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Mythic Mandarin

Reportedly: 据说 and 据…报道

HSK 6 Unit 7: News and reported speech · Lesson 1 of 5 · About 26 minutes

Preview version — Chinese review in progress.

Your mission: By the end of this lesson, you can report news with its source using 据说 and 据…报道, and discuss a story you read online.

Warm-up: do you remember?

Two quick questions from earlier lessons. Recalling before you learn makes the new material stick.

  1. Meaning

    What does 实习生 mean?

    1. pros and cons
    2. to keep company, companionship
    3. intern
    Show the answer

    Answer: C, intern.

    实习生 (shíxísheng) means intern.

  2. Characters

    Which word means “intern”?

    1. 机器人
    2. 实习生
    3. 医疗
    Show the answer

    Answer: B, 实习生.

    “intern” is 实习生 (shíxísheng).

New words

  • 据说jùshuōit is said, reportedly
  • 据jùaccording to
  • 来源láiyuánsource
  • 可靠kěkàoreliable
  • 官方guānfāngofficial
  • 消息来源xiāoxi láiyuánnews source

据说 and 据…报道

据说 (jùshuō) introduces something you have heard, without saying exactly who said it: reportedly, they say. 据 (jù) + a source + 报道 / 说 / 统计 names the source: according to ….

  • 据说这家饭馆的菜特别好吃。

    Jùshuō zhè jiā fànguǎn de cài tèbié hǎochī.

    They say this restaurant's food is especially good.

  • 据新闻报道，明天会有大雨。

    Jù xīnwén bàodào, míngtiān huì yǒu dàyǔ.

    According to the news, there will be heavy rain tomorrow.

  • Not: 据说老师，明天考试。

    But: 据老师说，明天考试。 Jù lǎoshī shuō, míngtiān kǎoshì.

    With a named source, use 据 + source + 说.

Characters

Open a character to see how it is written, stroke by stroke, with its meanings and words.

Good news from the zoo

Sophie tells Mark a piece of news she heard from a friend.

Listen first

Play the whole conversation and answer the questions before you open the transcript.

Helpful words: 动物园 dòngwùyuán zoo; 熊猫宝宝 xióngmāo bǎobao baby panda; 出生 chūshēng to be born; 网站 wǎngzhàn website; 双胞胎 shuāngbāotāi twins; 确定 quèdìng sure, certain

  1. Listening

    Listen first. Where did Sophie first hear the news?

    1. on TV
    2. in a newspaper
    3. from a friend
    Show the answer

    Answer: C, from a friend.

    我是在朋友那儿听说的.

  2. Listening

    Where did they check the news?

    1. in today's newspaper
    2. the zoo's official website
    3. on a friend's phone
    Show the answer

    Answer: B, the zoo's official website.

    我们看看官方网站吧.

Show the transcript
Pinyin
Translation

  1. 苏菲

    据说Jùshuō北京Běijīng动物园dòngwùyuán的de熊猫xióngmāo生shēng了le一yí对duì双胞胎shuāngbāotāi！

    Apparently a panda at Beijing Zoo has given birth to twins!

  2. 马克

    真Zhēn的de吗ma？消息来源Xiāoxi láiyuán可靠kěkào吗ma？

    Really? Is the source reliable?

  3. 苏菲

    我Wǒ是shì在zài朋友péngyou那儿nàr听说tīngshuō的de，还hái不bú确定quèdìng。

    I heard it from a friend. I'm not sure yet.

  4. 马克

    那Nà我们wǒmen看看kànkan官方guānfāng网站wǎngzhàn吧ba。

    Then let's look at the official website.

  5. 苏菲

    你Nǐ看kàn，据jù动物园dòngwùyuán的de官方guānfāng报道bàodào，两liǎng个gè熊猫宝宝xióngmāo bǎobao昨天zuótiān出生chūshēng，都dōu很hěn健康jiànkāng。

    Look: according to the zoo's official report, two baby pandas were born yesterday, and both are healthy.

  6. 马克

    太Tài好hǎo了le！有Yǒu了le官方guānfāng的de消息xiāoxi，我wǒ就jiù相信xiāngxìn了le。

    Great! With official news, I believe it.

Speak: listen, record, compare

Listen to each model, record yourself, then play both and compare: the rhythm, the tones, the vowels. No automatic score: your ear is the judge.

  • 真的吗？消息来源可靠吗？

    Zhēn de ma? Xiāoxi láiyuán kěkào ma?

    Really? Is the source reliable?

  • 据说北京动物园的熊猫生了一对双胞胎！

    Jùshuō Běijīng dòngwùyuán de xióngmāo shēng le yí duì shuāngbāotāi!

    Apparently a panda at Beijing Zoo has given birth to twins!

  • 你看，据动物园的官方报道，两个熊猫宝宝昨天出生，都很健康。

    Nǐ kàn, jù dòngwùyuán de guānfāng bàodào, liǎng gè xióngmāo bǎobao zuótiān chūshēng, dōu hěn jiànkāng.

    Look: according to the zoo's official report, two baby pandas were born yesterday, and both are healthy.

Practice

  1. Meaning

    What does 据说 mean?

    1. whole, entire
    2. beef
    3. it is said, reportedly
    Show the answer

    Answer: C, it is said, reportedly.

    据说 (jùshuō) means it is said, reportedly.

  2. Characters

    Which word means “according to”?

    1. 乱
    2. 据
    3. 却
    Show the answer

    Answer: B, 据.

    “according to” is 据 (jù).

  3. Word order

    Put the words in order: Then let's look at the official website.

    • 网站
    • 我们
    • 官方
    • 那
    • 看看
    • 吧
    Show the answer

    那我们看看官方网站吧 Nà wǒmen kànkan guānfāng wǎngzhàn ba.

    Then let's look at the official website.

    那我们看看官方网站吧。 The sentence comes from this lesson's text.

  4. Listening

    Listen. What does the word mean?

    Cannot listen? Read it instead

    可靠 kěkào

    1. to break, to cut
    2. burden
    3. reliable
    Show the answer

    Answer: C, reliable.

    You heard 可靠 (kěkào): reliable.

  5. Your turn

    Recall: type the Chinese for “official” (characters or pinyin).

    Show the answer

    Answer: 官方

    “official” is 官方 (guānfāng).

  6. Grammar

    Which sentence names the source correctly?

    1. 据说老师，明天放假。
    2. 据老师说，明天放假。
    3. 老师据说，明天放假。
    Show the answer

    Answer: B, 据老师说，明天放假。.

    据老师说，明天放假。: 据 + source + 说.

  7. Fill the gap

    Complete: This news comes from a reliable source.

    这个消息的＿＿很可靠。

    1. 官方
    2. 据说
    3. 来源
    Show the answer

    Answer: C, 来源.

    来源: source.

  8. In context

    The government publishes the result on its own website. What kind of news is it?

    1. 官方的消息
    2. 据说的消息
    3. 来源的消息
    Show the answer

    Answer: A, 官方的消息.

    官方的消息: 官方: official.

  9. Your turn

    Type the Chinese for reliable

    Show the answer

    Answer: 可靠

    可靠: reliable.

Share some news

Share out loud a piece of news you have heard recently, in six sentences.

  1. What you heard, with 据说.
  2. Where it came from, with 据…报道 or 据…说.
  3. Whether the source is reliable.

Sentence frames

  • 据＿＿报道，＿＿。

    Jù ＿＿ bàodào, ＿＿.

    According to ..., ...

Record your attempt (three and a half minutes at most) and listen back:

Review and finish

Can you do this? If a line feels shaky, go back to that part before you move on.

  • I report news with 据说 and name sources with 据…报道.
  • I can talk about sources and reliability.

Review works best spaced out: answer these exercises again tomorrow, then after a few days. Your progress is saved in this browser.

Completing records that you finished the lesson. Mastery is separate: it grows as reviews bring the exercises back and you answer them correctly.

Next lesson: Probably and not necessarily: 恐怕, 未必 and 不见得