教育网红猝然离世，他曾为千万学子规划“成功路径”

The Sudden Death of a Man Who Told Chinese Kids How to Succeed

常速 | 六级 偏难 | 596词 | 3min27s

刘立军供稿

Part I. QUESTIONS

Listen to the passage and choose the best answer to each question you hear.

Q1. What was Zhang Xuefeng known for as China’s most famous education influencer?

A. Teaching students how to improve their physical health.

B. Giving direct and harsh advice on how to achieve success.

C. Encouraging students to pursue their idealistic dreams.

D. Writing best-selling books about liberal arts education.

Q2. According to the passage, how did Zhang Xuefeng view the liberal arts and finance?

A. Liberal arts are good for high-paying jobs, and finance requires luck.

B. Liberal arts only suit rich students, and finance is a safe choice.

C. Liberal arts mainly lead to service jobs, and finance needs connections.

D. Liberal arts offer many opportunities, and finance is easy to enter.

Q3. What questions did people on social media ask after Zhang Xuefeng’s sudden death?

A. Whether his advice helped young people or discouraged their idealism.

B. Whether he regretted being too harsh in his public comments.

C. Whether his family would continue his consulting company.

D. Whether the government would regulate education influencers.

Q4. What can be inferred about Zhang Xuefeng’s attitude towards career choices for students from ordinary families?

A. He believed they should pursue their dreams regardless of money.

B. He thought they should choose practical majors to support living.

C. He suggested they should avoid going to any university at all.

D. He argued that only wealthy families have the right to choose.

Q5. What is the main idea of the passage?

A. Zhang believed students should study journalism despite poor job prospects.

B. Zhang was the most popular influencer who helped wealthy students.

C. Zhang’s videos and livestreams were banned by the government.

D. Zhang’s sudden death made people rethink his advice and work culture.

Part II. TRANSCRIPT

The Sudden Death of a Man Who Told Chinese Kids How to Succeed

Any Chinese parent or student fixated on education — so, basically, most Chinese parents and students — knew the name Zhang Xuefeng. (Q1) As China’s most famous education influencer, Mr. Zhang was known for dispensing ruthlessly blunt advice about how to maximize a student’s chances at success.

fixate v. 专注于；对……过分执著

(Q2) The liberal arts? Only good for service jobs, he declared. Finance? Don’t bother unless your family has connections. Fast-talking and sharp-tongued, to his detractors, he was cynical and utilitarian. But to his tens of millions of fans, he embodied a rare willingness to acknowledge the harsh realities facing less privileged students, especially in the face of steep inequality and a slowing economy.

detractor n. 贬低者；诋毁者

utilitarian adj. 功利的；实用主义的

So when Mr. Zhang suddenly died on Tuesday at age 41, of cardiac arrest, it prompted an outpouring — not only of shock, but also of reflection.

cardiac adj. 心脏的；心脏病的

outpouring n. （情感的）涌出，迸发

(Q3) On social media, people asked: Had he steered young Chinese to better lives or discouraged their idealism? (5) What did his abrupt death, after he had long complained of being exhausted and overworked, say about China’s hypercompetitive work culture? And if life was so unpredictable, did planning so carefully for success that seemed increasingly out of reach even matter?

hypercompetitive adj. 高度竞争的；竞争异常激烈的

“Zhang Xuefeng’s lesson to lost young people: Enjoy your life,” was one of the top hashtags on Chinese social media on Wednesday, where news of Mr. Zhang’s death dominated discussion. “Excessive self-discipline” was another, a response to state media reports that Mr. Zhang had collapsed after going for a run in Suzhou, the city in eastern China where he lived.

Another popular education influencer, Zhu Wei, posted a long tribute online, praising Mr. Zhang’s vigor and sincerity. Mr. Zhu urged his own students to slow down in their pursuit of test scores and jobs.

“But I also know, what’s the cruelest thing about the age of internet traffic? It’s that nothing lasts even a month before it’s forgotten,” Mr. Zhu wrote. “Everyone will soon go back to their usual state, endlessly striving and slogging, never able to stop.”

slog v. 埋头苦干；坚持不懈地努力

Mr. Zhang was born in a small town in northern China. His real name was Zhang Zibiao, though he later adopted the name Xuefeng. He tested into a middling university, where he studied water supply and drainage, for which he had little enthusiasm, according to interviews he gave. After graduation, he turned to tutoring and college counseling.

He shot to fame in 2016, for a video in which he — in what would become his signature rapid-fire, snark-infused patter — summarized China’s top 34 universities in seven minutes. He started a consulting company where he helped students choose majors, internships, and careers based on cold-eyed considerations of their test scores, family backgrounds, and whether they prioritized money or stability. His livestreams attracted hundreds of thousands of views, and his courses could cost thousands of dollars.

patter n. 顺口溜；（饶舌的）念叨

internship n. 实习；实习期

His celebrity came as much from his advice as his willingness to provoke. A comment in 2023 that parents should knock their children unconscious rather than let them study journalism, because of the weak job prospects, set off days of online debate. Critics said he misunderstood the point of education or was suggesting that poorer students shouldn’t follow their dreams.

“I come from an ordinary family,” Mr. Zhang wrote in response. (Q4) “If you come from a wealthy family, you have more choices, you can’t choose wrongly. But most families aren’t that well-off, and when choosing a major, you have to choose one that’s suitable and will put food on the table.”

Part III. KEY

Q1. B.【解析】细节题。题目出处为：“As China’s most famous education influencer, Mr. Zhang was known for dispensing ruthlessly blunt advice about how to maximize a student’s chances at success.”。意为：“作为中国最著名的教育类网红，张雪峰以提供直截了当的建议而闻名，这些建议聚焦于如何最大限度地提升学生未来成功的几率。”因此正确答案为B。

Q2. C.【解析】细节题。题目出处为：“The liberal arts? Only good for service jobs, he declared. Finance? Don’t bother unless your family has connections.”。意为：“人文学科？他宣称只适合服务业。金融？除非家里有关系，否则别费劲了。”该句明确指出张雪峰认为人文学科主要通向服务类工作，而金融行业需要家庭人脉，因此正确答案为C。

Q3. A.【解析】细节题。题目出处为：“On social media, people asked: Had he steered young Chinese to better lives or discouraged their idealism?”。 意为：“在社交媒体上，人们纷纷发问：他究竟是引导了中国年轻人走向更好的生活，还是打击了他们的理想主义？”因此正确答案为A。

Q4. B.【解析】推理题。题目出处为：“If you come from a wealthy family, you have more choices, you can’t choose wrongly. But most families aren’t that well-off, and when choosing a major, you have to choose one that’s suitable and will put food on the table.”。意为：“如果你来自富裕家庭，你有更多选择，你不会选错。但大多数家庭并不那么富裕，在选择专业时，你必须选择一个合适的、能养家糊口的专业。”该句明确指出张雪峰认为普通家庭的学生应该选择实际且能维持生计的专业，因此正确答案为B。

Q5. D.【解析】主旨题。文章的核心内容是张雪峰的突然离世引发了人们对其各种教育建议以及中国高度竞争性的工作文化的反思，因此正确答案为D。

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