A Chinese podcast · Same story, 4 levels

拉斯维加斯 111 度,纽约 93 度——更危险的是纽约
Las Vegas Hit 111°F and New York Hit 93°. New York Is the Dangerous One.
Las Vegas Hit 111°F and New York Hit 93°. New York Is the Dangerous One. 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 9 key vocabulary words such as 热、水、医生 and walks through 3 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.
Read the complete story in Chinese. Reveal pinyin and English only when you need them.
Las Vegas is very, very hot today.
A hundred and eleven degrees.
New York is hot today too.
Ninety-three degrees.
A hundred and eleven is bigger than ninety-three.
So Las Vegas is hotter.
But doctors say: New York is worse.
Why?
Listen.
When a person is very hot, there is water on their body.
This water — we call it sweat.
Once the sweat comes out, the person is not so hot any more.
Las Vegas is a dry place.
Dry means there is no water.
In a dry place, the sweat comes out and then it is gone.
The person is not so hot any more.
New York is different.
New York is a wet place.
Wet means there is a lot of water.
In a wet place, the sweat comes out and does not leave.
The sweat stays on your body.
The person is still very hot.
So New York at ninety-three degrees is worse than Las Vegas at a hundred and eleven.
Doctors say: when it is hot, drink a lot of water.
Think about it: your place — is it dry, or is it wet?
Try it without the transcript and notice what sounds clearer.
很热很热 = very, very hot. Repeating an adjective intensifies it.
身上有水 = there is water on your body — how sweat is introduced.
医生说 = doctors say.
多喝水 = drink more water.
Sets up the explanation that follows.
Taught in the episode: the water that comes out on your body when you are hot.
Taught in the episode: 干,是没有水 — dry means there is no water.
Taught in the episode: 湿,是有很多水 — wet means there is a lot of water.
更热 = hotter. 更不好 = worse.
* beyond level超纲词
A 比 B + adj
The comparison pattern. What you compare to goes after 比.
一百一十一,比九十三大。
九十三度的 New York,比一百一十一度的 Las Vegas,更不好。
X,是……
The plainest definition frame. Used here to teach 干 and 湿.
干,是没有水。
湿,是有很多水。
……的时候
"when …". The clause goes before it.
人很热的时候,身上有水。
热的时候,要多喝水。
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