Mandarin Chinese · B231 min

Lin Wen rethinks the old street while revising her article at night

Practice B2 Mandarin in a short story where Lin Wen rethinks the old street while revising her article at night. Tap individual words, follow line-by-line meaning, and review vocabulary from the scene.

  1. Vocabulary
  2. Story
  3. Support
  4. Grammar
  5. Practice
  6. Review

Read the story for the viewpoints first, then reread it for the words that show contrast, hesitation, and judgment. Tap individual words for vocabulary, and use the support section to check the exact sentence-level meaning.

Core vocabulary

Target word with readingTranslationType
特稿 tè gǎo

feature article / report

noun

改造 gǎi zào

renovation

noun

角度 jiǎo dù

angle / perspective

noun

保留 bǎo liú

to preserve

verb

轻松 qīng sōng

easy / simplistic

adjective

录音 lù yīn

recording

noun

回忆 huí yì

memory / recollection

noun

转发 zhuǎn fā

to forward / repost

verb

人情味 rén qíng wèi

human warmth

noun

老街 lǎo jiē

old street

noun

Core text

Line-by-line support

Read each line with the direct translation beside it. Use this section to slow down and confirm exactly what the story is doing sentence by sentence.

晚上 wǎn shang十点 shí diǎnduō林雯 Lín Wénháizuòzài编辑部 biān jí bùde角落 jiǎo luògǎi那篇 nà piān关于 guān yú老街 lǎo jiē改造 gǎi zàode特稿 tè gǎo

After ten o'clock at night, Lin Wen was still sitting in a corner of the newsroom revising her feature article about the renovation of the old street.

白天 bái tiān采访 cǎi fǎng的时候 de shí hou原本 yuán běn以为 yǐ wéizhè不过是 bú guò shì一个 yí ge关于 guān yú旧房子 jiù fáng zi新商店 xīn shāng diàn之间 zhī jiān冲突 chōng tūde普通 pǔ tōng报道 bào dào

During the daytime interviews, she had originally thought this was merely an ordinary report about conflict between old houses and new shops.

可是 kě shì回头 huí tóu整理 zhěng lǐ录音 lù yīnshícái注意到 zhù yì dào几位 jǐ wèi居民 jū mín反复 fǎn fù提到 tí dàodebìng不是 bú shì反对 fǎn duì改变 gǎi biàn本身 běn shēn而是 ér shì担心 dān xīn所有 suǒ yǒu变化 biàn huàdōubèi写成 xiě chéng一种 yì zhǒng轻松 qīng sōngde进步 jìn bù故事 gù shi

But when she went back over the recordings, she only then noticed that what several residents repeatedly mentioned was not opposition to change itself, but worry that every change would be written as a kind of easy progress story.

一位 yí wèi修鞋 xiū xiéde老师傅 lǎo shī fushuō真正 zhēn zhèngràng难受 nán shòude不是 bú shì店面 diàn miàn翻新 fān xīn而是 ér shì那些 nà xiē熟悉 shú xīde声音 shēng yīn慢慢 màn màn形成 xíng chéngde人情味 rén qíng wèi可能 kě néngzài很短 hěn duǎnde时间 shí jiān一起 yì qǐ消失 xiāo shī

An old cobbler said that what truly pained him was not the renovated storefronts, but the possibility that familiar sounds and the human warmth that had gradually formed there might disappear together in a very short time.

另一位 lìng yí wèi年轻 nián qīng老板 lǎo bǎnquè觉得 jué de如果 rú guǒ什么 shén medōu调整 tiáo zhěng那条 nà tiáojiē最后 zuì hòu只会 zhǐ huì留下 liú xià回忆 huí yìquèliú不住 bú zhù真正 zhēn zhèng生活 shēng huózài那里 nà liderén

A younger shop owner, however, felt that if nothing were adjusted, that street would eventually keep only memories, but not the people who actually lived there.

林雯 Lín Wényuè修改 xiū gǎiyuèxiǎng这篇 zhè piān文章 wén zhāng写成 xiě chéng立场 lì chǎng分明 fēn míngde争论 zhēng lùn因为 yīn wèi慢慢 màn màn意识到 yì shí dào那些 nà xiē看起来 kàn qǐ lái互相 hù xiāng反对 fǎn duìde声音 shēng yīn其实 qí shídōuzài努力 nǔ lì保留 bǎo liú自己 zì jǐ理解 lǐ jiě中的 zhōng de生活 shēng huó方式 fāng shì

The more Lin Wen revised, the less she wanted to write the piece as a sharply divided argument, because she gradually realized that those voices that seemed to oppose one another were in fact all trying to preserve the way of life each of them understood.

所以 suǒ yǐ最后 zuì hòu定稿 dìng gǎoshí删掉 shān diàolezuì响亮 xiǎng liàngquèzuì偷懒 tōu lǎnde一句话 yí jù huà改成 gǎi chéngyònggèng安静 ān jìngde方式 fāng shìxiě那些 nà xiē没有 méi yǒu简单 jiǎn dān答案 dá ànde部分 bù fen

So when she finalized the article, she deleted the loudest and also laziest sentence, replacing it with a quieter way of writing the parts that had no simple answer.

知道 zhī dao这样的 zhè yàng de写法 xiě fǎ未必 wèi bìzuì容易 róng yìbèi转发 zhuǎn fāquègèng接近 jiē jìn那天 nà tiānzài老街 lǎo jiē真正 zhēn zhèng听见 tīng jiànde东西 dōng xi

She knew that this kind of writing might not be the easiest to share widely, but it was closer to what she had truly heard on the old street that day.

Grammar in context

These are the two patterns doing the most work in this lesson. Learn them as reusable sentence frames, not as isolated rules.

并不是 ... 而是 ...

并不是 ... 而是 ... helps the writer correct a first impression and replace it with a more precise explanation.

问题 wèn tíbìng不是 bú shì反对 fǎn duì变化 biàn huà而是 ér shì反对 fǎn duì过于 guò yú简单 jiǎn dānde写法 xiě fǎA correction-and-reframing structure.

越 ... 越 ...

越 ... 越 ... shows a gradual change that becomes stronger as the situation continues.

yuè修改 xiū gǎiyuè觉得 jué de原来 yuán láide标题 biāo títài直接 zhí jiēA progression-through-revision pattern.

Extension reading

Review

Story check: What is Lin trying to do in this lesson, and what detail changes the situation?

Vocabulary check: Find the first key word, the second key word, the third key word, and one more key word in the story text again. Explain what each word is doing in its sentence.

Retell: Retell the scene in two or three sentences using the first key word and the second key word. Then add one sentence about why the ending matters for Lin.

Next steps

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