Why do we put on weight when in a relationship? The subject of today's episode is something that's happened to many of us. See how familiar the scenario sounds. You meet someone special, start spending a lot of time together and gradually fall in love. You go out for romantic dinners, you order takeout and watch Netflix on the couch. You share desserts and drinks. You're so caught up feeling happy and comfortable with your partner that you don't worry too much about your appearance. Then one day you step on the scales and realise that you've gained some extra pounds, or maybe you notice that your clothes are feeling tighter, or that you feel more sluggish and tired. Oh yeah, I've definitely been there. At some point you just start asking yourself, what happened? Research has suggested that relationship weight gain is a real thing. A 2013 survey by Diet Chef found that over 60% of us put on weight when in a comfortable relationship. It's not just because we eat more or exercise less, there are actually several factors that can contribute to the phenomenon. One is hormonal. When you're in love your body releases chemicals like oxytocin, dopamine and serotonin, which make you feel happy, relaxed and bonded with your partner. They also lower your stress levels and suppress your appetite, but the effects aren't permanent. As your relationship matures and becomes more stable, your hormone levels tend to normalise. This means that you may feel less euphoric and more hungry than before. Another factor is behavioural. When you're in a relationship, you tend to adopt some of your partner's habits and preferences. That can be a good thing if your partner has a healthy lifestyle. But it can also be a bad thing if they tend to eat junk food, skip breakfast or sleep in late all the time. It can also be hard to find motivation to stay in shape when in a relationship. That's especially true if you're happy and satisfied with your partner. You may feel less pressure to impress them or attract other potential mates. What are the best ways of preventing or reversing relationship weight gain? Thankfully, relationship weight gain is neither inevitable nor irreversible. With some awareness and effort, you can maintain a healthy weight and a healthy relationship. It's important to communicate with your partner about your respective health goals and expectations, and then support each other in achieving them. You can also plan healthy activities and meals together and encourage each other to stay on track. To some extent you should also be mindful of your eating habits. Pay attention to what you eat, how much you eat and why you eat. Avoid mindless snacking or emotional eating. Choose nutritious foods that fill you up and give you energy. You may want to consider changing your daily routine to incorporate physical exercise and make sure you're getting 7-9 hours of quality sleep. That said, it's important to remember that weight is not the only measure of your worth or attractiveness. Appreciate yourself and your partner for who you are, not just what you look like. There you have it. 词汇表 be caught up 沉浸于，着迷于；陷入，被卷入 sluggish [ˈslʌɡɪʃ] （行动）缓慢的，迟钝的 hormonal [hɔːˈməʊnl] 荷尔蒙的，激素的 oxytocin [ˌɒksɪˈtəʊsɪn] 催产素（促进情感联结的激素） dopamine [ˈdəʊpəmiːn] 多巴胺（与愉悦感相关的神经递质） serotonin [ˌserəˈtəʊnɪn] 血清素（影响情绪、食欲的神经递质） feel bonded with [fiːl ˈbɒndɪd wɪð] 与…产生亲密感，与…建立联结 suppress your appetite [səˈpres jɔː(r) ˈæpɪtaɪt] 抑制食欲 normalise [ˈnɔːməlaɪz] （使）正常化，（使）恢复正常 euphoric [juːˈfɒrɪk] 极度兴奋的，狂喜的，亢奋的 behavioural [bɪˈheɪvjərəl] 行为的，行为方面的 stay in shape 保持身材，保持良好体型 irreversible [ˌɪrɪˈvɜː(r)səbl] 不可逆转的，无法挽回的 respective [rɪˈspektɪv] 各自的，分别的 stay on track 保持正轨，坚持目标前行 be mindful of [ˈmaɪndfl] 留意，注意，关注 mindless snacking [ˈmaɪndləs ˈsnækɪŋ] 无意识地吃零食，机械性进食 emotional eating [ɪˈməʊʃənl ˈiːtɪŋ] 情绪性进食 fill up 使吃饱，使充满，填满 incorporate [ɪnˈkɔː(r)pəreɪt] 包含，吸收，纳入 🪴翻译和pdf见公众号【琐简英语】，回复"1"可进入【打卡交流群】

Can climate change affect our mental health? Beth Hello and welcome to 6 Minute English from BBC Learning English. I'm Beth. Neil And I'm Neil. Today we're going to talk about climate change and how it can affect people's mental health. Natural disasters and the impacts of climate change can be stressful. Isn't that right, Beth? Beth Yeah, definitely. In today's episode we're going to find out about how people can protect their mental health from the impacts of climate change. We'll be hearing from a psychiatry expert and a man who survived a wildfire and helped rebuild his town. Neil But first, Beth, I have a question for you. Scientists aren't always sure whether natural disasters like floods and wildfires are as a result of human-caused climate change. But in January 2025, big wildfires affected big parts of Los Angeles in California. But according to research organisation World Weather Attribution, human-caused climate change made the fires: a) 10% more likely, b) 35% more likely, or c) 20% less likely. Beth Erm… I'm going to say 10% more likely. Neil OK. Well, we'll find out the answer at the end of the programme. Now, natural disasters like floods and wildfires can destroy homes and communities. Beth People who live in areas affected by natural disasters can often experience climate trauma. Trauma is what we call the very bad and long-lasting emotional effects of an event or experience. Neil Professor Jyoti Mishra is an expert in climate trauma at the University of California. She explained more about the condition to Graihagh Jackson, host of BBC World Service programme, The Climate Question. Jyoti Mishra Climate trauma is not an individual trauma, it's a community-wide trauma which really requires community-wide healing. Graihagh Jackson Yeah, I'm really struck by what you've said about the fact that it's whole communities that are affected, not individuals, but also part of the solution is about the community and how it rebuilds and reknits together. Jyoti Mishra Absolutely, yes. So, we've found that individuals who have a greater sense of positive support from their family and a greater sense of meaningful connection with their community — they are in general more resilient. Beth Jyoti's research on climate trauma has found that it affects communities rather than individuals. Neil Host of the programme Graihagh Jackson is struck by what Jyoti says. If you're struck by an idea, you find it particularly interesting or impressive. Beth Graihagh says that part of the solution to climate trauma could be in how the community reknits together. This means how the social connections in a community are restored. We can often describe a community as close-knit, which means everyone helps and supports each other. Neil Jyoti explains that having a strong community also helps reduce or heal climate trauma. She says that research has found that people who have a strong community are more resilient when bad things, like natural disasters, happen. If you're resilient, you're able to get better more easily after something difficult or bad happens. Beth One person who had to be resilient is Brad Sherwood. He survived a wildfire in Northern California in 2017 called the Tubbs fire, but when he returned home, his neighbourhood was destroyed. Neil Brad started to volunteer for a local support network called After the Fire to try to rebuild his community, as he explained to BBC World Service programme, The Climate Question. Brad Sherwood The silver lining in all this — I mean, if it wasn't for the Tubbs fire, we wouldn't be working as a community right now to build a new community plaza. We were a close community before the Tubbs, but afterwards we are so much stronger and resilient. And I think our children are as well. They can jump over any hurdle. Beth Brad says that the work to rebuild and improve his community is the silver lining to the fire. The expression silver lining means a positive thing that comes from a negative situation. Neil Brad's community became more resilient after the fire, including the children. He says that they can jump over any hurdle. We can describe challenges or difficult things in life as hurdles. Beth And it's quite inspiring, I think, to hear how Brad has taken a bad situation and tried to stay resilient. Now, the organisation Brad volunteers for, After the Fire, are helping those impacted by the fires in LA in January. Neil Which reminds me, I asked you, Beth, about the impacts of human-made climate change on the wildfires in LA in January. Beth And I said 10% more likely. Neil Which was, I'm afraid, the wrong answer. It was actually 35%. 📝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】

5 Questions to Ask Yourself Every Evening Our minds are some of the busiest places in the known universe. It is estimated that, under a deceptively calm exterior, some 70,000 separate thoughts hurry through consciousness from the moment we wake up to the time we slip into sleep. What these many thoughts have in common is that we seldom do them any kind of justice. The result of this kind of sensory overload is an immense difficulty processing what we've actually been through. But these thoughts and feelings do need to be understood – and will protest more or less actively when they are not. Anger that hasn't been given its due will emerge as irritability, grief that hasn't been honoured will metastasize into aimlessness and despair. What we call mental illnesses are usually the outcome of periods of our lives that we haven't had the strength or opportunity to understand or mourn. And that's why we have produced five questions that we suggest can be rehearsed every evening on a regular basis. And we'll help to appease the sources of our troubles. First question: what am I really worried about? This question recognises something rather unusual about how we operate: we frequently don't stop to ask ourselves what we are truly worried about. This sounds odd. Surely if we are worried, we would be expected to pause rather quickly – and explore why. But our minds seem not to work in this supremely logical-sounding way: they feel anxious long before they are ever motivated to ask themselves why they might be so. They can carry on for months, even years, under the fog of diffuse concern before setting themselves the challenge of zeroing in on what is really at stake. Second question: what am I presently sad about? We can make a generalisation: we go around being far braver than is good for us. Because we need to get on with the practicalities of the day, we frequently push to the side all the slights, hurts, disappointments and griefs that flow through our river of consciousness. We chose not to notice how vulnerable we are for fear that we cannot afford our own sensitivity. But stoicism and strength carry their own dangers. With the help of this question, we should give time to noticing that – despite our competent and strong exteriors – lots of smaller and larger things have managed to hurt us today, like every day: perhaps someone didn't laugh when we told a joke, our partner has been a little distant of late, a friend didn't call, a senior figure at work was less than completely impressed… Third question: who has annoyed me and how? We want to be polite of course. We're attached to the norms of civilisation. It upsets us to think we might be upset. Nevertheless, here too we need to have the courage of our actual sensitivity. No day goes by without someone annoying us in some rather fundamental way – usually without them in any way meaning to. Our spirits will be lighter if we can bring ourselves to spell out the injury. What happened? How did it make us feel? What might we tell ourselves to refind equilibrium? Now, as careful guardians to ourselves, we can internalise the process and use our inner adult to soothe the always easily flustered but also easily calmed inner child. Fourth question: what does my body want? Much of what we feel but don't process has a habit of ending up in our bodies. That's why we develop backache, tense shoulders, knotted stomachs and fluttery hearts. In order to live more easily around our bodies, we should regularly drain them of the emotions that they have unfairly been burdened with. We should mentally scan our bodies from top to toe and ask ourselves what each organ might require: what do my shoulders want to tell me? What would my stomach want to say? What does my back need? What do my legs crave? Fifth question: what is still lovely? Despite so much that is difficult, every day brings us up against a range of things that still delight and enchant us. Often, these elements are small: the light on the kitchen wall in the morning; a child holding its parent's hand at the bus stop; a fig we had at lunch time. These might not sound like things we should bother to register – but summoned up in their full richness and held in our attention for a few moments, they can help to fortify us against the voices of despair. When Socrates, apparently the wisest man of antiquity, was asked to define our highest purpose as human beings, he offered a still-legendary answer: 'To know ourselves.' We should aspire to be people who never cease to try to make sense of themselves at the close of every day. We should devote ourselves constantly to trying to shrink the scale of the darkness within us; bringing what was once in shadow closer to the light of interpretation, so that we stand a chance of becoming slightly less frantic and rather more joyful, creative and calm creatures. 🏫字数限制，词汇表，翻译，视频和pdf见公众号【琐简英语】，回复"1"可进入【打卡交流群】

Small steps to build long-lasting habits It's day one of a healthier, smarter, better you. You're full of zest and good intentions. You woke up at 5am to run before work, you read a book in your lunch break, and you listened to an English podcast on your commute. Now, fast forward three months. Life is getting in the way, and you've slipped into old habits… snoozing your alarm and eating chocolate for breakfast. Sound familiar? Don't be hard on yourself. It's unrealistic to rely on willpower alone. As James Clear, author of the bestselling book 'Atomic Habits', writes, "The problem isn't you. The problem is your system." Our habits come from goals, so start by getting really clear. Goals, according to George T Doran, should be SMART: specific, measurable, achievable, relevant and time-bound. It's not enough to say, "I'll exercise more" – that's too vague! A SMART goal would be "I'm going to walk for 20 minutes in the evenings on weekdays." Now you have a clear action that you can stick to. Once you're clear on your goals, you need to make the associated habits as automatic as possible. Try 'habitstacking', a technique popularised in the book 'Atomic Habits', which involves attaching a new habit onto something you already do regularly. For example, if you already make coffee every morning, use that moment to read your book for 20 minutes. That way, your new reading habit is now intertwined with something you're going to do anyway. Another key strategy is to reward yourself, to transform the habit from a chore into something pleasurable. If it's hard to get yourself to the gym, promise yourself that after each visit, you'll allow yourself a treat – a takeaway meal or an episode of your favourite TV show. Even with our best intentions and a great system, stress and interruptions to your routine like social events can still make keeping habits feel like an uphill battle. If or when you have setbacks, accept it as part of the process. Life is full of spontaneity and uncertainty – one could argue that's what keeps it interesting! Use setbacks as a pause for reflection and review. What about your system is working? What's no longer serving you? Then, get back on track. 词汇表 zest [zest] 热情，兴致 commute [kəˈmjuːt] 通勤，上下班路程 fast forward 快进，时间跳跃 get in the way 阻碍，妨碍 slip into [slɪp] 陷入，逐渐养成（坏习惯） snooze the alarm [snuːz] 按掉闹钟继续睡，按下贪睡按钮 hard on yourself 对自己太苛刻 willpower [ˈwɪlpaʊə(r)] 意志力 ，毅力 Atomic Habits [əˌtɒmɪk ˈhæbɪts] 《原子习惯》（书名） time-bound [ˈtaɪm baʊnd] 有时间要求的，受时间限制的 vague [veɪɡ] 模糊的，不明确的 automatic [ˌɔːtəˈmætɪk] 自动化的，无意识的 habitstacking [ˈhæbɪtˌstækɪŋ] 习惯叠加（将新习惯与现有习惯结合） be intertwined with [ˌɪntəˈtwaɪnd] 与…紧密关联 ，交织 chore [tʃɔː(r)] 杂事，琐事，苦差事 uphill battle [ˌʌpˈhɪl ˈbæt(ə)l] 艰苦斗争，苦战 setback [ˈsetbæk] 挫折，阻碍 spontaneity [ˌspɒntəˈneɪəti] 自发性，自然 get back on track 重回正轨 ，重振旗鼓 📖 翻译、pdf见公众号【琐简英语】，回复"1"可进【打卡交流群】

How to Learn Faster If You Are Not a Genius Here's the thing: whatever you want to learn, don't just pick a course and dive straight into it – most curricula, whether online or in school, aren't optimised for your personal needs. You must build a learning map that helps you reach the outcome you want as fast as possible. This technique of building learning maps is known as meta-learning. Scott Young discusses meta-learning in his book: "Ultralearning". Many famous entrepreneurs, such as Elon Musk and Gabriel Weinberg, use it. To give you an example, imagine you must empty a hundred water bottles as fast as you can. If you don't know the trick of fast discharge (by swirling the bottle), you'll do what most people do – flip the bottle into the sink and squeeze it – a massive waste of time. Meta-learning is like the trick to empty a water bottle faster – it's all about the methods that can help you speed up your learning. Here's a three-step strategy to build learning maps that will help you learn any topic super-fast. 1. Know Your Type of Motivation to Learn When you learn something new, your motivation is either internal or external. Internal motivation: you learn because you genuinely enjoy the topic; you have a passion for it. For example, you want to speak French because you love how it sounds. External motivation: you learn to achieve a specific outcome not related to the topic you want to learn. For example, you want to learn software, writing, or entrepreneurship, to make a lot of money. Here's your first step: Know which kind of motivation drives you to learn. Why? Because a topic has many sections, and most of them are irrelevant to your goal. Once you have a clear image of the outcome you want, focus your time and energy on the best sections and skip the trivials forever or later. 2. Build the Structure Before You Start Learning a skill is like navigating a building to look for a treasure. If you know the structure of a building better than anyone, you'll take the fastest route to get what you want inside that building. Here's your second step: Learn the structure of the topic to speed up your understanding. To do so, create a table with three columns: concepts, facts, and procedures. Concepts are the things you need to understand the topic. They are the fundamental principles, theories, and formalisms. Facts are truthful things that you must know and remember about the topic. They come in the form of laws, techniques, or statements. Procedures are all the actions you must take to get better at the topic. They increase your skill level and practical knowledge. 1) Find all possible concepts, facts, and procedures and write them down. 2) Order the items from each column by the level of challenge and importance – give an impact factor to each item. 3) Gather the resources relevant to each concept, fact, and procedure. Once you finish, you'll have a good knowledge tree for the topic. 3. Know Where to Start and What to Leave Knowing where to start and what to leave later will make a massive difference to your learning speed. The B.E.E (Benchmark, Emphasis, and Exclude) method will help you do that. This brings you to the third step. Benchmark Gather highly-rated resources – best-selling online courses, books, articles, and top university courses. Download the syllabus of the resources you gathered. Look for common patterns in these syllabi. Focus on areas with maximum overlap. Emphasise and Exclude To reach the desired level of mastery as soon as possible, you must customise your curriculum to fit your personal goal. The way to achieve this is by maintaining what is important to you and excluding what is not. Here are two examples. If you want to speak Italian during a trip to Florence, emphasise learning to pronounce and exclude learning how to spell. If you want to build apps quickly, focus on app development rather than theories of computer science. No matter what field you dream of mastering, meta-learning will speed your learning compared to your workmates and competitors. And the more you use meta-learning, the more efficient you become at learning, it's a certain way for you to become a super learner. 词汇表 genius [ˈdʒiːniəs] 天才；天赋，天资 dive straight into [daɪv streɪt ˈɪntuː] 一头扎进，直接投入 curricula [kəˈrɪkjʊlə] 课程（curriculum [kəˈrɪkjʊləm] 的复数形式） meta-learning [ˌmetə ˈlɜː(r)nɪŋ] 元学习（指关于学习的学习，即学习如何更有效地学习） discharge [dɪsˈtʃɑː(r)dʒ] 排出，放出 swirl [swɜː(r)l] （使）打旋，旋转 flip [flɪp] 快速翻转，轻抛 sink [sɪŋk] 水槽，洗碗池 internal [ɪnˈtɜː(r)nəl] 内在的，内部的 external [ɪkˈstɜː(r)nəl] 外在的，外部的 entrepreneurship [ˌɒntrəprəˈnɜː(r)ʃɪp] 创业，企业家精神 trivial [ˈtrɪviəl] 琐碎的，无足轻重的 navigate [ˈnævɪɡeɪt] 导航，穿越，横渡 column [ˈkɒləm] 列；栏目，专栏 formalism [ˈfɔː(r)məlɪzəm] 形式体系，形式主义 benchmark [ˈbentʃmɑː(r)k] 基准，参照标准 exclude [ɪkˈskluːd] 排除，不包括 syllabi [ˈsɪləbaɪ] 课程大纲，教学大纲（syllabus [ˈsɪləbəs] 的复数形式） overlap [ˌəʊvə(r)ˈlæp] 重叠，重合 mastery [ˈmɑːstəri] 精通，掌握 customise [ˈkʌstəmaɪz] 定制，定做 💡 翻译、视频和pdf见公众号【琐简英语】，回复"1"可进【打卡交流群】

Five tips for success with Bonita Norris, who climbed Everest aged just 22 When you see the sun rise from the top of the world, it was just the most beautiful thing you could imagine. (In 2010, Bonita Norris became the youngest British woman to climb to the summit of Mount Everest. She was 22.) My first tip would be to just start. The difference between most successful people and unsuccessful people is that successful people just gave it a shot, and they just took that first step. Small steps make the biggest difference. There were so many moments, when I've been in the Himalayas, where I've felt like I couldn't take another step, I couldn't do anything more. And it's so easy to get paralysed by the enormity of the challenge, and lose sight that the step in front of you is all you have to ever worry about. My next tip: Visualise. I'd make a playlist of music that will transport me to the mountain as soon as I put it on, shut my eyes, and I can imagine myself climbing that peak. Just taking the time to really visualise what it means to achieve it. I think that most people give up because they lose sight of their dream, they forget why they started. Spend more time in nature. I always ran as a way to get fit and I would go to the forest, the things that became really highly emotional and I'd get really upset about suddenly weren't such a big dea.l. Stop letting your ego get in the way. Your ego can be the biggest wall that you have to climb. The most successful people in life are the ones who are able to be honest, and vulnerable with others. The more you build up a wall around you, the more you have to pretend to be someone that you're not. I don't think that just getting to the top of a mountain makes you a good person, or a successful person. For me, success comes down to, can you get to that point by being a compassionate person to others, by being in touch with yourself, and being respectful of the environment around you. I don't believe that you have to be ruthless to get what you want in life. My final tip is you have to trust in something. Whether it's yourself, whether it's in God, whether it's in nature or the universe, but just having that trust that it will work out somehow, and if it doesn't work out in the way I want, then maybe I'll learn something from it. When you have been to the top of the world, you appreciate such simple things, you don't want to have power of money or status or material items. You want to have great connections with your family, because when you think you're going to die, they're all you think about. You want to feel that feeling when you've been on your feet for 24 hours and you're still climbing, and you think, "wow, the human body is amazing." Those are the moments, I think, that have made me feel most successful, and, ultimately, those are, in some ways, some of the hardest moments in life to find. 词汇表 summit [ˈsʌmɪt] 山顶，顶峰；顶点，最高点 Mount Everest [ˈmaʊnt ˈevərɪst] 珠穆朗玛峰（世界最高峰） Himalayas [ˌhɪməˈleɪəz] 喜马拉雅山脉（世界海拔最高的山脉） paralysed [ˈpærəlaɪzd] 吓倒的，惊呆的；麻痹的，瘫痪的 enormity [ɪˈnɔː(r)məti] 艰巨性，严重性；巨大，庞大 visualise [ˈvɪʒuəlaɪz] 想象，设想，使形象化 playlist [ˈpleɪlɪst] （音乐）播放列表 lose sight of 忘记，忽略，不再看见 be vulnerable with ['vʌln(ə)rəb(ə)l] 向…展现脆弱（或弱点） compassionate [kəmˈpæʃ(ə)nət] 有同情心的，怜悯的 ruthless [ˈruːθləs] 冷酷的，无情的，残忍的 💡 翻译和pdf见公众号【琐简英语】，回复"1"可进【打卡交流群】

The Diderot effect: Why we buy things we don't need In 1769, in Paris, a French philosopher wrote an essay about an unusual experience. His name was Denis Diderot, most famous for his role in compiling one of the first modern encyclopedias. In the essay, he describes how he'd come into possession of a new, luxurious red dressing gown. But rather than make him happy, it made him miserable; and the cause of that unhappiness is still being examined by psychologists and marketing professionals some 250 years later. The reason Diderot's new dressing gown was making him unhappy was that its beauty and luxury clashed with his other, much shabbier possessions. Now all is discord, red. the overall effect is lost. There's no longer any unity or beauty. This need for unity left him with a desire to upgrade his stuff so that it matched the luxury of his new dressing gown. Soon there was a new tapestry, new paintings, new prints, a new chair, armoire, a mirror, a new bureau, an expensive clock. Soon his whole apartment was completely transformed. As Diderot described it, the 'imperious' dressing gown had 'imposed her new harmony' on this home. In 1988 anthropologists Grant McCracken coined the term 'Diderot effect' to describe this desire for unity and how it shapes what we buy. At that time many economists saw consumer goods in isolation, each one owned just for its function and utility and therefore easily replaced if a cheaper or better version came along. McCracken argued differently. Rather than looking at possessions individually, he argued the things we own reflect our identity and place in society, and for this reason, often belong in sets held together by the force of the Diderot effect. So, a banker buys a Rolex to go with his BMW and bottle of Bollinger, or a hipster buys a graphic tee and beard oil, to go with his overpriced and under-functioning bicycle. Now, sometimes the Diderot effect stops a consumer buying something, even if it's useful and a good price, because it doesn't fit with the set of goods that person already owns. But at other times the appearance of something new — what McCracken calls a departure good — can lead to the run of consumption that Diderot observed with his dressing gown: Each new purchase made to match the qualities of that new item. Now Diderot may have observed this effect a long time ago, but even today his insights on why we buy are still used by one group of people: Those who sell us stuff. For example, look at Apple. For many, the purchase of the iPhone was a departure good that led — via the Diderot effect — to them buying other Apple products, seeking the unity and beauty that would come with them having the complete set. This is also why it helps Ikea to put its products in branded groups. You come in to replace a chest of drawers, but the Diderot effect tempts you to get the bed, wardrobe, dressing table and hat stand that seem to belong with it. The way things are laid out in stores works in a similar way. Each of these rooms is filled with items that go with the others and together represent a whole new identity or lifestyle. If you can be tempted by one element of the set, the Diderot effect means a whole run of new purchases are likely to follow. Other writers looking at the Diderot effect — like Juliet Schor in the Overspent American — have argued there is a cruelty to this never-ending escalator of desire. She argues, often we're buying something because of a 'symbolic fantasy' attached to it. In Diderot's case, perhaps he hoped that with the dressing gown, would come the economic security of those who owned luxurious items just like it. Yet, Schor argues, when we get the product, we don't get the thing that was promised to come with it. And this was true for Diderot, who despite getting the new gown wasn't rich. Perversely he felt more free in his old gown, which he was more comfortable using to wipe dust from books or clean his pen nibs. As he wrote, I was absolute master of my old dressing gown but I had become a slave to my new one. His new gown had promised security and freedom, but in the end, it trapped him. 词汇表 compile [kəmˈpaɪl] 编纂，汇编，编写 encyclopedia [ɪnˌsaɪkləˈpiːdiə] 百科全书 luxurious [lʌɡˈʒʊəriəs] 奢侈的，豪华的 dressing gown [ˈdresɪŋ ɡaʊn] 晨衣，睡袍 clash with [klæʃ] 与…冲突，抵触，不调和 shabby [ˈʃæbi] 破旧的，破烂的；卑鄙的 discord [ˈdɪskɔː(r)d] 不一致，不协调；意见不合 unity [ˈjuːnəti] 统一，和谐，一致 tapestry [ˈtæpəstri] 挂毯，织锦；织锦画 print [prɪnt] 印刷品；版画 armoire [ɑː(r)ˈmwɑː(r)] （法式）大衣柜 bureau [ˈbjʊərəʊ] 书桌，写字台 imperious [ɪmˈpɪəriəs] 专横的，傲慢的 impose on [ɪmˈpəʊz] 把…强加于，施加影响于 anthropologist [ˌænθrəˈpɒlədʒɪst] 人类学家 Diderot effect [ˈdidəroʊ ɪˈfekt] 狄德罗效应（指人们在拥有新物品后，为保持协调而不断购买更多物品的现象） utility [juːˈtɪləti] 实用，效用 Rolex [ˈrəʊleks] 劳力士（手表品牌） BMW 宝马（汽车品牌） Bollinger [ˈbɒlɪndʒə(r)] 堡林爵（香槟品牌） 💡 完整词汇表、翻译和pdf见公众号【琐简英语】，回复"1"可进【打卡交流群】

Is it a good idea to fall asleep to music? Many of us have a ritual of falling asleep to our favourite tunes or a comforting podcast. It's no surprise we find solace in this routine. After all, music is known to dial down blood pressure and heart rate, ease anxiety and reduce cortisol levels. The benefits don't stop there. Music can also boost oxytocin production and sweep away those pesky negative thoughts, setting the stage for a peaceful night's rest. For those battling chronic pain, melodies can be a balm offering a more tranquil slumber thanks to music's proven pain-dulling powers. In fact, the innovative music care app developed by Dr. Stephanie Goetan even lets healthcare providers prescribe tunes as a form of pain management. What's the best soundtrack for slumber? Should you just hit shuffle and hope for the best? Not quite. To truly let your mind meander into dreamland, opt for slower beats and instrumental tracks. Nature sounds, gentle classical pieces or mellow jazz can work wonders. While it's fine to choose music that evokes happy memories, stay clear of anything that might stir up intense emotions. Does a musical bedtime routine make a difference? Consistency could be a key to unlocking better sleep. Try setting a musical bedtime ritual for a few weeks, same time, same sounds, and see if you notice a shift towards deeper, more uninterrupted sleep, or perhaps a quicker journey to dreamland. Are there any potential pitfalls to this melodic method? It's not a one-size-fits-all solution. Sudden changes in the soundscape, volume, spikes or an abrupt end to the music might jolt you awake. Dr Maria Francoise Veccherini, a neuropsychiatrist with a focus on sleep disorders, suggests indulging in your musical moment before hitting the pillow. Then, as you're ready to drift off, switch off the tunes. For a safer listening experience, speakers trump earbuds or headphones, which can lead to tinnitus or other auditory issues. Keep it down too. Anything above 40 decibels could be overkill for your ears. And what about falling asleep with the TV on? It's a common habit, but not the best, as television emits blue lights which can hinder melatonin production and isn't conductive to lowering cortisol or your heart rate. Plus, dozing off on the sofa means you'll likely have to wake up to crawl into bed, disrupting your rest. Instead, consider some light reading or calming music before you bid the world goodnight. It's a more reliable route to both falling asleep and staying asleep. There you have it. 词汇表 ritual [ˈrɪtʃuəl] 习惯，仪式，惯例 fall asleep to 伴着…入眠，听…入睡 tune [tjuːn] 曲调，曲子，旋律 solace [ˈsɒləs] 慰藉，安慰 dial down [ˈdaɪəl] 降低，减少，缓和 cortisol levels [ˈkɔːtɪsɒl ˈlevlz] 皮质醇水平（与应激反应和身体代谢有关） oxytocin [ˌɒksɪˈtəʊsɪn] 催产素（一种与亲密感相关的激素） pesky [ˈpeski] 讨厌的，麻烦的 set the stage for 为…打好基础，为…做好准备 balm [bɑːm] （止痛用的）香油，软膏；慰藉物 tranquil [ˈtræŋkwɪl] 平静的，宁静的 slumber [ˈslʌmbə(r)] 睡眠，安睡，沉睡 pain-dulling [peɪn ˈdʌlɪŋ] 镇痛的，减轻疼痛的 prescribe [prɪˈskraɪb] 开处方，推荐，规定 soundtrack [ˈsaʊndtræk] 配乐，原声音乐 hit shuffle [ˈʃʌfl] 随机播放 meander into dreamland [miˈændə(r)] 慢慢进入梦乡，飘入梦乡 instrumental tracks [ˌɪnstrəˈmentl træks] 纯音乐，器乐曲目 mellow [ˈmeləʊ] 柔和的，舒缓的 evoke [ɪˈvəʊk] 引起，唤起（记忆或感情） stay clear of 避开，远离 stir up [stɜː(r)] 激起，引发（不快的情感） consistency [kənˈsɪstənsi] 一致性，连贯性 pitfall [ˈpɪtfɔːl] 陷阱，隐患，缺陷 one-size-fits-all [wʌn saɪz fɪts ɔːl] 一刀切的，通用的，万能的 soundscape [ˈsaʊndskeɪp] 音景，声音环境 spike [spaɪk] 骤升，激增；（此处指）音量突然升高 jolt you awake [dʒəʊlt] 使惊醒，吓醒 neuropsychiatrist [ˌnjʊərəʊsaɪˈkaɪətrɪst] 神经精神病学家 indulge in [ɪnˈdʌldʒ] 沉浸于，享受 drift off 逐渐入睡，慢慢睡着 trump [trʌmp] 赢，胜过，打败 earbud [ˈɪəbʌd] 耳塞式耳机 headphone ['hedfəʊn] 头戴式耳机 tinnitus [tɪˈnaɪtɪs] 耳鸣 auditory [ˈɔːdɪt(ə)ri] 听力的，听觉的 decibel [ˈdesɪbel] 分贝（声音强度单位） overkill [ˈəʊvəkɪl] 过犹不及，过分行为，适得其反 emit [iˈmɪt] 发出，射出，散发（光、噪声、气味） hinder [ˈhɪndə(r)] 阻碍，妨碍 melatonin [ˌmeləˈtəʊnɪn] 褪黑素（调节睡眠的激素） doze off [dəʊz] 打盹，小睡 bid the world goodnight [bɪd] 向世界道晚安 🪴翻译和pdf见公众号【琐简英语】，回复"1"可进入【打卡交流群】

How important is politeness Neil Hello, this is 6 Minute English from BBC Learning English. I'm Neil. Beth And I'm Beth. In this programme, we're talking about politeness. Britain has a reputation for being a polite place where children are told to say 'please' and 'thank you', but in real life that isn't always true. You, give me that pen! Neil I'm sorry. That was a bit rude. Beth Well, what should I have said? Neil How about: "Neil, could you please pass me the pen?" Beth Fine. Neil, could you please pass me the pen? Neil There you go! That's much better. Beth Now listen as BBC Radio 4 presenter Michael Rosen, who is a well-known poet and children's author in Britain, describes what happened to him one day: Michael Rosen Recently, this is how it went: a boy was walking past me in the street, stopped and said, "Hey! You're thingy, innit!" Now, that one seems to break all the rules. And because it broke the rules, it gave me a problem. How do I answer it? Beth A boy saw Michael Rosen and said, "Hey! You're thingy, innit!" He used the word thingy because, although he recognised Michael, he couldn't remember his name. He also said innit, which is short for 'isn't it', to emphasise what he'd said. Neil So, was the boy being impolite or was he just happy meeting a famous person in the street? And why do we teach kids to be polite in the first place? That's what we'll be discussing in this programme, using some useful new vocabulary. Beth But first, I have a question for you, Neil. The British are well known for being polite, as we've said, and there's even an idiom we use in certain situations to remind someone to be especially polite. But what is it? Is it: a) mind your As and Bs, b) mind your Ps and Qs, or c) mind your Xs and Ys? Neil Well, I know the answer to this, but I'm going to say c) mind your Xs and Ys, because I think it's brilliant. Beth OK. Interesting! Well, we'll find out the correct answer later in the programme. So, let's return to the boy who said, "Hey! You're thingy, innit!" to famous poet, Michael Rosen. Was that impolite or not? Professor Louise Mullany, who studies the language of politeness, has an answer. She thinks that politeness is as much to do with the person being spoken to as the person speaking, as she explained to BBC Radio 4 programme, Word of Mouth: Louise Mullany I think the crucial thing there is in how you've perceived it. So, obviously he's not giving us the conventional: "Oh, good afternoon, Mr Rosen," or a more formal approach. It's very, very informal… and he can't remember your name, and he's saying 'innit'. Now, that has been interpreted by you as non-threatening to you. You don't see him as insulting you, and you're actually quite kindly disposed to that person. So, you haven't interpreted it as offensive or aggressive. You said – I think you described it as being quite civil, actually. Neil Michael Rosen didn't feel that the boy was insulting him. To insult someone means to be rude or offensive to them. Beth Although his speech was very informal, Michael thought the boy was actually pleased to see him, not rude at all. Micheal was well disposed to the boy – he liked and approved of him. Neil So, you could say that politeness is subjective; if Michael doesn't feel offended, then where is the offence? Then why do we teach children to be polite at all? Well, according to Professor Mullany, it's to do with the rules of society. Beth That's right. Louise thinks that by teaching our kids politeness they enjoy the benefits of being accepted in society. So, imagine how embarrassed she felt when her two-year-old daughter repeatedly ignored the cook at her nursery school and refused to say hello. Here's Louise Mullany telling the story to BBC Radio 4's Word of Mouth: Louise Mullany The cook looked so disappointed. And as I mention in the book, it felt to me like there were lots of other children skipping – skipping and jumping past going, "Hello!" being really friendly children, and my daughter was just there. And we started to make excuses for her, like, "Oh, she's tired. Oh, she's teething. She's this and she's that," because the embarrassment was so strong. And I felt awful walking back past the kitchen on my way out. I was almost trying to hide my face, going, "I'm the one with the really rude child." Neil When her daughter didn't say hello to an adult, Louise made excuses for her. If you make excuses for someone, you try to explain the reasons for their behaviour. For example, Louise said her daughter was tired, she was growing new teeth, she was this and that. The idiom this and that can be used to describe various unspecified things. For example, if someone asks what you did this afternoon, you might reply, "Oh, not much. I stayed at home, I watched TV, I did this and that." 📝字数限制，完整文本、词汇表、翻译及pdf见公众号【琐简英语】，回复1可加入【打卡交流群】

The Dangers of Oversharing We hear so much about the difficulties caused by those who can't be intimate, who seem incapable of disclosing anything of what they genuinely feel, it can take time to register the opposite but no less grave problem: those who cannot keep enough of themselves to themselves, those whose hunger for closeness overwhelms their concern for their own safety, those who will, in a poignant bid to hold others' attention, lay out – within minutes of a new encounter – secrets that they would have been wiser to take to the grave. This isn't to deny the fun that oversharers can bring to social life. These won't be the types talking about the economic contraction or where they last went on holiday. Contact with other humans should be about getting to the marrow of things, they believe, which is why we will quickly get to hear about their ex's sexual difficulty, the vicious row they had about their mother's will, exactly how much they earn, the troubles they have with their digestion, their favourite bedroom position and the nature of an early childhood trauma. The difficulty lies in the toll these divulgences impose on oversharers themselves. An evening of entertainment is too often followed by a shame-ridden awakening. Now that the laughter has dissipated, they may feel as though they were seized by an impulse with which they don't identify; an urge to invite others into their deep self without the strength to impose the barest of checks on who they might be. A painful developmental story tends to lie behind the compulsion. We share too much when we have been too lonely; we fail to understand the risks of over exposure when we have suffered in environments in which so little sincere or real was ever exchanged. We rush to confess because no one showed us a steady, composed route to intimacy. To the isolated former child, no alarm sounds at the thought of having an unbarred conversation with a character who entered the room twenty minutes ago – such is the promise and lure of togetherness; such has been the burden of secrecy. We might with time make our peace with remaining somewhat more mysterious. We might more judiciously weigh up the benefits of a sugar rush of disclosure against the slower satisfactions of safety. We might tell very few people indeed what is going on for us in love, with our health or with work, not because we want to be unkind or boring, but because our first priority has become to look after ourselves. We don't have to answer too many intrusive questions, nor – as importantly – do we need to ask them. It isn't – we can learn – any reason to panic if we are still talking about what someone did over the weekend or their favourite kind of gloves after the first course. We don't have to feel boring for ending up in many a boring conversation. We aren't dull at heart; we're just calmly working out (in a process that could take months or years) whether we've stumbled on one of those very rare characters who truly deserve to hear from the deepest parts of us. 词汇表 intimate [ˈɪntɪmət] 亲密的，亲近的，隐私的 disclose [dɪsˈkləʊz] 揭露，透露，公开 register [ˈredʒɪstə(r)] 意识到，注意到；登记，注册 grave [ɡreɪv] 严峻的，严重的，庄重的 poignant [ˈpɔɪnənt] 痛切的，深刻的，强烈的 in a bid to [bɪd] 为了，力求，试图 take to the grave [ɡrɑːv] 带进坟墓，至死不说，烂在心里 oversharer [ˌəʊvəˈʃeərə(r)] 过度分享者（在社交场合中喜欢过度分享自己的生活细节或想法的人） economic contraction [ˌiːkəˈnɒmɪk kənˈtrækʃn] 经济萎缩，经济紧缩 marrow [ˈmærəʊ] 精髓，核心；骨髓 vicious row [ˈvɪʃəs rəʊ] 激烈的争吵 toll [təʊl] 伤害，损失，代价 divulgence [daɪˈvʌldʒəns] 泄露，透露；公开，披露 impose on [ɪmˈpəʊz] 强加于，施加影响 shame-ridden awakening [ʃeɪm ˈrɪdn əˈweɪkənɪŋ] 充满羞耻感的觉醒 dissipate [ˈdɪsɪpeɪt] 消散，驱散，使散去 compulsion [kəmˈpʌlʃn] 强迫，强制；冲动，欲望 unbarred conversation [ʌnˈbɑːd] 毫无保留的对话，畅所欲言 lure [lʊə(r)] 诱惑，吸引力，魅力 togetherness [təˈɡeðənəs] 亲密无间；团结，和睦 make peace with 与…和解，接受，释怀 judiciously [dʒuˈdɪʃəsli] 明智地，审慎地 sugar rush 短暂快感；糖分冲击，血糖骤升 intrusive [ɪnˈtruːsɪv] 侵扰的，打扰的，唐突的 dull [dʌl] 乏味的，枯燥的，无趣的 stumble on ['stʌmb(ə)l] 偶然发现，意外遇到 🏫翻译，视频和pdf见公众号【琐简英语】，回复"1"可进入【打卡交流群】

Can you really multitask? Your brain says no With life getting more demanding and hectic all the time it seems there's only one way to cope - multitasking! Gurus and life hackers make a living telling us how to get better at it. But can we actually multitask? The term was first used in the 60s, to describe computer performance. The human brain, though, is not a computer and human attention is a very limited resource. Some psychologists model visual attention as being like a spotlight. It can only be shone in one direction at any one time. Our primary focus - what we're paying most attention to - is like the brightly lit area in the centre of the beam. It can also be understood as being like a zoom lens - we can choose to narrow our focus to concentrate in detail, or widen it, to be aware of more things simultaneously. But we can't be zoomed in and out at the same time. Even though we're constantly receiving a huge amount of information from our senses, it's only possible for a small amount to make it through to conscious awareness. Watch the next section very carefully, and pay particular attention to how many balls bounce in the circle. How many can you count? Seven, right? But did you also notice that little dinosaur? What about the changing shape of the circle? Or the smiley face on one of the balls? This shows just how powerful focused attention is. Being able to filter out irrelevant detail is an amazingly useful tool, but it means we can miss things that are right under our noses - an effect known as inattention blindness. You can see this very clearly in the famous Invisible Gorilla experiment. When asked to concentrate exclusively on how often basketball players in white pass the ball, most people completely miss the gorilla walking across the screen and beating his chest. We just don't have the capacity to process everything at once. This is a particular problem when we try to multitask. We can switch attention from one task to another and back again. But when attention is overloaded, we miss things, and the result is nearly always that we perform tasks less well than we would doing them one at a time. It's only truly possible to do two things at once if they require different sets of cognitive resources. For example, it's totally possible to read a book and listen to music at the same time. Which would suggest that driving while talking on the phone is not a problem, as long as it's a hands-free phone. It's not that simple though - research has shown that while talking on the phone we have a tendency to create mental images, and this uses the same visual resources needed for driving. And if visual resources become too stretched, it's perfectly possible for a driver to look directly at a hazard but, just like with that little dinosaur, fail to see it. Not everything will make it through to conscious awareness. So multitasking makes us at best, inefficient, and at worst, downright dangerous. If you're feeling like you should be doing 17 things at once, remember, that's just not the way your brain is wired. 词汇表 demanding [dɪˈmɑːndɪŋ] 要求高的，费力的，苛求的 hectic [ˈhektɪk] 忙碌的，繁忙的 multitask [ˌmʌltiˈtɑːsk] 多任务处理，一心多用，同时做多件事情 guru [ˈɡʊəruː]（某领域的）专家，权威，大师 life hacker [hækə(r)] 生活达人（指擅长通过各种技巧提升生活效率的人） spotlight [ˈspɒtlaɪt] 聚光灯；公众注意的中心 beam [biːm] 光线，光束；横梁 zoom lens [zuːm lenz] 变焦镜头（可调节焦距以放大或缩小图像的镜头） bounce [baʊns] （球）跳起，弹回 filter [ˈfɪltə(r)] 过滤，筛选；过滤器 right under our noses 就在我们眼皮底下（指某物或某事非常明显却被忽视） inattention blindness [ˌɪnəˈtenʃn ˈblaɪndnəs] 非注意盲视（指当注意力集中于某一事物时，对其他明显事物视而不见的现象） Invisible Gorilla experiment [ɪnˈvɪzəbl ɡəˈrɪlə ɪkˈsperɪmənt] 隐形大猩猩实验（心理学经典注意力实验） exclusively [ɪkˈskluːsɪvli] 仅仅，专门地；排他地 overloaded [ˌəʊvəˈləʊdɪd] 超负荷的，超载的 hands-free [ˌhændz ˈfriː] （电话）免提的，（设备）无需用手操作的 hazard [ˈhæzəd] 危险，危害，风险 downright [ˈdaʊnraɪt] （强调负面） 完全地，彻头彻尾地 wire [ˈwaɪə(r)] 连接，接通（此处指大脑的运作方式） 💡 翻译和pdf见公众号【琐简英语】，回复"1"可进【打卡交流群】

How to Be Mentally Strong We all want to overcome what's holding us back and live the life we dream of. But how do we do that? Easier said than done, right? Just like you, I'm trying to work hard to achieve the goals I've set forth; trying to create lasting change in my life to achieve happiness and the freedom to do what we love. At times, while in pursuit of those goals, I fall short at paying mind to the bad behaviors that undermine my efforts. These bad behaviors are what lead to hard times – be it debt, self-doubt, or depression. Life will always throw you curveballs. How we react to these difficult circumstances are essential for returning to a prosperous lifestyle. The first thing we have to ask ourselves is, what change would we like to make in our life? How will this change make you feel? Inevitably, those creepy little negative thoughts will be on the prowl, "why try, I've always failed in the past." Sound familiar? It does for me! Having those pesky negative thoughts in your mind is okay. We all face them at some point. It's how we react to those thoughts that are important. We have to ignore those thoughts and focus on the road ahead. I'm not one to believe there's a one-size-fits-all method for overcoming this problem, the person who knows you best is yourself, but we can consider some techniques that can be helpful, such as: setting yourself a short-term 30-day goal; set a list of daily changes you want to make; create a list of anticipated hurdles and keep a measurement of your progress. This can keep you on the right track and overcome those pesky negative thoughts. 1. Remember, Don't Waste Time on What You Can't Control The one thing we can control is doing what we can for ourselves – eating right, exercising, reading, and getting enough sleep – doing the right things to keep us in the right mindset. We can achieve the most happiness by taking steps to steer our lives in the right direction while accepting that there are many things outside of our control. 2. Be Willing to Take Calculated Risks We all have to be willing to take risks in life. Success doesn't come without risk, although it's crucial that those risks are calculated. For example, say, you are working at a 9-5 job that you hate, but you've been dreaming of quitting and starting your own business. The thought is a start. But one day, you've had enough, so you left your job in pursuit of that business even though you haven't really set out a plan or even have a concrete product to work toward. This is a severe risk and one that will likely leave you never wanting to retake a big risk again. We need to calculate and wait for the opportune time. Start with a small risk. Reason through that risk. Start paying mind to the fear of risks that are holding you back. Maybe they are not so dangerous after all. Learn from the past, but don't allow it to control you. Allow yourself to enjoy life, be happy, and take the risk despite what you've chosen for your life in the past. We must allow ourselves to move forward. 3. Mistakes Are Okay It's how we react to those mistakes that strengthen us mentally. Ask yourself, what did I do wrong? What could I have done better? These two questions allow us to learn, recalibrate, and be better prepared to try again. We can better do this by keeping our eyes on the prize, make a list of why you don't want to make the same mistake, and then adapt, based on that list. 4. Don't Be Afraid of Failure Thomas Edison, one of the greatest inventors in history, is most famous for his invention of the lightbulb. However, he failed many times. Did you know Edison created an electric pen? A ghost machine? Probably not. Well, that's because they were complete and utter failures. Edison used those failures as learning opportunities – a chance to experiment with what works and what doesn't. Those failures put him one step closer to success. Think of failures as milestones towards a path of success. Allow yourself to take some pride in your failures and mistakes. Now, at the end of the day, watching this video isn't going to be enough to make a change. But hopefully, it can help bring you to a mindset of mental strength that can help you continue on the path towards your dreams. 词汇表 hold back 阻碍，阻止 set forth 阐述，提出，列出；出发 fall short at （在某方面）达不到要求，未达到预期 undermine [ˌʌndə(r)ˈmaɪn] 逐渐削弱，暗中破坏，损害 throw you curveballs [ˈkɜː(r)vˌbɔːlz] 给你出难题，使措手不及 creepy [ˈkriːpi] 令人毛骨悚然的，令人不安的，怪异的 be on the prowl [praʊl] 潜行，出没；来回寻觅 pesky [ˈpeski] 讨厌的，麻烦的 one-size-fits-all [wʌn saɪz fɪts ɔːl] 一刀切的，通用的，万能的 anticipated hurdles [ænˈtɪsɪpeɪtɪd ˈhɜː(r)dəlz] 预期的障碍 on the right track 方向正确，在正轨上 steer [stɪə(r)] 引导，掌控；驾驶，掌舵 calculated risks [ˈkælkjʊleɪtɪd rɪsks] 经评估的风险 opportune [ˈɒpə(r)tjuːn] 合时宜的，适当的，恰好的 recalibrate [ˌriːˈkæləbreɪt] 重新调整；重新校准 lightbulb [ˈlaɪtbʊlb] 电灯泡 utter [ˈʌtə(r)] 完全的，彻底的；说，出声 at the end of the day 最终，到头来，归根结底 💡 翻译和pdf见公众号【琐简英语】，回复"1"可进【打卡交流群】