A Chinese podcast · Same story, 4 levels

中东的大新闻:美国和以色列攻击伊朗
US and Israel Attack Iran — The Big Middle East News with Trump and Khamenei
About this story
Big news from the Middle East — the US and Israel attack Iran while Khamenei and Trump respond on the world stage. HSK 2 Chinese listening practice.
This is an HSK 2 Chinese listening episode that runs about 7 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 16 key vocabulary words such as 新闻、发生、机会 and walks through 6 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
Speaking of a big event happening in the world today, this has to do with several countries fighting a war.
This matter is very big.
Everyone is watching this news right now.
This is about the United States, Israel, and Iran.
Just a few hours ago, it happened.
The United States and Israel started attacking Iran.
This is a very big operation.
They used many airplanes.
These airplanes flew to Iran.
The airplanes dropped many bombs.
Because of this fighting, one of Iran's most important people died.
This person was Iran's biggest leader.
His name was Khamenei.
Everyone knows he was the highest ranking person in Iran.
Now he is no longer here.
This is something the United States and Israel did together.
We have to ask, why did they want to attack Iran?
The President of the United States is Trump.
Trump said why they had to do this.
He said this was for safety.
He felt that Iran is making very dangerous things.
This kind of thing can kill many people.
This is a very big weapon.
Everyone is very afraid of this kind of weapon.
Trump said Iran cannot be allowed to have this kind of thing.
So they had to go attack Iran.
Trump also said some other words.
He told the Iranian army not to fight.
He said if you don't fight, everything will be fine.
But if you still want to fight, you will die.
Trump also spoke to the Iranian people.
He said this is your opportunity.
You can change to a new government.
The name of this operation is very special.
The Americans call it "Operation Epic Fury".
This name sounds very scary.
This shows that the United States is very angry.
What does it look like inside Iran now?
There are fires in many places in Iran.
People saw black smoke.
This smoke flew into the sky.
Iran has many provinces.
Now most provinces have been hit.
The capital of that country is called Tehran.
Tehran also has many sounds of explosions.
Everyone can hear very loud noises.
People are very afraid.
Besides the noise, there are other problems.
Now in Iran, no one can get on the internet.
Computers cannot be used, and mobile phones cannot be used either.
This is called "internet outage".
Because there is no internet, everyone doesn't know what happened outside.
People cannot call their friends.
Nor can they send messages to family members.
This made everyone more worried.
We also know that some people died.
More than two hundred people died.
And more than seven hundred people were injured.
Injured means the body is not well and one needs to go to the hospital.
One school was also bombed.
More than one hundred people died there.
This is really a very sad thing.
How is the President of Iran?
Everyone is very concerned about him.
It says on TV that the President is safe.
He did not die, nor was he injured.
But other Iranian officials died.
Many officials responsible for fighting died.
Facing such a thing, what did Iran do?
Iran is very angry.
They say this is not right.
They say the United States and Israel are bad people.
So Iran started to fight back.
Iran also has many powerful things.
They have missiles.
A missile is a kind of big bomb that flies very far.
They also have drones.
Drones are small airplanes that no one flies.
Iran fired these things at other countries.
They fired at Israel.
They also fired at America's friends.
There are many friends of America in the Middle East.
For example, Bahrain, Kuwait, and Qatar.
These countries are all next to Iran.
Iran's missiles flew to these places.
Because there are American troops in these places.
The United States has buildings and airplanes in these countries.
Iran wants to break America's things.
But the United States says they are fine.
The United States says they blocked Iran's missiles.
The United States says their things are not broken.
And no Americans were injured.
But there are some issues on the Israeli side.
Iran fired many missiles at Israel.
About one hundred and fifty.
Israel says two Israelis died.
And more than four hundred people were injured.
Because they are fighting now, going there is very dangerous.
So everyone can no longer go there for travel.
Airplanes can no longer fly.
Many companies said that planes are not flying anymore.
If you bought a ticket, you cannot go now either.
This is the most serious time in these past few years.
Many airports have closed their doors.
Everyone feels that taking an airplane is unsafe now.
Let's talk about Iran's leaders again.
Because that biggest leader died, they need a new one.
This is just like in a company, the boss left.
Everyone needs to find a new boss.
But now they are fighting a war.
Finding a new person is difficult.
Those people responsible for choosing are very old.
They need to have a meeting to select a new person.
But having a meeting at this time is very dangerous.
So everyone doesn't know when they can be selected.
Although there is a temporary leader now, it is not official yet.
This matter is still happening.
Every day there is new news.
We see that this is really a big thing.
This is the news we just talked about, "US and Israel attack Iran".
Let's briefly explain the meaning of this matter.
"Attack" means going to beat others.
"Retaliation" means someone hits you, and you hit back.
The "nuclear weapons" mentioned in the news are those most dangerous big bombs.
Trump does not want Iran to have nuclear weapons.
So he and Israel went to attack Iran together.
Because the fighting was fierce, Iran's supreme leader Khamenei died.
Now Iran is firing missiles at surrounding countries.
This makes the whole world very worried.
Especially people in the airplane business, and people who want to travel.
Everyone hopes this matter can end quickly.
Because war is not good for anyone.
This is the introduction regarding this big news in the Middle East.
Listen again
Try it without the transcript and notice what sounds clearer.
What vocabulary does this episode teach?
词汇Information about recent events, often reported by media.
Used to describe events taking place.
A favorable time or occasion to do something.
Audible noise or the voice of a person.
To desire for something to happen.
HSK 1-2. why.
HSK 1-2. body.
HSK 1-2. company.
Common term for engaging in warfare or combat.
An explosive weapon.
Tools used for fighting or protection.
The governing body of a nation or state.
A violent shattering or blowing apart.
To sustain physical harm.
A guided airborne weapon capable of self-propelled flight.
Literally 'no person plane'; an unmanned aerial vehicle.
* beyond level超纲词
What grammar patterns appear in this episode?
语法正在 + Verb
Indicates an action currently in progress (present continuous tense).
大家都正在看这个新闻。
他觉得伊朗正在做很危险的东西。
但是现在正在打仗。
被 + Verb
Passive voice marker, indicating that the subject is the receiver of the action.
现在大部分省都被打了。
有一个学校也被炸到了。
为了 + Purpose
Indicates the purpose or reason for an action ('for the sake of', 'in order to').
他说这是为了安全。
如果... (就)...
Standard conditional structure ('If... then...'). The 'jiù' introduces the consequence.
他说如果你们不打,就没事。
但是如果你们还要打,就会死。
如果你买了票,现在也不能去。
除了... 还有...
Expresses addition ('Besides... there is also...').
除了声音,还有别的问题。
把 + Object + Verb + Direction/Result
The 'bǎ' construction is used to manipulate an object. It emphasizes what happens to the object.
伊朗把这些东西打向了别的国家。
Proper Nouns
专有名词Sources
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