英音听力｜BBC & 经济学人等 - 节目列表

Plants reduce stress, study finds Scientists gave 38 households in an economically deprived part of Salford in the north of England a tree, a shrub, and some other flowering plants. More than half said the plants made them feel happier. But the scientists also measured cortisol levels in their saliva, which indicate how stressed they are. 科学家们给位于英格兰北部索尔福德一个经济贫困地区的 38 个家庭提供了一棵树、一个灌木和其它一些开花植物。超过一半的人说这些植物让他们感觉更快乐。与此同时，科学家们也测量了他们唾液中的皮质醇水平，皮质醇水平可以表明他们的压力有多大。 Before the experiment, only a quarter of those involved had healthy cortisol levels. Afterwards, half did so. Lauriane Suyin Chalmin-Pui from the Royal Horticultural Society is the lead author of the study. She says it has major implications for public policy. 在进行实验之前，只有四分之一参与者的皮质醇水平处于正常水平。但后来，有一半人的皮质醇水平处于正常水平。来自皇家园艺学会的劳莉雅娜·苏因·查明-普伊（Lauriane Suyin Chalmin-Pui）是这项研究的第一作者。她说，这项研究对公共政策有重大影响。 The research has also found that the effects of the plants on people’s perceptions of stress were similar to a previous study in which participants were given mindfulness and meditation sessions once a week for eight weeks. 研究还发现，这些植物对人们对压力感知的影响与之前的一项研究相似。在那项研究中，参与者每周参加一次正念和冥想的课程，持续八周。 词汇表 deprived 贫困的，穷苦的 Salford 索尔福德（英格兰西北部港市） shrub 灌木 flowering 开花的 cortisol levels 皮质醇水平 saliva 唾液 stressed 紧张的，感到有压力的 Royal Horticultural Society （英国）皇家园艺学会 public policy 公共政策 perception 感知，认识 mindfulness 正念 meditation 冥想 🌟 更多英语听力见公众号【琐简英语】，回复"1"可进【打卡交流群】

How does punctuality vary across cultures? Time flies, or so they say. No matter where you are, humans are constantly measuring and checking time. Some of us are good at it – planning and doing things way ahead of time - while others are always trying to beat the clock and do things at the eleventh hour. And that's only if you're on time. What about if you are behind time? 时光飞逝，至少他们是这么说的。无论你在哪里，人类都在不断地测量和检查时间。我们中的一些人擅长计划和提前做事，而另一些人则总是努力赶时间，在最后一刻才做事情。而前提是你要准时。可如果你迟到了怎么办? Tardiness can be serious. If you were one minute late for work, would you resign? It may sound extreme to many of us, but that is exactly what occurred in the UK upper chamber of parliament, the House of Lords, in January 2018. International development minister Lord Bates arrived one minute late, and, as a result, was unable to answer a scheduled question. Instead of trying to make up for lost time, as many might do, he resigned on the spot. He apologised for his discourtesy and stated that he was ashamed. His resignation, though, was not accepted by the UK prime minister. 迟到可能很严重。如果上班迟到一分钟，你会辞职吗？对我们许多人来说，这听起来可能很极端，但这正是2018年1月在英国上议院发生的事情。国际发展部长贝茨勋爵迟到了一分钟，因此无法回答预定的问题。他没有像许多人可能做的那样试图弥补失去的时间，而是当场辞职。他为自己的无礼道歉，并表示自己很惭愧。不过，英国首相并未接受他的辞呈。 So, how late is too late? Many cultures take punctuality very seriously, whereas others seem to accept lagging behind as just the normal way of things. Members of the BBC from various different cultures were asked about the concept of timekeeping in their native countries and responded with a raft of answers. 那么，多晚才算晚呢？许多文化都非常重视守时，而另一些文化则似乎认为滞后是正常的。来自不同文化背景的BBC成员被问及各自国家的守时观念，他们的回答五花八门。 BBC employees from Latin America, Rwanda and Sri Lanka said that there are more flexible attitudes to timekeeping in their cultures. In Latin America, things may happen five minutes, 20 minutes, an hour or even two after they were planned. Whereas, in Sri Lanka, lateness is a part of the daily routine. This is because of poor infrastructure and heavy traffic conditions. In Rwanda, those who attend to deadlines with rigid timekeeping are said to be ‘like a typical European'. This is in a place where it is not unusual to arrive at 11am for a meeting which started at nine. 来自拉丁美洲、卢旺达和斯里兰卡的BBC员工表示，在他们的文化中，对守时的态度更加灵活。在拉丁美洲，事情可能在计划好的5分钟、20分钟、1小时甚至2小时后发生。然而，在斯里兰卡，迟到是家常便饭。这是因为基础设施差和交通拥挤。在卢旺达，那些严格守时的人被称为“像典型的欧洲人”。在这个地方，上午11点就来参加9点开始的会议是常有的事。 On the other hand, German and Japanese employees mentioned a stricter adherence to time. In Japan, it is common to make an effort to arrive with time to spare for an appointment. Those who arrived at the stroke of nine to a meeting starting at nine a.m. would be considered late. In Germany, however, if a dinner party were to begin at eight, a person who had arrived five minutes prior, may walk around the block to ensure that they arrive at eight on the dot. 另一方面，德国和日本的员工提到了对时间的严格遵守。在日本，人们通常会努力争取在赴约前留出时间。上午九点开始的会议，如果九点才到，就会被视为迟到。但在德国，如果晚宴在八点开始，提前五分钟到达的人可能会绕着街区走一圈，以确保八点准时到达。 It seems that the answer is subjective, and what is considered acceptable is based on culture. That said, if you don't mind waiting, it might be best to attend your appointments in good time. And if the worst comes to the worst, remember the old English proverb. Better late than never. 答案似乎是主观的，而何为可接受的是基于文化的。也就是说，如果你不介意等待，最好及时赴约。如果最坏的情况发生，请记住古老的英国谚语：迟到总比不到好。 词汇表 time flies 时光飞逝 ahead of time 提前 beat the clock “战胜时间”，提前完成工作，赶时间（做某事） at the eleventh hour 在最后一刻，在最后时刻 on time 按时，准时 behind time 迟到 tardiness 迟到，迟缓 upper chamber of parliament 议会上院 the House of Lords （英国）上议院 scheduled 已安排的 make up for lost time 弥补失去的时间 on the spot 当场，立即 discourtesy 失礼的行为，无礼 punctuality 准时性，守时 lag behind 掉队，滞后，落后 a raft of 一系列，大量 rigid timekeeping 严格的时间规定，严格守时 Latin America, Rwanda and Sri Lanka 拉丁美洲、卢旺达和斯里兰卡 deadline 截至日期，最后期限 adherence to 遵守，坚持 with time to spare 有富余时间 at the stroke of 刚好在…的时候 prior 在…之前 on the dot 准时，正好 in good time 提早，有充裕时间的 proverb 谚语，格言 better late than never 晚来总比不来强；迟做总比不做好 🌟 更多英语听力见公众号【琐简英语】，回复"1"可进【打卡交流群】

Less salt, better health Do you know the five tastes which give food its flavour, Neil? There's sweet… --Yes… and er, sour, bitter… --And salty! Everyone knows that salt makes food taste better by enhancing the flavours of the ingredients. There's even a phrase you'll see in many recipes – 'add a pinch of salt'. But exactly how much salt makes a 'pinch' of salt? The World Health Organisation, or WHO, recommends a daily salt intake of less than 5g, about the same as a teaspoon. In fact, the human body needs salt - at least 1g a day to survive. But most of us eat far too much, increasing the risk of high blood pressure and heart disease. In this programme, we'll be asking: how much salt is too much? And, as usual, we'll be learning some useful new vocabulary as well. Great! But first I have a question for you, Neil. The reason it's difficult to know how much salt you consume is that it's hidden in food, especially processed food. So, which of the following everyday foods do you think contains most salt? Is it: a) meat? b) bread? or, c) pasta? --Well, I'm going to guess that meat is the saltiest of those foods. --OK Neil, I'll reveal the answer later in the programme. Marian Sumbiva lives in Astana, the capital of Kazakhstan, a country where people eat, on average, 17g of salt a day. That's more than three times the amount recommended by the WHO. Here, Marian explains some of the reasons behind this to BBC World Service programme, 'The Food Chain': We consume lots of salt, which is due to historical heritage, because when we were nomads, for centuries and centuries we travelled and wandered across the steppes, and here, we had to carry lots of meat which could be preserved only adding salt. And even the milk products, the dairy products, are also very much salty for the same reasons. Besides improving its flavour, salt can be used to preserve food, to stop it from going bad. Traditionally, people in Kazakhstan were nomads, they travelled from place to place with their animals, rather than living in one place all the time. Treating food with salt gave them enough to eat during the long winter months. They even did it with dairy products, foods which are made from milk, such as cheese and butter. So, salt has a long, and useful, history. But there's a big difference between traditional Kazakh nomads and the health problems associated with modern processed food. When we eat too much salt, the body dilutes it by retaining water. And as a result, the heart works harder to pump liquid around the body. This causes high blood pressure which, over time, can lead to heart disease. Globally, governments are fighting this health risk in different ways. The Australian government reduced its recommended salt intake to 6g a day, while the British government has passed laws forcing food companies to reduce the amount of salt they use, and now recommends just 5g of salt per day. Clare Collins is professor of nutrition at the University of Newcastle in Australia. Here, she explains more about these salt recommendations to BBC World Service programme, 'The Food Chain': I think you just gotta take a step back, and look at the bigger picture, like arguing whether it should be 5g or 6g… The issue is that around the world, salt intakes are very high, contributing to high blood pressure, contributing to premature strokes, premature mortality, and we need to address it in a way that's culturally appropriate for each country. Instead of arguing over grams of salt, Professor Collins thinks we should take a step back and look at the bigger picture. She uses two idioms: take a step back,which means to temporarily withdraw from a situation in order to think about it more calmly, and look at the bigger picture - to consider the overall meaning of something, not just the details. Yes, the problem remains that overconsumption of salt is causing premature health problems, problems which are happening sooner than they should. By limiting salt and processed food, most people can enjoy long, healthy lives. And if you don't like your food unsalted, try adding herbs and spices instead. Well, speaking of salty foods, I think it's time to reveal the answer to my question, Neil. If you remember, I asked you which everyday food contains most salt. --And I guessed it was meat. --Which was… the correct answer! Meat contains the highest amount of salt - around 19% - followed by bread with 14%, and pasta with 7%. 🌟 字数限制，完整文本和翻译见公众号【琐简英语】，回复"1"可进【打卡交流群】

How to tell if someone is lying to you | BBC Ideas If we want to detect deception we need to stop looking for those visual behaviours that we think relate to deception, like eyecontact or fidgeting. Instead we need to start thinking about the pieces of information we can find in the world that match or mismatch with the statement being offered. 如果我们想要识别欺骗行为，我们就不应该再去寻找那些我们认为与欺骗有关的视觉行为，比如眼神接触或坐立不安。相反，我们需要开始思考我们在世界上能找到的与所提供的陈述相匹配或不匹配的信息。 If you want to be able to accurately detect somebody's lies or truths, what you need to do is, you need to listen to what they're saying and the way that they say it, not how they're acting. Think about when you are talking to somebody, you meet them for the first time, now any good poker player will tell you that it is very easy to control your face. Therefore facial cues really aren't good cues of whether or not somebody is lying or telling the truth. What you should be doing is you should be listening to what people say - the verbal cues and the way in which they say it - the vocal cues. 如果你想准确辨别某人是在说谎还是在说真话，你需要做的是，你需要听他们说的内容以及他们说话的方式，而不是他们的行为。想想当你第一次与人交谈时，任何优秀的扑克玩家都会告诉你，控制你的面部表情是非常容易的。因此，面部线索并不是判断某人是否在说谎或说真话的好线索。你应该做的是，你应该听人们说什么——言语线索以及他们说话的方式——声音线索。 A lie teller, because they are trying to think very hard, they will use probably the same word over and over again over a very short period of time. There's some general research that suggests we are about 54% accurate when it comes to detecting lies and truths and as I always say, "If that's the case, you might as well flip a coin - you'll be just as accurate." 一个说谎的人，因为他们在努力思考，可能会在很短的时间内反复使用同一个词。一些普遍的研究表明，，我们在辨别谎言和真相方面的准确率大约是54%，正如我经常说的，“如果是这样，你还不如抛硬币——你的准确率也就这么高。” There are some people who think they are lie detection wizards. That they can read subtle clues that we give off. The research suggests that this isn't the case, that there aren't lie detection experts. Liars just don't give themselves away in any obvious fashion. There aren't good clues to deception, we don't avoid eye contact, we don't scratch our face when we're lying or telling the truth. These just aren't reliable indicators and so, expert or not, we have no good information on which to make that decision. 有些人认为自己是测谎奇才。他们能读懂我们发出的微妙线索。研究表明，事实并非如此，并不存在什么测谎专家。说谎者并不会以任何明显的方式暴露自己。没有可靠的欺骗线索，我们不会在说谎时避免眼神接触，也不会在说谎或说真话时挠脸。这些都不是可靠的迹象，因此，不管是不是专家，我们都没有很好的信息来做出判断。 We have this idea that if somebody is lying to us they can't keep our eye contact. Now of course, liars know this and what they will do is they will keep your eye contact ever so slightly longer than normal, just enough to make you feel uncomfortable. Number two misconception tends to be when people lie they move about a lot, they kind of get very nervous. In fact the opposite is true. When we lie, we have to think really hard. So imagine you've got a limited amount of energy, you will channel all of that energy into telling a lie and as a consequence, you will become ever so slightly stiller than you normally are. A third misconception is the idea that if we look up to the right or we look up to the left, it determines the type of lie or truth that we're telling. A recent piece of research has in fact debunked the idea that looking up that way or looking up that way is a good way to detect deception, it's not. 我们有这样的想法，如果有人对我们撒谎，他们就不会和我们保持眼神接触。当然，说谎者知道这一点，他们会让你的目光接触比正常时间稍长一些，足以让你感到不舒服。第二个误解是，当人们说谎时，他们往往会走来走去，显得非常紧张。事实上恰恰相反。当我们说谎时，我们必须认真思考。因此，想象一下，你的精力有限，你会把所有的精力都用在说谎上，因此，你会变得比平时稍微安静一些。第三个误解是，如果我们抬头向右或向左看，就可以确定我们说的是谎言还是真话。 My top tip for accurately determining whether somebody is lying or telling the truth is using something that we call the honest baseline. Now the honest baseline is understanding how people act and speak when they're not stressed and when they're being truthful. So when we ask them a question, now if we find a pretty even match between the way they normally act and the way that they're acting now, we will be fairly happy that they're probably telling us a truth. If we find a mismatch, it might indicate that there is something going on here that we need to follow up with in a bit more detail. ALIED theory, or the adaptive lie detector theory, argues that when we try to decide if someone's lying or telling the truth, what we're doing is actually quite functional and informed with our past experience and with the information available in the world. For instance if I claim to have gone to France last week and I have a selfie of me in France that's a great piece of information that I was actually there. But often we don't have that sort of information, so what do we do? ALIED theory claims that we, rather than simply guess, rely on our past experience of the world to make an informed judgement. People tend to be truth biased, they tend to believe people are telling the truth, and that may be something we want to get rid of. The best thing to do is just try to keep an open mind and engage with the situation in a sceptical manner. 🌟 字数限制，完整翻译视频版见公众号【琐简英语】，回复"1"可进【打卡交流群】

Sally Lightfoot Crab' Race Against Hunters A Sally Lightfoot crab, one of thousands of shore crabs just waiting for their moment. Every day, they gather on the tropical shores of Brazil, waiting for the tide to go out, which exposes their feeding grounds — seaweed-covered rocks, 100 metres from the shore. 一只红石蟹，成千上万只等待时机的滨蟹之一。每天，它们聚集在巴西的热带海岸，等待潮水退去，露出它们的觅食地——覆盖着海藻的岩石，距离海岸100米。 Getting there is a race against the tide. They leap from rock to rock. 到达那里是一场与潮水的赛跑。它们在岩石间跳跃前行。 These crabs seem to be afraid of the water. And for good reason. A moray eel. The chain moray is a specialist crab-hunter. Its blunt teeth can easily grip and crush a crab shell. It's the crabs' deadliest enemy. 这些螃蟹似乎很怕水。理由很充分。海鳗。尤其链蛇鳗，是捕蟹专家。它的钝牙可以轻易咬碎蟹壳。它是螃蟹最致命的敌人。 But the crabs' feeding grounds are still a long way off. They must press on. Halfway. But their enemy has other ideas. Crossing the land to reset the ambush. 但螃蟹离觅食地还很遥远。它们必须继续前进。还有一半。但是它们的敌人另有打算。即穿越陆地，重置埋伏。 To feed, the crabs must keep going. But nowhere is safe. An octopus. Also a crab killer. The crabs make a dash for it. Made it! 为了进食，螃蟹必须继续前进。但没有地方是安全的。章鱼。也是螃蟹杀手。螃蟹飞奔逃跑。成功了！ Risking life and limb to graze on these seaweed pastures. But in two hours' time, when the tide starts to turn, they will have to run the gauntlet all over again. 螃蟹冒着生命危险来到这些海藻牧场觅食。但在两小时后，当潮水开始上涨时，它们将不得不再次经受一次考验。 词汇表 Sally Lightfoot crab 红石蟹，萨莉轻足蟹：生活在潮间带岩石上，以鲜亮的红蓝色外壳和敏捷的移动能力闻名，以藻类和小型无脊椎动物为食。 shore crab 滨蟹（生活在海滨潮间带的小型蟹类） feeding ground 觅食地 seaweed-covered rock 覆盖海藻的岩石 moray eel 海鳗（栖于热带水域岩礁间的鳗类） chain moray 链蛇鳝：体型修长，带有黄色的链状线条，具有用于压碎蟹壳的钝圆形牙齿。 specialist 专家 blunt teeth 钝牙 grip and crush 咬碎，咬住并压碎 press on （不顾困难地）继续前进 reset the ambush 重置埋伏 octopus 章鱼 make a dash 飞奔，匆忙离开 risk life and limb 冒着生命危险 graze 觅食，吃草 pasture 牧场，草地（指覆盖海藻的岩石） run the gauntlet 经受考验，接受挑战（原指受夹道鞭笞的刑罚） 🌟 视频版见公众号【琐简英语】，回复"1"可进【打卡交流群】

Whale threats from fishing gear 'underestimated' Getting caught up in fishing ropes or nets is one of the biggest threats to whales. The animals can suffocate or starve after becoming trapped. Reports of very large whales getting entangled in fishing gear are rare compared with smaller species, leading to the assumption that the biggest whales might largely avoid such threats. 被渔绳或渔网缠住是鲸鱼面临的最大威胁之一。它们在被困住后可能会窒息或挨饿。与体型较小的鲸鱼相比，关于大型鲸鱼被渔具缠住的报道很少，因此产生了一种假设，即最大的鲸鱼可能在很大程度上避免了这个威胁。 A new study, led by experts at the University of St Andrews in Scotland, cast doubt on this idea. The researchers analysed images taken by drones of blue and fin whales in Canada's Gulf of St Lawrence – an important summer feeding ground for whales. 由苏格兰圣安德鲁斯大学的专家牵头的一项新研究对这一观点提出了质疑。研究人员们分析了无人机在加拿大圣劳伦斯湾拍摄的蓝鲸和长须鲸的照片，圣劳伦斯湾是鲸鱼夏季的重要觅食地。 Scars seen on the bodies of the whales suggest that 60% of blue whales studied, and about half of fin whales, had been entangled in nets at some point in their life. 鲸鱼身上的伤疤表明，被研究的60%的蓝鲸和大约半数的长须鲸曾在它们生命中的某个时刻被渔网缠住。 The researchers say death from entanglement could tip some whale populations into decline. The blue and fin whale are the two largest species in the oceans. Both are endangered, though the blue whale's starting to make a comeback in Antarctic waters. 研究人员表示，鲸鱼被缠住致死可能会导致一些鲸鱼数量下降。蓝鲸和长须鲸是海洋中体型最大的两个物种。尽管蓝鲸的数量在南极水域有所增加，但这两种鲸鱼均为濒危物种。 词汇表 caught up 被缠住 suffocate 窒息 starve 挨饿 trapped 被困住 entangled 被缠在一起 gear 用具，装备 cast doubt on… 对…怀有疑虑 blue whales 蓝鲸 fin whales 长须鲸 feeding ground 觅食地 scars 伤疤 endangered 濒临灭绝的 make a comeback 重新增长 🌟 更多英语听力见公众号【琐简英语】，回复"1"可进【打卡交流群】

What is flexitarian? What kind of food do you eat? Are you conscious of the types of food you consume or do you stuff yourself silly with whatever is available? Today, we are constantly bombarded with media reports about research on the right diet to follow to help us maintain a healthy lifestyle or lose weight - but it's hard to know which one to pick and, once chosen, it's harder still to stick to it. And now there's another choice to get our teeth into. 你吃什么样的食物？你是有意识地选择食物种类，还是有什么吃什么，填饱肚子就行？如今，我们不断被媒体报道的关于正确饮食的研究轰炸，这些研究可以帮助我们保持健康的生活方式或减肥，但我们很难知道该选择哪一种，一旦选择了，坚持下去就更难了。 现在，我们又有了新的选择。 A flexitarian diet involves eating plant-based foods and only occasionally eating meat and fish. You might think this is a halfway house to being a vegetarian by not completely abstaining from meat. But if vegetarianism is hard to swallow and you fancy chomping on the occasional lean steak, then this could be the choice for you. 弹性素食包括吃植物性食物，只偶尔吃肉和鱼。你可能会认为这是成为素食者的折中办法，因为你不能完全戒除肉类。但是，如果素食主义很难接受，而你又想偶尔吃一块瘦牛排，那么这可能是你的选择。 This eating style allows you to supplement some ingredients that you wouldn't get in a stricter vegan diet – another trend growing in popularity. And like veganism, flexitarianism isn't about eating carefully to help you lose a few pounds - it's something people choose for ethical reasons, to help the planet. And a study into the global food system and how it affects the climate, has found that eating mainly plant-based foods is one of three key steps towards a sustainable future for all by 2050. 这种饮食方式可以让你补充一些在严格的纯素食中无法获得的成分——这也是另一种日益流行的趋势。与纯素食主义一样，弹性素食主义并不是为了减肥而精打细算，而是人们出于道德原因，为了帮助地球而选择的一种饮食方式。一项关于全球食品体系及其如何影响气候的研究发现，主要食用植物性食物是到2050年实现人类可持续未来的三个关键步骤之一。 This research found that food waste will need to be halved and farming practices will also have to improve to achieve this. But without a single solution, a combined approach is needed. Dr Marco Springmann from the University of Oxford was one of the lead authors of the report. He told the BBC "We really found that a combination of measures would be needed to stay within environmental limits and those include changes towards healthier more plant-based diets." 这项研究发现，为了实现这一目标，需要将食物浪费减半，而且还必须改进耕作方法。但是如果没有一个单一的解决方案，就需要一个组合的方法。牛津大学的马可 · 斯普林曼博士是该报告的主要作者之一。他告诉 BBC: “我们确实发现，要想保持在环境限制范围内，需要采取综合措施，其中包括改变饮食习惯，使之更健康，更以植物为基础。” But whereas vegans think it's wrong for animals to be killed for food, flexitarians believe eating meat once in a while is acceptable. And Dr Springmann agrees - as long as we "treat it as a luxury, it's probably OK but you shouldn’t have more than one serving of red meat, which includes beef and pork, per week." And here's another fact to digest: If we moved to this type of diet, the study found that greenhouse gas emissions from agriculture would be cut by more than half. 但是，素食主义者认为杀死动物作为食物是错误的，而弹性素食者则认为偶尔吃肉是可以接受的。斯普林曼博士对此表示赞同——只要我们“把它当作一种奢侈品，这可能没问题，但你每周不应该吃超过一份红肉，包括牛肉和猪肉。还有另一个需要消化的事实：如果我们转向这种饮食方式，研究发现农业的温室气体排放量将减少一半以上。 词汇表 stuff yourself 大吃大喝 diet 日常饮食 get your teeth into something 专注做某事 flexitarian 弹性素食者 plant-based 植物性的，基于植物的 halfway house 折中办法 vegetarian 素食者 abstain 节制 hard to swallow （双关语）难以下咽，令人难以接受 chomp 大声地咀嚼 lean （肉）瘦的 supplement 补充，增加 ingredient （食品的）成分，食材 vegan 纯素食主义者（不食用、不使用任何动物产品） veganism 纯素食主义 flexitarianism 弹性素食主义 ethical 道德的 food waste 食品浪费 serving （饭食的）一份 red meat 红肉（由指牛肉、猪肉、羊肉） digest （双关语）消化，理解 greenhouse gas emissions 温室气体排放 🌟 更多英语听力见公众号【琐简英语】，回复"1"可进【打卡交流群】

JADES-GS-z14-0: Earliest and most distant galaxy ever observed It's just a faint red smudge, but the detectors on the James Webb Telescope are in no doubt that this galaxy, a large collection of stars, is at a prodigious distance. 该星系看上去只是一团不清晰的红色印迹，但是詹姆斯·韦伯望远镜上的探测器确信该星系由一大群恒星组成，距离我们异常遥远。 Astronomers say the observatory is seeing the object when the Universe was less than 300 million years old. Put another way, if the cosmos is 13.8 billion years old, James Webb is seeing the galaxy when the Universe was only 2% of its current age. 天文学家们表示，现在通过天文观测台观测到的这个天体的形态不会晚于宇宙诞生后 3 亿年。换句话说，如果宇宙的年龄是 138 亿岁，詹姆斯·韦伯望远镜看到的是宇宙只有当前年龄的 2% 时该星系的模样。 The most interesting aspect of the discovery is not the great distance, however, it's the galaxy's large size and brightness. 但这次发现中最引人注目的部分并不是该星系离我们超乎寻常的距离，而是它的巨大体积跟亮度。 Researchers are struggling to explain the presence of so mature an object, so early in the nascent universe. 研究者们仍难以解释为何如此成熟的天体会在新生宇宙的早期阶段存在。 When space agencies spent 10 billion dollars developing James Webb, they promised it would do remarkable things. Two years into operations, that enormous investment is starting to pay back. 当航天机构花费掉 100 亿美元开发詹姆斯·韦伯望远镜时，他们承诺它会有非凡的表现。望远镜投入使用两年以后，这项巨额投资开始获得回报。 词汇表 smudge 模糊的印迹、污痕 detector 探测器 prodigious 异常的，不寻常的 observatory 天文观测台 the cosmos 宇宙 nascent 新生的，刚开始发展的 remarkable 非凡的，引人注目的 operation 运行，工作 🌟 更多英语听力见公众号【琐简英语】，回复"1"可进【打卡交流群】

Is there a friend for life? Who do you count as your friends? From our BFF to a work mate, it's good to have someone to chew the fat with or offer comfort and support. But when it comes to friendship, is it more important to have quantity or quality? 谁是你的朋友？从我们最好的朋友到工作伙伴，有人可以闲聊或提供安慰和支持是很好的。但是对于友谊来说，是数量更重要还是质量更重要呢? The recent isolation we have endured due to the coronavirus pandemic has made some of us question our friendships. We've fallen out of touch with friends and acquaintances, and it may feel awkward, but do we actually have to rekindle every relationship we once had? It might be time to take stock and think about who you kept in touch with, who you missed talking to, and who you didn't. In short, maybe it's time to reset your list of real mates. 由于最近冠状病毒大流行导致的隔离，我们中的一些人开始质疑我们的友谊。我们与朋友和熟人失去了联系，这可能会让人感到尴尬，但我们真的需要重新点燃我们曾经拥有的每一段关系吗？也许是时候反思一下，思考你与谁保持了联系，你想念与谁交谈，以及你忽略了与谁交谈。简而言之，也许是时候重新审视你的真正朋友名单了。 There's no obligation to stay friends, and writing for BBC Worklife, Bryan Lufkin says: "While people have known for years that friendships are unquestionably good for your health, experts say it's only natural for acquaintances and even friends to fall by the wayside as time goes on – and it's nothing to feel guilty about." 我们没有保持朋友关系的义务，布莱恩·卢夫金在BBC《工作生活》上写道:“虽然人们多年前就知道友谊无疑对健康有好处，但专家们表示，随着时间的推移，熟人甚至朋友都不再熟络是很自然的事情，没什么好内疚的。” Of course, it can be hard to choose who's in your friendship circle. This is what Suzanne Degges-White, professor of counselling at Northern Illinois University, calls our ‘friendscape'. She says, "in life, as we go through certain stages and ages, our attention shifts, and we want to be around people who are like us." 当然，选择谁在你的交友圈是很难的。这就是北伊利诺伊大学心理咨询教授苏珊娜·德格斯-怀特所说的“朋友圈”。她说:“在生活中，随着我们经历特定的阶段和年龄，我们的注意力会发生转移，我们希望身边的人和我们一样。” So, changing friends is normal, but we still need those special pals who've known us long term. These are friendships we invest time in. According to Robin Dunbar, a professor of evolutionary psychology at the University of Oxford, these are your inner circle of friends – your "shoulders to cry on" – and you have to see them at least once a week to keep them in that circle. He adds that the friends that do drift are mostly "friendships of convenience". But the advice for maintaining a good friendship is to share how you feel with someone you trust – this can help strengthen your friendship as well as giving you both a chance to support each other. 所以，换朋友是正常的，但是我们仍然需要那些认识我们很久的特别的朋友。这些是我们投入时间的友谊。根据牛津大学进化心理学教授罗宾·邓巴的说法，这些是你的核心朋友圈——你的“哭泣肩膀”——你必须每周至少见他们一次，才能让他们留在那个圈子里。他补充说，那些疏远的朋友大多是“便利友谊”。但是，保持良好友谊的建议是，与你信任的人分享你的感受，这有助于巩固你们的友谊，也给你们双方一个相互支持的机会。 词汇表 BFF (best friend forever) 最好的朋友 work mate 同事，工友 chew the fat 闲聊 comfort 安慰 friendship 友谊 out of touch 不常联系，疏远 acquaintance 泛泛之交，相识的人 rekindle 重新燃起（一段关系、感情） relationship 关系 take stock 反思，仔细考虑 mate 伙伴，朋友 fall by the wayside 中途放弃，不再熟络 friendship circle 交友圈 friendscape 朋友圈 pal 好友 inner circle 核心（朋友）圈 a shoulder to cry on 可以倾诉的对象 drift 渐渐疏远 friendship of convenience 便利友谊，由于便利而结成的友谊 strengthen 增强，巩固 🌟 更多英语听力见公众号【琐简英语】，回复"1"可进【打卡交流群】

Crowd Psychology: Unity and Chaos There was a huge crowd of people waiting at the train station this morning, Neil. When the train finally arrived, everyone rushed in and I couldn't find a seat! I hate crowds!-- But you love going to the football match on Saturday.--Ah, that's different –more like a big group of friends. Well, whether it's sporting events, train stations or political protests, crowds – that's large groups of people who gather together for a shared activity, are a feature of life. For some, crowds create feelings of excitement and a sense of community, while for others they feel uncomfortable, confusing, or even dangerous. So why is that? In this programme, we'll be discussing the role of crowds in modern life, asking why they evoke different reactions in people. And, as usual, we'll be learning some new vocabulary as well. But first, I have a question for you, Neil. The biggest crowd in history happened in 2019 when over 200 million people gathered in the northern Indian city of Allahabad. But what did so many people come together for? Was it: a) a cricket match, b) a religious festival or c) an election? --Well, I know Indians love cricket, but I doubt 200 million people would fit into a stadium! So I'll guess it's c) an election. --OK, Neil. We'll find out the answer later in the programme. People gathering for a cricket match, or a music concert are usually happy events. But crowds can have a darker side as well – they can become out of control and sometimes even violent. Here's, psychologist, Professor John Drury, discussing this idea with, Anand Jagatia, presenter of the BBC World Service programme, appropriately named, CrowdScience. When people get together in a crowd, they regress psychologically, their thinking is more primitive, they become more gullible, and that's also associated with the supposed tendency towards violence as well. But according to John, the idea of mob mentality, that people in crowds are irrational and prone to destructive behaviour, just isn't backed up by research. One view is that when people get together in a crowd, they become irrational. Psychologically speaking they regress – they return to a less advanced, more primitive way of behaving. They may also become more gullible, an adjective meaning easily tricked or willing to believe everything someone says. Connected to this is the phrase mob mentality - the tendency of people in a group to behave in the same way as others in the group rather than as individuals. In crowds, people may do things they would never do alone, like steal or use violence. But according to Professor Drury, in reality it's not mob mentality and violence, but rather feelings of safety and togetherness that actually characterise crowds. And according to Dr Anne Templeton, another expert on crowd psychology from the University of Edinburgh, that's especially true when you identify with the other people in a crowd. Here is Dr Templeton explaining more to BBC World Service programme, CrowdScience. The more people feel like they are part of a group with others in the crowd, the more enjoyable experience they have. There's a correlation between having that social identification and feeling safer. So often if we feel like we are in a group with others, we expect them to look after us. The flip side of that is when you don't feel as much part of the group, and you're not having a positive experience. Dr Templeton thinks there is a correlation – that's a connection, or a link – between being among people who share your values, and feeling safe. Football fans cheer their team on by wearing the same colours, and singing the same songs, and this works as a kind of glue, bonding the crowd together and making them feel safe. The disadvantage of this, however, is when you don't feel part of the crowd you're with. Dr Templeton calls this the flip side - the opposite, less good or less pleasant aspects of something. In today's world, crowds are important because of the feeling of power they give us. It's one thing sitting alone shouting at the news on television, but it's something else altogether to march on a political protest with hundreds of demonstrators, feeling that together you could change the world. Maybe that's what everyone was doing in 2019, Sam? Right, in my quiz question I asked you why 200 million people gathered in the Indian city of Allahabad in 2019. --I guessed it was to vote in an election. Was I right? --You were wrong, I'm afraid, Neil! In fact, the biggest crowd in history had gathered for a Hindu religious festival, the Kumbh Mela, which 220 million people attended over fifty days. 🌟 字数限制，完整文本和翻译见公众号【琐简英语】，回复"1"可进【打卡交流群】

What if all humans on Earth disappeared? | BBC Ideas Here's a thought experiment. Every single human on the planet has gone. We don't know how - that doesn't matter. What we'd like to know is what happens next? What would a world without humans be like? 这是一个思想实验。地球上的每一个人都消失了。我们不知道为何如此——但那不重要。我们想知道的是接下来会发生什么？没有人类的世界会是什么样子? Within days, the electricity grid fails as fuel supplies run out and there's nobody to override the powerstation's failsafe mechanisms. Within a week the subways we've built under the water table flood. The 47 million litres of water that was pumped out of the London Underground every day inundates tunnels. Without heating or air conditioning mould flourishes on moist surfaces in homes and offices and ice bursts pipes. Within weeks, plants begin to take over buildings as the strongest species compete for space. No-one's there to cut them back. 没过几天，由于燃料供应耗尽，电网瘫痪，而又没有人能够操作发电站的故障安全机制。一周之内，我们建在地下水位下的地铁将被淹没。每天从伦敦地铁抽出的4700万升水淹没了隧道。在没有暖气或空调的情况下，霉菌在家庭和办公室潮湿的表面滋生，水管结冰爆裂。几周之内，植物开始占据建筑物，因为最强壮的物种在争夺空间。没有人去阻止它们。 Fast forward in time. The lines between city and countryside are blurred. Windows fall out of rotten frames and wildlife recolonises towns. Farmland is blanketed by scrub and then trees, and scattered on the surface are the things that will never degrade. Metals corrode. Plastics start to break down and disperse. But stainless steel pans, stranded granite work tops and billions of car tyres remain. 时光加快推进。城市和乡村的界限变得模糊。窗户从腐烂的框架中脱落，野生动物重新占领城镇。农田被灌木丛和树木覆盖，地表散落着永不会自然分解的东西。金属开始腐蚀。塑料开始分解、消散。但不锈钢平底锅、搁浅的花岗岩台面和数十亿个汽车轮胎依然存在。 Nuclear facilities fail as their fabric degrades. Some explode, irradiating the local ecosystem and causing many animals to die. The radiation leads to mutations in others creating new evolutionary lines. Meanwhile, the tiniest of plants are stubbornly breaking up even the motorways. 随着结构的退化，核设施将失效。一些核设施会爆炸，辐照当地的生态系统，导致许多动物死亡。辐射会导致其他物种发生突变，从而产生新的进化系。与此同时，最微小的植物也在顽强地破坏着高速公路。 Mosquitos are having a great time. They've lost their enemy in us but they've moved on to other animals. And they're busy pollinating plants as they love nectar as well as blood. Endangered animals have a chance and space to multiply again. Lions and elephants could even reach Europe, the strongest swimming across the Suez Canal. 蚊子们过得很愉快。它们失去了我们这个敌人，但它们已经转向其他动物。它们忙着为植物授粉，因为它们既喜欢花蜜，也喜欢鲜血。濒危动物有了再次繁衍的机会和空间，狮子和大象甚至可以到达欧洲 ，最强壮的可以游过苏伊士运河。 Massive whirlpool islands of plastic carry on spinning in our oceans. Each piece of plastic is ground down until microscopic grains of it are everywhere. Bacteria may evolve to digest plastic, but this will take millions of years. Could the Earth ever recover? Atmospheric carbon dioxide is absorbed by the vegetation that carpets the land. Global temperatures and sea levels begin to fall. As chemical pollutants break down and sink into the earth, rivers become cleaner. Animals and plants flourish. Is this a new Eden? Perhaps. 巨大的塑料漩涡岛在我们的海洋中不断旋转。每一块塑料都被磨碎，直到微小的颗粒随处可见。细菌可能会进化出消化塑料的能力，但这需要数百万年的时间。地球还能恢复吗？大气中的二氧化碳被陆地上的植被吸收。全球气温和海平面开始下降。随着化学污染物分解并沉入地下，河流变得更加清洁。动物和植物蓬勃生长。这是新伊甸园吗？也许吧。 The Earth is a breathing organism that has lived with us for a fraction of its life. Our human ingenuity has led to extraordinary changes to the world. The planet would survive, indeed thrive, without us. But it would never be able to forget us. We'd have left our mark. 地球是一个会呼吸的有机体，它与我们共存的时间只占它生命的一小部分。人类的智慧给世界带来了非凡的变化。没有我们，地球也能生存，甚至茁壮成长。但它永远无法忘记我们。我们已经留下了我们的印记。 词汇表 electricity grid 供电系统，电网 fuel supply 燃料供应 override （尤指为改变运作方式而）操控，控制 powerstation 电站，发电厂 failsafe mechanism 故障安全机制（一种设计用于在系统出现故障时自动保护系统的机制） water table 地下水面，潜水面 litre （度量单位）升 pump out 抽出，排出 inundate 泛滥，淹没 mould 霉，霉菌 moist 潮湿的，湿润的 fast forward 快进 blurred 模糊的，难以区分的 recolonise （动植物）回迁，重新占领 blanket / carpet 覆盖，笼罩 scrub 矮树丛，灌木丛 degrade 降解，自然分解 corrode 腐蚀，侵蚀 disperse 扩散，分散 stainless steel pan 不锈钢平底锅 granite work top 花岗岩台面 tyre 轮胎 fabric 结构，构造 irradiate 辐射 mutation 变异，突变 evolutionary line 进化线，演化路径 motorway 高速公路 pollinate plant 给植物授粉 nectar 花蜜，甘露 multiply 繁殖，增生 Suez Canal 苏伊士运河 whirlpool 漩涡，涡流 grind 碾碎，磨碎 microscopic grain 微观颗粒 atmospheric 大气层的 vegetation 植物，植被 Eden 伊甸园，乐土 a fraction of 一小部分 ingenuity 聪明才智，创造力 🌟 视频版见公众号【琐简英语】，回复"1"可进【打卡交流群】

The Fish That Hunts Pigeons Planet Earth II | BBC Earth Losing its fear of humans has enabled one animal to spread into cities everywhere and in huge numbers. Pigeons are by far the most successful urban bird. 失去对人类的恐惧，使一种动物能够大量地扩散到世界各地的城市。鸽子是迄今为止最成功的城市鸟类。 Here in Albi, in the south of France, the pigeons come to the river to bathe. They need to preen their flight feathers, clean off the city dust and cool themselves down. 在法国南部的阿尔比，鸽子们来到河边沐浴。它们需要梳理自己的飞行羽毛，洗去城市的灰尘，给自己降降温。 But death lies in wait. A predator that has taken advantage of the very thing that has led to the pigeon's success, their lack of fear. As the pigeons bathe, oil from their plumage flows downstream and is detected. 但是死亡正潜伏着。一种捕食者充分利用了鸽子成功之处——它们的无畏。当鸽子沐浴时，它们羽毛上的油流向下游，并被捕食者察觉。 A monstrous wels catfish. Introduced here just forty years ago, they have proliferated, virtually exterminated the local fish stocks, and they've now developed a taste for pigeon. 一条巨大的欧洲鲶鱼。四十年前它们才被引入这里，现在已经大量繁殖，几乎消灭了当地的鱼类种群，现在它们开始喜欢吃鸽子了。 Their eyesight is poor, so they use their barbels to sense the movements of their victims. This is a radical new hunting strategy for what is normally a bottom-dwelling fish. 由于视力不佳，它们依赖触须来感知猎物的动向。对于通常栖息水底的鱼来说，这是一种全新的狩猎策略。 After a thousand years of living in this city, pigeons are now having to learn to avoid a fish. 在这座城市生活了千年之后，鸽子现在不得不学会避开一条鱼。 词汇表 pigeon 鸽子 Albi 阿尔比（法国南部城市） bathe 用水清洗（身体部位）；（到海、河等中）游泳，沐浴 preen （鸟）用喙整理羽毛 clean off the dust 清除灰尘 lie in wait 等待，埋伏着 predator 捕食者，掠夺者 take advantage of 充分利用 plumage （鸟的）羽毛 downstream 顺流地，向下游地 detect 察觉，识别 monstrous 巨大的，可怕的 wels catfish 欧鲶，六须鲶，欧洲巨鲶（欧洲最大的淡水鱼类之一） proliferate 迅速繁殖，激增 exterminate 消灭，灭绝，根除 develop a taste for 逐渐对某物产生喜好或兴趣 barbel (鱼类唇边的)触须 sense the movement 感知动向 radical 全新的，完全的 bottom-dwelling 栖息水底的；底栖生物 🌟 视频版见公众号【琐简英语】，回复"1"可进【打卡交流群】