You see,
two years ago,
he was still everyone's
most-liked person.
Two years later,
he is about to leave.
Being a high official
looks very impressive.
But in fact,
it's also very hard.
Finally,
I want to ask you:
in your view,
for a good leader,
the most important thing
is what?
Listen again
Try it without the transcript and notice what sounds clearer.
What vocabulary does this episode teach?
词汇HSK 2 考纲词. 对他很有希望 = had high hopes for him; 没有了希望 = lost hope.
HSK 1 考纲词. 东西，越来越贵 = things are more and more expensive.
HSK 1. we; us.
HSK 1. they; them.
HSK 1. what.
HSK 1. today.
HSK 1. tomorrow.
他是这个国家，最大的官 = he is the highest official of this country.
Glossed inline: 最大的官 = the highest official — the leader of the country.
他要管，很多很多人 = he has to manage very many people.
HSK 3. 这样的人，很重要 = a person like this is very important.
很多很多人，都选了他 = very many people chose (elected) him.
日子还是很难 = life is still hard.
* beyond level超纲词
What grammar patterns appear in this episode?
语法是 ... 的呢？(framing question)
Sets up a topic the host then answers.
这个人，是做什么的呢？
是哪个国家的呢？
越来越 + Adj (more and more)
Marks gradual change.
东西，越来越贵。
走的人，越来越多。
应该 + Verb (should)
Expresses what ought to be done.
你应该管好这些事。
Verb + 不下去了 (can no longer keep doing)
A potential complement: unable to continue.
他，做不下去了。
一个一个地 + Verb (one by one)
Describes an action repeated in sequence.
也开始，一个一个地，走了。
不只是 X (not only X)
Adds that there is more beyond X.
不只是老百姓。
看起来 ... ，其实 ... (looks ..., but in fact ...)
Contrasts appearance with reality.
做大官，看起来很厉害。其实，也很不容易。
Proper Nouns
专有名词Free account
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