A Chinese podcast · Same story, 4 levels
马耳他是世界上第一个全民免费 ChatGPT 的国家
Malta Becomes the First Country to Give Everyone ChatGPT Plus
About this story
Malta Becomes the First Country to Give Everyone ChatGPT Plus. HSK 3 Chinese listening practice.
This is an HSK 3-4 Chinese listening episode that runs about 4 minutes. 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 合作、国家、同意 and walks through 4 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
On May 16, the world saw a piece of news.
It's something a country and OpenAI did together.
The country is called Malta.
Malta is in Europe.
It's a small country in the Mediterranean.
Less than six hundred thousand people.
Smaller than a small Chinese city.
But this small country
did something today that's a world first.
What did they do?
Malta and OpenAI said together:
"Starting now,
"every person in Malta
"can use ChatGPT for one year.
"Free.
This is the world's first country
to do this kind of partnership with an AI company.
You know ChatGPT, right?
It's the AI OpenAI made.
You talk to it,
it writes you an answer.
The best ChatGPT is called ChatGPT Plus.
About two hundred yuan a month.
One year is over two thousand yuan.
OpenAI is now saying:
"Malta's people don't pay for a whole year.
Why is OpenAI doing this?
OpenAI thinks:
we need more countries to use AI.
OpenAI also started something.
It's called "OpenAI for Countries."
Meaning:
OpenAI partners with countries one by one.
Helping the country's people use AI.
Malta is the first country in OpenAI for Countries.
Why Malta?
First,
Malta is small.
Few people.
Fast to do things.
Second,
Malta wanted to do this.
There's a man in Malta, called Ian Borg.
He is Malta's deputy prime minister.
He himself flew to the US,
met with OpenAI,
and talked to OpenAI about this.
Afterwards,
both sides agreed.
But there's one condition.
Not every Maltese person
can use ChatGPT right away.
Why?
Because OpenAI and Malta both said:
"Before using AI,
"you have to learn first.
Learn what?
Learn what AI is.
Learn what AI can do.
Learn what AI cannot do.
Learn how to use AI without problems.
The University of Malta made a course.
Called "AI for All."
You take this course first.
After finishing,
you can use ChatGPT free for one year.
The course is free.
And it doesn't take long.
Everyone can take it.
Someone at the University of Malta said:
"We want to make AI a thing for everyone,
"not just for rich people.
So,
how do Malta's people feel?
Many are happy.
They feel:
our country is small,
but this time,
we are first in the world.
But some are not happy.
Some are worried:
"Kids will let AI do their work.
"Kids might stop thinking for themselves.
Some are worried:
"OpenAI is an American company.
"Will it know our business?
These questions
don't have answers.
OpenAI says:
"We will be careful.
"We won't casually use Maltese people's words.
But some are still worried.
Worried people and happy people
both exist.
What do I think myself?
I think:
this is a new thing.
We haven't done it before.
So some will be afraid,
and some will be excited.
The most important thing is:
we need to see, a year from now,
what Malta has become.
If Malta's people
really learn new things from AI,
really do their work better,
then other countries will do this too.
If Malta's people
stop studying well,
and work badly,
then other countries will have to be careful.
So,
May 16, 2026,
is a date worth remembering.
An AI company,
and a small country,
together did something no one had done before.
Okay.
That's all for today.
Talk tomorrow.
Listen again
Try it without the transcript and notice what sounds clearer.
What vocabulary does this episode teach?
词汇To cooperate; a cooperative arrangement. The center of the news: the OpenAI–Malta 合作. 合 (join) + 作 (work).
A nation / country (as a sovereign political unit). Malta is the first 国家 to do a deal like this — the size of the unit matters.
To agree (to a proposal). '两边都同意了' — both sides agreed. The minimum verb you need to describe any signed deal.
Influence; impact. Used in the meta-thinking part of the episode: 影响 covers both 'AI's effect on us' and 'this deal's effect on other countries.'
Important. The episode's editorial signal: '这些问题都很重要' — these concerns are all important. Use it to flag what should not be ignored.
To worry (about). Two specific worries are voiced: kids using AI instead of thinking; an American company knowing too much. 担 (carry) + 心 (heart) — to carry something on your heart.
Government. The deal is government-level — not just for individuals. OpenAI is pursuing government partners through 'OpenAI for Countries.' 政 (politics) + 府 (office).
Deputy Prime Minister. Malta's 副总理 Ian Borg personally flew to the US to negotiate the deal. 副 (vice / deputy) + 总理 (prime minister).
A citizen. The Malta deal covers all 马耳他公民 — including those living abroad. 公 (public) + 民 (people).
Free, no payment. The episode uses 不用钱 in the script body, but 免费 is the headline word and what learners will read in any modern Chinese news.
Trust. The unstated load-bearing word of the whole story: Malta is choosing to 信任 OpenAI with its citizens' data. 信 (believe) + 任 (assign / entrust).
A project or program. 'OpenAI for Countries' is described as a new 项目 — a deliberate program for engaging national governments.
* beyond level超纲词
What grammar patterns appear in this episode?
语法等于 + Verb / Noun
等于 = 'equal to.' Used to translate a fact into its real-world weight. The narrator's calculation — 'six hundred thousand times two thousand 等于 十几亿' — uses 等于 mathematically, but it's also the standard idiom for 'is effectively' (你这样做等于放弃 = 'doing this is effectively giving up').
OpenAI 等于送给马耳他十几亿的东西。
让 / 帮 + Object + Verb (causative)
让 = 'let / make.' 帮 = 'help.' Both put another subject inside your verb — and both are central to AI ethics talk. '让 AI 替你做工作' = 'let AI do your work for you' (the negative case); '帮 你 用 AI' = 'help you use AI' (the positive case). The same surface grammar carries opposite values.
小朋友会让 AI 替他做工作。
帮国家的人用 AI。
如果...就... (conditional)
Standard Chinese conditional. The episode uses paired 如果 sentences to weigh both outcomes: 'If Malta does well, other countries will follow. If Malta does badly, they'll be careful.' Symmetry is the rhetorical move; 如果 is just the structural skeleton.
如果马耳他的人用 AI 真的学到了新东西，那别的国家也会做。
不会随便 + Verb
随便 = 'casually / however one likes.' Negated: 'we won't be careless about it.' OpenAI's reassurance — '我们不会随便用马耳他人的字' — uses this to promise data restraint. Note the construction puts the modifier between the negation and the verb.
我们不会随便用马耳他人的字。
Proper Nouns
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