Fluentide · Chinese Listening — Intermediate (HSK 4)

Ten Nile crocodiles hatched unaided at La Ferme aux Crocodiles in Pierrelatte after France's record heat kept the sand at incubation temperature

Ten Nile Crocodiles Hatched in a French Park With No Incubator, Because the Sand Held 30°C for Three Straight Months.

HSK 3-4 level · 1:58

• 夏天 (xiàtiān) — summer
• 消息 (xiāoxi) — news, a piece of news
• 改变 (gǎibiàn) — to change (something)
• 无聊 (wúliáo) — boring
• 孵化 (fūhuà) — to hatch, incubation
• 保温箱 (bǎowēnxiāng) — incubator

• 要……才能…… — "Needs X in order to be able to Y." 才 marks the condition that unlocks the result.
• 于是 — "And so" — links a cause already given to the outcome it produced.
• 比……大得多 — "Much bigger than ..." — 得多 after an adjective makes the gap large.

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Oviedo FL police baited a vandal with a 3D-printed decoy Flock camera; he faces three felonies whose thresholds turn on the object's value

Florida Police Baited a Vandal With a 3D-Printed Fake Camera. He Faces Three Felonies Priced on an Object Worth Five Dollars.

HSK 3-4 level · 3:31

• 办法 (bànfǎ) — a way, a method
• 条 (tiáo) — measure word for charges, roads, long things
• 重 (zhòng) — heavy, serious
• 可能 (kěnéng) — possibly, might
• 起诉 (qǐsù) — to charge, to prosecute
• 毁坏 (huǐhuài) — to destroy, to damage

• 不是……，是…… — Corrects a wrong assumption: not this, but that. Used here to correct where the camera came from.
• 建立在……上面 — "Built on top of ..." — used for arguments and legal charges resting on a premise.
• 如果按……算 — "If you count it by ..." — sets a standard of measurement before giving the result.

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Mette Frederiksen publicly rejected a plastic surgeon's unsolicited offer, without naming him

Denmark’s PM Came Home From Ukraine to a Plastic Surgeon’s DM Offering to "Fix That Little Spot" on Her Nose.

HSK 3-4 level · 2:06

• 鼻子 (bízi) — nose
• 身体 (shēntǐ) — body
• 一边 (yìbiān) — on one side
• 问题 (wèntí) — a problem
• 整形 (zhěngxíng) — plastic surgery
• 私信 (sīxìn) — a direct message
• 截图 (jiétú) — a screenshot; to screenshot
• 点名 (diǎnmíng) — to name someone publicly

• 问题不在……，在于…… — The problem is not X, it lies in Y — relocates the real issue.
• 把主动权拿回来 — To take back the initiative — a very useful set phrase.
• 却没有对他做他对她做的事 — A mirrored clause: did not do to him what he did to her.

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The Octo-Blu project releases farmed octopuses to control invasive blue crabs in Emilia-Romagna

Blue Crabs Rode Ballast Water to Italy and Ate the Clams. So They Released 80,000 Baby Octopuses — Which May Not Go Where the Crabs Are.

HSK 3-4 level · 3:51

• 海 (hǎi) — sea
• 船 (chuán) — ship
• 住 (zhù) — to live, to dwell
• 动物 (dòngwù) — animal
• 蓝蟹 (lánxiè) — blue crab
• 压舱水 (yācāngshuǐ) — ballast water
• 撬 (qiào) — to pry open, to lever
• 潟湖 (xìhú) — lagoon

• 不是……，是…… — Corrects the assumed agent: not X, but Y.
• 也就是说 — Which is to say — restates a conclusion plainly.
• 恰恰 — Precisely, exactly — often with an ironic edge.

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LinkedIn's AI-slop report button passed a million clicks; AI-slop views fell 40%

LinkedIn Added a "Seems Like AI Slop" Button. It Was Clicked a Million Times in Three Weeks.

HSK 3-4 level · 2:04

• 读 (dú) — to read
• 句 (jù) — measure word for sentences
• 条 (tiáo) — measure word for posts and messages
• 觉得 (juéde) — to feel, to reckon
• 按钮 (ànniǔ) — a button
• 举报 (jǔbào) — to report
• 生成 (shēngchéng) — to generate
• 味道 (wèidào) — flavour

• 各自……，各自……，各自…… — Each one separately did X, Y, Z — stresses that it happened independently.
• 读着读着 — Reduplicated verb + 着: while going on doing something, gradually something happens.
• 等于 — Amounts to, is equivalent to.

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The Daily Mail covertly photographed and published images of a woman it wrongly identified as Meg White

The Daily Mail Said It Found Meg White After 17 Years and Ran a Dozen Photos. The Woman in Them Wasn’t Her.

HSK 3-4 level · 3:20

• 记者 (jìzhě) — a reporter
• 问题 (wèntí) — a question; a problem
• 篇 (piān) — measure word for articles
• 认识 (rènshi) — to know (a person)
• 道歉 (dàoqiàn) — to apologise
• 隐居 (yǐnjū) — to live in seclusion
• 偷拍 (tōupāi) — to photograph covertly
• 更正 (gēngzhèng) — a correction (in a publication)

• 让……变成……的，是…… — Names the thing that changed something into something else.
• 不在于……，在于…… — The point is not X, it is Y — used to relocate the real issue.
• 当面 — To someone’s face, in person.

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A wave of objects thrown onto WNBA courts, claimed by a crypto company, injured children; Angel Reese identified a thrower

People Threw Sex Toys Onto WNBA Courts for a Crypto Stunt. The Ones Who Got Hit Were Children.

HSK 3-4 level · 2:09

• 手 (shǒu) — hand
• 岁 (suì) — years of age
• 场 (chǎng) — a court, a venue
• 扔 (rēng) — to throw
• 观众 (guānzhòng) — spectators, audience
• 笑话 (xiàohuà) — a joke
• 虚拟币 (xūnǐbì) — crypto-currency
• 侄女 (zhínǚ) — niece (brother’s daughter)

• 当……，当……，当…… — Stacks three conditions to build to a conclusion.
• ……的时候，是…… — States what something is while a condition holds, implying it stops being that later.
• 用……结束了 — Ended something by means of X.

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Radio-Canada found grocery-shelf maple syrup was at least 50% cane sugar; four grocery chains added to the class action

Quebec Maple Syrup Was Cut With Cane Sugar. The Agriculture Ministry Tested It Once and Found Nothing.

HSK 3-4 level · 4:23

• 超市 (chāoshì) — supermarket
• 骄傲 (jiāo'ào) — pride; proud
• 一样 (yíyàng) — the same
• 东西 (dōngxi) — thing, stuff
• 掺 (chān) — to mix in, to adulterate
• 举报 (jǔbào) — to report (wrongdoing to authorities)
• 同位素 (tóngwèisù) — isotope
• 门槛 (ménkǎn) — a threshold

• 不是……，是…… — Redirects from the expected point to the real one.
• 也就是说 — Which is to say — restates the point in plainer terms.
• 一……，就…… — As soon as X, then Y.

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Shenzhen court sentences Evergrande founder Hui Ka Yan to life imprisonment for financial fraud

Evergrande’s Founder Got Life. The Company Left 1.62 Million Unfinished Apartments — 700,000 Are Still Empty.

HSK 3-4 level · 2:05

• 楼 (lóu) — a building, a storey
• 相信 (xiāngxìn) — to believe, to trust
• 办法 (bànfǎ) — a method, a way of doing things
• 家 (jiā) — family; a measure word for firms
• 期房 (qīfáng) — an off-plan property
• 虚增 (xūzēng) — to inflate (figures) falsely
• 隐瞒 (yǐnmán) — to conceal
• 房贷 (fángdài) — a mortgage

• 只靠一件事：…… — Reduces something to its single load-bearing condition.
• 一……就…… — As soon as X, then Y.
• 能……，判不出…… — Contrasts what a power can and cannot do.

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A Swiss tourist was sentenced to a year in prison for defying and mocking Bali's Nyepi Day of Silence

Bali Shuts Down Completely for Its Day of Silence. A Swiss Tourist Walked Out, Filmed It, and Got a Year in Prison.

HSK 3-4 level · 4:27

• 安静 (ānjìng) — quiet
• 世界 (shìjiè) — the world
• 一边 (yìbiān) — one side; while doing
• 飞机 (fēijī) — aeroplane
• 道歉 (dàoqiàn) — to apologise
• 照做 (zhàozuò) — to comply, to do as told
• 要紧 (yàojǐn) — important, what matters
• 理解 (lǐjiě) — to understand

• 不分 A 和 B — Makes no distinction between A and B.
• 一边……一边…… — Doing two things at the same time.
• 到底……？ — Adds pressure to a question: "so, in the end …?"

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