Exercise for the lazy Did you make any New Year's resolutions this year, Neil? They're promises that you make to yourself to do something positive in the coming year… And now that we're into February, it's getting harder to keep those promises!--Yes, the same promises I make every year, Sam – to exercise more and get fit. But I'm too lazy to go running on cold winter mornings - I'd rather stay in bed! Are you feeling out of shape after Christmas, like Neil? Maybe you want to be more active but can't find the time? If so, this programme is for you!--Yes, in this lazy person's guide to exercise, we'll be asking: what is the least amount of exercise someone can get away with doing whilst still staying healthy? And, of course, we'll be learning some useful new vocabulary as well. Of course, any exercise is better than none. 'Structured exercise' - activities like going to a fitness class, or swimming are great. But if that's not possible, we'll be hearing about small changes you can make that will help as well.-- Which is good news because fewer and fewer of us of doing what the UK government recommends - thirty minutes of moderate exercise a day. In fact, the government recently downgraded its recommendations because so few Brits were following it. So, Sam, according to new government advice, what is the minimum number of steps we should walk every day to stay healthy? Is it: a) five thousand steps? b) ten thousand steps? or, c) twenty thousand steps?--I'll say a) five thousand steps per day.--OK, Sam. We'll find out the answer at the end of the programme. Someone else who's interested in how little exercise he can do is BBC reporter, James Gallagher. Here's James speaking with sports physiologist, Dr Zoe Saynor, after Zoe had been monitoring James's fitness while running on a treadmill for BBC Radio 4 programme, Inside Science. I also know you do regularly try and do structured exercise.-- Just to be clear, my structured exercise training is going for a swim once a week. Generally, that's fantastic! I guess my question to you would be, how hard do you push yourself when you go swimming?--Not as hard as the treadmill. I think the big thing if we come back to this question of what is the least I can do? There's clear evidence that if you want to do shorter exercise sessions, they need to be of a higher intensity, right?--So there's a trade-off. Zoe says that if you don't have much time to exercise it's okay to do shorter sessions, as long as you push yourself – try harder and put more effort into what you're doing. If you can swim a length in forty seconds, push yourself to swim it in thirty-five. That means exercising harder of course, but for a shorter time. In other words, there's a trade-off – you accept the disadvantages of something in order to get the benefit it brings. Another problem for many people is that their job is sedentary – it involves little exercise or physical activity. Zoe thinks it's important that office workers who sit down all day also find time to exercise. Here she shares her tips with BBC Radio 4 programme, Inside Health. Especially people who have office jobs are sat down all day, we then look at some of the easy wins . So, active travel, and even if that's parking a little bit further away. One of the exciting areas in the literature that's coming out at the moment, is actually walking faster. So, if you have no time to suddenly do 10,000 steps a day, can we get you to do 5,000 steps faster? Will we see an improvement on your health? Yes, we will see an improvement on your health, especially over a longer period of time. The big focus around short, sharp exercise sessions is you get more bang for your buck. Zoe's suggestions for active travel, things like walking from the car, and using the stairs instead of the lift, are easy wins - tasks that are both easy to accomplish and bring benefits. Easy wins, like short but intensive bursts of exercise, increase fitness and give you more bang for your buck, and idiom which means that you get better results for the same amount of effort you put in. That's something everyone can appreciate – even you, Neil. Well, I'll definitely try to walk more, but remember, Sam, the body needs rest too!--And speaking of walking, isn't it time to reveal the answer to your question: how many steps does the UK government recommend we should walk a day? I guessed it was five thousand… So, was I right?--You were close, Sam, but in fact the correct answer is ten thousand steps a day, although as Zoe mentioned, walking fewer steps faster has benefits too. 📝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】

Finland named the world's happiest country for 8th year in a row Host: The UN report also named Finland as the world's happiest country for the eighth year in a row, as another of the authors, Lara Aknin, explains: Aknin: They're often topping the list with a lot of Nordic countries. It is hard to pinpoint exactly what Finland might have in terms of some secret sauce or perfect level of predictors. But it's been speculated there might be various factors, including a strong social safety net that provides people a sense of financial support - should they need to leave their work, if they need health care, also education covered all the way from very young ages through university. But also the fact that a strong social safety net provides not just these financial resources and basic necessities, but also represents the idea that your neighbors, that your fellow countrymen are there by your side to support you. One important thing in the report is that we try to understand the global variations in these rankings. So what helps explain the happiness differences across these countries? Some of these factors are typically beyond the reach of the average individual, like GDP per capita and healthy life expectancy which you might be able to shape with some healthy choices. But two of my favourites to underscore are the importance of social support, so that is having someone to count on in times of need, and engaging in personal acts of generosity for other people. Both of those have been shown to be strong, independent predictors of wellbeing, and I think they're particularly powerful and potent because they're things that we can choose to engage in. Host: Lara Aknin from the World Happiness Report. As well as all those positives, there's another side to Finland's happiness. The concept of Sisu. The word is deeply ingrained in Finnish culture, but it has no direct translation in English. It's along the lines of inner strength, but there's more to it than that, as Stephanie Prentice has been finding out. Prentice: From jumping in freezing lakes right after a sauna with friends to going back to basics in nature. We've heard about the benefits of the Finnish culture for promoting mental well-being, but within those happy activities lies something else, difficulty. Alongside the 2025 happiness report, officials in Finland were quick to point out that one of the secrets to happiness is embracing sisu. It's a word and a concept that doesn't translate, literally, but it's something we're told is important to every Finn. So we asked some of them to explain. Magnus Appelberg is a cold exposure enthusiast and teaches courses in Finland, encouraging foreigners to embrace Sisu. Appelberg: Every Finn is proud of the concept of Sisu. So it's an innate power of facing adversities. When you have guests that may come from countries, for example, without so much of a cold climate, how do they react when you initially put them in those situations, when they're in the icy water? Appelberg: It's a sight for sore eyes. Most people go into a state of shock. And then they slowly, by using their breath, they come out of it. And you see when their faces light up, it's like, wow, they've seen a total new world, a total new way of facing hard things. l Prentice: For Magnus, Sisu is a skill that can be built. And for people living in urban environments, he says start the day with a cold shower. Appelberg: You will feel the mental resistance stepping into an ice-cold shower turn the adversity into a relaxed situation. Everybody can learn that. Prentice: Petri Kokkonen is a wilderness guide in Lapland. He gave up his easy city life to live off the grid in a remote cabin, and he says despite the hardship, he's never been happier. Kokkonen: For me, the Sisu means more the lifestyle. I don't have a real electric system. I have solar power panels and I can't actually even use electricity in a December and it's our darkest month. But it's like I really enjoy and I love that time. 🌟词汇表、翻译，pdf及更多文本内容见公众号【琐简英语】，回复"1"可加入【打卡交流群】

BYD Unveils Battery System that Charges 400km in 5 Minutes Chess in Asia had been moving yesterday or Monday. The Chinese electric car maker BYD being one of the big movers because it hit record highs again on Tuesday. Investors reacting to news that the company says it has developed a battery that can charge in five minutes about the time it takes to fill up a petrol car. Promotional video there from BYD and the voiceover saying we strive for speed, more speed, extreme speed. We're racing with technology, giving chase, running at speed never achieved before. Certainly seems to be the case, as Mark Rainford of Inside China Autos told us. Rainford: Honestly, this was a bit of a shock. It was a very big announcement. The scale of the achievement here is quite astounding for the industry, even for somebody who's deeply embedded in it like myself. They've essentially doubled the maximum charging speed that's currently available on the market with this single announcement. So it's a big for a company that is the largest seller of cars in China, is present in 81 or 80 plus markets around the world. It's honestly quite impressive, yeah. I ask this with trepidation, not being a scientist myself, But can you explain what it is that makes this battery such a development, as you're saying? Rainford: It's actually not just the battery. So if I can simplify the terms, the speed at which an electric car is charged is measured in kilowatts. And you can equate that to the speed of fuel through a petrol pump into a petrol tank. So you need both the pump or the charger itself and then the vehicle to be able to receive the charge or the fuel at the same speed. And this BYD essentially, the platform, which is all the components in it, including the battery and other things that need to be able to charge at a certain speed, it can charge at 1000 kilowatts. Now, the maximum peak charging speed currently available on the market is in the Li Mega, which is another Chinese car, and that's 520 kilowatts. So 1,000 kilowatts, or one megawatt is another name of calling it, is basically double the speed of the fastest charging electric car on the market today. And so how quickly can it charge an average kind of one of its models up then, total to sort of full charge? Rainford: So they have said that they can charge from essentially at 400 kilometers of range in just five minutes. So that's about 250 miles in five minutes. I mean, that's a game changer if they really can do this on a mass level, isn't it? Rainford: It is. I mean, the best at the moment are basically charging at about half of that speed, so that the really good ones can do about 10% to 80% of a battery in about 10 and a half to 12 minutes, of course, with the right charger. So you do need to have the chargers as well as the vehicle capable of doing it. BYD are currently only rolling out this platform to their two flagship models called the Han and the Tang. So not every car within the BYD range will get this platform. It's really for the high-end ones to begin with. But the fact that they have now the battery capable of receiving this power as well means that future models will also be able to charge faster than they can today. 词汇表 unveil [ʌnˈveɪl] 揭开，公布，推出 chess [tʃes] 国际象棋（文中指股市情况） electric car maker 电动汽车制造商 BYD 比亚迪汽车公司（Build Your Dream） mover [ˈmuːvə(r)] 移动的人或物，推动者（文中指在股市中表现突出、股价波动较大的公司或股票） charge [tʃɑː(r)dʒ] 充电；收费；指控 fill up 装满，填满（尤指给汽油车加满油） petrol car [ˈpetrəl] 汽油车 promotional video [prəˈməʊʃənl] 宣传视频，宣传片 voiceover [ˈvɔɪsəʊvə(r)] 画外音，旁白 strive for [ˈstraɪv fɔː(r)] 争取，努力追求 give chase [ tʃeɪs] 追赶，追逐 astounding [əˈstaʊndɪŋ] 令人震惊的，惊人的 be embedded in [ɪmˈbedɪd] 深深融入，扎根于，嵌入 maximum [ˈmæksɪməm] 最大的，最高的；最大限度，最大量 trepidation [ˌtrepɪˈdeɪʃn] 恐惧，忐忑，不安 kilowatt [ˈkɪləwɒt] 千瓦（电功率单位，1000 kilowatts=1 megawatt [ˈmeɡəˌwɒt] 兆瓦） equate [ɪˈkweɪt] 使等同，同等看待 fuel [ˈfjuːəl] 燃料；给……提供燃料 petrol pump [ˈpetrəl pʌmp] 加油泵（加油站中用于供应汽油的设备） petrol tank [ˈpetrəl tæŋk] 汽车油箱 charger [ˈtʃɑː(r)dʒə(r)] 充电器 component [kəmˈpəʊnənt] 部件，组件，成分 Li Mega [ˈliː ˈmeɡə] 理想MEGA（理想汽车旗下首款纯电车型） range [reɪndʒ] （车辆的）续航里程；范围，一系列 game changer 改变局面的事物，变革者 roll out [ˈrəʊl] 推出，推广 flagship model [ˈflæɡʃɪp] 旗舰车型（指最具代表性、最高端的产品型号） high-end 高端的 ，高档的

Surviving a mistake at work That email you didn't send, the calculation you misread, the realisation that the deadline was yesterday... all followed by a sinking feeling, a quickening of the breath and the realisation that it's your fault. Fear not! Handled well, a mistake at work can become a great opportunity. Start by owning up to it. It may be tempting to cover up a mistake, but any deception is unlikely to last for long and could delay attempts to put right the problem. And that's next – try to resolve the problems that you've created. Being proactive and coming to your manager with suggestions is likely to help you regain trust. Psychologists tell us that we tend to have a negativity bias – we are more likely to remember negative things. This is why executive coach Dina Denham Smith tells us we need to make our progress in fixing the issue clear and visible. It's also important to apologise. Showing genuine remorse demonstrates that we can take ownership of our blunders. As well as looking at how we make amends for our mix-ups to other people, we also need to be honest with ourselves. Removing emotion is important. Shame from making a mistake can cloud our judgement when deciding how to respond. It can also affect our perception of the mistake's seriousness – it's easy to exaggerate how bad something really is. Everyone makes mistakes. What's really important is how we address them. It's important to be reflective. Consider if there's an underlying cause for the mistake, and how to prevent future slip-ups. It can also be useful to seek advice from someone who's had similar experiences in the past. Combined with our own reflections, this can be a powerful way to grow in our job and be more successful. Academics Jasmine Virhia and Grace Lordan highlight research showing that workplaces which replace fear and blame around mistakes with opportunities for self-reflection are more psychologically safe. This allows people to learn from their mistakes, grow their skills, improve processes and ultimately productivity. Handled in the right way, by both employees and employers, mistakes can become a powerful tool for improvement. 词汇表 misread [ˌmɪsˈriːd] 看错，误读，误解 deadline ['dedlaɪn] 最后期限，截止日期 sinking feeling [ˈsɪŋkɪŋ] 不祥的预感（对即将发生的坏事的担忧和不安） quickening [ˈkwɪkənɪŋ] 加快，变快 Fear not! 别担心！别怕！ handle [ˈhændl] 处理，应付，对待 own up to 承认，坦白（错误） be tempting to [ˈtemptɪŋ] 做…很诱人，忍不住，倾向于 cover up 掩盖，掩饰 deception [dɪˈsepʃn] 欺骗，欺诈，诡计 put right 纠正，改正，使恢复正常 resolve [rɪˈzɒlv] 解决，处理，决心 proactive [ˌprəʊˈæktɪv] 积极主动的，主动出击的 regain trust [rɪˈɡeɪn] 重获信任 negativity bias [ˌneɡətɪˈvɪti ˈbaɪəs] 消极偏见（更倾向于关注和记忆负面的事情） executive coach [ɪɡˈzekjətɪv kəʊtʃ] 高管教练（为高管提供指导和支持的职业教练） genuine remorse [ˈdʒenjuɪn rɪˈmɔːs] 真诚的悔意 take ownership of [ˈəʊnəʃɪp] 对…承担责任 blunder [ˈblʌndə(r)] 愚蠢的错误，失误 make amends for [əˈmendz] 弥补，补偿 mix-up 混淆，错误，误会 cloud one's judgement 影响某人的判断 exaggerate [ɪɡˈzædʒəreɪt] 夸大，夸张 address [əˈdres] 处理，应对 reflective [rɪˈflektɪv] 自省的，反思的 underlying cause [ˈʌndə(r)laɪɪŋ] 潜在原因 slip-up [ˈslɪp] 错误，疏忽，失误 psychologically safe [ˌsaɪkəˈlɒdʒɪkli] 心理安全的 📖 翻译、pdf见公众号【琐简英语】，回复"1"可进【打卡交流群】

Your Biggest Problems Might Just Be Sleep Deprivation To a surprising, and almost humiliating extent, some of the gravest problems we face during a day can be traced back to a brutally simple fact: that we have not had enough sleep the night before. The idea sounds profoundly offensive. There are surely greater issues than tiredness. We are likely to be up against genuine hurdles: the economic situation, politics, problems at work, tensions in our relationship, the family… These are true difficulties. But what we often fail to appreciate is the extent to which our ability to confront them with courage and resilience is dependent on a range of distinctly 'small' or 'low' factors: what our blood sugar level is like, when we last had a proper hug from someone, how much water we've drunk – and how many hours we've rested. We tend to resist such analyses of our troubles. It can feel like an insult to our rational, adult dignity to think that our sense of gloom might in the end stem, centrally, from exhaustion. We'd sooner identify ourselves as up against an existential or socio-cultural crisis than see ourselves as sleep-deprived. Yet we should be careful of under- but also of over-intellectualising. To be happy, we require large serious things (money, freedom, love), but we need a lot of semi-insultingly little things, too (a good diet, hugs, rest). Anyone who has ever looked after babies knows this well. When life becomes too much for them, it's almost always because they are tired, thirsty or hungry. With this in mind, it should be no insult to insist that we never adopt a truly tragic stance until we've first investigated whether we need to have an orange juice or lie down for a while. Probably as a hangover from childhood, 'staying up late' feels a little glamorous and even exciting; late at night is when (in theory) the most fascinating things happen. But in a wiser culture than our own, some of the most revered people in the land would – on a regular basis – be shown taking to bed early. There'd be competitions highlighting sensible bedtimes. We'd be reminded of the pleasures of already being in bed when the last of the evening light still lingers in the sky. Our problems would not thereby disappear, but our strength to confront them would at points critically increase. 词汇表 sleep deprivation [ˌdeprɪˈveɪʃn] 睡眠不足，睡眠剥夺 humiliating [hjuːˈmɪlieɪtɪŋ] 丢脸的，羞辱性的 grave [ɡreɪv] 严重的，重大的 brutally simple [ˈbruːtəli] 极其简单的 profoundly [prəˈfaʊndli] 深刻地，极度地 offensive [ əˈfensɪv] 冒犯的，无礼的，令人不快的 be up against 面临，遭遇 hurdle [ˈhɜːdl] 障碍，困难 confront [kənˈfrʌnt] 面对，遭遇，对抗 resilience [rɪˈzɪliəns] 适应力，恢复力，韧性 be dependent on [dɪˈpendənt] 依赖，取决于 distinctly [dɪˈstɪŋktli] 明显地，清楚地 blood sugar level 血糖水平 insult [ˈɪnsʌlt] 侮辱，辱骂，冒犯 rational [ˈræʃnəl] 理性的，合理的 dignity [ˈdɪɡnəti] 尊严，自尊 gloom [ɡluːm] 忧郁，沮丧，阴暗 stem from [stem] 源于，由…造成 exhaustion [ɪɡˈzɔːstʃən] 疲惫，筋疲力尽 existential or socio-cultural crisis [ˌeɡzɪˈstenʃl][ˌsəʊsiəʊ] 存在主义或社会文化危机 sleep-deprived [dɪˈpraɪvd] 睡眠不足的，剥夺睡眠的 under-/over-intellectualising [ˌɪntəˈlektʃuəlaɪzɪŋ] 缺乏理智/过度理智化 insultingly [ˈɪnsʌltɪŋli] 侮辱地，冒犯地 stance [stɑːns] 立场，姿态，态度 hangover [ˈhæŋəʊvə(r)] 遗留物，宿醉 glamorous [ˈɡlæmərəs] 迷人的，富有魅力的 revered [rɪˈvɪəd] 受尊敬的，受崇敬的 sensible bedtimes [ˈsensəbl ˈbedtaɪms] 合理的就寝时间 linger [ˈlɪŋɡə(r)] 逗留，徘徊，留存 at points 在某些时候，在某些方面 critically increase [ˈkrɪtɪkli] 大幅增加 🏫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】

5 Things You Really Need to Know About AI Every day, it seems, there's a new, bewildering or frightening story about AI in the news – how it's going to steal our jobs, spread internet fakery on a colossal scale and generally take over the world. But what exactly is AI – artificial intelligence – and are the scare stories even true? 1. AI is as old as your grandparents. So the first thing to know is that AI has been around a lot longer than you might think. Its roots lie in an idea known as an "artificial neural network" from the 1940s. A neural network is a bit like a team of interconnected workers that learn to solve problems. Each time they come up with a possible solution, it's marked. If there is room for improvement, they adjust and change their connections. Over time, the network becomes more efficient. And technology powered by neural networks is all around us right now. It suggests movies and music we might like. It recognises faces and objects when taking photos on smartphones, enabling features like facial recognition. It's heavily used by social media platforms to personalise our feeds. More recently, a form of AI known as "generative AI" is powering applications that can seemingly create new data. It can also power chatbots like Open AI's ChatGPT and Google's Bard, which give humanlike responses to questions. These are getting better at interacting with us, and seemingly more humanlike. 2. AI can't feel or think. If you ask ChatGPT a question like this one – "Why should we be concerned about AI?" – it does a pretty good job of providing a response that appears logical. And with that convincing humanlike response, it's easy for us to believe it understands what it's saying, that it has feelings and motivations. It's understandable that we do this, but it's worth remembering, right now, AI can't think or feel, can't love or hate. ChatGPT and its counterparts are sophisticated sentence-completion apps that analyse our patterns of communication and provide responses similar to the way humans would typically reply. 3. AI makes stuff up. Chatbots can have an awkward relationship with the truth, technically known as "AI hallucinations". You could also describe it as "making stuff up". The core of the technology is a model that uses probability to predict the next word, sentence or paragraph. It can generate seemingly plausible replies, but lacks the ability to assess truthfulness or the accuracy of its responses. So anyone thinking of using chatbots to write content needs to be careful they're not incorporating credible-sounding BS that can be easily spotted by someone who's actually done the research. 4. AI can sound racist and sexist. The idea of a racist machine might seem far-fetched. But if AI is trained on data that's racist, biased or hateful, then its output will be too. As we all know, racism, bias and hateful content can be found in abundance online. In 2016, Microsoft launched an experimental chatbot called Tay, but quickly pulled the plug after it made racist and offensive remarks. It learnt to do this from interacting with users on social media. Microsoft apologized and promised to implement improved safety features in future. This is why the ethical framework that governs any AI application is incredibly important, and why many are calling for safeguards to prevent bias and hate speech to be built into AI systems. 5. AI has incredible potential. For all the notes of caution, it can be easy to forget there's many potential benefits to AI. It's set to truly revolutionise healthcare. AI has already discovered new drugs and is being used to identify cancer cells much more reliably than humans. And AI chatbots can behave like patient teachers when we struggle to understand a complex topic, summarising huge volumes of information for us. The AI revolution has the potential to enhance and speed up work in many fields, from software programming, to animation, to law enforcement and journalism. This has pluses and minuses, of course, but could this extra capacity free us up to do other things? Like tackling climate change or looking after ourselves and each other better? As AI advances, governments and regulators will of course need to make sure it's being used ethically and legally – no easy feat. But will AI take over the world? Don't forget, AI is a tool, and even a powerful tool can't take over the world on its own. It's up to us to decide how we use it – or even if we should use it at all. 💡词汇表、 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】

Why friends are sometimes unreliable Do you have a friend who happily agrees to your plans, only to disappear when the time eventually comes? Maybe they flake on you and cancel last minute, or just don't tell you and then ghost you completely. Or just maybe, it's you that sometimes lets people down. What lies behind this reluctance to keep to engagements? It could be our personality traits. According to psychology professor Richard Koestner, less conscientious or agreeable people tend to have less concern for others and are more likely to overbook themselves socially. While this can be due to bad time management, it can also be because people are afraid of confrontation and saying no to their friends, so end up agreeing to things that they don't really want to do. Technology could be another factor behind people's willingness to back out of social commitments. Firstly, being able to cancel plans with a simple text message or pressing a 'not attending' button on an invitation, rather than doing it face-to-face or through an awkward phone call, is a much more frictionless way to say you have changed your mind. On top of this, people have become used to the instant gratification offered by social media and streaming platforms. Does this make real-life interaction seem mundane and arduous by comparison? Could it be generational? A 2017 study found that 45% of American millennials saw nothing wrong with withdrawing from social arrangements. Older generations were less likely to pull out of events that they had been invited to. Whatever lies behind it, psychologists have advice for us. Kurt Gray from the University of North Carolina recommends a simple phone call to reinforce human connection. Andrea Bonior from Georgetown University tells us to gently let our friends know that being let down disrupts us and makes us feel less valued. Caution is important though. Life coach Kira Asatryan reminds us that sometime people withdraw, not out of disrespect, but because they themselves feel anxious, stressed or sad. 词汇表 flake on someone [fleɪk] 放某人鸽子，爽约 ghost [ɡəʊst] 突然消失，不再联系（某人） lie behind 是…的原因，隐藏在…背后 reluctance [rɪˈlʌktəns] 不情愿，勉强 keep to engagement [ɪnˈɡeɪdʒmənt] 履行诺言，遵守约定 personality trait [ˌpɜːsəˈnæləti treɪt] 人格特质，个性特征 conscientious [ˌkɒnʃiˈenʃəs] 认真负责的，尽责的 agreeable [əˈɡriːəbl] 和蔼可亲的，易相处的，随和的 overbook [ˌəʊvəˈbʊk] 过度约定，预订过多 confrontation [ˌkɒnfrʌnˈteɪʃn] 对抗，冲突，对峙 back out 退出，食言，变卦 social commitment [kəˈmɪtmənt] 社交承诺，社交约定 frictionless [ˈfrɪkʃnləs] 无摩擦的，顺利的 instant gratification [ˈɪnstənt ˌɡrætɪfɪˈkeɪʃn] 即时满足，及时行乐 streaming platform [ˈstriːmɪŋ] 流媒体平台 mundane [mʌnˈdeɪn] 平凡的，单调的，世俗的 arduous [ˈɑːdjuəs] 费力的，艰难的 generational [ˌdʒenəˈreɪʃ(ə)nəl] 代际的，代与代之间的 millennial [mɪˈleniəl] 千禧一代，一千年的 withdraw [wɪðˈdrɔː] 退出，撤回，离开 pull out of 退出，摆脱，离开 reinforce [ˌriːɪnˈfɔːs] 加强，增强，加固 📖 翻译、pdf见公众号【琐简英语】，回复"1"可进【打卡交流群】

Tariffs: EU and Canada retaliate What we're going to start the program talking about, once again, is tariffs. So what has happened on Wednesday? Well, Canada has announced reciprocal levies on more than $20 million worth of US goods after Washington imposed 25% tariffs on all steel and aluminium imports. Here's Canada's Foreign Minister, Melanie Jolly. Canada is not the one driving up the cost of your groceries or of your gasoline or any of your construction. Canada is not the one putting your jobs at risk. Canada is not the one that is ultimately starting this war. President Trump's tariffs against you are causing that and there are no winners in a trade war. That move came after similar retaliatory measures from the EU. It's imposing counter-tariffs on more than $28 billion worth of US goods from next month. That's matching the US tariffs on European exports and will take effect in April, which leaves some time to negotiate with Washington. Here's the European Commission President, Ursula von der Leyen. The countermeasures we take today are strong but proportionate. As the United States are applying tariffs worth 28 billion dollars, we are responding with countermeasures worth 26 billion euros. This matches the economic scope of the tariffs of the United States. 词汇表 tariff ['tærɪf] 关税；关税表；收费表 reciprocal [rɪ'sɪprəkl] 相应的，对等的，互惠的 levy ['levi] 税款，征收额 Washington ['wɒʃɪŋtən] 华盛顿（美国首都，这里指代美国政府） steel and aluminium imports [stiːl][ˌæljə'mɪniəm]['ɪmpɔːts] 进口的钢铁和铝 drive up the cost 抬高价格，提高成本 grocery ['ɡrəʊsəri] 食品杂货店，食品杂货 gasoline ['ɡæsəliːn] 汽油 put at risk 使处于危险之中，使面临风险 ultimately ['ʌltɪmətli] 最终，最后，根本上 trade war [treɪd] 贸易战（指国家间通过提高进口税、设置配额等保护本国经济的对抗行为） retaliatory measures [rɪ'tæliətəri] 报复性措施 impose on [ɪm'pəʊz] 征收（税款），强加于，强制推行 counter-tariffs ['kaʊntə(r)'tærɪfs] 反制关税 countermeasure ['kaʊntəmeʒə(r)] 反制措施，对抗措施，对策 proportionate [prə'pɔːʃənət] 相称的；适当的，成比例的 economic scope [ˌiːkə'nɒmɪk skəʊp] 经济范围，经济规模 🌟翻译，pdf及更多文本内容见公众号【琐简英语】，回复"1"可加入【打卡交流群】

The country that measures happiness Hello. This is 6 Minute English from BBC Learning English. I'm Neil. --And I'm Pippa. In this programme we're talking about happiness. So, what makes you happy, Neil? --It makes me happy when I'm with a group of old friends and we're having a good laugh. How about you, Pippa? --Cats make me very happy. Especially if I see a cat on the street that I don't know, and it lets me give it a little stroke. That always makes me happy. --I'm not surprised. That sounds great. So, happiness means different things to different people, but what's for sure is that most people would like to be happy. And the small Himalayan kingdom of Bhutan has taken this to a new level with the idea of Gross National Happiness, or GNH. --We'll be hearing more about Gross National Happiness and learning some useful new vocabulary soon. But first Pippa, I have a question for you. Of course, it's not just the people of Bhutan who want to be happy. In fact, the United Nations has even announced an International Day of Happiness. But when is that? Is International Happiness Day: a) the 20th of March? b) the 20th of June? c) the 20th of November? --I'm going to say the 20th June, because it would be sunny in the UK. --OK, let's find out if you're right at the end of the programme. Now, briefly, Gross National Happiness means preserving Bhutan's natural environment and culture through sustainable and eco-friendly development. Bhutan's government sees these goals as more important than growing the economy at any cost. For many years, Bhutan was closed to the outside world – the first foreign tourists arrived in 1974, and television was only introduced in 1999. The King of Bhutan wanted to modernise the country and give it the benefits of modern technology, but without damaging traditional culture, so he invited outside experts to develop the idea of Gross National Happiness. One expert was Dr Ha Vinh Tho, speaking here to Charmaine Cozier, presenter of BBC World Service programme, The Inquiry: So, his idea was: 'How could we modernise and open our country without losing its culture, its environment, and its very strong social fabric?' Because Bhutan was one of the only countries in Asia that was never colonised therefore its culture is very intact and vibrant, mainly Buddhist culture. And so the idea was that Gross National Happiness should be the focus on all governmental decisions and policies. --So the wellbeing and happiness of citizens took centre stage. Bhutan has a strong social fabric meaning there are good relationships within communities and these hold society together. Unlike other Asian countries, Bhutan was never colonised, so its Buddhist culture and traditions are intact – they're complete and unspoiled. As a result, the happiness of Bhutan's people took centre stage, it became the most important thing. Bhutan's emphasis on happiness has been admired around the world, but there have been problems too. One is the migration of Bhutanese workers to India and other countries in search of better paid jobs and opportunities, something known as the brain drain. So in 2023, the King of Bhutan announced a multi-million dollar project called, The Mindfulness City, a new Himalayan city built on spiritual and environmental principles, all powered by renewable energy. Originally from Bhutan, Dr Lhawang Ugyel, is the project's director and spoke with Charmaine Cozier for BBC World Service's, The Inquiry: The project is also about reversing Bhutan's brain drain. The intention is to have locals run this whole Mindfulness City, so in that sense it's also to attract the migrants that have left, and in the process of having worked abroad, gained the extra skills, come back to the Mindfulness City and work. As well as being a futuristic eco-city, the Mindfulness City hopes to stop Bhutan's brain drain by attracting workers back home to Bhutan. These local workers can then use the extra skills that they've learned abroad through upskilling. And upskilling is the process where workers' skills are improved through training. The idea of Gross National Happiness might sound unusual, but it's interesting to see Bhutan balancing economic growth with the happiness of its people. Yes, that's true – and it reminds me of your question, Neil. --Yes, I asked you what the date of International Happiness Day is? --I said it was the 20th June in the summer in the UK. --Well, maybe it's better for people in the Southern hemisphere because it's actually the 20th March. --Nice. --And if you got that answer right, why not try our interactive quiz which you'll find on our website, bbclearningenglish.com! 📝 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】

Four secrets from sports psychology you can use in everyday life The top sports stars get there with a lot of coaching - not just physical but also psychological. I work with sports people all the time, and here are a few secrets from the world of sports psychology. And it turns out, these tricks are equally relevant in everyday life. 1. Being nervous is good So next time you feel really nervous, try this. It might sound a bit strange, but I promise you it works. Tell yourself: "I am not nervous, I am excited!" Why does this work? Well, we all get anxious and nervous at times - totally normal. The tendency of course is to tell yourself to calm down. Sounds like a good idea, but having butterflies in your stomach, and that sense of anxiety, is just so far removed from a state of calm, your body just won't buy it. Reframing anxiety as excitement works because both are states of high arousal. But while anxiety is negative and will hamper your performance - you literally feel under threat - excitement is an emotion that will help you feel positive and look forward to the challenge. 2. Don't do all the work yourself All athletes learn how to take care of themselves. But as important as taking care of yourself is learning to let others support you along the way. In 2019, Kenyan long-distance runner Eliud Kipchoge broke the two-hour marathon record. But, he didn't do it on his own. On the day of the event, he had help from 41 pacemakers, and of course the support of thousands of people who came along to cheer. Kipchoge asked for the general public to be there because he knew he could run better with their support. Who can you ask to support you in your everyday life? There is no shame in getting help when you're trying to achieve something difficult. Asking for support is a sign of strength, and positive support is priceless. 3. Mentally rehearse Many of the world's top athletes use visualisation techniques before a big event - they're mentally rehearsing it in their minds. This can increase motivation, build confidence and improve your performance. The more realistic this visualisation and preparation is, the more successful it will be. Athletes will think about the sounds they might hear - like the crowd. What they might smell - like freshly cut grass. And imagine what they are going to see. And how they might feel. Runners might visualise difficult parts of their race. Before becoming the fastest British woman in recorded history, Dina Asher-Smith had already raced - and won - multiple times in her mind. She said: "I might visualise the final…I run through it as if I'm running it. It's quite fun. You kind of have to win or else there's no point." 4. Talk to yourself Negative thoughts reduce confidence. This happens to everyone - even the greatest athletes. But they have learned techniques to overcome them. One technique is called self-talk - literally talking to yourself. This can have a surprising effect on your performance. Top athletes will often be heard saying, "You got this." "I can do this." It helps them to control anxiety, to build their confidence and to provide focus. Muhammad Ali, often considered the greatest boxer of all time, was famous for saying: I am the greatest. But interestingly, he admitted repeatedly saying this phrase to himself long before he became successful. You don't need to say much. Use small phrases like: "You are ready." "You are good at this." So, next time your brain tells you you can't do something, just think of Muhammad Ali and tell yourself: I can. 词汇表 have butterflies in your stomach 心里感到紧张，觉得很心慌 buy it 相信，接受，买账 reframe [ˌriːˈfreɪm] 重新定义，用不同的方式表达，再构造 arousal [əˈraʊzl] 觉醒，唤起，激发 hamper [ˈhæmpə(r)] 妨碍，阻碍，束缚 long-distance runner 长跑运动员 marathon [ˈmærəθən] 马拉松赛跑 pacemaker [ˈpeɪsmeɪkə(r)] 领跑者，配速员；带头人，标兵 general public 公众，大众 mentally rehearse [ˈmentəli rɪˈhɜː(r)s] 心理预演，在脑海中排练 visualisation [ˌvɪʒuəlaɪˈzeɪʃn] 想象，形象化，可视化 realistic [ˌriːəˈlɪstɪk] 现实的，实际的，逼真的 freshly cut grass 刚割的草 boxer [ˈbɒksə(r)] 拳击手，拳击运动员 💡 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】

Why Everyone Is Lonely One of the reasons why we tend not to make friends as often as we might comes down to a powerful background idea whose full destructive force we may not even be aware of: the belief that any decent person already has all the friends they need. Somewhere in our minds, the notion has been lodged that only very sad and inept people would – at this stage in their lives – still have a space in their social agenda for a new entrant. Almost everyone else – anyone worth knowing, talented, interesting or good – would long ago have acquired the gang to which they are now continually and irredeemably wedded. What this punishing idea misses is the extent to which a feeling of loneliness and disenchantment is in reality an ongoing and universal possibility, in no way limited to those of reduced appeal. Right now, the enchanting actor is (despite the crowds) perhaps lonely; as is the feted concert pianist, the renowned biologist, the skilled airline pilot, the miraculous neurosurgeon and that rather nice-looking person you have just spotted in the corner of the room laughing animatedly with a group of fashionable companions. It's open to anyone of sensitivity and charm to fail to find the right sort of allies, to have outgrown their friends from school or university, to not have landed on congenial spirits at work or in the sports centre and therefore to be spending a lot of their evenings on their own. And we can know this for certain of other people because we know it, first and foremost, from a very reliable source: ourselves. We need to battle the modest part of our minds that reads our isolation as a selective punishment and vanquish it with a crucial bit of evidence available directly from our own experience. Other people who know us at a social level almost certainly find it hard to imagine the degree to which we are exposed to loneliness and how much we would still like to locate a wise, tender, funny and interesting new friend. We have built a predominantly cold and guarded society by imagining a thesis which we implicitly know to be untrue on the basis of our experience. The next time we spot an interesting person, we should stop contravening the moral of our own lives. We don't have exactly the right people in our social circle – and nor, most probably, do they. So we can afford to shed our false background ideas of social life – and go up and say hello. 词汇表 come down to 归结为，归根结底是 background idea 潜在想法，先入为主的观念 decent [ˈdiːsnt] 正派的，体面的，像样的 lodge [lɒdʒ] 使植根，使固定，存放，寄存 inept [ɪˈnept] 无能的，笨拙的，不适当的 social agenda [əˈdʒendə] 社交日程，社交事项 entrant [ˈentrənt] 新成员，新加入者；参赛者 gang [ɡæŋ] 一群朋友，一伙，一帮 continually [kənˈtɪnjuəli] 不断地，持续地，频繁地 irredeemably [ˌɪrɪˈdiːməblɪ] 不可挽回地，不可救药地 wed [wed] 使结合 ；结婚 punishing [ˈpʌnɪʃɪŋ] 苛刻的，严厉的；繁重的 disenchantment [ˌdɪsɪnˈtʃɑːntmənt] 失望，幻灭；清醒 of reduced appeal [rɪˈdjuːst əˈpiːl] 缺乏吸引力的 enchanting [ɪnˈtʃɑːntɪŋ] 迷人的，有魅力的 feted concert pianist [ˈfetɪd ˈkɒnsət ˈpɪənɪst] 备受赞誉的音乐会钢琴家 renowned biologist [rɪˈnaʊnd baɪˈɒlədʒɪst] 著名的生物学家 skilled airline pilot [skɪld ˈeəlaɪn ˈpaɪlət] 技术娴熟的航空飞行员 miraculous neurosurgeon [mɪˈrækjələs ˌnjʊərəʊˈsɜːdʒən] 医术高超的神经外科医生 laughing animatedly [ˈænɪmeɪtɪdli] 谈笑风生，开怀大笑 sensitivity [ˌsensəˈtɪvəti] 敏感，感受性，灵敏度 ally [ˈælaɪ] 盟友，伙伴 outgrow [ˌaʊtˈɡrəʊ] 长大而不再， 年久丧失（某种习惯，兴趣等） land on congenial spirits [kənˈdʒiːniəl] 遇到志趣相投的人 first and foremost [ˈfɔːməʊst] 首先，首要地 selective [sɪˈlektɪv] 选择性的，特定的，不普遍的 vanquish [ˈvæŋkwɪʃ] 战胜，击败，克服 locate [ləʊˈkeɪt] 找到，确定位置，发现 tender [ˈtendə(r)] 温柔的，亲切的，和善的 predominantly [prɪˈdɒmɪnəntli] 主要地，占主导地位地，显著地 guarded [ˈɡɑːdɪd] 谨慎的，有保留的，戒备的 thesis [ˈθiːsɪs] 论点，论题；论文 implicitly [ɪmˈplɪsɪtli] 隐约地，含蓄地，暗中地 contravene [ˌkɒntrəˈviːn] 违反，违背，抵触 moral [ˈmɒrəl] 寓意，教训；道德，品行 shed [ʃed] 摆脱，去除；脱落 🏫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】

Do bans on smartphones in schools improve mental health? Science & Technology 科技板块 Well informed 消息灵通 Should schools ban smartphones? 学校是否应该禁止使用智能手机？ Early evidence suggests such bans may do little to benefit people's mental health. 早期证据表明，此类禁令可能对改善人们的心理健康收效甚微。 France has not allowed smartphone use in primary or secondary schools since 2018, claiming that it would help children focus, reduce their social-media use and mitigate online bullying. The Netherlands initiated a similar ban in January 2024. Hungary followed suit later that year. Legislators in Britain are considering similar measures. The key question facing them is whether banning smartphones in schools offers any benefits to mental health. That there is a problem seems clear. In 2021 America's surgeon general compiled a report revealing that persistent feelings of hopelessness climbed by 40% among American high-school pupils between 2009 and 2019. The number who seriously considered killing themselves went up by 36%. What makes these findings all the worse is that 48% of mental-health problems (like depression and anxiety) that emerge during adolescence will plague people for the rest of their lives. It is tempting to connect these trends with the increased availability of smartphones, but establishing a causal connection is difficult. Part of the problem is that smartphones contain multitudes. Using a smartphone to solve crosswords or read the news may well have markedly different psychological effects from intensive social-media use. Children are no less varied. The brain undergoes profound changes during puberty, meaning that any research on the effects of smartphone use needs to consider the developmental age of the children being studied as well as their precise smartphone habits. No studies have got this specific. Those that have come close, however, reveal that unfettered access to social media on smartphones during puberty, especially at critical moments when the brain is changing, may cause problems. One study, led by Amy Orben at the University of Cambridge, asked 17,409 people between the ages of ten and 21 how satisfied they were with their lives and how much they used social media. The findings, reported in 2022 in Nature Communications, show that girls who increased their social media use over the course of a year were significantly less satisfied with their lives if the increase took place when they were between 11 and 13. Boys showed the same trend when increases took place when they were 14 or 15 years old. How much of this will change by banning phones in schools is unclear. In a paper published in the Lancet in February, Victoria Goodyear at the University of Birmingham compared the mental well-being of students in schools that implemented restrictive smartphone policies with those with relaxed policies. She also monitored overall screentime. Her results show that, though those who spent more time on a smartphone overall did have a decline in mental well-being, there was no difference between the two groups. She and her colleagues argue that setting up policies at schools alone is simply not enough. Researchers are trying to paint a complete picture with both hands tied behind their back. According to Dr Orben, social-media companies routinely refuse to give independent researchers access to detailed data on the behaviours of their users. This forces researchers to rely on less accurate proxy measures, like overall screentime. It also means that children playing educational games are being put in the same analytical bin as children who are on social media. A more nuanced picture of the effects of smartphones needs to be drawn. 词汇表 well informed [ɪnˈfɔː(r)md] 消息灵通的，见多识广的 mitigate [ˈmɪtɪɡeɪt] 减轻，缓和，缓解 online bullying [ˈbʊliɪŋ] 网络欺凌 Netherlands [ˈneðələndz] 荷兰（欧洲国家名） Hungary [ˈhʌŋɡəri] 匈牙利（欧洲国家名） follow suit [suːt] 跟着做，仿效，学样 legislator [ˈledʒɪsleɪtə(r)] 立法者，立法机关成员 surgeon general [ˈsɜː(r)dʒən ˈdʒenrəl] （美国）卫生局局长 compile [kəmˈpaɪl] 编纂，编写，编制 plague [pleɪɡ] 困扰，折磨，使苦恼 availability [əˌveɪləˈbɪləti] 可获得性，可用性 multitude [ˈmʌltɪtjuːd] 大量，许多；群众，人群 crossword [ˈkrɒswɜː(r)d] 填字游戏 markedly different [ˈmɑː(r)kɪdli] 明显不同，截然不同 intensive [ɪnˈtensɪv] 集中的，频繁的；强化的 varied [ˈveərid] 各种各样的，不同的；变化的 undergo [ˌʌndə(r)ˈɡəʊ] 经历，经受，遭受 puberty [ˈpjuːbəti] 青春期，发育期 precise [prɪˈsaɪs] 精确的，确切的；严谨的，细致的 unfettered access to [ʌnˈfetəd ˈækses] 无拘无束地使用，不受限制地访问 monitor [ˈmɒnɪtə(r)] 监测，监视，密切关注 overall screentime [ˈəʊvərɔːl ˈskriːn taɪm] 总体屏幕使用时间 paint a picture 描绘一幅图景；描述，展示 with both hands tied behind their back 束手束脚，处处受限的情况下 routinely [ruːˈtiːnli] 通常，常规地，例行公事地 proxy measure [ˈprɒksi] 替代指标，替代测量方法 educational game [ˌedʒuˈkeɪʃənl] 教育类游戏，益智游戏 analytical bin [ˌænəˈlɪtɪkl bɪn] 分析类别 nuanced [ˈnjuːɑːnst] 微妙的，有细微差别的 🔆翻译、pdf见公众号【琐简英语】，回复"1"可进【打卡交流群】