A Chinese podcast · Same story, 4 levels
他在一场 Zoom 会议上开掉了九百个人。今年他自己被开掉了，现在他想回去。
He Fired 900 People on One Zoom Call. This Year He Was Fired Himself — and Now He Wants the Job Back.
About this story
He Fired 900 People on One Zoom Call. This Year He Was Fired Himself — and Now He Wants the Job Back. HSK 2 Chinese listening practice.
This is an HSK 2 Chinese listening episode that runs about 2 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 12 key vocabulary words such as 知道、结束、差不多 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.
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原文Read the complete story in Chinese. Reveal pinyin and English only when you need them.
English transcript reference
There was a boss — the one who fired nine hundred people in a single video meeting.
It was December 2021, a few days before Christmas.
His name is Garg, and he was the boss of an American company.
That day he held a video meeting with all nine hundred people on it.
What he said was very short.
He said: you are the group being let go.
That was it.
The meeting ended.
Some of them said afterwards that they only realised when they checked their bank card.
The moment this came out, the whole world knew who he was.
Right — now this year’s news.
On the third of August this year, the company said: Garg, you go too.
The boss who fired nine hundred people had been fired himself.
The company brought in a new boss.
But after the new boss arrived, the company’s share price fell by about half.
Garg saw that, and started wanting to come back.
He said: this company is the one I built.
He said the new boss had tricked him.
He wants to come back as boss, and he says he does not need the money.
One dollar a year, and once the company makes money, he will step aside.
Will the company let him back?
As of now, nobody knows.
Think about it: a man fired nine hundred people like that, and now he wants to come back.
Would you let him?
Listen again
Try it without the transcript and notice what sounds clearer.
What vocabulary does this episode teach?
词汇全世界都知道了他 = the whole world knew who he was.
会议，结束了 = the meeting ended.
跌了差不多一半 = fell by about half.
就开始，想回去 = started wanting to come back.
而且他说钱可以不要 = and he says he does not need the money.
一次视频会议 = a video meeting.
在视频会议上 = in a video meeting.
圣诞节前几天 = a few days before Christmas.
公司的股票跌了 = the company’s share price fell.
跌了差不多一半 = fell by about half.
新老板骗了他 = the new boss had tricked him.
公司，换了一个新老板 = the company brought in a new boss.
What grammar patterns appear in this episode?
语法被 + verb
The passive. Used twice here, once to him and once by him.
你们是被开掉的那一批。
自己被开掉了。
而且
"and what is more". Adds the detail that changes how the request reads.
他想回去当老板，而且他说钱可以不要。
Proper Nouns
专有名词Sources
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