Reintroducing beavers to Scotland 苏格兰重新引入河狸 For hundreds of years, beavers have been absent from Scottish waters. Their reintroduction a decade ago was controversial, particularly among farmers. 数百年来，苏格兰水域中一直没有河狸。十年前，重新引入河狸引起了争议，特别是激起了农民的反对。 The animals, which are described as ecosystem engineers, create wetlands which support other wildlife, including insects and birds. Their dams can slow the flow of water. In some areas, this has led to flooding and the destruction of crops. 河狸被喻为 “生态系统工程师”，它们通过筑坝创造出湿地，湿地为其它野生动物提供了栖息地，包括昆虫和鸟类。河狸筑起的水坝可以减缓水流的速度。但在一些地区，这导致了洪水泛滥、农作物被冲毁。 New legislation makes it illegal to destroy established dams and lodges, and to kill beavers without a licence. Some have been issued. The Scottish Wildlife Trust has urged land managers to show restraint while young kits are dependent on their parents, and to use lethal control only when all other measures to control the damage beavers can cause have failed. 苏格兰政府新颁布的立法规定，破坏河狸筑成的水坝和巢穴以及无执照宰杀河狸都是违法行为。政府已授予符合规定标准的人员执照，准许他们处理河狸。苏格兰野生动物信托基金会敦促土地管理者在河狸幼崽依赖父母的情况下应有所克制，并且只有在所有其它河狸管控措施均无效的情况下，才考虑使用致命的捕杀措施。 词汇表 absent 不存在的 ecosystem 生态系统 wetlands 湿地 dams 水坝，堤坝 lodges （河狸的）巢穴 restraint 克制，控制 kits 幼崽 lethal control 致命的控制措施，此处指 “捕杀” ✔更多内容见公众号【琐简英语】，回复“1”，可进入【打卡交流群】

What is life like with a parent in the military? | Newsround This is Lily. And this is Lily's family. Lily's dad is in the army, so her and her sister Daisy are some of the 100,000 military children in the UK. April is the month of the military child. It's all about recognising the challenges they face and the sacrifices they have to make. Lily and her family live on a big army base and Lily is about to give me a bit of a tour. 这是莉莉。这是莉莉的家人。莉莉的爸爸在军队服役，所以她和她的妹妹黛西是英国10万名军人儿童中的一部分。四月是军人孩子月。这个月的重点是认识到他们面临的挑战和他们必须做出的牺牲。莉莉和她的家人住在一个很大的军事基地里，莉莉要带我去参观一下。 So we're at a special checkpoint, what does that mean? So it's where like military people come here to sign in with their special ID card. And if you're not in the military can you still come inside? I think you need to talk to like the people that work here about it. So it's to get like special permission? Yes. 我们在一个特殊的检查站，这是什么意思？所以就像军人来这里用他们的特殊身份证登记一样。如果你不是军人，你还能进来吗？我觉得你应该和在这里工作的人说一下。所以是为了得到特别许可吗？是的。 So, where are we now? We're at my dad's tank warehouse. And do you come here a lot? Not often because it is quite dangerous. Yeah, yeah. Because there are some massive tanks around. 那么，我们现在在哪里？我们在我爸爸的坦克仓库。你经常来这里吗？不是经常，因为它是相当危险的。是啊，是啊。因为这附近有很多大型坦克。 Yeah. Like a lot of us, Lily doesn't know exactly what her dad does for a job, so we thought we'd ask. So infantry are frontline soldiers, and we go ahead of everybody else. In these big vehicles, if you go round, you've got the engine blocked. There's plenty of room. We can fit seven troops inside. They can store all their kit, what they can live in. Now, the longest I've lived out of these warriors is up to a month. 是的。和我们很多人一样 莉莉 不知道她爸爸是做什么工作的，所以我们想问问。步兵是前线士兵，我们走在别人前面。在这些大型车辆里，如果你绕过去，你就会把引擎堵住。还有很多地方。里面可以容纳七个人。他们可以储存所有的装备，他们可以住在里面。现在，我从这些战士身边离开的最长时间是一个月。 It kind of smells. Yeah, it smells a bit dusky. OK, where to next? Have you lived here for a long time? Yeah, about six and a half years. A lot of military families move around quite a lot, right? Yeah. Yeah, I've moved like three times. What are the main things that are the best things about living here? I really like all the woods. The woods are like really fun to go through. It took me like two years to understand like everywhere, like where to go and that. Yeah. What's an annoying thing about living here? I think it's like upsetting when my dad goes away. And what about the best thing? When you lose a friend, you also like find a new friend. 有点臭。是的，它闻起来有点暗淡。好的，下一步去哪里？你在这里住了很长时间吗？是的，大约六年半。很多军人家庭经常搬家，对吧？是的。是的，我已经搬了三次家了。住在这里最好的事情是什么？我真的很喜欢所有的树林。树林真的很有趣。我花了两年时间才明白到处都是，比如去哪里等等。是的。住在这里有什么烦人的事情？我觉得这就像我爸爸走了一样难过。那么最好的事情呢？当你失去一个朋友时，你也喜欢寻找一个新朋友。 Military families move around a lot, so the friends you make might leave. But new ones could arrive too. Speaking of finding friends, here's Daisy and Lily's friend Caitlin. One of the reasons there's a special month to think about military children is because of all the sacrifices you might have to make. Do you feel like you have had to make a lot of sacrifices? One big sacrifice is leaving your mates that you're quite close with, and then keeping in touch with them. Maybe not, you never know. 军人家庭经常搬家，所以你结交的朋友可能会离开。但是新的也会到来。说到交朋友这是黛西和莉莉的朋友凯特琳。有一个特殊的月份需要考虑军人子女的原因之一就是你可能要做出的所有牺牲。你是否觉得自己不得不做出很多牺牲？一个巨大的牺牲就是离开你非常亲密的朋友，然后和他们保持联系。也许不会，谁知道呢。 What sort of things do you worry about when your parents go away with work? If he's safe. Yeah. Like, doing all right. If he's, for me, eating properly. Making sure he's drinking enough as well. Yeah. And what do you do as friends to sort of support each other? We just talk to each other a lot, play outside with each other a lot, have lots of sleepovers, and also just talk to each other about stuff. Basically, we just don't focus about the stuff that's going on. 当你的父母下班后，你会担心什么事情？他是否安全。比如，是否一切顺利。对我来说，他是否吃得很好。确保他也喝得好。作为朋友，你们会做些什么来互相支持？我们只是经常交谈，经常在外面玩，经常过夜，也只是互相谈论一些事情。基本上，我们会避免谈正发生的事情。 Lily has a special talent that also helps to keep her busy. I do jiu-jitsu. It's a type of martial art and it's like a really good distraction, especially when my dad's away. Lily also won an extra special medal for being Little Trooper of the Month. Little Troopers is a charity that supports children with parents in the Army, Navy or RAF. Go Lily. 莉莉有一种特殊的天赋，这也有助于她保持忙碌。我会柔道。这是一种武术，可以很好地分散注意力，尤其是我爸爸不在的时候。莉莉还获得了一枚额外的特殊奖章，因为她是本月的小骑兵。小骑兵是一个慈善机构，为父母在陆军、海军或英国皇家空军服役的儿童提供支持。加油，莉莉。 ✔更多内容见公众号【琐简英语】，回复“1”，可进入【打卡交流群】

Paris Olympics 2024: Beth Munro meets children trying new sports | Newsround Many scientific studies say that kids who try out lots of different sports at a young age tend to be healthier, have a lot more fun and become better athletes. Now with this in mind we tagged along with some school children who were given a chance to try a selection of different sports ahead of the Paris Olympic and Paris Olympic Paralympic Games which take place this summer. Let's take a look. 许多科学研究表明，从小尝试多种不同运动的孩子往往更健康、更有趣，并能成为更好的运动员。有鉴于此，在今年夏天举行巴黎奥运会和巴黎残奥会之前，我们与一些学校的孩子们一起尝试了各种体育运动。让我们一起来看看。 I love rugby, any contact sport actually, but rugby, I just love the game. I do quite a bit of football, I do some netball. I do a lot of swimming. Table tennis. I do play basketball and hockey. 我喜欢橄榄球，实际上是任何身体接触的运动，但是橄榄球，我就是喜欢这项运动。我经常踢足球，打无挡板篮球。我经常游泳。乒乓球。我打篮球和曲棍球。 They may enjoy those sports in their PE lessons, but these pupils from Salford were challenged to try out judo, boccia and skatebording at this past Paris event. Not only that, but they also got to hear from the experts. Beth Monroe is a silver medalist in para taekwondo, and despite being top of her game in her sport now, she started out as a netball player and competed in javelin before she mastered her craft. 他们可能在体育课上喜欢这些运动，但这些来自索尔福德的学生在过去的巴黎活动上受到了挑战，要尝试柔道、地滚球和滑板。不仅如此，他们还听取了专家们的意见。贝丝·门罗是跆拳道银牌得主，尽管她现在是这项运动的顶尖选手，但她一开始是一名无挡板篮球运动员，在掌握自己的技巧之前参加过标枪比赛。 At this age as well specifically going out and trying different sports to try and find that exact one that you love and enjoy and get that passion to then build upon to potentially get to the elite level and goes to Paralympic and Olympic Games is so important so events like this is amazing and to come and be a role model and potentially influence these kids to be like I can be like Beth is just the cherry on top of the cake so hugely important. 在这个年龄段，特别是出去尝试不同的运动，试图找到自己喜欢和享受的确切运动，并在此基础上获得激情，从而有可能达到精英水平，并参加残奥会和奥运会，这一点非常重要。像这样的活动非常了不起，成为榜样，并潜在地影响这些孩子，让他们觉得“我也可以成为贝丝”，这样简直是锦上添花，非常重要。 So, what do these guys think watching the Olympics and Paralympics can do for young people? I'm excited to watch it on the telly to make it inspiring for me. I think it's really good that they've followed their dreams and that they've Been resilient and they've kept on going even if they've failed. 那么，这些人认为观看奥运会和残奥会对年轻人有什么好处呢？我很高兴能在电视上看到它，它激励了我。我认为他们追随自己的梦想，即使失败了，他们也能坚持下去，这真的很好。 Olympians and Paralympians are really inspiring. The thought that they actually pulled through it. They help young children get into sport. A lot of people wouldn't think of doing that but it turns out you really enjoy it. Knowing that like that could be people my age one day because they started at a young age and like it's inspiring knowing that like we could get there too. 奥林匹克运动员和残奥会运动员真的很鼓舞人心。他们真的挺过来了。他们帮助孩子们参加体育运动。很多人不会想到这样做，但事实证明这个过程很令人享受。知道这样做最终达到我这个年纪的程度，这很鼓舞人心，因为他们从小就开始了，好比“我们也可以达到那样的高度”。 ✔更多内容见公众号【琐简英语】，回复“1”，可进入【打卡交流群】

Climate change causes chocolate price increase West Africa was hit with a severe drought following a humid heat wave that drove temperatures to record levels in February. 西非遭受了严重的干旱，此前潮湿的热浪使2月份的气温达到了创纪录的水平。 Scientists from the World Weather Attribution group say the unusually hot weather was made ten times more likely because of the greenhouse gases humanity has been pumping into the atmosphere. 世界天气归因组织的科学家们表示，由于人类一直向大气中排放温室气体，因此导致出现异常炎热天气的可能性增加了十倍。 Shortages of cocoa have helped drive prices to record highs, and since cocoa is the main ingredient in chocolate, you can expect the prices of people's favourite chocolate treat to rise in the coming months. 因供应短缺，可可豆价格创历史新高，由于可可豆是生产巧克力的主要原料，所以深受人们喜爱的巧克力的价格将在未来几个月上涨。 Some big chocolate companies, including Cadbury and Lindt, have said they have already had to increase prices in response to the cocoa shortage. 包括吉百利和瑞士莲在内的一些大型巧克力品牌公司表示，为了应对可可豆短缺的情况，他们已经不得不提高巧克力的价格。 词汇表 severe 严重的 drought 干旱 humid 潮湿的 heat wave 热浪 drove 推动了 record levels 创纪录的水平，历史最高水平 greenhouse gases 温室气体 pumping 排放，向…注入 shortages 短缺 ✔更多文本内容见公众号【琐简英语】，回复“1”，进入【打卡交流群】

We all know how important exercise is to stay fit and reduce the risk of heart disease. Do you exercise much, Phil? I try to. I ride my bike at the weekend. But to be honest I do spend a lot of time sitting down. Sitting too much is becoming an increasing problem in the modern world. Maybe you take the bus or train to work, then sit at a desk all day, then go home feeling tired and just sit in front of the television all evening as well. Added together, that's hours of sitting every single day. In this programme, we'll be finding out exactly how much sitting is too much. But first, are you sitting comfortably, Phil? On average, how many hours a day do British adults spend sitting down? Is it: a) 7 hours? b) 9 hours? or, c) 12 hours? I'll guess it's 7 hours. OK, Phil, I'll reveal the correct answer later. Charlotte Edwardson is a professor of health and behaviour studies who has investigated the link between sitting and health problems in her lab at Leicester University. Here, she talks to BBC Radio 4 programme, Inside Health: If we think about our daily activities, a lot of activities are done sitting down. Movement in our everyday lives has really been engineered out with advances in technology, and our bodies just weren't designed to sit this much, so it's going to cause problems with our health. So when you sit down you're not using the largest muscles in your body. So, these are the ones in your legs and your bum. So, that means that your muscle activity goes down. When your muscle activity goes down, your blood circulation reduces. Throughout history, humans have always walked and moved their bodies. Now, modern technologies like motorised vehicles and office jobs, mean we spend more and more time sitting. Modern life has engineered out the need for us to move. When you engineer something out, you design things in such a way that it is no longer required. For example, CD drives have been engineered out of laptops because downloads are more popular. Charlotte says humans are not used to sitting this much. Here, the words this much mean in such large amounts. It's a negative thing, one negative being the harm to blood circulation, the flow of blood through the heart and blood vessels which carries oxygen around the body. When we sit, we stop using important muscles. This reduces blood circulation and causes a range of other effects like increased levels of glucose and fat, and decreased energy levels. The body uses 20% more energy when simply standing than when sitting down, and walking uses 92% more energy. And that's not to mention the damage sitting too much causes to muscle movement and blood pressure. But the hard truth is that sitting is a big part of modern life. Everything is geared around sitting, it's organised towards that particular activity, and that makes it hard to stop. Here's Professor Edwardson again, talking with James Gallagher, presenter of BBC Radio 4 programme, Inside Health: How much do you feel like you're just swimming against the tide with all of this? Like the whole of society is like driving us more and more towards, you know, sitting down all the time, and you're like, 'please don't!' Sitting is so much part of our everyday activities. You know, you go into a meeting and someone's, 'Come and take a seat', you're going to your GP surgery, 'Come and take a seat'. Everything's geared around sitting, and as technology advances and it tries to make our life easier, it then leads to us sitting even more. James asks if Charlotte is swimming against the tide of modern life. If you're swimming against the tide, you're doing the opposite of what most people are doing. He also says that society is driving us towards sitting more. To drive someone towards something means pushing them to accept a new situation, even when the situation isn't so good. Luckily, there's some simple advice to help. Break up periods of sitting 30 minutes or more with a few minutes of walking or moving your arms. Also try to spend less than half of your waking hours sitting down. Now how about your question, Georgie. Right, my question was how long does the average British adult spend sitting each day. Phil guessed it was 7 hours which was…close, but not right, I'm afraid. In fact, on average we spend 9 hours per day sitting down, that's about 60% of our waking life. So, remember to take regular breaks, even just a minute or two. Recap: to engineer something out, meaning to design or plan in such a way that something is no longer needed. The phrase this much or so much means in such large amounts. Blood circulation is the movement of blood through the heart and blood vessels which carries oxygen around the body. If things are geared around a certain activity or purpose, they're organised to support it. The idiom to swim against the tide means to not follow what most people are doing. And finally, to drive someone towards a new situation means to push them towards accepting it. ✔公众号【琐简英语】回复“打卡”，进入【英语晨读×全英交流群】

The world this week--Business The Biden administration said it would provide $6.6bn in direct funding to TSMC to support its facilities in Arizona for manufacturing the world's most advanced semiconductors. TSMC, based in Taiwan and the world's largest contract chipmaker, will have three sites in Phoenix when it completes a new factory there. It is increasing its investment to $65bn, the largest-ever foreign direct investment in a "greenfield" project, meaning built from scratch, in America. TSMC supplies chips to Apple and Nvidia for use in smartphones and artificial intelligence. 拜登政府表示，将向台积电提供66亿美元的直接资金，以支持其在亚利桑那州的工厂制造世界上最先进的半导体。台积电总部位于台湾，是全球最大的合同芯片制造商，在凤凰城建成新工厂后，将在凤凰城拥有三个工厂。它正在将其投资增加到650亿美元，这是美国有史以来对“绿地”项目的最大外国直接投资，也就是从零开始的新建项目。台积电向苹果和英伟达提供用于智能手机和人工智能的芯片。 Intel unveiled its Gaudi 3 chip for AI, which it claims is faster and more power-efficient than Nvidia's H100. It tested the chip on two open-source large language models: Llama, which is run by Meta, and Falcon, a project backed by Abu Dhabi. Intel also announced a plan to create, with other tech companies, an open platform for enterprise AI that will "accelerate deployment" of secure generative AI systems. 英特尔发布了用于人工智能的 Gaudi 3 芯片，并声称该芯片比英伟达的 H100 更快、更省电。它在两个开源大型语言模型上对芯片进行了测试： 由 Meta 运营的 Llama 和阿布扎比支持的 Falcon 项目。英特尔还宣布了一项计划，将与其他科技公司共同创建一个企业人工智能开放平台，以 "加快运用"安全的人工智能生成系统。 Disney is to crack down on users who share passwords to its streaming services. Bob Iger, Disney's chief executive, said the crackdown would be gradually rolled out to different countries starting in June. Netflix implemented a similar policy last year, and it has since reported a surge in subscribers. 迪士尼将打击分享其流媒体服务密码的用户。迪士尼首席执行官鲍勃·艾格表示，从6月开始，打击行动将逐步推广到不同的国家。Netflix去年也实施了类似的政策，此后用户激增。 Boeing's safety record was in the spotlight again. An engineer at Boeing alleged that the company took shortcuts on quality and safety when it manufactured 787 and 777 jets, leaving them with potential structural flaws. Boeing described the claims as "inaccurate". And the Federal Aviation Administration investigated yet another incident involving a Boeing plane, this time an engine panel that fell off a 737-800 during take-off from Denver. Meanwhile, Alaska Air received $160m in compensation from Boeing for the panel that fell off one of its aircraft in January, leaving a gaping hole in the plane. The airline said it expects further payments. 波音公司的安全记录再次成为人们关注的焦点。波音公司的一名工程师声称，该公司在制造787和777喷气式飞机时，在质量和安全方面走了捷径，使其存在潜在的结构缺陷。波音公司称这些说法“不准确”。美国联邦航空管理局调查了另一起涉及波音飞机的事件，这次是一架737-800飞机从丹佛起飞时发动机面板脱落。与此同时，阿拉斯加航空公司从波音公司获得了1.6亿美元的赔偿，赔偿金额是1月份从其一架飞机上掉下来的面板，导致飞机上出现了一个大洞。该航空公司表示，预计将支付更多款项。 Tesco, Britain's biggest supermarket chain, reported a big rise in pre-tax profit to ￡2.3bn ($2.9bn) for the 12 months ending February 24th. It expects higher profits this year, as inflationary pressures have "lessened substantially". Meanwhile, John Lewis, a troubled department-store and supermarket chain, appointed Jason Tarry, a former senior executive at Tesco, as its new chair.Dame Sharon White held the position for five years, the shortest-ever tenure in the job. 英国最大的连锁超市乐购报告称，在截至 2 月 24 日的 12 个月中，税前利润大幅增长至 23 亿英镑（29 亿美元）。由于通胀压力 "大幅减轻"，该公司预计今年的利润将有所提高。与此同时，陷入困境的百货商店和连锁超市约翰·刘易斯任命乐购前高管杰森·塔里为新主席。 The EU's General Court ruled that sanctions imposed on Mikhail Fridman, a Russian investor, and Petr Aven, his business partner, between February 2022 and March 2023 must be annulled. The court found that the EU had not "sufficiently substantiated" its reasons for linking Messrs Fridman and Aven to Vladimir Putin's regime after Russia invaded Ukraine. Mr Fridman is one of Russia's most prominent businessmen. Both men are still subject to sanctions not covered by the judgment. 欧盟普通法院裁定，必须取消2022年2月至2023年3月期间对俄罗斯投资者米哈伊尔·弗里德曼及其商业伙伴彼得·阿文实施的制裁。法院认定，在俄罗斯入侵乌克兰后，欧盟没有“充分证实”其将弗里德曼和阿文与弗拉基米尔·普京政权联系起来的理由。弗里德曼是俄罗斯最著名的商人之一。两人仍受到判决未涵盖的制裁。 ✔更多文本内容见公众号【琐简英语】，回复“1”，进入【打卡交流群】

Rabbits aren't just for Easter Bunnies aren't just for Easter. That's the message a rabbit charity wants people to hear this weekend. With around 20,000 animals abandoned each year in the UK, Ricky has been finding out more. 兔子不是复活节的专属。这是一家兔子慈善机构希望人们在本周末听到的信息。在英国，每年约有 20,000 只动物被遗弃，里基发现了更多。 Ders has been here for just over the year. When it comes to pets, rabbits are the third most popular animal that we like to keep at home. It's thought the Romans first brought rabbits to Britain over 2,000 years ago. And whilst there's no denying their cuteness, rabbit rescue charities like this one in Hertfordshire are calling on families to stop before they hop to a pet store. 德斯来这里已经一年多了。说到宠物，兔子是我们喜欢在家里饲养的第三大最受欢迎的动物。人们认为罗马人在 2,000 多年前首次将兔子带到英国。虽然不可否认它们的可爱，但像赫特福德郡这样的兔子救援慈善机构，正在呼吁人们不要再去宠物店了。 We recommend that you don't go out to buy a rabbit straight away. Yes, of course they look gorgeous and they're everywhere at this time of year, but they are a huge commitment. We would like you to do some research. They do live for a long time, sort of 10 to 12 years. 我们建议你不要马上出去买兔子。是的，它们当然看起来很漂亮，每年这个时候到处都是，但它们意味着一个巨大的承诺。我们希望你做一些调查。它们确实能活很长时间，大约10到12年。 We have over 70 at the moment. As soon as one goes off to a lovely home, the next one will be there to fill its space. They will need a specialist diet. They're classed as an exotic animal, so they'll need a good vet. And then going back to the space, they'll need an enclosure that they can get into 24 hours a day. A small hutch just isn't enough for them. 我们现在有70多只兔子。只要一只兔子去了一个可爱的家，下一只兔子就会来填补它的空缺。他们需要专业的饮食。它们属于外来动物，所以需要一个好的兽医。然后回到空间，他们需要一个可以待24小时一天的围栏。但一个小笼子对它们来说是不够的。 Pets at home are also banning the sale of rabbits over the Easter weekend to stop families from making any snap decisions. This charity says bunnies have had a tough time lately. The cost of living crisis has made it harder for some families to look after them properly. The price of pet insurance and food means many have ended up back here. 家中的宠物也禁止在复活节周末期间出售兔子，以防止家庭做出任何草率的决定。这个慈善机构说兔子们最近日子不好过。生活成本的危机使得一些家庭更难适当地照顾他们。宠物保险和食物的价格意味着许多人最终回到了这里。 I think we're busy all year round but there's definitely more More going on at Easter. So the message is clear, if you want a bunny at Easter, stick to the chocolate kind. 我想我们一年到头都很忙，但是复活节肯定还有更多活动。所以信息很明确，如果你想在复活节得到一只兔子，那还是改成吃兔子状的巧克力吧。 ✔更多文本内容见公众号【琐简英语】，回复“1”，进入【打卡交流群】

Pokemon: Europe International Championships - we speak to kids competing ｜Newsround I'm here at the Pokemon Europe International Championships. This is where some of the best players in the world come to compete. Let's go and find out more. I caught up with Emery, who is competing in the tournament, to find out a bit more about how it all works. 我在精灵宝可梦欧洲国际锦标赛现场。这是一些世界上最好的选手来比赛的地方。让我们去了解更多。我采访了正在参加比赛的埃默里，以了解更多关于这一切是如何运作的。 What are the International Championships? The International Championships are events in three different continents, North America, Latin America, and Europe, where the best of the best battle it out to get their invitation to the World Championships. 什么是国际锦标赛？国际锦标赛是在北美、拉丁美洲和欧洲三大洲举行的赛事，在这些赛事中，最优秀的选手将一决高下，以获得参加世界锦标赛的邀请。 So what exactly are people playing? So where we're standing right now, this is the TCG area. TCG stands for trading card game and you have VGC which is video game competition which is what I play in. You also have Pokemon Go and then also you do have Pokemon Unite. 人们到底在玩什么？我们现在所处的位置，是 TCG 区域。TCG 代表交易卡片游戏，你有 VGC，这是视频游戏竞争，这是我玩的。也有口袋妖怪Go，然后你也有口袋妖怪Unite。 But what's it like to compete in the tournament? Well, meet Marceline, Elijah and their dad, who all compete together. How does it feel to be competing? It kind of makes me feel nervous, but it feels kind of fun a lot. 但是参加比赛是什么感觉呢？好吧，认识一下玛瑟琳、以利亚和他们的爸爸，他们都在一起比赛。参加比赛的感觉如何？这让我感到紧张，但感觉很有趣。 How does it feel to be able to compete as a family? Because all three of you play, so how does that feel? Well, it feels nice because if you're playing and you finish, you can go over to the other people and see how their game's doing. Who usually wins when you guys compete against each other? Usually me, but sometimes her. That's a bold statement. It can be pretty 50-50 at times. 能够作为一个家庭参与竞争的感觉如何？因为你们三个都是选手，感觉怎么样？感觉很好，因为如果你打完了，你可以去其他人那里看看他们的比赛进展如何。当你们互相竞赛的时候，谁通常会赢？通常是我，但有时是她，大胆地来说吧。有时候可能是一半一半。 It's not just competitors from here in the UK. The tournament draws in people from all over the world, like Zoe, Kiera, Paige and their parents, who travelled from the US to compete. 不仅仅是来自英国的参赛者。这项赛事吸引了来自世界各地的人，比如佐伊、基拉、佩奇和他们的父母，他们从美国赶来参赛。 What is the best thing about these tournaments? They're fun and you get to like, sometimes you can bring Pokemon you really, really like. I'd say meeting up with my friends, talking to them and battling them. 这些锦标赛最棒的地方是什么？他们很有趣，你会喜欢，有时候你可以带上你非常非常喜欢的口袋妖怪。我会去见见我的朋友，和他们聊聊天，和他们比赛。 How does it feel to be competing? It's amazing to be competing in some big places like this. Like, as a normal family, you wouldn't think that even just going to one of these, you wouldn't be able to travel across the world for all these different events, and now here we are. 参加比赛的感觉如何？能在这样的大地方比赛真是太棒了。就像，作为一个普通的家庭，你不会想到能来其中一个，你也无法在世界各地参加所有这些不同的活动，但现在我们来了。 Who is the best in the family? It's hard to figure out between Kira and Dad, because Kira's really good at BGC, and Dad's really good at Go. There's no competition, it's Kira. So, I've learnt loads about the Pokemon Championships, but I'm going to be a Pokemon Master, I need to keep practising. 谁是家里最好的？基拉和爸爸之间很难分清，因为基拉真的很擅长BGC，而爸爸真的很擅长Go。没有竞争，是基拉。所以，我已经学到了很多关于口袋妖怪锦标赛的知识，但我要成为一名口袋妖怪大师，我需要继续练习。 ✔更多内容见公众号【琐简英语】，回复“1”，可进入【打卡交流群】

Digital memories might not last forever Having thousands of photos, songs and films available at our fingertips would have seemed amazing just a few decades ago, but how long will these files last for and be available? 就在几十年前，拥有数千张照片、歌曲和电影触手可及似乎令人惊叹，但这些文件能持续多久并可用? Could the digitalisation of cultural artefacts now be putting a time limit on our memories? 文物的数字化现在是否会对我们的记忆施加时间限制？ The materials that phones and computers are made of can decay over time, impacting the data that they store. 手机和电脑的制造材料会随着时间的推移而腐烂，影响它们存储的数据。 Images can still be seen in faded photographs, but when digital data degrades, it can quickly make it impossible to even open a file. 在褪色的照片中仍然可以看到图像，但是当数字数据退化时，它很快就会导致甚至无法打开文件。 Also, as formats and devices become obsolete, it may become impossible to read files from previous decades. 此外，随着格式和设备的过时，可能无法读取过去几十年的文件。 Storing information in the cloud can also present problems. 在云中存储信息也会带来问题。 Large companies can still lose data. 大公司仍然可能丢失数据。 In 2019, social media platform MySpace admitted losing more than 12 years' worth of users' music uploads. 2019 年，社交媒体平台 MySpace 承认丢失了超过 12 年的用户上传音乐。 The widespread use of streaming services for music, TV and film means that people no longer own the content that they watch and listen to, they just pay for the right to access it. 音乐、电视和电影流媒体服务的广泛使用意味着人们不再拥有他们观看和收听的内容，他们只需支付访问权即可。 If streaming companies decide to remove content, or go out of business, users will lose access. 如果流媒体公司决定删除内容或停业，用户将失去访问权限。 Licencing rather than buying content is an example of how our behaviour towards digital content has changed. 许可而不是购买内容是我们对数字内容的行为如何改变的一个例子。 Another example is that we take far more pictures than people did in the past. 另一个例子是我们拍摄的照片比过去的人们多得多。 This means that, added to the challenge of keeping our data safe, people have to consider what to preserve and what can be discarded. 这意味着，除了保护数据安全的挑战之外，人们还必须考虑保留哪些内容以及可以丢弃哪些内容。 So, what can we do? 所以，我们能做些什么？ Technology writer Jack Schofield said that "data doesn't really exist unless you have at least two copies of it", so it's important that we keep backup copies of what is important to us -probably more than one. 科技作家杰克·斯科菲尔德(Jack Schofifeld)表示，“除非拥有至少两份副本，否则数据并不真正存在”，因此，我们必须保留对我们重要的内容的备份副本（可能不止一份）。 Academic Paul Royster suggests that we should all take time to consider what content we personally believe is worth saving. 学者保罗·罗伊斯特建议，我们都应该花时间考虑我们个人认为值得保存的内容。 Perhaps the answer is just to avoid digital altogether. 也许答案就是完全避免数字化。 Science and Technology writer Chris Baranaiuk calls for a cultural movement towards buying analogue copies of cultural content. 科技作家克里斯·巴拉奈克（Chris Baranaiuk）呼吁发起一场购买文化内容模拟副本的文化运动。 词汇表 digitalisation 数字化 artefact 人工制品 material 材料 decay 腐蚀 data 数据 faded 褪色的 degrade 降质 format（计算机信息的）格式 obsolete 淘汰的，过时的 the cloud（网络）云 upload 上传的信息 streaming service 流媒体服务，在线收听或收看内容的服务 content 内容 go out of business 倒闭 licence 授予 preserve 保存，保留 discard 扔掉 backup copy 备份，备用副本 analogue （相对数字而言）实体的 ✔更多内容见公众号【琐简英语】，回复“1”，可进入【打卡交流群】

How the discovery of DNA changed the world and my life | BBC Ideas DNA contains the genetic code found in all known life on our planet. In each of nearly all of your roughly 30 trillion cells, there are 6.4 billion letters of DNA. It’s powerful stuff. If the DNA in all of your cells was used to store computer data, it could hold the equivalent of all the digital data we currently store on Earth. DNA包含在我们星球上所有已知生命中发现的遗传密码。在你大约30万亿个细胞中，几乎每个细胞都有64亿个DNA字母。这是很强大的东西。如果你所有细胞中的DNA都被用来存储计算机数据，它可以保存相当于我们目前存储在地球上的所有数字数据。 I’m Paul Nurse, and I’ve spent much of my working life thinking about DNA, in particular how it’s copied and distributed inside cells every time they divide. I was awarded the Nobel Prize for this work in 2001. Our understanding of deoxyribonucleic acid, or DNA, has grown enormously since its discovery in the 19th century. 我是保罗 · 纳斯，我工作生涯的大部分时间都在思考 DNA 尤其是每次细胞分裂时它是如何在细胞内复制和分布的。我在2001年因为这项工作被授予诺贝尔奖。自从19世纪脱氧核糖核酸或 DNA 被发现以来，我们对它的了解有了很大的提高。 DNA was shown to be responsible for genetic inheritance in 1944. Then, in 1953, its structure was revealed using X-rays. And DNA turns out to be a stunningly elegant molecule. What you’re looking at is the original DNA model currently on display in the Science Museum in London. It shows two long chains of molecules spiralling around each other in a double helix, like a twisted ladder. The rungs are pairs of four chemicals marked as A, G, C and T. Determining the order of these chemicals – their sequence – is known as sequencing. Being able to describe the DNA sequence allows scientists to identify important differences between individuals. These unique differences have become the basis for what is known as our DNA fingerprint. The first-ever recorded DNA fingerprint was made in 1984 by my friend Alec Jeffreys at the University of Leicester. Using DNA taken from his technician Vicky Wilson, he described not only which parts of her DNA came from her mother and which from her father, but also the unique genetic code she possessed – one shared by no other human being. DNA fingerprints can prove identity, how we are related and more. DNA testing of hair, skin cells or blood found at crime scenes is now the gold standard for conviction – or exoneration – of suspects. It has revolutionised the criminal justice system. In 2000, the first draft human genome – all the DNA needed to build a human being – was unveiled. And with the ability to read genomes came new insights into how the human body works and how we evolve. Analysing DNA sequences has now reached the public in the form of commercial genetic testing by companies such as Ancestry and 23andMe. By sending a saliva sample – and a fee, of course – anyone can receive a report containing information such as where their ancestors were from and who they are related to. This ability to analyse DNA has had a personal consequence for me. It’s a twist of fate that although I have a long career in genetics, I never realised that my own family had a DNA secret. When I was in my 50s, I found out that the person I’d thought was my sister was, in fact, my mother. My parents – the people who raised me – were, in fact, my grandparents. For a long time, the identity of my father remained a mystery. But amazingly, now in my 70s, recently it was possible to identify him through DNA testing. Analysing DNA has also enabled scientists to do many extraordinary things, ranging from predicting genetic diseases to studying extinct members of the human family, like Neanderthals, and extinct animals like mammoths. A new frontier in genetics is CRISPR, a gene-editing tool that works like molecular scissors, enabling scientists to cut and paste fragments of DNA within cells. This means genetic diseases such as haemophilia, muscular dystrophy and cancers, in principle, might be “corrected” by editing the DNA of human embryos. This has the potential to improve many people’s lives, though more research is still required because like all new therapies, they have to be shown to be safe. There are also questions that need to be answered about making changes that can be passed on to future generations. But societies have navigated the challenges that come with new scientific technologies before. DNA is the stuff of life. It is inevitable that the more we research, the more we will understand about ourselves and the living world, and the more power we will have to change it. All this work with DNA will give insights into human development, allow us to study extinct species and help doctors to treat diseases like cancer with medicine better personalized for everyone’s unique genetic makeup. And we are also starting to make new genetic materials, creating new synthetic proteins that could be used, for example, to help break down pollutants or to reduce greenhouse gases. Seven decades after the structure of DNA was first revealed, the DNA revolution continues to be exciting. It shows no signs of slowing down. ✔更多内容见公众号【琐简英语】，回复“1”，可进入【打卡交流群】

Business Bartleby The six rules of fire drills Please display this somewhere in your office where no one will read it. Thank you. 消防演习的六条规则请把这个展示在你办公室的某个地方，没有人会读。谢谢。 Rule 1. The fire drill must never feel useful. It may be a proven way to help save people's lives, to say nothing of being a legal requirement in many workplaces. But it is important that people experience the exercise only as an inconvenience. The drill should take place when people are up against a deadline. It must not be timed to coincide with a long meeting, when it might come as a bit of a relief. Ideally, it should be pouring with rain. The drill can be counted a success only if enough people are rolling their eyes and muttering to themselves. (The sixth rule is essential to achieving this outcome, too.) Rule 2. Remember that the drill is not really a drill but an exercise in begrudging consensus. When the alarm sounds, people must never just get up and leave. They must first satisfy themselves that this is not a mistake. Someone might have pressed the wrong button; that voice might yet drone "This is a test" and for once people will feel grateful. They must then see other employees getting ready to leave. This stage involves people bobbing up and down at their desks like demented meerkats to see what their colleagues are doing. When it is clear that this is indeed a drill, people must then spend inordinate amounts of time deciding what things to take with them. What's the weather like? Should they take the laptop? Where did they put their reusable coffee flask? Should they pack a suitcase? The one thing they must not have as they leave is any sense of urgency. Rule 3. This stage of the drill is when the fire wardens must show themselves. Only the wardens can accelerate the speed of departure from the building. This secretive group is the Opus Dei of the office but with a bit less of the fervour or sense of menace. The fire wardens have often been in the role for years; no one knows how they got the job or how to apply. They hide in plain sight: there may well be sepia photos of their younger selves on the office wall, next to an even more obscure sect known only as the "first-aiders". The wardens reveal themselves during a drill by putting on high-visibility jackets, which instantly confer on them a mysterious authority. The cabal is never seen together at other times. Rule 4. The fire drill will produce a sense of belonging. That is because a drill will suddenly expose you to everyone who works in your building. In the normal course of events, you might briefly share a lift with people from other companies or other departments. You might glimpse their offices as the doors open and close and think how soulless they look. (They will think the same of yours.) But you never realise how outnumbered you are. In a drill, however, strangers surround you. Stairwells fill with people, most of them also weighed down by coats, laptops and reusable coffee flasks. They spiral down below you on the way out and form long queues by the lifts on the way back. You will suddenly feel grateful for the comfort of any recognisable face. You spot someone from legal you think may be called Keith and say hello. You have never given him any thought before; in this moment of grave non-peril he is like family. Rule 5. The assembly area is not so much a designated spot as a place of people's choosing within a ten-minute walk of your building. Your employer might have specified a place for employees to gather. They may have given it militaristic names like the "primary muster point" or the "tertiary evacuation zone". No one else will have the faintest idea where it is. A clump of people will mill about as close to the site of the notional blaze as possible. Another group will scatter in various directions in search of a coffee or an early lunch. If they walk purposefully enough, other people will assume they know where the assembly area is and follow them. As a result most of the office may accidentally end up at Starbucks. Rule 6. Confusingly also known as the first and second rules of fire drill, you must never talk about fire drill. At some point word will spread that the drill is over and people will start to drift back to the office. Once they have returned to their desks, everyone must act as though the whole thing never happened. There must never be any reference to how it went or whether any safety lessons were learned. The fire wardens must fold away their high-viz jackets and settle back into the shadows. The work you were doing must simply be picked up where it was left. You will not speak to Keith from legal again. But you do know not to use the lifts if there is a real emergency. ✔更多内容见公众号【琐简英语】，回复“1”，可进入【打卡交流群】

Culture Film franchises Atomic beast As a symbol of nuclear weapons, Godzilla has roared back to relevance. At the age of 70 some might think about retiring, if they have not done so already. Not Godzilla. Since the giant lizard made his screen debut in "Godzilla", a Japanese film released in 1954, he has crashed his way through nearly 40 movies. (Guinness World Records certifies Godzilla as the longest-running movie franchise.) Nor does he shows any sign of slowing down. In December "Godzilla Minus One", a Japanese film, became a box-office hit. "Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire" has recently hit cinemas, too. From his conception, Godzilla has symbolised the fears of his time. He was created from the wreckage of the second world war. Honda Ishiro, the writer-director of "Godzilla", was haunted by the bombing of Hiroshima, the aftermath of which he witnessed first-hand. "It was said that, for the next 72 years, not a single blade of grass would grow there-and that really stayed with me," he said. "Godzilla represents the frightfulness of nuclear weapons." In "Godzilla", after the monster destroys a village on Odo Island, researchers conclude that he was roused from his prehistoric slumber by hydrogen-bomb testing. The bomb's cloud still hung in the air: earlier in 1954 America had detonated powerful thermonuclear bombs on Bikini Atoll in the Pacific. The crew of a Japanese fishing boat was accidentally irradiated. "Godzilla" provides plenty of horror-film thrills, including scenes that have been endlessly imitated: people fleeing through narrow city streets and the monster crunching on train carriages. But it also reflects on Japan's war trauma. "I barely escaped the atomic bomb at Nagasaki," one woman says, "and now this!" Japan is isolated from major world powers and must face the monster alone. In the story's most interesting turn, a scientist has to decide whether to use a terrible new weapon to defeat this enemy. As the memory of nuclear destruction started to recede, Godzilla's meaning mutated. America has been producing its own Godzilla films since 1956, and Hollywood has often ignored the historical aspect of the beast's story in favour of pure action. In time Godzilla went from myth to meme. He became one of several characters in a franchise known as the "MonsterVerse". Recent instalments have brought supersize lizard and enormous ape together: "Godzilla x Kong" is a sequel to "Godzilla vs. Kong" (2021). The MonsterVerse has tended towards the absurd, but has also explored a theme implicit in the Godzilla story: the environment. In one movie Godzilla helps defeat eco-terrorists who want to unleash primitive monsters to rid Earth of the "infection" of mankind. In "Godzilla x Kong" the monster defends an untouched natural realm. In these films, released in an age of anxiety about the climate, Godzilla represents an ancient natural order that humans are wont to ruin. "Godzilla Minus One" is the best recent addition to the creature's canon: it even earned Godzilla his first Oscar in March, for Best Visual Effects. Yet the film is not just aesthetically impressive; it is as profound as the original, and in conversation with it. Set at the end of the second world war the film follows Shikishima Koichi, a timid kamikaze pilot. When he first encounters Godzilla, at a landing strip on Odo Island, he fails to act. He returns to Tokyo to find his parents have been killed in the bombing of the city. By the time Godzilla strikes again-the monster has gained strength from nuclear tests in the Pacific-Koichi has a makeshift family he must protect. He makes up for his wartime dishonour by defeating the reptile and, with it, the cult of death that was gripping Japan at the time. Today, as tensions rise between nuclear powers, Godzilla has regained some of his ominous symbolism. The Doomsday Clock, an estimate of the risk of global catastrophe by the Bulletin of Atomic Scientists, is set at 90 seconds from midnight-as close as it has ever been to Armageddon. As long as the clock keeps ticking, this monster will matter ✔更多内容见公众号【琐简英语】，回复“1”，可进入【打卡交流群】