Tiny fish as loud as a pneumatic drill This buzzing, chirping sound is the pulsing chatter of the tiny transparent Danionella cerebrum as heard by the human ear. Researchers in Germany were intrigued by the noise coming from the fish tanks in their lab and decided to investigate the source. Using underwater microphones, they quickly deduced that this species was no small fry when it came to communication. 你听到的这种嗡嗡的叽喳声是一种学名为 “Danionella cerebrum” 的透明小鱼的脉冲声。德国的研究人员们偶然听到了从实验室的鱼缸中发出的噪音，对此很感兴趣，所以决定找出这个噪音的来源。通过利用水下麦克风，研究人员很快就推断出，就交流方式而言，这个鱼类物种绝不可小觑。 This is the slowed down sound booming out like a heartbeat. The fish uses its muscles to strike its own swim bladder to produce a short loud sonic pulse. In the waters close to the fish, it taps out 140 decibels, which is as loud as a gunshot. 这段经调慢处理后的音频播放的是这种透明小鱼发出的像心跳一样低沉有力的声音。它们牵动自身肌肉冲击体内的鱼鳔，从而发出一个短暂而响亮的声波脉冲。在靠近这种透明小鱼的水域内，可以探测到它们发出高达 140 分贝的声音，如枪声一样响亮。 Researchers believe this quirky communication behaviour evolved in the murky streams in Myanmar, where the fish lives. Other fish, including the Plainfin Midshipman, and the Black Drum are louder, but also much bigger creatures. 研究人员们认为这种奇特的交流行为是在缅甸浑浊的溪流中进化得来的，那里是它们的栖息地。其它鱼类，包括斑光蟾鱼和多须石首鱼发出的声音更响亮，但它们的体型也更大。 词汇表 pneumatic drill 风钻，气钻（噪音水平达到120-130分贝） buzzing 发出嗡嗡声 chirping 发出叽喳声 pulsing chatter 脉冲声：一种有规律的声音，类似于心跳或机器的运转声 transparent 透明的 Danionella cerebrum 小脑丹鳉：生活在缅甸的浅水区域，普通人指甲盖的长度，是世界上体型最小的鱼类之一 intrigue 使着迷，激起…的兴趣 fish tank 鱼缸，水族箱 deduce 推断，推论 small fry 无足轻重的人或事物 boom out 发出轰鸣声，发出巨大的声音 swim bladder 鱼鳔 sonic pulse 声波脉冲 tap out 发出（轻拍音） decibel 分贝 quirky 古怪的，奇特的 murky 浑浊的，昏暗的 Plainfin Midshipman 斑光蟾鱼 Black Drum 多须石首鱼 ★更多英语听力见公众号【琐简英语】，回复“1”可加入[打卡交流群]

Why stress makes you fat? 为什么压力会让你变胖？ Have you ever had a stressful day? Many people do in the course of their daily lives. And on these high-pressure days, they might find themselves reaching for a sugary snack. Perhaps this is part of their daily routine. Or perhaps on this particular day, their self-control is a bit low and they feel compelled to take a sugar hit. 你有过压力很大的一天吗？在日常生活中，很多人都遇到过。在这些高压的日子里，他们可能会发现自己很想吃含糖零食。也许这是他们日常生活的一部分。又或者，在这一天，他们的自制力有点差，他们有一种想要吃点含糖食物的冲动。 Stress is natural. That feeling of strain or pressure is a biological response, and under the right circumstances can be a great source of motivation. However, too much stress, especially chronic stress, has been linked to sleep disruption, a higher likelihood of a stroke, heart-attack, ulcer or depression, among other things. But why should stress make a person comfort eat? 这种紧张或压力的感觉是一种生物反应，在适当的情况下可以成为一种巨大的动力来源。然而，过度的压力，尤其是长期压力，会导致睡眠中断，以及中风、心脏病发作、溃疡或抑郁症等风险增加。但为什么压力会让寻求安慰性进食呢？ Dr Giles Yeo, a member of the BBC's Trust Me, I'm a Doctor team, got together with scientists from Leeds University to conduct an experiment into the effect of stress on blood sugar. Dr Yeo was subjected to a stress test. In the first stage, he was forced to answer mathematical questions rapidly. In the second, he had to immerse his hand in a bath of ice-cold water for a period of time. BBC的“相信我，我是医生”团队成员Giles Yeo博士与利兹大学的科学家们一起进行了一项关于压力对血糖影响的实验。Yeo博士接受了压力测试。在第一阶段，他被迫快速回答数学问题。第二阶段，他不得不将手浸入冰水中一段时间。 Before and after these tests, the Leeds scientists would measure Dr Yeo's blood sugar levels. These are the levels which rise when we eat as our body takes in the energy of the food. In a healthy person, these levels quickly return to normal. However, when Dr Yeo was being deliberately subjected to stress, his blood sugar took six times longer to drop than on a stress-free day. 在这些测试前后，利兹大学的科学家们将测量Yeo博士的血糖水平。当我们进食时，身体会吸收食物中的能量，从而使血糖水平升高。对于一个健康的人，血糖水平会很快恢复正常。然而，当Yeo博士被故意施加压力时，他的血糖下降时间是无压力时的六倍。 When we become stressed, our bodies enter ‘fight or flight' mode. Because our body believes it's under attack, it releases glucose into the blood to provide energy for muscles. However, if we don't use that energy, our body then releases insulin to make the blood sugar levels drop. This drop causes a hunger response: you want to eat. And what you particularly crave is sugary food, which rapidly replenishes the energy you have lost. If this happens repeatedly, over a long enough period, these high-calorie foods can lead to obesity. 当我们感到压力时，身体会进入“战斗或逃跑”模式。因为我们的身体认为自己受到了攻击，所以它会向血液中释放葡萄糖，为肌肉提供能量。然而，如果我们不利用这些能量，我们的身体就会释放胰岛素来降低血糖水平。这种下降会引起饥饿反应：你想吃东西。你特别渴望的是含糖食物，它能迅速补充你失去的能量。如果这种情况长期反复发生，这些高热量食物就会导致肥胖。 So what can we do to combat the stress? In an article for the BBC, Dr Michael Mosley recommends ‘stress-busting' techniques, like exercise, gardening, mindfulness or another activities that you enjoy. But his strongest recommendation is trying to get a good night's sleep. A recent study carried out by researchers at King's College, London found that if you deprived people of sleep, they would consume, on average, an extra 385kcal per day, which is equivalent to the calories in a large muffin. So, try sleeping to decrease stress, and as a result make it easier to keep yourself a little trimmer. 那么我们能做些什么来对抗压力呢？在BBC的一篇文章中，迈克尔·莫斯利博士推荐了“减压”技巧，比如锻炼、园艺、正念或其他你喜欢的活动。但他最强烈的建议是尝试睡个好觉。伦敦大学国王学院的研究人员最近进行的一项研究发现，如果剥夺人们的睡眠，他们平均每天会额外消耗385千卡热量，这相当于一个大松饼的热量。所以，试着通过睡觉来减轻压力，这样更容易让自己保持苗条。 词汇表 sugary snack 含糖的零食 self-control 自控力 compelled 不得不地 a sugar hit 由糖带来的一时的刺激 chronic stress 慢性压力，长期不断的压力 sleep disruption 睡眠中断 stroke 中风 heart-attack 心脏病发作 ulcer 溃疡 depression 抑郁，忧郁 comfort eat 安慰性饮食 blood sugar 血糖 be subjected to 经历，接受（测试，训练等） stress-free 无压力的 glucose 葡萄糖 insulin 胰岛素 high-calorie 高热量的 obesity 肥胖 combat stress 克服、对抗压力 stress-busting 减压的 gardening 园艺 mindfulness 正念 trim 苗条而健康的，修长的 ★更多英语听力见公众号[琐简英语]，回复"1"可加入[打卡交流群]

Business Bartleby 商业版块 巴托比专栏 The matinee test 午后场测试 How to take proper breaks from work. 如何在工作之余好好休息 The year 1843 was a tremendous one for humanity. The Economist was founded. Almost as importantly, the modern weekend started to take shape. A campaign was launched in Manchester to give industrial workers half a day off on Saturdays, designed to ensure that more of them turned up ready to work on Monday morning. It succeeded, and the practice was eventually adopted into law; over time, a five-day week has become the norm in most countries. 1843年对人类来说是意义非凡的一年。即经济学家》创刊。同样重要的是，现代周末开始形成。曼彻斯特发起了一场运动，让产业工人在周六休息半天，以确保更多工人在周一早上做好工作准备。这场运动取了成功，这一做法最终被法律采纳；随着时间的推移，每周五天工作制在大多数国家已经成为常态。 Whether it is the weekend, the summer holidays that many people in the northern hemisphere are currently taking or the daily rest periods that companies give to their employees, the right for people to take breaks is uncontested. But for white-collar workers in particular, the boundaries between working time and non-working time have become very blurry. It is standard practice to eat lunch hunched over your desk: look down at your keyboard and you will see far more crumbs than characters. It is normal to look at emails in the evening, at weekends and on holiday. 无论是周末，还是北半球许多人正在享受的暑假，抑或是公司给予员工的每日休息时间，人们休息的权利都是无可争议的。但对于白领来说，工作时间和非工作时间的界限已经变得非常模糊。伏案吃饭是标准的做法：低头看看你的键盘，你会看到碎屑比字符多得多。晚上、周末、节假日看邮件很正常。 Deploring this development is too simple: the ability to choose when and where you work suits lots of people. But it has also created the impression that you are always contactable. As long ago as 2013, Melissa Mazmanian of the University of California, Irvine and Wanda Orlikowski and JoAnne Yates of the MIT Sloan School of Management coined the term "the autonomy paradox" to describe how greater flexibility for individuals has led to diminished freedom for everyone to switch off. 对这一发展表示哀叹太简单了：能选择工作时间和地点符合很多人的需要。但这也给人造成了一种印象：你总是可以随时联系到别人。早在2013年，加州大学欧文分校的梅丽莎·马兹马尼安·和麻省理工学院斯隆管理学院的万达·奥利科夫斯基和乔安妮·耶茨就创造了“自主悖论”一词，用来描述个人灵活性的提高如何导致每个人的自由度降低。 Breaking out of this trap is hard. As a little experiment to assess your own degree of freedom, try to follow a recommendation from Cal Newport, a thoughtful writer on how the performative busyness of modern work impedes the ability to get important stuff done. In his latest book, "Slow Productivity", Mr Newport advocates deliberately varying the intensity of work. Among other things, he suggests setting aside a weekday afternoon once a month to see a film. Taking three hours off every so often ought not to feel outlandish if you catch up on your work later. But few employers would react well to an out-of-office message that reads "I am watching Deadpool & Wolverine and will be slower to respond than normal." So an uncomfortable degree of subterfuge is required. First, following Mr Newport's advice, you label the time as a "personal appointment"; never has a calendar entry looked more suspicious. Before you enter the cinema you check around for colleagues. A handful of single people are in there: you wonder how many of them are also at a "personal appointment". You are told to turn off your phone, the ultimate working-hours transgression. The moment you leave you check it to make sure all hell has not broken loose in your absence. During the film you feel guilty that you have been munching popcorn while everyone else has been working. The whole experience is sufficiently draining that you need another rest. Managers may well feel that their workforce shouldn't be heading off to the cinema whenever it feels like it. But organisations should ensure that their employees do not mistake exhaustion for accomplishment or breaks for laziness. Mr Newport cites the example of 37signals, a software firm that works in six-week cycles. At the end of each cycle, developers take one or two weeks off scheduled projects to slow the pace. Slack, another software firm, ran a survey in which they found that only two in five of their employees felt comfortable taking breaks. It then conducted an experiment in which it prompted some of its workers to take time off during the day, and found that this led to marked improvements in their productivity and job satisfaction. If the encouragement of your employer is not forthcoming, some simple habits can still make for better breaks. If you decide to work at weekends or on holidays, only do so during set periods so that you get at least some extended time off the treadmill. During the workday, one tip stands out. A recent review of the research on work breaks by Zhanna Lyubykh of Simon Fraser University and her colleagues concluded that being outside was a better way to recharge. A study of nurses by Makayla Cordoza, now of Vanderbilt University School of Nursing, and her co-authors found that breaks in the hospital garden mitigated the risk of burnout more than staying indoors. Switching off is hard enough. Staying in the office makes it tougher still. ★字数限制，完整翻译见公众号【琐简英语】

How is Tik Tok Tackling Climate Change Misinformation? | BBC Newsround Videos on TikTok can make us laugh, cry, and even teach us interesting things about the world. But every now and again, posts containing harmful misinformation can end up on our 4U pages. TikTok上的视频可以让我们欢笑、哭泣，甚至让我们了解世界上有趣的事情。但时不时地，一些包含有害虚假信息的帖子也出现在我们的4U页面上。 (Wake up guys, global warming isn't real. There is no climate change in the manner in which they speak. )These are just some examples of videos containing false information about climate change. Some of the people posting or sharing these videos believe climate change to be made up or exaggerated. (醒醒吧，全球变暖不是真的。从他们的言论中，根本不存在气候变化。)这些只是一些包含气候变化虚假信息的视频的例子。一些发布或分享这些视频的人认为气候变化是编造或夸大的。 Climate scientists agree that human activity is responsible for the rapid climate change of the last hundreds years. Evidence shows that the increasing use of fossil fuels has led to a rise in CO2 and greenhouse gases in the atmosphere, which has led to global warming, rising sea levels and made extreme weather more intense and more likely. 气候科学家一致认为，人类活动是造成过去数百年气候迅速变化的罪魁祸首。有证据表明，化石燃料使用量的增加导致大气中二氧化碳和温室气体的增加，从而导致全球变暖、海平面上升，并使极端天气变得更加剧烈和更有可能发生。 Doug is a climate scientist at the Met Office, that's the UK's national weather service. After seeing so much misinformation on social media, he decided to take action by posting his own videos about the science of climate change. 道格是英国国家气象局的气候科学家。在社交媒体上看到大量虚假信息后，他决定采取行动，发布自己关于气候变化科学的视频。 Now that's a phrase that we're going to have to get used to. As a climate scientist, I want people to understand how it will impact them right now and in the future. There's a lot that you see which disputes the basic facts of climate change. (Three facts why climate change is not man-made. The banks of this world know it's not going to happen. ) And it's very easy to take away a false picture about how certain we are about climate science. I see this again and again and again. It makes me feel tired and it makes me feel like I want to do better in communicating the science of climate change. 现在，气候变化是一个我们必须习惯的短语。作为一名气候科学家，我希望人们了解气候变化在现在和未来将如何影响他们。你看到的很多东西都在质疑气候变化的基本事实。（气候变化不是人为的三个事实。这个世界的银行知道这不会发生。）而且，我们很容易对气候科学的确定性产生错误的认识。我一次又一次地看到这一点。这让我感到疲惫，也让我觉得我想在气候变化科学的传播方面做得更好。 Earlier this year, TikTok promised to crack down on so-called climate deniers and says it has suspended accounts that frequently share false information. However, the BBC put this policy to the test. They found 365 videos that broke the rules. Many of them claimed man-made climate change wasn't real. The BBC Click team flagged the videos to TikTok, saying they contained harmful misinformation and gave the social media platform time to react. 今年早些时候，TikTok承诺打击所谓的气候否认者，并表示已经暂停了那些经常分享虚假信息的账号。然而，英国广播公司对这一政策进行了测试。他们发现有 365 个视频违反了规定。其中许多视频声称人为气候变化并不真实。BBC Click 团队将这些视频标记给了 TikTok，称其包含有害的虚假信息，并给了社交媒体平台作出反应的时间。 But almost 95% of the videos were still on TikTok over 24 hours later. What's more, these posts had a combined 30 million views between them. TikTok say they have now permanently removed the content and accounts that the BBC found. TikTok also said they're working with fact-checkers and that people searching for content around climate change are shown a link to places where they can find correct information. 但几乎95%的视频在 24 小时后仍留在 TikTok上。更重要的是，这些帖子的总浏览量达到了3000万次。TikTok表示，他们现在已经永久删除了BBC发现的内容和账户。TikTok还表示，他们正在与事实核查人员合作，人们在搜索有关气候变化的内容时，会看到一个链接，指向他们可以找到正确信息的地方。 But as TikTok are finding, keeping misinformation off social media isn't an easy task when there are 600 million daily users of the app. However, many climate change scientists think it's important that misinformation is kept off social media and the facts are shared as widely as possible. 但是，正如 TikTok 发现的那样，当每天有6亿用户使用该应用时，要让虚假信息远离社交媒体并非易事。不过，许多气候变化科学家认为，重要的是不要在社交媒体上散布虚假信息，并尽可能广泛地分享事实。 词汇表 misinformation/false information 错误信息，虚假信息 4U pages 即FYP(For You Page) ，指社交媒体上的（尤其是TikTok）个性化内容推荐页面 global warming 全球（气候）变暖 made up 编造的，虚构的 exaggerated 夸大的，言过其实的 fossil fuel 化石燃料（如煤或石油） greenhouse gases 温室气体（尤指二氧化碳） Met Office 英国国家气象局 dispute 质疑，否认 take away 从（所读或所听中）获取，产生 false picture 错误的看法，错误的认识 communicate 传播（信息） crack down 打击，制裁 climate deniers 气候变化否定者：指那些不相信或拒绝接受人类活动导致全球气候变暖的观点的人。 suspend account 停用账号，暂停账号 put to the test 测试，评估，审查 man-made 人为的，非天然的 flag 给……做标记 combined 总和的，总计的 fact-checker 事实核查员：负责核实文章、新闻报道、演讲等内容中的事实真实性的人。 keep off 远离，避开 ★原视频和更多英语听力见公众号【琐简英语】

Why do we procrastinate? Hello. This is 6 Minute English from BBC Learning English. I'm Sam. --And I'm Neil. Come on, Neil, let's make a start! I've got a deadline to meet today, and I haven't finished my work yet! --Let me guess, it's because you delayed, and delayed, and put your work off until the last minute - as usual! You're a real procrastinator, Sam – someone who keeps delaying things that need to be done. --What can I say? I work better when a deadline is approaching. I see, but did you know that that people who procrastinate have higher levels of stress and lower wellbeing? Procrastination is also linked with lower financial and career success, so there's a lot of reasons not to do it. --In this programme, we're discussing procrastination, the act of delaying things that must be done until later, often because they're difficult, boring or unpleasant. And, as usual, we'll be learning some new vocabulary along the way. So, without wasting any more time, I have a question for you, Sam. The fact that procrastinating, or putting things off, is bad for us doesn't stop people doing it. According to recent research by DePaul University in Chicago, what percentage of people procrastinate so much that it interferes with their day-to-day life? Is it a) 10 percent? b) 20 percent? or c) 30 percent? --I'll guess that around 10 percent of people have a serious procrastination problem. --OK, Sam. We'll find out the answer later in the programme. Sam is certainly not alone in putting things off until the last minute. Here's Ella al-Shamahi, presenter of BBC Radio 4's, Why Do We Do That? talking to the comedian, Eshaan Akbar, about his procrastination habit. Would you say, Eshaan, that you're a procrastinator?--I am a serial procrastinator without a shadow of a doubt. --Why? Why do you think you procrastinate? --Over the years, I've told myself that I procrastinate because I work better under pressure. That's what I've told myself. Eshaan thinks that he is a procrastinator without a shadow of a doubt, a phrase which is used to emphasise that you are completely certain of something. --Eshaan also says that, like Sam, he works better under pressure, when he feels stressed or anxious because of having too much to do. But maybe, also like Sam, Eshaan has a problem organising his workload and managing his time. --Hang on, Neil, my time management skills are OK, thank you! With me, it's more of an emotional response. I see a mountain of work, feel threatened, and think, "how on earth will I finish all that?" What Sam says is supported by a theory of human evolution which explains how putting things off is an emotional response. Back when we were living in caves, life was dangerous and short, and our ancestors were impulsive. They acted suddenly, on instinct, without thinking about the consequences of what they were doing. Back then, being impulsive was a good thing, but in modern life, with work goals and deadlines, when we are impulsive and get distracted, we procrastinate. So rather than being a problem with time management, Sam should blame her caveman ancestors who acted on impulse. Hmm. Let's listen again to comedian Eshaan Akbar talking how he feels when he procrastinates. A lot of stuff you read about procrastination focuses on the time management element of it. I probably got a better sense that for me it seems very squarely around the emotional aspect of it. Perhaps I get more emotional gratification from doing it last minute. And, I need to understand why I prefer that over the calm serenity of getting things done with oodles of time on my hands. In the same way that our ancestors felt good living on impulse, Eshaan thinks he gets gratification -a feeling of pleasure and satisfaction – from doing things at the last minute. What he doesn't understand is why he prefers to work under pressure, instead of finishing calmly with oodles, or lots of, time. --Unlike Eshaan, I'd rather finish my work feeling relaxed, but there never seems to be enough time. --Well, breaking down the task into smaller stages also breaks down the level of threat you feel from your workload. Also, forgiving yourself for procrastinating in the past seems helpful in avoiding procrastinating in the future. So, forgive yourself and start making changes, Sam, before you end up like the timewasters in my question: what percentage of people procrastinate so much that it interferes with day-to-day life. --Well, I guessed it was 10 percent. --Which was… the wrong answer, I'm afraid. In fact around 20 percent of us have a procrastination habit so strong it makes life difficult. ★因字数限制，完整文本和翻译见公众号［琐简英语］，回复"1"可加入【打卡交流群】

Do eggs contain the secrets of the universe? | BBC Ideas This is an egg. But then, you already knew that. You know because eggs have been central to human existence for thousands of years. In fact, you probably take it for granted, after all, it's only an egg. But if you're prepared to look closer - to see through its calcium carbonate shell - you'll find a microcosm of the universe. Don't believe me? Let's start at the beginning. The very beginning. 这是一个蛋。不过，你已经知道了。因为几千年来，蛋一直是人类生存的核心。事实上，你可能认为它是理所当然的，毕竟它只是一个蛋。但是，如果你愿意仔细观察，透过它的碳酸钙外壳，你就会发现宇宙的缩影。不信？让我们从头开始。从最初开始。 Several religions, multiple traditions, the Ancient Egyptians, the Greeks, the Romans, the Incas all have eggs at the heart of their creation stories. In southern California, the origin story of the Cahuilla people likens the creation of the entire universe to the cracking of an egg. A little further east, the Omaha tribe of Nebraska and Iowa spoke of an egg being dropped into the world's oceans. Protected by a bird serpent, inside this egg lay sleeping all of the mothers and all of the fathers of everyone yet to be born. 几种宗教，多种传统，古埃及人，希腊人，罗马人，印加人都把蛋作为他们创世故事的核心。在南加州，卡胡拉人的起源故事把整个宇宙的创造比作蛋的破裂。再往东一点，内布拉斯加州和衣阿华州的奥马哈部落讲述了一个蛋被扔进世界海洋的故事。在一条鸟蛇的保护下，在这个蛋里，沉睡着所有的母亲和所有尚未出生的人的父亲。 But these are stories. Where's the science? In 2006, data gathered by Nasa's Wilkinson satellite suggested that the Universe itself may be an ellipsoid - an oval. Egg shaped. The science community remain unable to categorically prove or disprove this theory but it remains possible we're all living inside a massive, ever-expanding egg. In 1609, Johannes Kepler confirmed that the planets, including our own, go around the sun, not in a perfect circle but in an elliptical orbit. The moon's elliptical orbit makes it appear to regularly change size in the night sky. Without this egg-shaped dance our moon may seem far less interesting. 但这些都是故事。科学在哪里？2006年，美国宇航局的威尔金森卫星收集的数据表明，宇宙本身可能是一个椭球体——即椭圆形物，也就是蛋形物。科学界仍然无法明确证明或否定这一理论，但我们仍然有可能生活在一个巨大的、不断膨胀的鸡蛋里。1609年，约翰尼斯·开普勒证实了包括我们自己在内的行星围绕太阳运行，不是正圆而是椭圆轨道。月亮的椭圆形轨道使它在夜空中看起来有规律地改变大小。如果没有这种蛋形的轨道运动，我们的月亮可能看起来就不那么有趣了。 Far from being smooth, an egg's shell is more like the surface of the moon. Bumpy and grainy in texture, a single eggshell is covered in up to 17,000 tiny craters. But it's also semi-permeable, allowing air and moisture to pass through it. This remarkable shape, not only is it possibly the shape of the actual universe, it's also the pinnacle of architectural design. Here is a structure with no internal solid support and yet it's strong enough to protect and nurture life itself inside. If one point of the shell is put under external force, the stress is distributed evenly across the entire dome. Which is why you can't crush an egg with the palm of your hand. 蛋的外壳并不光滑，它更像是月球的表面。一个蛋壳上布满了多达 17,000 个小坑，质地凹凸不平，颗粒状。但它也是半透明的，允许空气和水分通过。这种非凡的形状，不仅可能是真实宇宙的形状，也是建筑设计的顶峰。这是一个没有内部固体支撑的结构，但它却足够坚固，可以在内部保护和孕育生命。 But how to replicate nature's perfect aerodynamic design? An egg has no obvious beginning or end so where do you even start? It wasn't until the 20th Century that human architects started to get the hang of building egg-like structures on a grand scale. 'The Egg' in Beijing seats 5,452 people in three halls and is more than 1,000 square metres in size. That's one seriously big egg. Eggs have inspired artists from Dali to Faberge and made memorable movie cameos - Sigourney Weaver's haunted 12-pack in Ghostbusters, Paul Newman eating 50 in Cool Hand Luke, and John Hurt falling foul of a particularly nasty one in Alien. In Gulliver's Travels, when the people of Lilliput went to war with their neighbours, it was over which way round to eat a boiled egg. On Instagram, we liked this egg, in greater numbers than we'd liked anything else ever before. Mr Strong ate nothing but eggs, which actually was not a bad idea. An egg's protein has the perfect mix of amino acids required to build human tissue, second only to our mother's milk. Eggs have also whisked their way into our everyday lexicon. I'm not yolking. Let me eggsplain - people can be 'good eggs' or 'bad eggs'. If you're particularly smart - an eggspert in your chosen field perhaps - you might be called an 'egghead'. We send our kids on egg hunts. We scramble, we poach, we bake. If you want to make an omelette, we all know what to do. Not knowing how to boil an egg is considered shorthand for someone who can't cook. And yet, when searching 'how to boil an egg', Google will offer up more than a billion results. Perhaps it's not as simple as we thought. Much like the egg itself. People have been welcoming spring by decorating eggs with bright colours since the Middle Ages. But John Cadbury didn't make his first chocolate egg until 1875. Eighty million chocolate eggs are now sold every year in the UK alone. The average child eats eight. At Easter, it seems, the egg will always come first. But then of course, you already knew that. ★字数限制，完整翻译和原视频见公众号【琐简英语】，回复“1”，可进入【打卡交流群】

The World's Longest Beak｜BBC Earth A thousand plants growing on one single tree. Throughout the forest, this story is repeated endless times. As a consequence, jungles are home to more species of plants than anywhere else on Earth. And they in turn support a wealth of animals. 一棵树上能长出千百种植物。在整个森林中，这个故事无休止地重复着。因此，丛林中的植物种类比地球上任何其他地方都要多。反过来，它们也养育了大量的动物。 In Ecuador, the competition is at its most intense. Here there are 100 species of hummingbirds alone, all fighting for nectar. Each flower only has a small amount at any one time, and so it's first come, first served. One hummingbird has gone to great lengths to avoid conflict with other species. 在厄瓜多尔，竞争最为激烈。这里光蜂鸟就有 100 种，它们都在争夺花蜜。每朵花在任何时候都只有少量的花蜜，所以先到先得。有一种蜂鸟为了避免与其他蜂鸟发生冲突，可谓煞费苦心。 Swordbills are the only bird with a beak longer than their body. And some flowers are too elongated for the other 99 species of hummingbirds here to feed from them. A swordbill's extraordinary beak, however, enables it to reach the places that others can't. The top of this flower where the sweet nectar is produced. It has found a solution that means it doesn't have to join the fight. And as each long flower blooms, it gives the swordbill a fresh supply of food all to itself. 剑嘴蜂鸟是唯一一种喙比身体长的鸟。有些花太长了，其他99种蜂鸟无法从中取食。然而，剑嘴蜂鸟非凡的喙使它能够到达其他鸟无法到达的地方。这种花的顶部是产生甜花蜜的地方。它已经找到了一个使它不必加入战斗的解决方案。当绽放一朵长花时，都会给剑嘴蜂鸟带来新鲜的食物。 But having a beak longer than your body does have its drawbacks. For a start, it's tricky to keep it clean. Harder still, how do you preen your body feathers? Unlike the other hummers, swordbills can't reach their feathers with their beak. The only option — a good old scratch. It's a little unrefined, but a small price to pay for an exclusive food supply. 不过，喙比你的身体长确实有缺点。首先，保持清洁很麻烦。更难的是，你如何整理你身上的羽毛？与其他蜂鸟不同的是，剑嘴蜂鸟无法用喙触及羽毛。唯一的选择是——用爪子好好挠一挠。虽然有点不讲究，但为了独享的食物供应，付出的代价还是很小的。 词汇表 jungle 丛林，密林 in turn 反之，相应地，类似地 a wealth of 大量的，丰富的 Ecuador 厄瓜多尔（位于拉丁美洲） hummingbird 蜂鸟 nectar 花蜜，甘露 first come, first served 先到先得，先来先服务 go to great lengths 竭尽全力，煞费苦心 Swordbill 剑嘴蜂鸟，刀嘴蜂鸟(sword-billed hummingbird)：一种生活在南美洲的蜂鸟，以其长而直的、超过了其身体长度的喙子为特征，主要用于觅食长管状花朵的花蜜。 beak （鸟、龟等的）嘴，喙 elongate 细长的，拉长了的 drawback 缺点，不利条件 tricky 难对付的，麻烦的 preen （鸟）用喙整理羽毛 scratch 抓，挠 unrefined 不精致的，不讲究的 exclusive 专有的，排他的 ★视频版见公众号【琐简英语】，回复“1”，可进入【打卡交流群】

Minimalism vs maximalism Some say you can tell a lot about a person by the way they decorate their home. We often find pleasure in the things we stick in our houses, be it trinkets we bought on holiday, film memorabilia or paintings to liven up walls. And when we head to others' houses, we often see things we appreciate, but wouldn't have in our own homes, because maybe they're not quite to our taste. The point is, the way we decorate our homes is very personal. And while many of us have plenty of stuff, there are always people who go that little bit further. So, when it comes to minimalism and maximalism, which one appeals to you more? 有人说，从一个人的家居装饰可以看出他的性格。我们常常会在自己家里摆放的东西中找到乐趣，无论是度假时买的小饰品、电影纪念品还是为墙壁添彩的画作。而当我们去别人家我们经常会看到一些我们很欣赏，但却不会放在自己家里的东西，因为它们可能不太符合我们的品味。关键是，我们装饰自己家的方式是非常个性化的。虽然我们中的很多人都有很多东西，但总有人会走得更远一些。那么，说到极简主义和极繁主义，你更喜欢哪一种呢？ Minimalism was an art movement that started in the 1950s. Its basic principles are derived from a concept of 'less is more' – reducing things back to their most basic. Some people took that art style and used it as a way of living. Ideas of vast open spaces with an organised and functional structure may spring to mind. They are usually decorated in simple pastel colours, with many minimalists opting for duotone, often just black and white. For some, especially maximalists, it may seem sparse and a bit bland to live without many things – even boring or depressing. However, living in this way is seen by many as more practical. 极简主义是 20 世纪 50 年代兴起的一场艺术运动。其基本原则源于“少即是多”的概念——将事物简化到最基本的程度。一些人将这种艺术风格作为一种生活方式。在他们的脑海中，可能会浮现出广阔的开放空间和有组织的功能结构。这些空间通常采用简单的淡色装饰，许多极简主义者选择双色调，通常只有黑色和白色。对于一些人，尤其是极繁主义者来说，没有太多东西的生活可能会显得稀疏和平淡，甚至无聊或压抑。然而，许多人认为这种极简生活方式更实用。 Maximalism is the opposite of minimalism and started in the 1970s. It embraces the core ideals that 'more is more'. While minimalism centres around the principle of decluttering, it's easy to imagine that a maximalist home is overflowing with items – but that's not the base idea. It's more about filling the space – making the most of the area. Structured excess and bold colours combined with mixed patterns is what you will see in a home like this. For a minimalist, used to more simplistic designs, it could be overwhelming. But for those who embrace it, those things give a space personality. 极繁主义是极简主义的反面，始于20世纪70年代。它的核心理念是“越多越好”。极简主义的核心原则是“精简”，人们很容易想象极繁主义的家会堆满物品，但这并不是它的基本理念。极繁主义更注重空间的填充——即充分利用空间。像这样的房子里，你会看到有序的过量物品、色彩鲜明的混合图案。对于习惯于更简单设计的极简主义者来说，这可能难以承受。但是对于那些接受它的人来说，那些物品赋予了空间以个性。 The way you have your home is up to you! But, if you opt for maximalism, you may need to prepare for a bit more dusting. 您可以根据自己的喜好来布置自己的家！不过，如果你选择极繁主义，你可能需要为更多的灰尘做准备。 词汇表 stick 放在（家里） trinket 小装饰品，小玩意 memorabilia 纪念品 liven up 使…有生气，为…添彩 to one’s taste 适合某人的口味 decorate 装饰 minimalism 极简主义 maximalism 极繁主义 less is more 少即是多 vast 巨大的 functional 实用的 pastel （颜色）淡而柔和的 duotone 双色调 sparse 零落的 bland 乏味的 core 核心的 declutter 清理（空间） overflowing 满得容不下 structured 有条理的，有结构的 excess 过剩 bold （色彩）醒目的，艳丽的 ✔更多内容见公众号【琐简英语】，回复“1”，可进入【打卡交流群】

Are our early memories real? What's the first thing you remember doing? It could be playing with your friends at school, or going to a birthday party and eating amazing cake. Most of us have a treasured early memory of our childhood, but can we really believe those vivid memories? Did those special moments really happen – or did we make them up? 你记忆中做的第一件事是什么？可能是在学校和朋友们一起玩耍，也可能是参加生日派对，吃着美味的蛋糕。我们中的大多数人都有一段珍贵的童年记忆，但我们真的能相信那些生动的回忆吗？那些特别的时刻是真的发生过，还是我们编造出来的？ It's a strange concept to grasp, but according to research, about four out of 10 of us invent our first childhood memory. Rather than having experienced something, we could have fabricated a fake memory from videos or photos we've seen. We could have been influenced by a story recounted to us that spurs our minds on to adopt someone else's memory as our own. What it means is that memories of our younger years, especially before the age of two, may be inaccurate, or entirely false. 这是个很难理解的概念，但根据研究，我们每 10 人中就有 4 人编造了自己童年的第一段记忆。我们可能不是亲身经历了什么，而是根据看过的视频或照片编造了一段虚假的记忆。我们可能受到了一个故事的影响，这个故事刺激了我们的思维，让我们把别人的记忆当成了自己的记忆。这意味着，我们幼年时期的记忆，尤其是两岁之前的记忆，可能是不准确的，甚至是完全虚假的。 But why don't we have clear memories from that age? Well, our ability to retain memories from before the age of two isn't great. While at that age we do have short-term memories, according to Catherine Loveday, an expert in autobiographical memory at the University of Westminster, the memories that infants make are not long-lasting. This is possibly due to the rapid creation of brain cells in our early years. Some scientists also believe that as we get older, our childhood memories fade and after the age of seven, we get some kind of 'childhood amnesia'. 但为什么我们没有那个年龄段的清晰记忆呢？我们保留两岁前记忆的能力并不强。根据威斯敏斯特大学自传体记忆专家凯瑟琳·洛夫戴的说法，虽然在那个年龄段我们确实有短期记忆，但婴儿的记忆并不持久。这可能是由于我们早年脑细胞的快速生成造成的。一些科学家还认为，随着年龄的增长，我们对童年的记忆会逐渐消失，7岁以后，我们就会患上某种“童年健忘症”。 So why do we create fake memories? Some experts believe that there is a clear desire for a sense of self and having a cohesive story of our existence. Creating memories can fill in the gaps – giving us a more complete structure for our early lives. As we get older, we want to have a complete picture of our entire lives. 那么，我们为什么要制造虚假记忆呢？一些专家认为，我们明显渴望有一种自我意识，渴望有一个关于我们存在的连贯故事。创造记忆可以填补空白——为我们早期的生活提供一个更完整的结构。随着年龄的增长，我们希望对自己的一生有一个完整的描述。 So, the next time someone says they have a clear memory from when they were one – or even before - just remember that while it could be true, there's a chance they just invented it at some point in their lives. 因此，下次如果有人说他们对自己一岁甚至更早的时候有清晰的记忆，请记住，虽然这可能是真的，但也有可能是他们在生命中的某个时刻编造出来的。 词汇表 treasured 珍视的，珍重的 vivid 鲜明的，生动的 concept 概念 grasp 理解，领会 fabricate 编造 recount 叙述 spur on 促使，激励 adopt 采纳，采用 inaccurate 不准确的 clear 清晰的 retain 记住 short-term memory 短期记忆 autobiographical 自传体的，与个人生活事件紧密相关的 long-lasting 持久的 brain cell 脑细胞 fade 逐渐被遗忘 amnesia 失忆 cohesive 完整连贯的 ✔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 商业版块 巴托比专栏 Citius, altius, spurious 更快、更高、更假 What can Olympians teach executives? 奥运选手能教给企业高管什么？ I want to be successful. That person is successful. So that person can teach me how to be successful. This syllogism helps explain the torrent of podcasts, books and speeches devoted to the secrets of high performance. It is one reason why executive-leadership courses draw on case studies from well beyond business: politics, the army and even the Roman empire. And it has been much in evidence before and during the Olympics, which end in Paris on August 11th. 我想成功。那个人是成功的。所以那个人可以教我如何成功。这个自相矛盾的论点有助于解释为什么会有如此多的播客、书籍和演讲来介绍高绩效的秘诀。这也是高管领导力课程借鉴商界以外的案例研究的原因之一：政治、军队甚至罗马帝国。而在 8 月11日于巴黎闭幕的奥运会之前和期间，这种说法也大行其道。 Consultancies ask what CEOs can learn from the world's best athletes. Executives attend events in which Olympians describe what makes them tick. Articles breathlessly assess the leadership qualities of Simone Biles, an American gymnast who pulled out of the Tokyo games and made a triumphant return in Paris. Bob Bowman, a swimming coach, wrote a book in 2016 called "The Golden Rules", based on his success shepherding Michael Phelps to greatness; the triumphs in this year's games of Leon Marchand, a French swimmer who is also one of his charges, should give sales a bump. There are threads that connect sporting success and business success. Getting to the games requires intense dedication and hard work. Sporting excellence rests on the efforts of multiple people, not just a single individual. The people on the podium in Paris are competitive and resilient. It is true that all these things are helpful in the workplace, but so is being able to dress yourself. Some things simply don't need saying. Not that this stopped one consultancy from putting out research in 2023 marvelling at the fact that "100% of professional athletes and CEOs spend time mentally preparing" before a big competition or meeting. If some of the similarities between sports and the workplace are the stuff of cliche, many of the differences are too big to be helpful. Sporting contests have the objective clarity of finishing positions; most jobs lack such simple metrics. A four-year Olympic cycle building to a contest that may last only seconds has few obvious analogues in business. Sports-stars-turned-speakers and business audiences both have an interest in pretending that an Olympic final is like getting ready for a big presentation or end-of-year results. If that were really the case, more executives would go to Olympic training camps to talk to athletes about their greatest earnings calls. The athletes who win medals at the games are blessed not just with prodigious determination but also immense natural gifts. "I got more speed in my little finger than most people have in their whole body, and I was just born that way," Michael Johnson, a legendary sprinter, recently told "The High Performance Podcast", a popular show that tries desperately to extract life lessons for mortals from people with superhuman skills. The job of managers is partly to identify such superstars, but their real task is getting the best out of a workforce whose talents will vary and whose jobs will not depend as heavily on genetics. "As soon as I saw that kid log on, I knew he was special," are words you do not often hear. The comparisons between sports and business can raise some interesting questions, although they are not necessarily the ones you might expect. In her book "The Long Win", Cath Bishop, a former Olympian turned consultant, describes how a rigid focus on winning can be self-defeating whether you are in a singlet or a suit. Elite athletes increasingly like to talk about trusting in the process-focusing on the performance rather than on the results. Divorcing the way a business decision is made from its actual outcome is a discipline that companies might benefit from, too. The pressure on competitive sports teams to cut corners in pursuit of success can lead to toxic cultures and outright cheating, just as it can within firms. The way that Olympians get feedback from coaches and the motivation that comes from genuinely mastering a skill: these, too, are things to reflect on. But these parallels are not really why people listen to the podcasts or turn up at the events. They want a simple formula for success. And they want to hear what it is like to run faster, jump higher and vault better than anyone else. They want to hear stories that can have no conceivable value back in the office (how Mr Bowman broke Mr Phelps's goggles on purpose before a race to prepare him for anything, or why Mr Johnson ran in that famously upright style). If they can pretend it's good for their career, so much the better. ★因字数限制，翻译见公众号【琐简英语】，回复“1”，可进入【打卡交流群】

RSPCA: 200 years of helping animals | BBC Newsround You've probably heard of the RSPCA. If an animal is in need then they try to help however they can. I'm here at the RSPCA Newbrook Farm to find out a bit more about the history of the RSPCA and all the important work it does. I sat down with Boris. He is an RSPCA inspector and also a bit of an expert on the history of the organisation. 你可能听说过皇家防止虐待动物协会。如果动物需要帮助，他们会尽自己所能去帮助。我来到皇家防止虐待动物协会纽布鲁克农场，来了解更多关于皇家防止虐待动物协会的历史和它所做的重要工作。我和鲍里斯坐了下来。他是皇家防止虐待动物协会的检查员，也是该组织历史方面的专家。 It's been 200 years since the start of the RSPCA. How did it get started? --Well, we're very fortunate that we're the oldest animal welfare charity in the world. And we started back in 1824. We actually even predated the Metropolitan Police, which was only created five years later. So that's why the Brethren Broom paid for this inspector. He was called Charles Wheeler. To go out to the markets and the slaughterhouses and prosecute anyone who was being cruel to their animals. 皇家防止虐待动物协会成立已有200年了。它是如何开始的?——嗯，我们很幸运，我们是世界上历史最悠久的动物福利慈善机构。我们从1824年开始。我们甚至比伦敦警察厅还早，它是在我们成立5年后才成立的。所以兄弟会的布鲁姆才雇了这个检查员。他叫查尔斯·惠勒。去市场和屠宰场起诉那些虐待动物的人。 A lot of the animals that the RSPCA brings to its centres need medical help. (So this is the hospital side of the centre.) Amanda is a veterinary nurse. She works with sick and injured animals in the hospital here at RSPCA Newbrook Farm. 皇家防止虐待动物协会带到中心的许多动物都需要医疗帮助。(这是中心的医院一侧。)阿曼达是一名兽医护士。她在皇家防止虐待动物协会纽布鲁克农场的医院里照顾生病和受伤的动物。 There's lots of cats in here, but it's not just cats you treat, is it? --No, not just cats. We see dogs, rabbits, guinea pigs, small rodents, birds, all sorts, and wildlife as well. --I bet it's really rewarding when they feel better. That's the best thing, is making them better, actually to the point where we can get them to that next stage where they go to a new home, and that's the lovely, rewarding side of the job. 这里有很多猫，但你治疗的不只是猫，对吧?——不，不只是猫。我们看到狗、兔子、豚鼠、小型啮齿动物、鸟类，各种各样的，还有野生动物。——我敢打赌，当他们感觉更好的时候，这真的很值得。这是最好的事情，让他们变得更好，实际上，我们可以让他们进入下一个阶段，他们去一个新的家，这是工作中迷人的，有意义的一面。 The RSPCA cares for and rehomes thousands of animals a year. You might have even got your family pet from the RSPCA. This is Rob. He runs educational sessions with young people. 皇家防止虐待动物协会每年要照顾和安置数千只动物。你甚至可能从皇家防止虐待动物协会那里得到你的家庭宠物。这是罗布。他为年轻人举办教育课程。 We have a role now to inspire young people to recognise the impact that they can have on the animals that we share this world with. And we have Almost a celebrity now in our midst of the Young Photographers Award. 我们现在的职责是激励年轻人认识到他们可以对与我们共同生活在这个世界上的动物产生的影响。我们现在几乎有一位入选了青年摄影奖的名人。 When did you start taking photos? --So I started taking photos when I was six. What I like to do is help people protect and fall in love with nature. I mean I take photos of wildlife, pets, I don't really mind what I take photos of but I just love to inspire people and children in particular to love nature and protect it because it's a very precious thing. 你什么时候开始拍照的?——我六岁的时候就开始拍照了。我喜欢做的是帮助人们保护自然，爱上自然。我拍野生动物和宠物的照片，我并不介意我拍的是什么，我只是喜欢激励人们，尤其是孩子们热爱自然，保护自然，因为这是非常珍贵的东西。 词汇表 RSPCA （英国）皇家防止虐待动物协会 (Royal Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals) Newbrook Farm 纽布鲁克农场（动物福利中心） inspector 检查员，督察员 welfare charity 福利慈善机构 predate 在日期上早于（先于） Metropolitan Police 伦敦警察厅 Brethren 弟兄会 slaughterhouse 屠宰场 prosecute 告发，检举，起诉 veterinary nurse 兽医护士 guinea pig 豚鼠 rodent 啮齿动物（如老鼠等） rewarding 值得做的，有意义的 rehome 为（狗、猫等宠物）找新家 educational session 教育课程，教育会议 role 职责，功能 in the midst of 在…之中 ★原视频和更多英语听力见公众号【琐简英语】，回复“1”，可进入【打卡交流群】

Do you have eco-anxiety? Switch on the TV or read a newspaper and it's full of bad news about the environment. But climate change is damaging more than just the planet's health - it's affecting human health too. A growing number of people around the world are experiencing something psychiatrists are calling, eco-anxiety. Eco-anxiety involves feeling grief, guilt, fear or hopelessness about the future of the planet due to climate change. Of course, direct victims of climate change suffer most. Flood survivors experience depression and anxiety, and people breathing polluted air are at higher risk of dementia. But according to the Institute of Psychiatrists, just reading about the state of the planet in the news is causing stress and anxiety. In this programme on eco-anxiety, we'll be learning some useful vocabulary related to this worrying topic and hopefully be hearing on some happier environmental news as well. I hope so, Neil. With so much bad news, it's sometimes hard to feel optimistic about the future. I hope so, Neil. With so much bad news, it's sometimes hard to feel optimistic about the future. Well, here's a question about some good climate news for a change. In Australia, an animal thought to be extinct has been spotted for the first time in over fifty years. But what is the animal? Is it: a) a shark, b) a lizard or c) a parrot? I'll guess it's a shark. OK, Beth, I'll reveal the answer later. Unsurprisingly, many of those suffering from eco-anxiety are young people. When BBC Radio 4 programme, Woman's Hour, spoke with veteran environmentalist, Judy Ling Wong, they asked her if she was worried for young people today: I have tremendous compassion for them because what a mess we have left the world in, our generation, and the generation before. Of course, you know, the science is so advanced now. Very much in the past, the science would say, yes we think, we perhaps have these models. Now we have the exact science, so it is an absolutely different ball game. We actually know what to do now. It is about getting on with it, and the young people are the furthest ahead in this they can see the future as theirs and they're impassioned to do something about it. Judy feels compassion – a strong feeling of sympathy for young people, and the wish for them not to suffer. She blames older generations and uses the phrase what a mess to emphasise that the planet is in a bad shape. You can use the phrase what a something to intensify the thing you're talking about. For example, if someone gives you a birthday present you might say, 'What a nice surprise!' But Judy is optimistic. The science on climate change is much more accurate than it used to be, for example, we know that moving away from fossil fuels would be a big help. Science has changed the ball game – the set of circumstances that control how a situation occurs. Knowing exactly how to stop climate change has impassioned young people – they feel strongly motivated to take action. And, as it turns out, taking action may be one of the most powerful antidotes to eco-anxiety: actually doing something to combat climate change reduces feelings of helplessness. Here's Judy Ling Wong again speaking with BBC Radio 4s, Woman's Hour: You kow, when the Institute of Psychiatry published its special issue on climate anxiety, one of the papers pointed out that if you can do something about it, if you feel part of the movement to change things or to stabilise things, then you feel much better. And also, you know, at the moment the government is trying to reach net zero by 2050 and all that, and they committed to creating 2 million new green jobs. Now, if young people and activists think about this, if you have a green job you're actually dedicating your entire working life to building a green sustainable future, and that has a huge effect on your psychology. Judy urges young people to join a movement – a group of people who share the same beliefs and ideas. Being part of the solution, not the problem, helps reduce anxiety and with new green jobs, young people can protect the environment their entire working life – the period of life spent in employment, between leaving school and retirement. And Judy's hopefulness is shared. Recent polls showed that the majority of people are worried about climate change and are prepared to make changes. Finally, some good news. And speaking of good news, what was the answer to your question, Neil? I asked which 'extinct' animal has recently been spotted in Australia. You guessed it was a shark, which was… the wrong answer. Actually, it was a lizard - the earless grassland dragon, a native to east Australia that was last seen in the wild in 1969. ★因字数限制，完整文本和翻译见公众号【琐简英语】，回复“1”，可进入【打卡交流群】