英音听力｜BBC & 经济学人等 - 节目列表

Business Bartleby 商业板块 巴托比专栏 Faulty reasoning 错误的推理 Why pointing fingers is unhelpful 为什么说指责无益 And why bosses do it more than anyone 老板们又为什么比任何人都更爱责怪他人 Casting blame is natural: it is tempting to fault someone else for a snafu rather than taking responsibility yourself. But blame is also corrosive. Pointing fingers saps team cohesion. It makes it less likely that people will own up to mistakes, and thus less likely that organisations can learn from them. Research published in 2015 suggests that a Shaggy culture ("It wasn't me") shows up in share prices. Firms whose managers pointed to external factors to explain their failings underperformed companies that blamed themselves. Some industries have long recognised the drawbacks of fault-finding. The proud record of aviation in reducing accidents partly reflects no-blame processes for investigating crashes and close calls. The National Transportation Safety Board, which investigates accidents in America, is explicit that its role is not to assign blame or liability but to find out what went wrong and to issue recommendations to avoid a repeat. There are similar lessons from health care. When things go wrong in medical settings, the systems by which patients are compensated vary between countries. Some, like Britain, depend on a process of litigation in which fault must be found. Others, like Sweden, do not require blame to be allocated and compensate patients if the harm suffered is deemed "avoidable". A report published by a British parliamentary committee last year strongly recommended moving away from a system based on proving clinical negligence: "It is grossly expensive, adversarial and promotes individual blame instead of collective learning." The incentives to learn from errors are particularly strong in aviation and health care, where safety is paramount and lives are at risk. But they also exist when the stakes are lower. That is why software engineers and developers routinely conduct "blameless postmortems" to investigate, say, what went wrong if a website crashes or a server goes down. There is an obvious worry about embracing blamelessness. What if the wretched website keeps crashing and the same person is at fault? Sometimes, after all, blame is deserved. The idea of the "just culture", a framework developed in the 1990s by James Reason, a psychologist, addresses the concern that the incompetent and the malevolent will be let off the hook. The line that Britain's aviation regulator draws between honest errors and the other sort is a good starting-point. It promises a culture in which people "are not punished for actions, omissions or decisions taken by them that are commensurate with their experience and training". That narrows room for blame but does not remove it entirely. There are two bigger problems with trying to move away from the tendency to blame. The first is that it requires a lot of effort. Blame is cheap and fast: "It was Nigel" takes one second to say and has the ring of truth. Documenting mistakes and making sure processes change as a result require much more structure. Blameless postmortems have long been part of the culture at Google, for instance, which has templates, reviews and discussion groups for them. The second problem is the boss. People with power are particularly prone to point fingers. A recent paper by academics at the University of California, San Diego, and Nanyang Technological University in Singapore found that people who are in positions of authority are more likely to assume that others have choices and to blame them for failures. In one experiment, for example, people were randomly assigned the roles of supervisor and worker, and shown a transcript of an audio recording that contained errors; they were also shown an apology from the transcriber, saying that an unstable internet connection had meant they could not complete the task properly. The person in the supervisor role was much more likely to agree that the transcriber was to blame for the errors and to want to withhold payment. Power and punitiveness went together. Blame also seems to be contagious. In a paper from 2009, researchers asked volunteers to read news articles about a political failure and then to write about a failure of their own. Participants who read that the politician blamed special interests for the screw-up were more likely to pin their own failures on others; those who read that the politician accepted responsibility were more likely to shoulder the blame for their shortfall. Bosses are the most visible people in a firm; when they point fingers, others will, too. If your company has a blame culture, the fault lies there. 🔆翻译、pdf见公众号【琐简英语】，回复"1"可进【打卡交流群】

Why our brains love lists Productivity can be a struggle for many of us. Overflowing email inboxes, housework, social obligations – it can be easy to feel overwhelmed. However, one simple tool that can help us stay on top of everything is the to-do list. Write it down, do the tasks and cross them off – simple! There are three key reasons why lists are beneficial, according to psychologist and author David Cohen. Firstly, they help to drown out the chaos and anxiety that comes with having never-ending tasks. By writing everything down, we don't have to rely on our memory and can instead focus on the task at hand. Secondly, lists provide structure and guidance, giving us a plan to follow. As well as this, our brains are more likely to retain information that is presented in a structured and organised manner. And finally, lists serve as proof of what we have achieved, which can help boost our sense of accomplishment and motivation. Another possible reason our brains love lists is because of something called the 'Zeigarnik Effect'. This is the name psychologists use for when we remember things we need to do, our unfinished tasks, better than things we have already completed. Researchers from Wake Forest University tested the interference of the Zeigarnik effect on a group of people. The experiment began with a warm-up task, though it was stopped half-way through, and only some people were allowed to make plans to finish it. The researchers found that the group permitted to plan had reduced anxiety and performed better in the second task. The problem was, the others still had the warm-up task stuck in their active memory – an unticked list of tasks. So, once we tick something off our list, our brain forgets about it and we can relax. All in all, it seems lists are a valuable tool for staying on top of life! 词汇表 productivity [ˌprɒdʌkˈtɪvəti] 效率；生产力，生产率 overflowing [əʊvə'fləʊɪŋ] 爆满的，装满的，溢出的 inbox [ˈɪnˌbɒks]（电子邮件）收件箱 social obligation [ˌɒblɪˈɡeɪʃ(ə)n] 社会义务，社会责任 overwhelmed [ˌəʊvə(r)ˈwelmd] 难以承受的，不知所措的 stay on top of 掌握，时刻关注（最新进展） to-do list 待办事项清单 cross off （从清单上）划掉 drown out 盖过，压过，抵消 chaos [ˈkeɪɒs] 混乱，无秩序状态 never-ending 永无止境的，没完没了的 at hand 手头的，手边的 retain [rɪ'teɪn] 记住，保持，保存 structured [ˈstrʌktʃə(r)d] 有条理的，结构清晰的 organised ['ɔ:gənaɪzd] 有条不紊的，安排有序的 proof [pruːf] 证明，证据 Zeigarnik Effect [ˈzaɪɡɑːrnɪk] 蔡格尼克效应（指人们对未完成任务的记忆比已完成任务更为清晰） unfinished [ʌn'fɪnɪʃt] 未完成的 interference [ˌɪntə(r)ˈfɪərəns] 干扰，干预 half-way through 中途 active memory 短期记忆 unticked [ʌnˈtɪkt]（清单上）未勾掉的 tick off 在（清单上）勾掉 📖 翻译、pdf见公众号【琐简英语】，回复"1"可进【打卡交流群】

Elastic thinking: 5 ways to be better at it | BBC Ideas The times are changing far faster than they ever were before and that requires a new kind of thinking - elastic thinking. Fortunately there are ways you can develop your elastic thinking. There's a ton of them. Here are five. 1. Pick an idea you don't believe in I call this 'the idea of the day'. Every day, pick an idea that you don't believe in, try to convince yourself that it's true. I don't mean just go through the motions. I mean sincerely try to imagine how somebody who believes differently than you, but someone who you respect, could accept this idea and try to convince yourself of it. 2. Dwell on your wrongs When we're wrong we often try to forget it. Well, this exercise is dwell on when you were wrong. Remember a time when you were wrong and the wronger you were and the more important it was the better and think about it hard, realise that you're not always right. One of the barriers to elastic thinking is our tendency to always think that we're correct and to keep moving in the same direction. This exercise will help free you of that. 3. Try new food Food - this is a fun one. Go to a restaurant that you pick at random or to a restaurant that you normally wouldn't go to and try something you normally wouldn't order. Don't order the most popular dish, ask for the least popular dish. Research shows that if you stretch yourself in a way as simple as that it helps increase your creativity and imagination. 4. Talk to strangers Your parents taught you "Don't talk to strangers". Well number four is do talk to strangers. In fact, talk to people as different from you as possible, people who believe what's different, just random people and try to understand how they think. And the more you're exposed to the way other people think the broader your own thinking will be. 5. Go see some art Go see some art. I don't mean a Rembrandt, I mean art that's different even if you don't like it. Go see a Damien Hirst exhibit because exposing yourself to art that's different from the kind of art you normally see will help you think differently. Research shows that if you do exercises such as these five things you'll broaden your thinking. You'll have an easier time adapting to change. You might even be the one to create the change yourself. 词汇表 elastic thinking [ɪ'læstɪk] 弹性思维 a ton of [tʌn] 许多，很多，大量的 go through the motions [ˈməʊʃ(ə)n] 走过场，装装样子，敷衍了事 dwell on [dwel] 细想，详述；沉湎于，纠结于 barrier [ˈbæriə(r)] 障碍，阻碍，屏障 at random ['rændəm] 随机地，任意地 stretch oneself [stretʃ] 挑战自己，尽最大的努力 be exposed to [ɪkˈspəʊzd] 接触到，暴露于 Rembrandt ['rembrænt] 伦勃朗（荷兰画家） Damien Hirst [ˈdæmiən hɜːst] 米恩·赫斯特（英国当代艺术家） exhibit [ɪɡ'zɪbɪt] 展览，展览品 broaden your thinking [ˈbrɔːd(ə)n] 拓宽思维 💡 翻译、视频版和pdf见公众号【琐简英语】，回复"1"可进【打卡交流群】

World's largest coral found in the Pacific The coral was spotted by a videographer diving off a National Geographic research ship in the Solomon Islands. It is 32m long, larger than a blue whale. It may be up to 500 years old. It is made up of billions of tiny creatures forming one organism, making it different to a coral reef. It is mostly brown, with patches of bright yellows, blues and reds. At the UN climate talks, COP29, the Solomon Islands' climate minister said the nation's coral reefs are special and need more protection from global warming. 词汇表 the Pacific [pə'sɪfɪk] 太平洋 spot [spɒt] 发现；看见，认出 videographer [ˌvɪdiˈɒɡrəfər] 摄像师；电视录像制作人 dive off [daɪv] 从……跳水，潜水 National Geographic (Society) [ˌdʒiːəˈɡræfɪk] （美国）国家地理学会 Solomon Islands [ˈsɒləmən] 所罗门群岛（西南太平洋上的群岛国家） blue whale [weɪl] 蓝鲸 organism [ˈɔː(r)ɡəˌnɪz(ə)m] 有机体，生物体 coral reef [ˈkɒrəl][riːf] 珊瑚礁 patch [pætʃ] 斑块，斑纹，斑点 UN climate talks 联合国气候会谈 COP29 第29届联合国气候变化大会 climate minister [ˈmɪnɪstə(r)] 气候大臣，气候部长 ​ 🗒️翻译和pdf见公众号【琐简英语】，回复1可加入【打卡交流群】

Let's begin in the French overseas territory of Mayotte. Just a tiny collection of dots in the Indian Ocean between Madagascar and Mozambique. It's home to around 300,000 people who've just endured one of the worst storms on the archipelago in nearly 100 years. In our earlier podcast, we quoted French media reports from soon after the cyclone made landfall on Saturday stating that four people had been found dead. Now, as we record this podcast, authorities in Mayotte are warning that the death toll from Cyclone Chido will be in the hundreds, if not the thousands. The storm spared no one and nothing. Homes, boats and schools were all destroyed, even the capital's hospital. These people in the main city of Mamudzu were queuing for food and water: We've come to get something to eat. For the kids, for us adults, for everything. We've got nothing left. The wind's taken it all away. We had stocked up, but the wind took it all away. We've had no water for three days now. We're trying to get the bare minimum to live on because we don't know when the water will come back. Chido then moved on to hit northern Mozambique with videos on social media showing flooding and uprooted trees near the port city of Pemba. The UNICEF spokesperson in Mozambique, Guy Taylor, is there: UNICEF is concerned about the immediate impacts of this cyclone, the loss of life, the damage to schools, to people's homes, to healthcare facilities. We're also worried about the longer term impacts. Children potentially being cut off from learning for weeks on end, people unable to get access to healthcare, and the potential spread of waterborne diseases like cholera and malaria. Getting hold of anyone on Mayotte is proving almost impossible. Phone lines and the Internet are down. The BBC's Richard Kagoi, who's in Nairobi, has been piecing together what's happened. What we're hearing right now is that emergency responders are currently trying to reach most places, trying to clear, so then they can be able to access much of the debris which has covered warehouses that majority of the people in the island once lived. What is the latest on the relief operation? So far we have French soldiers who had been deployed just before the cyclone struck. And today the first aircraft are carrying aid, specifically medical supplies, blood for transfusions and medical staff. Touchdown in the airport, which was significantly damaged. We're expecting two more aircrafts to come as well. And when the French interior minister will be traveling to the island, he'll be coming along with other soldiers, plus firefighters who are now going to assist with rescue and clearing operations. And presumably we're going to have big problems going forward with just basic things like food and medicine. Yeah, it is a very poor island. In fact, actually, it's the poorest of all the French territories. What's happened right now is because of the devastation, the destruction that has been caused, you'd have lots of people who have been displaced. About 300,000 people lived in this island, so preliminary estimates put it at about 100,000 of them don't even have a shelter. So first of all, access to clean drinking water, which was a huge challenge even before the cyclone, having access to food, to medicine, this is really going to be a major challenge going forward. 🌟更多文本内容见公众号【琐简英语】

Why do we choose to text instead of talk? Hello. This is 6 Minute English from BBC Learning English. I'm Neil. And I'm Georgina. Can I ask you something, Georgina? --Mm-mm-hmm. Georgina? --I said, I want to ask you something...are you listening to me? ! --Mm-hmm, just a second, Neil, I'm texting a friend. Ah, has this ever happened to you? Someone too busy texting to talk. With the huge rise of mobile phones in recent decades, communicating by text has become more and more popular and scenes like this have become increasingly common. --...and send! There, all done! Now, what were you saying, Neil? In this programme, we'll be investigating why people often choose to text, instead of talk to the people in their lives. We'll be asking whether this popular form of communication is changing how we interact with each other. --And, of course, we'll be learning some related vocabulary as well. Now, Neil, what did you want to ask me? My quiz question, Georgina, which is this. Young people are often the biggest users of mobile phones, but in a 2016 study, what percentage of British teenagers said they would prefer to send a text rather than speak to someone, even if they were in the same room? Is it a) 9 percent, b) 49 percent, or, c) 99 percent? --That sounds pretty shocking! I can't believe 99 percent of teenagers said that, so I'll guess b) 49 percent. --OK, Georgina. We'll find out later if that's right. In one way, the popularity of texting, sometimes called 'talking with thumbs', is understandable-people like to be in control of what they say. But this low-risk way of hiding behind a screen may come at a cost, as neuroscientist, Professor Sophie Scott, explained to Sandra Kanthal, for BBC World Service programme, The Why Factor. When we 'talk with our thumbs' by text or email or instant message, we're often prioritising speed over clarity and depth. But when we can't hear the way someone is speaking, it's all too easy to misunderstand their intention. So if I say a phrase like, 'Oh, shut up!' -has a different meaning than, 'Oh, shut up!' There's an emotional thing there but also a strong kind of intonation: one's sort of funny, one's just aggressive. Written down it's just aggressive- 'Shut up!' -and you can't soften that. And we always speak with melody and intonation to our voice and we'll change our meaning depending on that. You take that channel of information out of communication you lose another way that sense is being conveyed. When reading a text instead of listening to someone speak, we miss out on the speaker's intonation-that's the way the voice rises and falls when speaking. Intonation, how a word is said, often changes the meaning of words and phrases-small groups of words people use to say something particular. Reading a phrase like, 'Oh, shut up!' in a text, instead of hearing it spoken aloud, makes it easy to misunderstand the speaker's intention-their aim, or plan of what they want to do. And it's not just the speaker's intention that we miss. A whole range of extra information is conveyed through speech, from the speaker's age and gender to the region they're from. Poet, Gary Turk, believes that we lose something uniquely human when we stop talking. And there are practical problems involved with texting too, as he explains to BBC World Service's, The Why Factor. If you speak to someone in person and they don't respond right away, that would be rude. But you might be speaking to someone in person and someone texts you...and it would be ruder for you then to stop that conversation and speak to the person over text...yet the person on the other side of the text is getting annoyed -you haven't responded right way-it's like we're constantly now creating these situations using our phones that allow us to like tread on mines-no matter what you do, we're going to disappoint people because we're trying to communicate in so many different ways. Do you prioritise the person on the phone? Would you prioritise the person you're speaking to? Who do you disappoint first? You're gonna disappoint somebody. So what should you do if a friend texts you when you're already speaking to someone else in person-physically present, face to face? You can't communicate with both people at the same time, so whatever you do, someone will get annoyed-become angry and upset. Gary thinks that despite its convenience, texting creates situations where we have to tread on mines, another way of saying that something is a minefield, meaning a situation full of hidden problems and dangers, where people need to take care. Yes, it's easy to get annoyed when someone ignores you to text their friend. 📝 字数限制，完整文本、翻译及pdf见公众号【琐简英语】，回复1可加入【打卡交流群】

How You Could Ruin Someone's Day or Life A lot of evil is done in the world by people who can't imagine that they have any power to hurt anyone. It's their sense that nothing is at stake in their behaviour towards others that leads them to ignore the rules of politeness and humanity – and to kick people as if they were plated in armour. They are – in this respect – paying homage to childhood. Think of the situation of a young child, of perhaps six, who has fun mocking a parent's double chin or the wrinkles around their eyes. To this child, the parent is still, in many ways, an invulnerable deity. They live in a remote, impressive world of work, credit cards, driving and the news. How could someone of such stature be hurt by a comment about their less-than-perfect physique by a tiny person who can't spell properly? But the child is missing the point. Their words do hurt. They can make their parents cry (in private). The child simply can't grasp how desperate and anxious their parent might be, how every morning they might stare in dismay into the bathroom mirror at the visible signs of ageing that speak to them relentlessly of a wrongly-lived life. The parent, out of dignified generosity, has shielded their child from their own fragility. And now their child is paying them a beautiful if misguided, compliment: a belief that they are beyond suffering. Something related may happen when employees get together to gossip about the person they work for. In their imagination, the boss is so far above them that it couldn't possibly matter what they say about them. It's only when they themselves move to senior positions that they start to realise how vulnerable the person in charge might feel, how completely normal it is to want to be liked (even if you have a seat on the board) and how imperfect your self-esteem might be. This idea casts a useful light on the activity of particularly dangerous people online. Their venom isn't the expression of a feeling of power. Rather, the troll tends to feel like a medieval vagabond outside a heavily fortified city, hurling insults and threats at what they take to be comfortable inhabitants sleeping behind meters of stone walls lined by vigilant troops. They want to hurt, but they don't in any way actually imagine they can; that is what renders them quite so vicious. True kindness may require us to take on board a very unfamiliar idea: however young we are, however forgotten and ignored we feel we are, we have a power to cause other people serious damage. It isn't because we aren't wealthy or revered in elite circles that we thereby lose a capacity either to comfort or to wound strangers. We become properly moral, and properly adult, when we understand that we may all, whoever we may be, ruin someone's day, and on occasion, through a few incautious and misplaced words, their life. 词汇表 at stake [steɪk] 利害攸关，处于危险或风险之中 be plated in armour [pleɪt][ˈɑː(r)mə(r)] 身披盔甲 in this respect 在这一点上，从这个方面来说 pay homage to [ˈhɒmɪdʒ] 对…表敬意，致敬 mock [mɒk] 嘲笑，嘲弄，模仿 double chin [tʃɪn] 双下巴 wrinkle ['rɪŋkl] 皱纹，褶皱 invulnerable [ɪn'vʌlnərəb(ə)l] 无懈可击的，不会受伤害的，刀枪不入的 deity [ˈdeɪəti] 神，神性 stature [ˈstætʃə(r)] 身高，高度；声望，名望 less-than-perfect 不完美，不尽人意的 physique [fɪˈziːk] 体格，体形 grasp [ɡrɑːsp] 理解，领会，明白；抓住 in dismay [dɪs'meɪ] 沮丧地，惊愕地 relentlessly [rɪˈlentləsli] 无情地，残酷地；不断地 dignified [ˈdɪɡnɪfaɪd] 高贵的，有尊严的 generosity [ˌdʒenəˈrɒsəti] 慷慨，宽宏大量，大方 fragility [frə'dʒɪləti] 脆弱，虚弱，易碎 misguided [mɪsˈɡaɪdɪd] 误导的，搞错的，误入歧途的 gossip [ˈɡɒsɪp] 闲聊，说闲话，传播流言蜚语 senior position [ˈsiːniə(r)] 高级职位 vulnerable ['vʌln(ə)rəb(ə)l] 脆弱的，敏感的，易受伤的 in charge [tʃɑː(r)dʒ] 负责，主管，管理 board [bɔː(r)d] 董事会，理事会，委员会 self-esteem [selfɪˈstiːm] 自尊；自负，自大 cast a light on 阐明，揭示（使更加清晰或易于理解） venom ['venəm] 恶毒，恶意；毒液 troll [trɒl] 网络喷子（故意留下激怒他人言论的人） medieval vagabond [ˌmediˈiːv(ə)l][ˈvæɡəbɒnd] 中世纪流浪者 heavily fortified [ˈfɔː(r)tɪfaɪ] 重兵把守的，戒备森严的 hurl insults and threats [hɜː(r)l][ɪn'sʌlt] 大声辱骂和恐吓 inhabitant [ɪnˈhæbɪtənt] 居民，栖息动物 vigilant troops ['vɪdʒɪlənt] 警惕的部队 render [ˈrendə(r)] 致使，造成，使变得 vicious ['vɪʃəs] 邪恶的，恶毒的 take on board 理解，接受，考虑 revere [rɪˈvɪə(r)] 尊敬，敬畏，崇敬 elite circle [ɪˈliːt] 精英圈 incautious [ɪnˈkɔːʃəs] 不谨慎的，轻率的，鲁莽的 misplaced [ˌmɪsˈpleɪst] 不合时宜的，不恰当的 🏫翻译、视频版和pdf见公众号【琐简英语】，回复"1"可进入【打卡交流群】

What staying up all night does to your brain Anna Rothschild | TED-Ed • Nov 2024 You're just one Roman Empire history final away from a relaxing spring break. But you still have so much to study! So you decide to follow in the footsteps of many students before you and pull an all-nighter. When you stay up all night, you're fighting against your body's natural circadian rhythms. These are the cyclical changes that virtually all living things experience over the course of a 24-hour period— such as sleeping and waking— and they're heavily influenced by light. But for the moment, you're alert and powering through the rule of Julius Caesar. As the sun sets, your eyes send signals about the dwindling light to a part of your brain called suprachiasmatic nucleus. This is basically your circadian rhythm's clock. It alerts your pineal gland to start producing melatonin. That's the hormone that helps prepare your body for sleep, and levels start to rise about two hours before your normal bedtime. At the same time, neurons in the hypothalamus and brain stem release a compound called GABA. This slows down activity in your brain and can have a calming effect. You're approaching your normal bedtime. Since the brain needs to cool down before sleep, your core body temperature starts to drop. Huh, that map kind of looks like a face. Uh-oh, your attention has started to drift. Throughout the day, your brain has been releasing a waste product called adenosine. The more adenosine latching onto receptors in your brain, the more tired and inattentive you become. Time for a cup of coffee. Caffeine blocks adenosine from binding to receptors, which can give you a boost of energy. However, it might also make you jittery and increase your anxiety. You're acing these flashcards! Right now these dates and names are being stored in an area of the brain called the hippocampus. Normally when you go to sleep, memories like these are consolidated and slotted into long-term storage in your brain's neocortex. So it's a good thing you only need to remember this information through tomorrow. Microsleeps are unpredictable periods of sleep that last for only a few seconds and are triggered by sleep deprivation. You stretch in an attempt to stay awake. But at this point your motor skills have also taken a hit. Studies have found that people who have been awake for 19 hours have similar coordination and reaction times as those who have been drinking. As the sun rises, your pineal gland stops releasing melatonin. You feel a "second wind" come on. And despite everything, you leave for school in a really good mood. Sleep deprivation can briefly induce euphoria. It's caused a temporary boost in dopamine levels, which can unfortunately also lead to poor choices. The final starts off well. It's all multiple choice! But then you get to the essay portion. It's thought that during sleep, our brains process ideas and draw connections between new memories and old ones. So your sleepless brain might be able to regurgitate facts, but you're finding it more difficult to find patterns or problem solve. You stare at the blank page, defeated. You head up to your room, anxious and irritable. Your amygdala, the part of the brain involved with processing emotion, is going haywire. Your prefrontal cortex usually keeps your amygdala in check, but it still isn't firing on all cylinders. Your bed has never felt so sweet. After one sleepless night, your body and brain bounce back pretty quickly. Which is a good thing since we can't always control how much sleep we get. But going for long periods without a good night's sleep or constantly changing your bedtime, can take its toll. Regularly getting less than seven hours of sleep each night is linked to all sorts of health issues, from diabetes to stroke to chronic pain. It also leaves you more vulnerable to developing mental health issues like depression. Your sleep schedule can even affect your grades. Studies have shown that college students who keep regular sleep hours have, on average, a higher GPA than students who don't. So the next time you're thinking of pulling an all-nighter, remember that Rome wasn't built in a day, or for that matter, one night. 🎬翻译、视频和pdf见公众号【琐简英语】，回复"1" 可加入【打卡交流群】

Science and Technology 科技 Neuroscience 神经科学 Nothing better than the real thing 没有什么比真的更好了 Why recorded music will never feel as good as being at a concert 为什么听录制音乐的感受永远比不上听现场 In a world of music streaming services, access to almost any song is just a few clicks away. Yet, the live gig lives on. People still fill sweaty basements, muddy fields and gilded concert halls to hear their favourite musicians play. And now neuroscientists might know why: live music engages the brain's emotion centres more than its recorded counterpart. Concerts are immersive social experiences in which people listen to and feel the music together through crescendos, key changes and drops. They are also dynamic--artists can adapt their playing according to the crowd's reaction. It was this last difference that led neuroscientists, based at the Universities of Zurich and Oslo, to study the brain responses of people listening to music. In the“live" experiment, participants lay in an MRI scanner listening to the music through earphones, while a pianist was positioned outside the room. The pianist was shown the participant's real-time brain activity as a form of feedback. In the recorded condition, participants listened to pre-recorded versions of the same tunes. The scientists were interested in how live music affected the areas of the brain that process emotions. In the live condition pianists were instructed to try and modulate their playing in order to drive the activity in one of these regions known as the amygdala, an almond-shaped area deep inside the brain. The results, just published in the journalPNAS, showed that live music had far more emotional impact. Whether the music was happy or sad, listening to the pianist playing in a dynamic way generated more activity in both the amygdala and other parts of the brain's emotion processing network. The researchers also found that participants' brain activity tracked the acoustic features of the music, like tempo and pitch, far more closely when it was played live. The study was far from replicating the real experience of a gig, and the authors noted that the live music ended up sounding quite different from the recorded tracks, which may have driven some of the differences in participant's brain activity. But the results indicate that the ability of artists to change the way they play in response to the audience may be one aspect of what makes live music special. Some musical acts now attempt to recreate the real gig experience with everything but the artist-ABBA Voyage is a social, immersive show performed entirely by pre-recorded hologram avatars. But without Benny's ability to read the mood of the room, it will never quite match the real thing. 词汇表 recorded music 录制音乐 streaming services [ˈstriːmɪŋ] 流媒体业务 live gig [ɡɪɡ] 现场演出 sweaty basements ['sweti]['beɪsmənt] 闷热的地下室 muddy fields ['mʌdɪ] 泥泞的户外 gilded concert halls [ˈɡɪldɪd] 金碧辉煌的音乐厅 neuroscientists [ˌnjʊərəʊˈsaɪəntɪst] 神经科学家 counterpart [ˈkaʊntə(r)ˌpɑː(r)t] 对应的人（或事物） immersive [ɪ'mɜ:sɪv] 沉浸式的，身临其境的 crescendo [krəˈʃendəʊ]（音乐的）渐强，声音渐增 key changes 音调变化 drop （音乐）高潮部分 dynamic [daɪ'næmɪk] 动态的，不断变化的 MRI scanner [ˈskænə(r)] 核磁共振扫描仪(magnetic resonance imaging) position 安置，使处于 real-time 实时的，及时处理的 tune [tjuːn] 曲子，曲调 modulate [ˈmɒdjʊleɪt] 调节，调整（声音等），变调 amygdala [ə'mɪɡdələ] 杏仁核 almond-shaped [ˈɑːmənd] 杏仁状的 PNAS 美国国家科学院院刊(Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences) acoustic [əˈkuːstɪk] 听觉的，声学的，音响的 tempo [ˈtempəʊ] （音乐的）节奏，拍子 pitch [pɪtʃ] 音准，音高 replicate [ˈreplɪkeɪt] 复制，复现，重复 track（光盘、录音磁带等上的）一首歌，一支乐曲 hologram [ˈhɒləɡræm] 全息图，全息摄影 avatar [ˈævəˌtɑː(r)] 虚拟化身，替身 🔆翻译、pdf见公众号【琐简英语】，回复"1"可进【打卡交流群】

Are middle-aged people more unhealthy than ever? The findings come from nearly 8,000 adults taking part in the 1970 British cohort study that spans more than 50 years of life. Around one-in-three of this group of people aged 46 to 48 had two or more chronic health conditions – that includes issues such as recurrent back problems, mental ill health, and high blood pressure as well as risky drinking. Although obesity was not recorded as a health condition, it was measured as a possible risk factor and did appear to be linked to diabetes and high blood pressure. Experts advise that even in later life, adopting healthy choices, such as eating a good diet, limiting alcohol intake, quitting smoking and getting regular exercise, can make a difference. 词汇表 cohort [ˈkəʊˌhɔː(r)t] 定群的（将特定人群分组追踪观察的） chronic [ˈkrɒnɪk] 慢性的，长期的 recurrent [rɪ'kʌrənt] 反复出现的，周期性的 risky drinking 危险饮酒（指饮酒过量或酗酒的行为） obesity [əʊˈbiːsəti] 肥胖，肥胖症 diabetes [ˌdaɪəˈbiːtiːz] 糖尿病 alcohol intake [ˈælkəˌhɒl][ˈɪnteɪk] 酒精摄入量，饮酒量 quit [kwɪt] 戒掉，停止，摆脱 🗒️翻译和pdf见公众号【琐简英语】，回复1可加入【打卡交流群】

Easy ways to get more nutrients A can of soft drink and two large eggs may have a similar number of calories, but the eggs will provide us with protein, vitamins and other nutrients, and satisfy our hunger, while a fizzy drink provides little more than tooth decay and calories. The important concept here is nutrient density. This is the number of nutrients we take in for each calorie consumed. No one would suggest replacing sweet drinks with eggs, but what can we do to increase nutrient density in our diet? "Have you had your five a day?" that's the message on British supermarket shelves, and it's asking about fruit and vegetables. Many countries have launched similar campaigns to encourage people to eat more healthily. Fresh, natural produce is usually very dense in nutrients. Eating a wide range of fruits and vegetables is important, so some advice focuses on including different colours of food in our diets. 'Eating a rainbow' could be one way to get more nutrients. Other advice recommends that we are more adventurous in what we eat. Cooking food that we haven't eaten before can lead us to use ingredients that we don't usually consume. This can give us a wider range of nutrients. It's not just about fruit and vegetables. Even using different seasoning can offer health benefits. Nutrition academic Hazel Flight highlights that flavourings such as garlic, ginger or turmeric can have antioxidant and anti-inflammatory properties, while also leading people to use less salt. Dairy products such as milk and cheese, are high in calcium, while in limited amounts, meat can be a good source of protein. If you're not feeling that adventurous, then swapping individual food items can be beneficial. Choosing wholegrain bread or rice instead of white bread or rice can increase fibre intake. Unsalted nuts provide more nutrients than snacks such as crisps. Possibly surprisingly, popcorn is a wholegrain snack that is high in fibre. So, fresh fruit and vegetables, swapping the worst things, and just a little bit more adventure could be the secret to a more nutritious diet. 词汇表 soft drink 软饮料（不含酒精） calorie [ˈkælərɪ] 卡路里（热量单位） protein [ˈprəʊtiːn] 蛋白质 vitamin [ˈvɪtəmɪn] 维生素 nutrient [ˈnjuːtriənt] 营养素，营养物，养分 fizzy drink ['fɪzi] 汽水，碳酸饮料 tooth decay [dɪ'keɪ] 蛀牙 nutrient density ['densəti] 营养密度 take in 摄入，吸收 consume 吃，食用，摄入 launch campaigns [lɔːntʃ] [kæm'peɪn] 发起运动 produce 农产品 dense in 富含 a wide range of 许多，各种各样的，广泛的 adventurous [ədˈventʃ(ə)rəs] 勇于冒险的，大胆的 ingredient [ɪnˈɡriːdiənt] 食材，配料，原料 seasoning [ˈsiːz(ə)nɪŋ] 调味品，佐料 flavouring ['fleɪvərɪŋ] 调味品，调味料 garlic [ˈɡɑː(r)lɪk] 大蒜，蒜头 ginger [ˈdʒɪndʒə(r)] 姜，生姜 turmeric [ˈtɜː(r)mərɪk] 姜黄 antioxidant [ˌæntiˈɒksɪd(ə)nt] 抗氧化的；抗氧化剂 anti-inflammatory [ˌæntiɪnˈflæmətəri] 抗炎的，消炎的；抗炎药 property [ˈprɒpə(r)ti] 属性，特性，性能 dairy products [ˈdeəri] 乳制品，奶制品 calcium ['kælsiəm] 钙 swap [swɒp] 交换，替换 wholegrain [ˈhəʊlˌɡreɪn] 全麦的，全谷物的 fibre intake [ˈfaɪbə(r)] [ˈɪnteɪk]（膳食）纤维摄入量 unsalted nuts [ʌnˈsɔːltɪd] 无盐坚果 snack [snæk] 零食，小吃，点心 crisp [krɪsp] 炸薯片，松脆食品 popcorn [ˈpɒpˌkɔː(r)n] 爆米花 📖 翻译、pdf见公众号【琐简英语】，回复"1"可进【打卡交流群】

Why read books, not screens? Hello. This is 6 Minute English from BBC Learning English. I'm Phil. And I'm Georgie. For me, there's nothing like reading a book – I love turning the pages and the smell of the paper. But nowadays, the fact is that much of the time we read from electronic screens, not paper. --Yes. Like Georgie, I love books. I also find that too much screen time hurts my eyes. But the availability of digital information means that I end up reading from screens most days. So, apart from sore eyes, is this a problem? Is reading from screens harmless, or could it be damaging us in some way, such as reducing our attention span - the length of time that someone can keep concentrated on what they are doing? That's what we'll be discussing in this programme, and of course, we'll be learning some useful new vocabulary too. Great, but first it's time for my question. Whether you prefer paper or screens, as humans we're now reading more words than ever before. So how many words does the average person read a day? Is it: a) 50,000 words? b) 100,000 words? or, c) 200,000 words? --I'll guess it's 50,000 words a day. --OK, Georgie, we'll find out the correct answer later in the programme. Of course, there's little doubt that any kind of reading is good for you. Here's Cressida Cowell, author of the How to Train Your Dragon children's books, speaking with BBC Ideas: Reading brings three magical powers - creativity, intelligence, and empathy. Reading for the joy of it is one of the two key factors in a kid's later economic success. You're more likely to not be in prison, to vote, to own your own home. All of these advantages and benefits happen as a result of literacy. Cressida talks about the importance of reading for the joy of it. When you do an activity for the joy of it, you do it simply for the pleasure of doing it, rather than as a way to gain something else. Cressida lists the many benefits of reading for children, including economic success in later life. But many of these benefits depend on a state known as 'deep reading' – analysing a text to understand its deeper meaning. And in test after test, researchers have shown that 'deep reading' skills develop better when kids read from books. Professor Maryanne Wolf is a teacher, and advocate for children's literacy around the world. Here, she explains more about 'deep reading' to BBC Ideas: When we read at a surface level, we're just getting the information. When we read deeply, we use much more of our cerebral cortex. Deep reading means that we make analogies, we make inferences, which allows us to be truly critical, analytic, empathic, human beings. The reality is, it's not what, or how much we read but how we read, that's really important. The very volume is having negative effects because to absorb that much, there's a propensity towards skimming. Professor Wolf's research shows that reading from screens encourages reading at the surface level – quickly and superficially looking at what can be easily understood. Reading books, on the other hand, activates different areas of the brain, allowing a reader to develop positive traits like empathy, and to understand the deeper level of a book, including analogies and inferences. An analogy is a comparison between things that have similar features. For example, you might talk about the human heart using the analogy of a pump. An inference is a guess, opinion, or conclusion that you make based on the information you already have. For example, seeing smoke in the distance you would make an inference that there's fire. It's these types of deeper, more subtle understanding that we get from reading books. So, why is it that reading from screens doesn't develop these skills in the same way? Well, the answer has to do with the volume, the sheer number of words, pings and notifications that screens bombard us with every day. Instead of deep reading, this encourages skimming - reading rapidly in order to get a general overview of something. I think it's time to reveal the answer to my question, Georgie. I asked you how many words does the average modern person read a day. --And I guessed it was 50,000 words. --Well, you were half right. In fact, the correct answer was double that – 100,000 words. 📝 字数限制，完整文本，翻译及pdf见公众号【琐简英语】，回复1可加入【打卡交流群】