A Chinese podcast · Same story, 4 levels

石油价格为什么这么贵
Why Oil Is So Expensive Right Now — Iran, the Strait of Hormuz, and the Gas Station
About this story
Why gas-station prices are climbing — Iran, the Strait of Hormuz, and a Middle East tension that worries the whole world. 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 15 key vocabulary words such as 价格、加油站、经过 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
Speaking of the recent issue of oil prices, many people are very unhappy.
Why are many people unhappy?
Because buying things costs a lot of money.
Especially the oil needed to drive cars.
Oil nowadays is really too expensive.
Our daily lives need oil.
Cars cannot run without oil.
Every morning you have to drive to work.
If there is no oil in the car, what do you do?
You can only go to the gas station to buy oil.
But once you arrive at the gas station and take a look.
The price of oil is higher than yesterday again.
You feel very unhappy.
But you still have to spend money to buy it.
Because you have to go to the company to work.
Besides cars, airplanes also need oil.
Without oil, airplanes cannot fly in the sky.
Many large factories also need oil.
Factories need to use oil to make things.
Therefore, our lives cannot be without oil.
So, where does this oil come from?
Many countries have their own oil.
But the oil in their countries is too little.
People use too much oil.
Their own country's oil is not enough to use.
What to do when it's not enough?
They can only go to other countries to buy it.
Buying oil is a very important matter.
After buying a lot of oil, how to bring it back?
We need to use very large ships.
Large ships do not travel fast on the sea.
But large ships can hold a lot of oil.
So everyone is using large ships to transport oil.
On the sea, large ships also have to take sea routes.
There is a sea route that is very important.
This route is like a large gate of the sea.
Many large ships have to pass through here.
There are many ships coming and going here every day.
What are all these large ships loaded with?
The ships are fully loaded with black oil.
Everyone really needs this oil.
Everyone is waiting for this oil at home.
So this sea gate is very busy.
Every day large ships sail in.
Every day large ships also sail out.
If there are no problems with this gate.
Everyone can slowly buy oil.
The price of oil will not become too expensive.
But, a big problem has appeared now.
Next to this gate, there is a country.
This country is very unhappy right now.
They have conflicts with other countries.
They say, we are going to close the gate.
They won't let the large oil-carrying ships take this route.
If the gate really closes, what to do?
The large ships won't be able to pass.
If the ships can't pass, the oil won't be able to come either.
People in many countries are waiting for oil.
But after waiting for a long time, the oil still hasn't come.
Everyone is very anxious in their hearts.
Because the oil hasn't come, the oil has become less.
But the people who need oil are still very many.
Everyone wants to buy oil quickly.
You want to buy, and I also want to buy.
What will happen at this time?
The people selling oil will feel very happy.
The people selling oil say, I want to charge more money.
Because I have very little oil now.
If you want to buy my oil, you have to pay more money.
So, the price of oil has become higher.
Buying oil before might not have been that expensive.
Now it is much more expensive day by day.
Now buying a barrel of oil requires a lot of money.
I heard it already costs over a hundred dollars.
Over a hundred dollars to buy a barrel of oil.
This is really very, very expensive.
Many people feel their money is not enough to use.
Even though oil is very expensive, everyone still has to buy it.
This makes people feel very tired.
Because oil is expensive, other things are also expensive.
Why would other things also become expensive?
Because the apples and clothes sold in stores.
These are all delivered by large trucks.
Large trucks also need to use oil to deliver things.
The people delivering things spent a lot of money buying oil.
So they also have to charge more for the things they deliver.
For example, you go to the supermarket to buy an apple.
The apple is one dollar more expensive than before.
You go to the store to buy a new piece of clothing.
The clothing is also ten dollars more expensive than before.
Everyone feels that life has become harder.
Let's think about that sea gate again.
Is that gate closed now?
Actually, the gate is not fully closed yet.
Even though it's not fully closed, everyone is very afraid.
Everyone is afraid that the gate will suddenly close tomorrow.
Because of fear in their hearts.
Everyone goes to buy oil today.
If everyone goes to buy today, the oil becomes even less.
This is a very big trouble.
This problem cannot be solved in a day or two.
What does that country next to the gate want to do?
They want to make other countries listen to them.
So they stand there at the gate.
This method makes everyone very nervous.
The countries buying oil are very nervous.
The countries selling oil are also very nervous.
The people sailing the large ships feel even more afraid.
They are afraid of encountering great danger on the sea.
So the people sailing the large ships also have to charge more money.
This is also a reason why the oil price has become higher.
All these things are making the price go up.
Next, let's talk about the real situation.
This sea gate we just talked about.
Is actually the Strait of Hormuz.
That very unhappy country next to it.
Is actually Iran.
We are talking about current international news.
Iran controls this very important strait.
They do not let oil ships simply sail past.
Because the oil cannot come out, the price is very high.
Right now the price of a barrel of oil is very high.
It has already reached over one hundred US dollars.
This is the reason why the whole world is very worried.
Listen again
Try it without the transcript and notice what sounds clearer.
What vocabulary does this episode teach?
词汇Refers to the specified amount of money for which something is bought or sold.
A place where fuel is sold for vehicles. '加油' means to refuel, and '站' means station.
Used as a verb here to describe ships passing through a specific location.
Describes a feeling of urgency or anxiety when something is delayed or going wrong.
Used when talking about fixing a problem, such as '解决问题' (to solve a problem).
Can describe a person feeling nervous or a situation that is tense.
Used as a noun ('encounter danger') or an adjective ('it is dangerous').
A common verb used to express concern about something or someone.
The formal word for petroleum. In everyday speech, it is often shortened to '油' (oil).
Used to describe disagreements or conflicts between people or countries.
Acts as a measure word here for oil: '一桶油' (a barrel of oil).
A large vehicle used for transporting goods.
A narrow passage of water connecting two larger areas of water.
To have power over something, such as a country controlling a sea route.
Relating to two or more nations, used here in '国际新闻' (international news).
* beyond level超纲词
What grammar patterns appear in this episode?
语法说到 + Topic, ...
Used at the beginning of a sentence to introduce a topic of conversation, translating to 'Speaking of...'.
说到最近石油价格的问题,很多人非常不高兴。
除了 + Noun/Verb, (Subject +) 也 + Verb
A common structure meaning 'Besides [A], [B] also...'. It is used to add additional information alongside what is already mentioned.
除了汽车,飞机也需要油。
如果 + Condition, (Subject +) 就 + Result
A standard conditional sentence format meaning 'If [condition], then [result]'.
如果车里没有油,你怎么办?
如果大门真的关上了,怎么办?
只能 + Verb Phrase
Translates to 'can only' or 'have no choice but to'. It indicates that there is only one available option.
你只能去加油站买油。
他们只能去别的国家买。
得 + Verb Phrase
Pronounced as 'děi', this auxiliary verb means 'must' or 'have to'. It is commonly used in spoken Chinese.
但是你还是得花钱买。
虽然油很贵,大家还是得买。
一天比一天 + Adjective
A comparative structure meaning 'day by day' or 'increasingly'. It shows a continuous change over time.
现在一天比一天贵得多。
把 + Object + Verb + Complement
The 'ba' construction is used to indicate how an action affects or disposes of an object.
我们要把大门关上。
Proper Nouns
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