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为了 AI，Google 第一次花的比赚的多
For AI, Google Spent More Than It Earned for the First Time
A medium Chinese listening story on Google: last quarter it spent about $6 billion more than it earned, doubling AI spending to $45 billion on computers, chips and data centers, and the stock fell 8%.
This is an HSK 3-4 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 12 key vocabulary words such as 世界、问题、消息 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.
在全世界的大公司里，Google 一直是最会赚钱的一个。
Among all the big companies in the world, Google has always been one of the best at making money.
可是最近，它公布的一个数字，让很多人吃了一惊。
But recently, a number it reported took a lot of people by surprise.
上一个季度，Google 花的钱，第一次比赚回来的钱还多。
Last quarter, for the first time, the money Google spent was more than the money it earned back.
差不多多花了六十亿美元。
It spent roughly six billion dollars more.
这样的事，从二十年前它上市以来，还是头一回。
Something like this hadn't happened since it went public twenty years ago — a first.
Google 不是没钱了，它的生意还是很赚钱。
It's not that Google is out of money; its business is still very profitable.
问题是，它把太多的钱，投到了一个地方——AI。
The thing is, it poured too much money into one place — AI.
就在这三个月里，它买电脑、买芯片、盖数据中心，花掉了差不多四百五十亿美元。
In just these three months, it spent about forty-five billion dollars buying computers and chips and building data centers.
这个数字，比一年前多了一倍。
That number is double what it was a year ago.
而它做生意赚回来的钱，只有三百九十亿。
Meanwhile, the cash its business actually earned back was only thirty-nine billion.
花的比赚的多，钱自然就不够了。
Spend more than you earn, and naturally the money runs short.
更让人紧张的是，Google 还说，今年要花的钱，比原来说的还要多。
What makes people even more nervous: Google also said it will spend even more this year than it originally planned.
听到这个消息，很多买了它股票的人开始担心，股票也跌了百分之八。
Hearing this news, many people who own its stock started to worry, and the stock fell eight percent.
不过，如果看这一整年，它的股票其实还涨了差不多百分之六十六。
Still, looking at the whole year, its stock is actually up about sixty-six percent.
所以现在大家都在问同一个问题：
So now everyone is asking the same question:
Google 花这么多钱做 AI，到底是聪明，还是太冒险了？
Google spending this much on AI — is it smart, or too reckless?
全世界的大公司 = big companies in the whole world.
大家都在问同一个问题 = everyone asks the same question.
听到这个消息 = hearing this news.
很多人开始担心 = many people started to worry.
更让人紧张的是 = what makes people even more nervous.
到底是聪明，还是太冒险 = is it smart, or too reckless.
让很多人吃了一惊 = took a lot of people by surprise.
上一个季度 = last quarter.
太冒险了 = too risky.
把太多的钱投到 AI = poured too much money into AI.
买电脑、买芯片 = buying computers and chips.
股票也跌了百分之八 = the stock fell 8 percent.
* beyond level超纲词
比……还多
比 X 还多 = "even more than X".
花的钱，第一次比赚回来的钱还多。
更让人……的是
更让人 + adj + 的是 = "what is even more … is that …".
更让人紧张的是，Google 还说，今年要花的钱，比原来说的还要多。
到底是 A，还是 B？
到底 sharpens a choice question: "in the end, is it A or B?".
到底是聪明，还是太冒险了？
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