A Chinese podcast · Same story, 4 levels
二十年来第一次：Google 花的钱比赚的还多
Google Reports First Negative Cash Flow Amid AI
About this story
An easy Chinese listening story: for the first time in twenty years, Google spent more money than it earned, pouring huge sums into computers and chips for AI, and its stock fell. HSK 2 Chinese listening practice.
This is an HSK 2 Chinese listening episode that runs about 1 minute. The full Mandarin script is shown with tap-for-pinyin and a line-by-line English translation, so you can listen and read at once — comprehensible input in the sense of Stephen Krashen's i+1 theory. It teaches 11 key vocabulary words such as 钱、重要、问题 and walks through 3 grammar patterns, each explained in English with examples. The same news story is retold at 4 difficulty levels — use the level selector above to find the version that is challenging but still understandable for you.
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原文Read the complete story in Chinese. Reveal pinyin and English only when you need them.
English transcript reference
Google is a very famous American company.
Every year, Google earns a huge amount of money — more than most companies.
But this time, something big happened.
This time, the money Google spent was more than the money it earned.
Something like this hadn't happened in twenty years — it was the first time.
Why did this happen?
Because Google is spending enormous amounts of money buying computers and chips to build AI.
Google wants to build the best AI, so it keeps buying and keeps spending.
It even said: in the future, it will spend even more than it does now.
Hearing this, a lot of people got a little scared.
Google's stock also fell quickly.
But Google says: AI is important, and this money has to be spent.
Now, a lot of people are watching one question:
Google is spending this much — will it be able to earn it all back later?
Listen again
Try it without the transcript and notice what sounds clearer.
What vocabulary does this episode teach?
词汇赚很多钱 = earns a lot of money.
AI 很重要 = AI is important.
在看一个问题 = watching one question.
这个钱一定要花 = this money definitely has to be spent.
买电脑和芯片 = buying computers and chips.
它会花很多钱 = it will spend a lot of money.
赚很多钱 = earns a lot of money; 赚回来 = earn back.
花的钱比赚的钱还多 = spent more than it earned.
Google 的股票跌了 = Google's stock fell.
股票也很快就跌了 = the stock fell quickly too.
买电脑和芯片 = buying computers and chips.
* beyond level超纲词
What grammar patterns appear in this episode?
语法为什么……？
为什么 asks "why?".
为什么会这样？
因为……
因为 introduces a reason: "because …".
因为 Google 正在花很多很多钱，买电脑和芯片。
能不能……？
能不能 = "can or can't …?", a yes/no question about ability.
以后能不能都赚回来？
Proper nouns
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