This lesson is kind of cool – and highly experimental. I took a very complicated and advanced article from Chinese media regarding state bank loans to a company called Bodun Electronics (博顿电子). Then I asked generative AI to re-write the article in the simplest possible language.
在天津市，有一家叫博顿电子的公司。这家公司做汽车的零件，比如音响和电子系统。他们的工厂很干净，工人们认真工作。
这家公司很厉害，有很多技术专利。但是，他们需要更多的钱来发展。以前，银行要有房子才能借钱给公司。可是博顿电子没有很多房子可以用。
后来，农业银行知道了这个问题。2022年，银行先借给他们1500万元。后来，银行看到公司发展得很好，又把钱增加到2000万元，而且不用房子做担保了。银行还给他们很低的利息。
有了银行的帮助，博顿电子可以买更多机器，研究新技术。最近三年，公司卖出去的东西越来越多，赚的钱也越来越多。
银行的人说，他们以后会帮助更多像博顿电子这样的公司。
Hover a word for its pinyin & meaning; click to pin it.
| Word | Pinyin | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| <p>零件 | língjiàn | parts/components |
| 技术 | jìshù | technology |
| 发展 | fāzhǎn | to develop/growth |
| 银行 | yínháng | bank |
| 借 | jiè | to lend/borrow |
| 利息 | lìxī | interest (on loans) |
| 合作 | hézuò | to cooperate |
| 研究 | yánjiū | to research |
| 增加 | zēngjiā | to increase</p> |
| 在 | zài | to exist; to be alive; (of sb or sth) to be (located) at; (used before a verb to indicate an action in progress) |
| 天 | tiān | day; sky; heaven |
| 津 | jin | abbr. for Tianjin 天津[Tian1 jin1] |
| 市 | shì | market; city; municipality (administrative unit); (literary) to trade; to buy and sell goods |
| 有 | yǒu | to have; there is; (bound form) having; with; -ful; -ed; -al (as in 有意[you3 yi4] intentional) |
| 一家 | yī jiā | the whole family; the same family; the family ... (when preceded by a family name); group |
| 叫 | jiào | to shout; to call; to order; to ask; to be called; by (indicates agent in the passive mood); variant of 叫[jiao4] |
| 博 | bó | (bound form) abundant; plentiful; extensive; wide; to win; to gain; to play; to gamble; learned; well-read; (bound form) doctoral degree (abbr. for 博士[bo2 shi4]); (bound form) blog…; old variant of 博[bo2] |
| 顿 | dùn | to stop; to pause; to arrange; to lay out; to kowtow; to stamp (one's foot); at once; classifier for meals, beatings, scoldings etc: time, bout, spell, meal |
| 电 | diàn | lightning; electricity; electric (bound form); to get (or give) an electric shock; phone call or telegram etc; to send via telephone or telegram etc |
| 子 | zǐ | son; child; seed; egg; small thing; 1st earthly branch: 11 p.m.–1 a.m., midnight, 11th solar month (7th December to 5th January), year of the rat; viscount, fourth of five orders o… |
| 的 | de | of; ~'s (possessive particle); (used after an attribute when it modifies a noun); (used at the end of a declarative sentence for emphasis); (used after a noun, verb or adjective to… |
| 公 | gōng | public; collectively owned; common; international (e.g. high seas, metric system, calendar); make public; fair; just; Duke, highest of five orders of nobility 五等爵位[wu3 deng3 jue2 w… |
| 司 | Sī | surname Si |
| 这 | zhè | (pronoun) this; these; (bound form) this; the (followed by a noun); (bound form) this; these (followed by a classifier) (in this sense, commonly pr. [zhei4], esp. in Beijing) |
| 家公 | jiā gōng | head of a family; (polite) my father; (polite) my grandfather; your esteemed father |
| 做 | zuò | to make; to produce; to write; to compose; to do; to engage in; to hold (a party etc); (of a person) to be (an intermediary, a good student etc); to become (husband and wife, frien… |
| 汽车 | qì chē | car; automobile; bus; CL:輛|辆[liang4] |
| 零 | líng | zero; nought; zero sign; fractional; fragmentary; odd (of numbers); (placed between two numbers to indicate a smaller quantity followed by a larger one); fraction; (in mathematics)… |
| 件 | jiàn | item; component; classifier for events, things, clothes etc |
| 比如 | Bǐ rú | see 比如縣|比如县[Bi3 ru2 Xian4] |
| 音响 | yīn xiǎng | sound; acoustics; audio; hi-fi system; stereo sound system (abbr. for 組合音響|组合音响[zu3 he2 yin1 xiang3]) |
| 和 | hé | old variant of 和[he2]; surname He; (literary) harmonious (variant of 和[he2]) |
| 系 | xì | to connect; to relate to; to tie up; to bind; to be (literary); system; department; faculty; to tie; to fasten; to button up |
| 统 | tóng | to gather; to unify |
| 他 | tā | (third-person singular) (since the early 20th century, usu. male) he; him; his; (bound form) other; another; some other (as in 他日[ta1 ri4] and 他人[ta1 ren2]) |
| 们 | men | plural marker for pronouns, and nouns referring to individuals |
| 工厂 | gōng chǎng | factory; CL:家[jia1],座[zuo4] |
| 很 | hěn | very; quite; (also, often used before an adjective without intensifying its meaning, i.e. as a meaningless syntactic element) |
| 干净 | gān jìng | clean; neat |
| 工人 | gōng rén | worker; CL:個|个[ge4],名[ming2] |
| 认真 | rèn zhēn | conscientious; earnest; serious; to take seriously; to take to heart |
| 工作 | gōng zuò | to work; (of a machine) to operate; job; work; task; CL:個|个[ge4],份[fen4],項|项[xiang4] |
| 厉 | lǐ | strict; severe; fierce; to sharpen; surname Li |
| 害 | hài | to do harm to; to cause trouble to; harm; evil; calamity |
| 多 | duō | many; much; more; a lot of; too many; in excess; (after a numeral) ... odd; how (to what extent) (Taiwan pr. [duo2]); (bound form) multi-; poly- |
| 专 | zhuan | for a particular person, occasion, purpose; special; particular (to sth); specialized |
| 利 | Lì | surname Li |
| 但 | dàn | but; yet; however; still; merely; only; just |
| 是 | shì | to be (followed by substantives only); correct; right; true; (respectful acknowledgement of a command) very well; (adverb for emphatic assertion); variant of 是[shi4] |
| 需要 | xū yào | to need; to want; to demand; to require; needs |
| 更 | gēng | to change or replace; to experience; one of the five two-hour periods into which the night was formerly divided; watch (e.g. of a sentry or guard) |
| 钱 | Qián | surname Qian |
| 来 | lái | to come; (used as a substitute for a more specific verb); hither (directional complement for motion toward the speaker, as in 回來|回来[hui2 lai5]); ever since (as in 自古以來|自古以来[zi4 gu3… |
| 以前 | yǐ qián | before; formerly; previous; ago |
| 要有 | yào yǒu | to need; to require; must have |
| 房子 | fáng zi | house; building (single- or two-story); apartment; room; CL:棟|栋[dong4],幢[zhuang4],座[zuo4],套[tao4],間|间[jian1] |
| 才 | cái | ability; talent; sb of a certain type; a capable individual; then and only then; just now; (before an expression of quantity) only; (emphatic, esp. in contrast or correction) reall…; (variant of 才[cai2]) just now; (variant of 才[cai2]) (before an expression of quantity) only |
| 能 | Néng | surname Neng |
| 给 | gěi | to; for; for the benefit of; to give; to allow; to do sth (for sb); (grammatical equivalent of 被); (grammatical equivalent of 把); (sentence intensifier) |
| 可是 | kě shì | but; however; (used for emphasis) indeed |
| 没有 | méi yǒu | haven't; hasn't; doesn't exist; to not have; to not be |
| 可以 | kě yǐ | can; may; possible; able to; not bad; pretty good |
| 用 | yòng | to use; to make use of; to employ; (coverb) with; using; to need; to have to (usu. used in the negative or in questions); usefulness; utility; (bound form) expense; outlay; (courte… |
| 后 | Hòu | surname Hou; back; behind; rear; afterwards; after; later; post- |
| 农 | Nóng | surname Nong; variant of 農|农[nong2] |
| 业 | Yè | surname Ye |
| 知道了 | zhī dào le | OK!; Got it! |
| 这个 | zhè ge | (pronoun) this; (adjective) this |
| 问题 | wèn tí | question; problem; issue; topic; CL:個|个[ge4] |
| 年 | Nián | surname Nian; grain; harvest (old); variant of 年[nian2] |
| 先 | xiān | beforehand; first; earlier; at first; originally; for the time being; for now; (prefix) my late (in referring to deceased relatives older than oneself) |
| 万 | mò | used in 万俟[Mo4 qi2]; surname Wan |
| 元 | Yuán | surname Yuan; Yuan dynasty (1279–1368) |
| 看到 | kàn dào | to see |
| 得很 | de hěn | (after an adjective) very |
| 好 | hǎo | good; appropriate; proper; all right!; (before a verb) easy to; (before a verb) good to; (before an adjective for exclamatory effect) so; (verb complement indicating completion); (… |
| 又 | yòu | (once) again; also; both... and...; and yet; (used for emphasis) anyway |
| 把 | bǎ | to hold; to grasp; to hold a baby in position to help it urinate or defecate; handlebar; classifier: handful, bundle, bunch; classifier for things with handles; (used to put the ob… |
| 到 | dào | to reach; to arrive; to leave for; to go to; to (a place); until (a time); up to (a point); (verb complement indicating arriving at a place or reaching a point); considerate; thoug… |
| 而 | ér | and; as well as; and so; but (not); yet (not); (indicates causal relation); (indicates change of state); (indicates contrast) |
| 且 | qiě | and; moreover; yet; for the time being; to be about to; both (... and...) |
| 不用 | bù yòng | need not |
| 担 | dan | to undertake; to shoulder |
| 保 | báo | Bulgaria (abbr. for 保加利亞|保加利亚[Bao3 jia1 li4 ya4]) |
| 了 | le | (completed action marker); (modal particle indicating change of state, situation now); (modal particle intensifying preceding clause); (bound form) clear in one's mind; to understand clearly |
| 还 | Huán | surname Huan |
| 低 | dī | low; beneath; to lower (one's head); to let droop; to hang down; to incline |
| 有了 | yǒu le | I've got a solution!; to have a bun in the oven (abbr. for 有了胎[you3 le5 tai1]) |
| 帮助 | bāng zhù | assistance; aid; to help; to assist |
| 买 | mǎi | to buy; to purchase |
| 机 | Jī | surname Ji |
| 器 | qì | device; tool; utensil; CL:臺|台[tai2] |
| 新 | Xīn | abbr. for Xinjiang 新疆[Xin1 jiang1]; abbr. for Singapore 新加坡[Xin1 jia1 po1]; surname Xin |
| 最近 | zuì jìn | recently; soon; nearest |
| 三 | Sān | surname San |
| 卖出 | mài chū | to sell; to reach (a price in an auction) |
| 去 | qù | to go; to go to (a place); (of a time etc) last; just passed; to send; to remove; to get rid of; to reduce; to be apart from in space or time; to die (euphemism); to play (a part);… |
| 东 | Dōng | surname Dong |
| 西 | Xī | the West; abbr. for Spain 西班牙[Xi1 ban1 ya2]; Spanish |
| 越 | Yuè | generic word for peoples or states of south China or south Asia at different historical periods; abbr. for Vietnam 越南 |
| 赚 | zhuàn | to earn; to make a profit |
| 也 | Yě | surname Ye |
| 人 | rén | person; people; CL:個|个[ge4],位[wei4],名[ming2] |
| 说 | shuì | to persuade; variant of 說|说[shuo1] |
| 以 | yǐ | old variant of 以[yi3]; abbr. for Israel 以色列[Yi3 se4 lie4] |
| 会 | huì | can; to have the skill; to know how to; to be likely to; to be sure to; to meet; to get together; meeting; gathering; (suffix) union; group; association; (bound form) a moment (Tai… |
| 像 | xiàng | to resemble; to be like; to look as if; such as; appearance; image; portrait; image under a mapping (math.) |
| 样 | yàng | manner; pattern; way; appearance; shape; classifier: kind, type |
In Tianjin city, there is a company called Bodun Electronics. This company makes car parts, such as audio systems and electronic systems. Their factory is very clean, and the workers work carefully.
This company is very capable and has many technology patents. However, they needed more money to grow. Before, banks required property as collateral to lend money to companies. But Bodun Electronics didn’t have much property to use.
Agricultural Bank learned about this problem. In 2022, the bank first lent them 15 million yuan [based on a bit of physical property as collateral]. But seeing the company was developing well, the bank increased the amount to 20 million yuan, and they no longer needed property as collateral. The bank also gave them very low interest rates.
With the bank’s help, Bodun Electronics can buy more machines and research new technology. Over the past three years, the company has sold more and more products, and earned more and more money.
The bank staff said they will help more companies like Bodun Electronics in the future.