Trump's return to the White House The rest of the world has been reacting to President Trump's return to the White House and a slew of decisions already changing the relationship of the US with other countries and global institutions. The World Health Organization has asked Mr Trump to reconsider his plan to pull the US out and there's widespread concern over the exit of America from the Paris Climate Agreement. We'll have more on that shortly. At home, there's been condemnation of his decision to pardon those convicted of the January 6th attack on the US capital back in 2021. The US Capitol Police Chief has questioned what message it sends to police officers. But Mr Trump made his views clear in the first hours of his presidency. And you know, tonight, I'm going to be signing on the J6 hostages, pardons to get them out. And as soon as I leave, I'm going to the Oval Office and we'll be signing pardons for a lot of people, a lot of people. 词汇表 a slew of [sluː] 许多，大量的，一系列 global institution [ˌɪnstɪˈtjuːʃ(ə)n] 全球性机构（如联合国、世卫组织等） World Health Organization 世界卫生组织(WHO) pull out 撤退，退出 exit ['eksɪt] 退出，离去 Paris Climate Agreement 巴黎气候协定 condemnation [ˌkɒndemˈneɪʃ(ə)n] 谴责，指责 pardon [ˈpɑː(r)d(ə)n] 赦免；宽恕，原谅 be convicted of [kənˈvɪktɪd] 被判定有罪，被定罪 the January 6th attack 指2021年1月6日特朗普支持者冲击美国国会大厦，试图阻止认证2020年大选结果的暴力事件 US capital ['kæpɪt(ə)l] 美国国会大厦 Police Chief 警察局长 presidency ['prezɪdənsi] 总统职位，总统任期 hostage [ˈhɒstɪdʒ] 人质，抵押品 Oval Office [ˈəʊv(ə)l] 椭圆形办公室，美国总统办公室 🌟翻译，pdf及更多文本内容见公众号【琐简英语】

Antarctic Krill: A Summer Feast for Humpbacks Seven Worlds, One Planet·Antarctica Life in the Antarctic is harsh indeed. But all these creatures come here because the Southern Ocean is one of the richest on Earth. When, 30 million years ago, the continent broke away from South America and drifted south, currents began to swirl right around it. They are now the strongest of any currents on the planet. They sweep up nutrients from the depths, and so create one of the richest feeding grounds in all the world's oceans. And some of the creatures that come here to feast do so in a most sophisticated way. Humpback whales. It's summer, and they've come here for a banquet. The cold waters contain great shoals of krill. It's estimated that there are 400 trillion of them and that their combined weight is greater than that of any other animal species on the planet. To collect them, the humpbacks blow curtains of bubbles, which the krill won't cross. The whales then rise, spiralling inwards, to concentrate the swarm. Summer in Antarctica is a time of plenty, when most humpbacks are able to put on the reserves they need for the whole year. But the wildlife in these waters faces an uncertain future. The Southern Ocean is warming. 90% of the world's ice lies in Antarctica and, in some parts, the rate at which it's melting is doubling every decade. Sea levels are rising. 词汇表 antarctic [æn'tɑ:ktɪk] 南极地区；南极的 Antarctica [æn'tɑ:ktɪkə] 南极洲 harsh [hɑː(r)ʃ] 严酷的，恶劣的，艰苦的 Southern Ocean 南大洋，南冰洋（围绕南极洲的海洋） continent [ˈkɒntɪnənt] 洲，大洲，大陆 break away from 分离，脱离，离开 drift [drɪft] 漂移，漂流，飘 current ['kʌrənt] 洋流，水流；电流，气流 swirl [swɜː(r)l] 旋转，打旋，转圈 sweep up nutrients [swiːp][ˈnjuːtriənts] 汲取营养，吸收养分 feeding grounds [ˈfiːdɪŋ] 觅食地 feast [fiːst] 尽情享用（美味佳肴）；盛宴；宴会 sophisticated [səˈfɪstɪˌkeɪtɪd] 复杂的，精密的，高级的 humpback (whale) ['hʌmpbæk][weɪl] 座头鲸 banquet ['bæŋkwɪt] 宴会，筵席，盛宴 shoals of krill [ʃəʊls][krɪl] 磷虾群，大量的磷虾 combined weight [kəm'baɪnd] 总重量 blow curtains of bubbles 吹出气泡幕（鲸鱼捕食磷虾的策略，又称气泡网捕食） spiral ['spaɪrəl] 螺旋式上升（下降），盘旋上升（下降） inwards [ˈɪnwə(r)dz] 向内地，向中心地 concentrate swarm [swɔː(r)m] 聚集群体，集中群体 a time of plenty 富足的时节，丰收的季节 put on the reserves [rɪˈzɜː(r)vz] 增加储备，补足储备 🌍 更多文本内容、视频版和pdf见公众号【琐简英语】，回复"1"可进【打卡交流群】

Don't feel guilty about guilty pleasures You might have heard of the expression 'a guilty pleasure' – maybe it's the chocolate bar you buy on the way home from work, or the new clothes that you don't really need. It comes from the idea that when we treat ourselves, it can sometimes leave us feeling guilty. Perhaps we don't feel we deserved it, or we don't think it was a responsible way to spend our money. But should we feel like this? Do we really have to feel guilty about treating ourselves? Perhaps not. Psychologists have suggested that buying things for yourself can make you feel better as it provides an opportunity to take control of your situation. It can give you social contact as well as a confidence boost from changes you make to your self-image. It may be that as well as lifting your mood, when you buy a treat, you might just be looking after yourself. Of course, there are also examples of people turning to destructive behaviour when faced with stressful circumstances. People might spend money that they don't have or turn to dangerous addictions. Psychologist Leon Seltzer considers the difference between self-indulgence and self-nurturing. Self-indulgence can be reckless and have negative consequences, while self-nurturing is taking responsible decisions to satisfy our needs and take care of ourselves in ways that don't have a significant impact. One stress that people may need to deal with is exam stress. Many universities publish guides with advice for coping with exam stress. Reflecting the difference between self-indulgence and self-nurture, they recommend rewarding yourself for your efforts, doing things that you enjoy and are good at so that you can feel accomplishment and to avoid things that may make you feel worse afterwards. So perhaps, as long as we make responsible decisions, we shouldn't feel guilty about our guilty pleasures. 词汇表 guilty pleasure 罪恶的快乐，让人有负罪感的乐事 guilty ['ɡɪlti] 内疚的，有罪的，自责的 treat oneself [triːt] 善待自己，犒劳自己 deserve [dɪˈzɜː(r)v] 值得，应得，配得上 responsible [rɪˈspɒnsəb(ə)l] 负责任的 take control of 控制，掌控 social contact [ˈkɒntækt] 社会联系，社交 confidence boost [buːst] 增强自信，提升自信心 self-image 自我形象 lift your mood [muːd] 振作你的精神，让你心情愉快 destructive behaviour [dɪ'strʌktɪv] 自毁行为，破坏性行为 addiction [ə'dɪkʃ(ə)n] 成瘾，上瘾 self-indulgence [ɪnˈdʌldʒəns]自我放纵，自我纵容 self-nurturing [ˈnɜː(r)tʃə(r)] 自我呵护，自我照顾 reckless ['rekləs] 鲁莽的，轻率的，不顾后果的 cope with [kəʊp] 应对，处理 reward [rɪˈwɔː(r)d] 奖励，奖赏 accomplishment [ə'kʌmplɪʃmənt] 成就，成绩 📖 翻译、pdf见公众号【琐简英语】，回复"1"可进【打卡交流群】

International 国际 Gen ZZZ 睡眠中的Z世代 Straighter Edge 更自律 Youthful excess continues to decline 年轻人的放纵行为持续减少 In september the Night Time Industries Association, a British trade group, issued a sobering press release. Since 2020, it revealed, 37% of Britain's nightclubs had closed. Many shut during the pandemic and never reopened, but closures continue. If clubs do not stop closing, the ntia predicted, by the end of the decade there will be almost nowhere left for Britons to get drunk, belt out "Mr Brightside" and then vomit in a gutter on the walk home at 2am. Higher labour costs, tighter planning laws and more noise complaints are probably all playing their roles. But a key explanation is that their chief audience, the reckless young, are staying at home. Between 2011 and 2021, the proportion of British 16- to 24-year-olds who had not consumed one alcoholic drink in the past year doubled, from 19% to 38%. Another survey, of children aged between 11 and 15, found that, in 2021, 60% had never even tried a drink (two decades before, the figure was 39%). No wonder nightclubs are struggling. The trend towards youthful sobriety holds true for much of the rich world. In 2024 illicit drug use among adolescents dropped to historical lows in America, according to a nationwide survey published on December 17th by the University of Michigan. Drinking fell, too. The researchers found that even cannabis use is now declining fast among the young, despite weed having been made legal in almost half of states over the past decade. European surveys show continuing drops in drug and alcohol use too. Why is youthful excess dying out? There is no single explanation. Children are more closely watched than in the past, and a higher share of young adults are from more abstemious immigrant cultures. Age id checks at bars are more common; Netflix and Fortnite are cheaper than cider; and dating apps are better than finding love on the sticky floors of a place called "Snobs". The trend is clear and seems likely to last. It's their parents who are the problem now. 词汇表 straight edge [streɪt] 自律、健康、避免过度放纵的生活方式 youthful excess [ˈekses] 年轻人的放纵行为 sobering [ˈsəʊbərɪŋ] 令人警醒的；使人冷静的 nightclub [ˈnaɪtˌklʌb] 夜店，夜总会 closure [ˈkləʊʒə(r)]（永久的）关闭，倒闭 belt out [belt] 引吭高歌，大声唱 vomit [ˈvɒmɪt] 呕吐，吐出 gutter [ˈɡʌtə(r)]（路边的）排水沟；贫民区 reckless ['rekləs] 鲁莽的，肆无忌惮的 alcoholic drink [ˌælkəˈhɒlɪk] 酒精饮料 sobriety [səʊˈbraɪəti] 节制，清醒，未醉 hold true 保持有效，仍是真的，适用 illicit drug use [ɪˈlɪsɪt] 非法吸毒行为，违禁药物使用 cannabis ['kænəbɪs] 大麻，大麻制品 weed [wiːd] 大麻，大麻制品；烟草 die out 逐渐消失，灭绝 abstemious [əbˈstiːmiəs]（对美食或饮酒）节制的，戒绝的 immigrant ['ɪmɪɡrənt] 移民的；移民 Age id check 年龄身份检查（用于购买酒精、烟草或进入限制年龄的场所时） cider [ˈsaɪdə(r)] 苹果酒，苹果汁 sticky ['stɪki] 粘糊糊的 snob [snɒb] 势利的人，爱虚荣的人 🔆翻译、pdf见公众号【琐简英语】，回复"1"可进【打卡交流群】

TikTok refugees flock to RedNote as ban looms The company behind TikTok is trying to reassure its US staff that they will still be paid next week even if the Supreme Court in Washington upholds a new Biden administration law which says that the app's American business must be sold off or closed down by Sunday. The Supreme Court is expected to make its ruling later on Wednesday. Asia Business reporter Mariko Oy has more. We keep talking about TikTok users in America, some 170 million of them. But ByteDance, the Chinese parent company of TikTok, it also employs some 7,000 staff in the United States. And there were reports about how they have been voicing concerns about job security. And in an internal memo that has been reviewed by Reuters, it said that the company said told those employees that their jobs are safe regardless of what the Supreme Court decides and that their office will remain open. As we've been reporting about it, a new legislation put a deadline on 19 January, which is this coming Sunday, to either sell the app or face a ban in the United States. Now it is important to emphasize that Even if the Supreme Court does not block the bill, new TikTok downloads won't be allowed, but existing users can continue using it for some time, though eventually the services would degrade, and therefore the users may decide to leave anyway. Now, as I said, there are more than 170 million users of TikTok in the United States. And interestingly, some of them have actually been moving to other Chinese apps like RedNote, which is apparently a combination of TikTok and Instagram. And they're calling themselves TikTok refugees. And even though there are some security concerns, some American users are still choosing to accept the terms and conditions of using RedNote, which are written in Chinese. So even if TikTok manages to dodge that ban, it may actually prove helpless against users moving to other platforms. 词汇表 reassure [ˌriːəˈʃʊə(r)] 使安心，使消除疑虑，再保证 Supreme Court [suːˌpriːm ˈkɔːt]（美国）最高法院 uphold [ʌpˈhəʊld] 支持，维持，批准 administration [ədˌmɪnɪˈstreɪʃ(ə)n]（某一任期的）政府，政府人员 make a ruling [ˈruːlɪŋ] 作出判决 parent company 总公司，母公司 voice concerns [kənˈsɜː(r)n] 表示担忧；表达关切 internal memo [ɪnˈtɜː(r)n(ə)l] [ˈmeməʊ] 内部备忘录（公司内部沟通和记录重要信息的文件） legislation [ˌledʒɪˈsleɪʃ(ə)n] 立法，法律，法规 block the bill 阻止法案通过 degrade [dɪ'ɡreɪd] 降级，退化 refugee [ˌrefjʊˈdʒiː] 难民，避难者，逃亡者 terms and conditions 条款和条件（对商品或服务使用的限制规定） dodge [dɒdʒ] 避开，躲开，逃避 🌟翻译，pdf及更多文本内容见公众号【琐简】

Our love of pets It's said that your personality is reflected in your pet - an animal that you keep in your home as a companion and treat kindly. 'Dog people' are supposed to be friendly, enthusiastic and loyal, whereas 'cat people' are introverted, proud and sensitive. Are you a 'dog person' or a 'cat person', Neil? --I'm definitely a 'dog person', Georgie. I want a pet that's friendly and loves me, not a lazy cat that sits around all day waiting for food. Whether you're a 'dog person', a 'cat person', or have a goldfish, hamster or parrot for a pet, the British are well known as a nation of animal lovers. In the UK, 52% of owners describe their pet as their "best friend", and in 2021, 18 million homes had at least one pet, meaning that for the first time there were more households with a pet than without. --In this programme, we'll be hearing how our relationship with pets has changed over the centuries, and, as usual, we'll be learning some useful new vocabulary as well. But first I have a question for you, Georgie. Nowadays thanks to the internet, modern pets are getting online. So what percent of dogs and cats in the UK do you think have their own social media profile? Is it: a) 7%, b) 17% or c) 70%? --It sounds crazy, but I'll guess 17 percent of British pets have their own social media account! --OK, Georgie, we'll find out the answer later in the programme. Cats using Instagram and dogs on TikTok may be a strange new development, but our relationship with pets has continually changed throughout history. In the 1800s, people started using the word 'pet' to describe the emotional connection they felt to a special animal, and gradually it became normal to keep pets indoors. Here, Jane Hamlett, professor of history and author of a new book, The Pet Revolution, explains to BBC Radio 4 programme, Thinking Allowed, how early British attitudes to pets were based on economics: First of all, on a very practical level, living standards are gradually increasing across that period, and it becomes more possible to keep pets if you have more disposable income. But I think in British culture, in the 19th century in particular, home and family are increasingly celebrated, and keeping a pet becomes a way of bringing animals into your home life, and also really expressing what it means to be part of the family - animals become part of that. Family pets became more popular as people's living standards increased. Living standards, which are also known as 'the standard of living', refer to the level of material comfort people live in. It's connected to their disposable income, the money left over to spend on things you want, after paying tax and other living expenses. In other words, as people got richer, they had more money to spend on luxury items, including pets. And by the Victorian era, this included new and exotic pets such as tigers, lions, monkeys and elephants which were shipped back from around the British empire. Even the famous Victorian writer, Charles Dickens, owned a pet raven. It was also the Victorians who first described Britain as a nation of dog lovers, a phrase they used to reflect the idea they had of themselves, as Professor Jane Hamlett explained to BBC Radio 4 programme, Thinking Allowed: In the Victorian era, dogs were very much the top pet, and you can see that the values that were often associated with dogs, so loyalty, trustfulness and, steadfastness… all of these qualities were also celebrated by the Victorians of key parts of the Victorian manly character, so dogs really fitted the bill. The Victorians admired the qualities associated with dogs, qualities like self-confidence and loyalty - being strong and unchanging in support of your friends. While dogs were considered strong and manly, cats were feminine and weak, so for the Victorians, dogs really fitted the bill, an idiom meaning they were suitable for a particular purpose. Britain's relationship with pets really has changed over the years - from the manly British Bulldog to funny cat videos on YouTube, it's been quite a journey! Maybe it's time to reveal the answer to my question, Georgie.--Right, you asked me how many dogs and cats in the UK had their own social media profile, and I guessed it was 17 percent.--Which was… the correct answer! What I still don't understand is how they get their paws on the keypad! 📝 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】

Most rainforests too degraded to provide good habitats The world's tropical rainforests are home to more than 16,000 different mammals, birds, amphibians and reptiles, from colourful monkeys and parrots living high in the canopy, to weird and wonderful frogs and toads on the forest floor. But now a study by Canadian scientists has revealed that while there may be tree cover remaining, most of the tropical rainforests across the globe are too degraded by logging, mining and roads to provide good quality habitat for wildlife. They're calling for urgent conservation action to protect tracts of undisturbed forest before extinction for many rainforest species becomes a foregone conclusion. And they say as rainforests are one of nature's best defences against climate change, this would also help stabilise the Earth's climate. 词汇表 mammal ['mæm(ə)l] 哺乳动物 amphibian [æm'fɪbiən] 两栖动物 reptile [ˈreptaɪl] 爬行动物 canopy ['kænəpi] 树冠，（顶蓬似的）树荫 toad [təʊd] 蟾蜍，癞蛤蟆 tree cover 树木覆盖 degraded [dɪ'greɪdɪd] 退化的；被降级的；堕落的 log [lɒɡ] 伐木，砍伐 mine [maɪn] 开采，采矿 habitat [ˈhæbɪtæt] 栖息地，生长地 tract [trækt] 大片土地 undisturbed [ˌʌndɪˈstɜː(r)bd] 未被打扰的，不受侵扰的 foregone conclusion ['fɔ:gɒn] 定局，预料中的结局 defence [dɪ'fend] 保护，防御 stabilise ['steɪbəlaɪz] 使稳定，使稳固 ​ 🗒️翻译和pdf见公众号【琐简英语】，回复1可加入【打卡交流群】

Managing your Mood: Tips for Staying Present We keep forgetting this lesson, even though it is – quite literally – written above us in the sky, as if someone at the moment of creation knew we'd have trouble keeping it in mind: we are made of moods, our spirits are constantly in motion, like the restless procession of weather fronts across a temperamental sky. Therefore, nothing can be stable for long: a serene, beautiful day will, almost inevitably, be followed by an overcast one, a still morning by a blustery afternoon, a vicious storm by a serene sunset. We keep striving for fixed positions, as if we were made of stone. We say this is what I believe, this who I like, this is what I want… And then the universe laughs and gives us a headache, a bad night, indigestion, a moment of euphoria, an energetic libido, a bout of conscience – and everything is once more upended. We should proceed more cautiously. In the quiet of our minds, so as not to alarm those around us, we should caveat the majority of our ideological positions with a humble 'for now…' This job seems to make enormous sense… for now. I feel I've worked things out… for now. This is who I am… for now. None of us are ever more than a few shifts in serotonin levels away from a transformation of heart. There is in our changeability an almost comedic interplay between what we might crudely refer to as our bodies and our minds; our higher faculties and our basic plumbing. We may feel that our perspectives on politics or love, the quality of a book or our assessment of a friend are built on disinterested, solid ground. We feel sure that the nobler parts of us are guiding our ideas, we don't recognise the extent to which what we are convinced of at a given point is really the outcome of how much sleep we've had or what is happening to our blood sugar levels. We'll solemnly declare that life not worth living long before it occurs to us that we may urgently need to have a nap or reach for an orange juice. Keeping this at the front of our minds can help us to be more generous and accurate about those we live among. It may be – as they tell us with utter conviction at midnight in the kitchen – that they do hate our guts or never want to see their mother again, or it might just be that it's time to get to bed and a heavy meal so late was not particularly a good idea. Understanding that we are a patchwork of moods can be of particular assistance in those states when we can't see a single sliver of blue in the inner sky. We should have the experience to know that even though we don't – right at this moment – have any idea what can shift our condition, if we sit within the inner jet stream long enough and wait, something will eventually come along to push our horrors away. Just as, more sombrely, whenever we can no longer imagine any reasons why we were ever sad, we should always remember the autumn gales. We stumble because of our tendency to too quickly declare 'this is me and always will be…' It almost never is; it's a heatwave, a squall, a shower, an Indian summer. We want to be solid, and we can only be air and water, gas and heat, current and front. We should take most of what we believe in at any single moment with wholehearted amused scepticism – and carry with us, always, an umbrella. 词汇表 in motion [ˈməʊʃ(ə)n] 在运转中，在运动中 restless procession [ˈrestlɪs] [prə'seʃ(ə)n] 不断地移动，不安的行进 weather front [frʌnt] （冷暖空气交汇的）锋面 temperamental [ˌtemprəˈment(ə)l] 喜怒无常的，反复无常的，易变的 serene [səˈriːn] 宁静的，平静的，安宁的 overcast [ˈəʊvə(r)ˌkɑːst] 阴天的，多云的 blustery ['blʌst(ə)ri] 狂风大作的，起风暴的 vicious storm ['vɪʃəs] 猛烈的暴风雨 indigestion [ˌɪndɪˈdʒestʃ(ə)n] 消化不良 euphoria [juːˈfɔːriə] 狂喜，亢奋，异常兴奋 energetic libido [lɪˈbiːdəʊ] 旺盛的性欲 a bout of conscience [baʊt][ˈkɒnʃ(ə)ns] 良心发作，良心觉醒 upended [ʌpˈendɪd] 翻倒的，颠倒的 caveat ['keɪviæt] 警告，提醒 ，附加说明 ideological position [ˌaɪdiəˈlɒdʒɪk(ə)l] 意识形态立场，思想立场 serotonin level [ˌsɪərəˈtəʊnɪn] 血清素水平 changeability [ˌtʃeɪndʒə'bɪlətɪ] 变化性，易变性 comedic interplay [kə'miːdɪk][ˈɪntə(r)ˌpleɪ] 喜剧性的相互作用 crudely [kru:dlɪ] 粗糙地，简单地，粗略地 faculty ['fæk(ə)lti] 能力，官能，机能 plumbing ['plʌmɪŋ] 生理机能；管道系统，水暖设备 disinterested [dɪsˈɪntrəstɪd] 客观的，公正无私的；无兴趣的 solemnly declare ['sɒləmli] [dɪˈkleə(r)] 庄严地宣布，郑重声明 with utter conviction [ˈʌtə(r)] [kən'vɪkʃ(ə)n] 无比坚定地，深信不疑地 heavy meal 丰盛的一餐；难消化的膳食 patchwork [ˈpætʃˌwɜː(r)k] 拼缝物，拼凑物 a sliver of [ˈslɪvə(r)] 一丝，少量，一点点 jet stream [dʒet] 急流，喷气流 push our horrors away [ˈhɒrə(r)] 驱散恐惧 sombrely [ˈsɒmbəli] 昏暗地，严肃地，忧郁地 gale [ɡeɪl] 狂风，大风 heatwave ['hiːtweɪv] 热浪，酷热期 squall [skwɔːl] 狂风，暴风 shower [ˈʃaʊə(r)] 阵雨 Indian summer 小阳春（指早秋的一段暖和天气） current ['kʌrənt] 电流，水流，气流 wholehearted [ˌhəʊlˈhɑː(r)tɪd] 全心全意地，赤诚的 amused scepticism [əˈmjuːzd][ˈskeptɪˌsɪz(ə)m] 戏谑的怀疑态度 🏫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】

'Manifest' is Cambridge Dictionary's Word of the Year 2024 For a term that's gained ground with millennials and Gen Z, the word 'manifest' actually dates back to the 1300s. Back then it was an adjective meaning 'clear' or 'obvious'. You can spot it in William Shakespeare's Merchant of Venice, even in the work of Geoffrey Chaucer. Nowadays, 'manifest' has a totally new meaning – the idea that, through the power of belief, we can effectively think a goal into becoming reality. Although positive thinking, self-affirmation and goal-setting all have beneficial effects, some psychologists have argued manifestation could lead to unrealistic expectations, even obsessive behaviour. Nevertheless, the term has gained traction on social media, and this year on the Cambridge Dictionary website it was looked up almost 130,000 times. 词汇表 gain ground 普及；取得进展 millennials [mɪ'leniəlz] 千禧一代（2000年左右出生的人） Gen Z [ˌdʒen ˈzed] Z世代（Generation Z，指90年代后期和2000年代前期出生的人） manifest [ˈmænɪfest] 显示，表明；显化（指通过坚定信念让目标变为现实） date back to 追溯到，始于 spot [spɒt] 看出，注意到，发现 Merchant of Venice [ˈmɜː(r)tʃ(ə)nt][ˈvenɪs]《威尼斯商人》（莎士比亚著） self-affirmation [ˌæfə(r)ˈmeɪʃ(ə)n] 自我肯定 goal-setting 目标设定 manifestation [ˌmænɪfeˈsteɪʃ(ə)n] 显示，表明；显灵 obsessive [əb'sesɪv] 强迫性的，着迷的 gain traction ['trækʃ(ə)n] 获得支持或认可 look up 搜索，查找 🗒️翻译和pdf见公众号【琐简】，回复1可加入【打卡交流群】

How we learn accents before we learn words No! That's the only word we hear in the latest cute baby video to go viral. But it's not the words that baby Orla says that has made this video so popular. It's the fact that her babbling clearly mimics the distinctive Scouse accent from Liverpool. This now-famous infant may only have been born in 2022, but the different accents of babbling babies have been investigated for many years. A study from 2009 found that French babies tend to cry with a rising intonation, while German babies' cries often have a falling intonation. Other studies have shown American and French babies reflecting syllables from English and French respectively, and that babies with parents who speak a tonal language, like Mandarin, had a greater range of tones in their crying. So why does this happen? As children develop, they practise making the sounds of the language that they hear around them. It's natural that they pick up the sounds and rhythms that surround them. In fact, babies start to learn language from their mother from three months before birth. However, it's not just the language of immediate family and caregivers that has an impact. Professor of developmental psychology, Caroline Floccia, highlights studies suggesting that children are more likely to acquire the accent of their environment than that of a parent who has an accent that is foreign to that location. Why is this important to know? Well, what it shows us is that babies are learning language through practice, and that the more time that parents spend interacting with their children, the greater the opportunity for this there is. While babbling babies may not be able to say many words, studies estimate that they can understand many times the number of words than those that they can actually say. Giving babies exposure to a greater number of words, allows them to better build their vocabulary. 词汇表 go viral ['vaɪrəl] 走红，迅速传播 babbling [ˈbæb(ə)lɪŋ] 牙牙学语，婴儿发出的咿呀声 mimic ['mɪmɪk] 模仿（某人的言行举止） distinctive [dɪ'stɪŋktɪv] 独特的，与众不同的 Scouse accent [skaʊs] 利物浦口音 Liverpool [ˈlɪvəˌpu:l] 利物浦（英格兰西部港市） now-famous 如今出名的，声名鹊起的 infant ['ɪnfənt] 婴儿，幼儿 rising / falling intonation [ˌɪntəˈneɪʃ(ə)n] 上升/下降语调 syllable ['sɪləb(ə)l] 音节 respectively [rɪ'spektɪvli] 分别地，各自地 tonal language [ˈtəʊn(ə)l] 声调语言（一种语言类型，其中声调在词汇或语法中起到区分意义的作用） Mandarin ['mændərɪn] （中国的）普通话，官话，国语 tone [təʊn] 语气，音调，语调 pick up （不费力地） 学会，获得 immediate family 直系亲属 caregiver [ˈkeə(r)ˌɡɪvə(r)] 照料者，看护者 developmental psychology [dɪˌveləpˈment(ə)l] 发展心理学 acquire [əˈkwaɪə(r)] 学到，获得，习得 be foreign to [ˈfɒrən] 与…不同的，对…陌生的 give exposure to [ɪkˈspəʊʒə(r)] 使接触到，使暴露于 📖 翻译、pdf见公众号【琐简】，回复"1"可进【打卡交流群】

Why it's OK not to be perfect at work Business Bartleby 商业板块 巴托比专栏 The perils of perfectionism 完美主义的危害 A backlash against the tyranny of high expectations 反抗高期望的暴政 It is the world's most tired interview question: what is your greatest weakness? And Rishi Sunak, one of the two remaining candidates in the race to become Britain's prime minister, gave the world's most tired answer—perfectionism—when he was asked it at an online hustings earlier last month. No interviewee would answer this question with an unambiguous negative ("stupidity", say, or "body odour"). Like all those who have reached for it before, Mr Sunak will have intended his reply to signal that his flaws are virtues, especially compared with the shambolic style of Boris Johnson's outgoing government. But this classic response is riskier than it once was. In Mr Sunak's case that is because the job of prime minister is largely to triage problems and make decisions at a relentless pace; even his supporters worry that his deliberative style would be a problem. More generally, perfectionism is increasingly out of step with the ways that products are developed, employees are treated and workforces are organised. Start with product development. Lots of digital types embrace the concept of the minimum viable product (MVP), in which companies ship prototypes that can be refined, or indeed scrapped, on the basis of feedback from early adopters. The essence of the MVP approach is anti-perfectionism: don't procrastinate, don't spend time sweating the tiniest details, get your product into users' hands and see how it does. Fussing about font sizes and nice-to-have features is a waste of time; the market will hone things for you, dispensing its judgments cumulatively and dispassionately. A growing emphasis on employees' well-being is another reason why perfectionism is out of favour. The trait is on the rise: a study published in 2017 found that it had been steadily increasing among American, British and Canadian college students between 1989 and 2016 (before you blame Instagram, one big reason is rising parental expectations). The tyranny of excessively high expectations is not good for you: a big literature review in 2016 concluded that perfectionism is associated with a string of mental-health disorders, from depression and burnout to stress and self-harm. It matters what kind of perfectionist someone is. Psychologists distinguish between a "self-oriented" version, in which people put pressure on themselves to perform flawlessly; an "other-oriented" type, in which people hold their colleagues to the highest of standards; and a "socially prescribed" version, in which employees think that they will only get on if they meet the impossible expectations of those around them. People in the last camp seem to be especially prone to stress. A recent Italian study found that, whereas having extremely high standards for your own performance was not a predictor of burnout, being afraid of making mistakes was. Perfectionists may also hurt team cohesiveness. In a study conducted in 2020, Emily Kleszewski and Kathleen Otto of Philipps-University of Marburg asked people to rate potential co-workers based on descriptions of their levels and categories of perfectionism. Perfectionists were regarded as being less socially skilled and less likeable than non-perfectionists. You don't have to like your colleagues for them to be effective: in that same study, perfectionists were rated as more competent than non-perfectionists. But when more and more work is organised around small groups working together, it can help not to loathe each other. By now your inner curmudgeon may well be frothing at the mouth. Nit-picking micro-managers are deeply annoying but they are nowhere near as bad as people who don't have any standards. Demanding bosses can be the difference between good products and superb ones: "that'll do" was not the mantra that made Steve Jobs successful. Some jobs actively require perfectionism—copy editors, say, or medicines regulators. And since when did being exacting become a health risk? Fortunately, discouraging perfectionism does not mean sacrificing high standards. In a paper published last year, three academics at the University of Ottawa found that people who strove for excellence did better on tests of creative thinking than people who sought perfection. Managers can explicitly define what counts as high-quality work. Deadlines can prevent endless procrastination. Mr Sunak's call not to let the perfect be the enemy of the good came as he sat in front of a poster that misspelled the word "campaign". That took things too far. 🔆翻译、pdf见公众号【琐简英语】，回复"1"可进【打卡交流群】

Are you following your dreams? Hello. This is 6 Minute English from BBC Learning English. I'm Neil. And I'm Beth. When I was a boy, I wanted to be a fireman when I grew up. How about you, Beth? Did you have any childhood dreams? --I wanted to be an astronaut and fly to the Moon. --When we're young most of us have big dreams and plans for the future. Unfortunately, as we grow up these childhood dreams often get lost in the adult world of jobs, money, families and careers. But not for everyone. Daisy, from New Zealand, and, Herman, from Argentina are two people who decided to follow their childhood dreams. They wanted the world to become a utopia – a perfect, ideal society where everyone is happy and gets along with each other. In this programme, we'll be hearing how Daisy and Herman made their dreams come true – not by changing the world, but by changing themselves. And, as usual, we'll be learning some new vocabulary too. But before that I have a question for you, Beth. Following your dreams can be tough, but not following them can leave you regretting all the things you wanted to do but didn't. In 2012, Australian nurse, Bronnie Ware, wrote her bestselling book, The Top Five Regrets of the Dying, after interviewing terminally ill patients about their life regrets. So, what do you think their top regret was? Was it a) I wish I hadn't worked so hard? b) I wish I had followed my dreams? or c) I wish I'd made more money? --Well, I'll guess it's b) they wish they had followed their dreams. --OK, Beth. I'll reveal the correct answer at the end of the programme. The first dreamer we're going to meet lives in Riverside, a peace-loving community in New Zealand where everyone shares everything. Riverside members work for the community's businesses, including a farm, a hotel and a café. All the money they earn is collected and shared between everyone equally. Daisy, who was born in East Germany, joined Riverside in 2004. Here she explains her belief in sharing to BBC World Service programme, The Documentary. What I think I always believed in is that the sharing of resources can provide a group of people with quite a great advantage, but it doesn't matter how many hours you work or what work you do, everyone is getting the same amount. And that is something that many people outside of Riverside struggle with, and where we're often getting this 'communism' label attached to us, because it's so… it seems so outlandish for people. Riverside isn't a communist community. In fact, people with many different political views live there. But Daisy says that local people struggle with the idea that everything is shared. If you struggle with an idea, you find it difficult to accept or think about it. Daisy also says some local people call Riverside outlandish – strange and unusual. Our second group of dreamers are a family - the Zapps. In 2000, childhood sweethearts, Herman and Candelaria Zapp, bought a vintage car and set off from Argentina to travel around the world with less than 3.500 dollars in their pockets. Twenty-two years and three children later they have visited over a hundred countries, meeting with countless people and experiences on the way. Here, Herman Zapp explains to BBC World Service's, The Documentary, how following his dream has changed him for the better. I am so happy with the Herman there is now, that I know now – not the one who wanted to conquer the world, but the one who was conquered by the world. I learn so much from people, and it's amazing how the more you meet people, the more you know stories, how much more humble you become because you notice that you are a beautiful, tiny piece of sand, but a very important piece of sand like everyone is, right? After many years travelling, meeting new people and hearing their stories, Herman is more humble – not proud or arrogant. He no longer wants to conquer the world – to control it by force; rather, he has been conquered by his experiences. Herman compares himself to a beautiful but tiny piece of sand and uses the phrase a grain of sand to describe things which are insignificant in themselves, but at the same time are an important part of the whole. Daisy and Herman are rare examples of dreamers who followed their dream and found a happy life, lived without regret which reminds me of your question, Neil. --Yes, I asked about Bronnie Ware's book, The Top Five Regrets of the D ying. What do you think the number one regret was, Beth? --I guessed it was b) not following your dreams. --Which was the right answer! Not having the courage to follow your dreams was listed as the top life regret. At least we have people like Daisy and Herman to remind us dreams can come true! 📝 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】