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

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,、,。
,。

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 diǎn多 duō,林雯 Lín Wén还 hái坐 zuò在 zài编辑部 biān jí bù的 de角落 jiǎo luò里 lǐ改 gǎi那篇 nà piān关于 guān yú老街 lǎo jiē改造 gǎi zào的 de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,她 tā原本 yuán běn以为 yǐ wéi这 zhè不过是 bú guò shì一个 yí ge关于 guān yú旧房子 jiù fáng zi和 hé新商店 xīn shāng diàn之间 zhī jiān冲突 chōng tū的 de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 yīn时 shí,她 tā才 cái注意到 zhù yì dào几位 jǐ wèi居民 jū mín反复 fǎn fù提到 tí dào的 de并 bìng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 huà都 dōu被 bèi写成 xiě chéng一种 yì zhǒng轻松 qīng sōng的 de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 xié的 de老师傅 lǎo shī fu说 shuō,真正 zhēn zhèng让 ràng他 tā难受 nán shòu的 de不是 bú shì店面 diàn miàn翻新 fān xīn,而是 ér shì那些 nà xiē熟悉 shú xī的 de声音 shēng yīn和 hé慢慢 màn màn形成 xíng chéng的 de人情味 rén qíng wèi可能 kě néng在 zài很短 hěn duǎn的 de时间 shí jiān里 lǐ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 bǎn却 què觉得 jué de,如果 rú guǒ什么 shén me都 dōu不 bù调整 tiáo zhěng,那条 nà tiáo街 jiē最后 zuì hòu只会 zhǐ huì留下 liú xià回忆 huí yì,却 què留 liú不住 bú zhù真正 zhēn zhèng生活 shēng huó在 zài那里 nà li的 de人 rén。

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 Wén越 yuè修改 xiū gǎi,越 yuè不 bù想 xiǎng把 bǎ这篇 zhè piān文章 wén zhāng写成 xiě chéng立场 lì chǎng分明 fēn míng的 de争论 zhēng lùn,因为 yīn wèi她 tā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 duì的 de声音 shēng yīn,其实 qí shí都 dōu在 zài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 gǎo时 shí,她 tā删掉 shān diào了 le最 zuì响亮 xiǎng liàng、却 què也 yě最 zuì偷懒 tōu lǎn的 de一句话 yí jù huà,改成 gǎi chéng用 yòng更 gèng安静 ān jìng的 de方式 fāng shì去 qù写 xiě那些 nà xiē没有 méi yǒu简单 jiǎn dān答案 dá àn的 de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.

她 tā知道 zhī dao这样的 zhè yàng de写法 xiě fǎ未必 wèi bì最 zuì容易 róng yì被 bèi转发 zhuǎn fā,却 què更 gèng接近 jiē jìn她 tā那天 nà tiān在 zài老街 lǎo jiē里 lǐ真正 zhēn zhèng听见 tīng jiàn的 de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 tí并 bìng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 dān的 de写法 xiě fǎ。A correction-and-reframing structure.

越 ... 越 ...

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

她 tā越 yuè修改 xiū gǎi,越 yuè觉得 jué de原来 yuán lái的 de标题 biāo tí太 tài直接 zhí jiē。A 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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