英音听力｜BBC & 经济学人等 - 节目列表

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】

The 4 greatest threats to the survival of humanity TED-Ed • July 2022 So far, our species has survived 2,000 centuries, each with some extinction risk from natural causes— asteroid impacts, supervolcanoes, and the like. Assessing existential risk is an inherently uncertain business because usually when we try to figure out how likely something is, we check how often it's happened before. But the complete destruction of humanity has never happened before. While there's no perfect method to determine our risk from natural threats, experts estimate it's about 1 in 10,000 per century. Nuclear weapons were our first addition to that baseline. While there are many risks associated with nuclear weapons, the existential risk comes from the possibility of a global nuclear war that leads to a nuclear winter, where soot from burning cities blocks out the sun for years, causing the crops that humanity depends on to fail. We haven't had a nuclear war yet, but our track record is too short to tell if they're inherently unlikely or we've simply been lucky. We also can't say for sure whether a global nuclear war would cause a nuclear winter so severe it would pose an existential threat to humanity. The next major addition to our existential risk was climate change. Like nuclear war, climate change could result in a lot of terrible scenarios that we should be working hard to avoid, but that would stop short of causing extinction or unrecoverable collapse. We expect a few degrees Celsius of warming, but can't yet completely rule out 6 or even 10 degrees, which would cause a calamity of possibly unprecedented proportions. Even in this worst-case scenario, it's not clear whether warming would pose a direct existential risk, but the disruption it would cause would likely make us more vulnerable to other existential risks. The greatest risks may come from technologies that are still emerging. Take engineered pandemics. The biggest catastrophes in human history have been from pandemics. And biotechnology is enabling us to modify and create germs that could be much more deadly than naturally occurring ones. Such germs could cause pandemics through biowarfare and research accidents. Decreased costs of genome sequencing and modification, along with increased availability of potentially dangerous information like the published genomes of deadly viruses, also increase the number of people and groups who could potentially create such pathogens. Another concern is unaligned AI. Most AI researchers think this will be the century where we develop artificial intelligence that surpasses human abilities across the board. If we cede this advantage, we place our future in the hands of the systems we create. Even if created solely with humanity's best interests in mind, superintelligent AI could pose an existential risk if it isn't perfectly aligned with human values— a task scientists are finding extremely difficult. Based on what we know at this point, some experts estimate the anthropogenic existential risk is more than 100 times higher than the background rate of natural risk. But these odds depend heavily on human choices. Whether humanity fulfils its potential— or not— is in our hands. 词汇表 extinction risk [ɪkˈstɪŋkʃn] 灭绝风险 asteroid impact [ˈæstərɔɪd ˈɪmpækt] 小行星撞击 supervolcano [ˌsuːpə(r)vɒlˈkeɪnəʊ] 超级火山（爆发） existential risk [ˌeɡzɪˈstenʃ(ə)l] 生存风险 inherently [ɪnˈhɪərəntli] 本质上，内在地 nuclear weapon [ˈnjuːkliə(r) ˈwepən] 核武器 baseline [ˈbeɪslaɪn] 基准，基线 nuclear war [ˈnjuːkliə(r)] 核战争 nuclear winter 核冬季（科学家假设的在巨大核爆炸后一段寒冷黑暗、生物灭绝的时期） soot [sʊt] 煤烟，烟灰 track record [ˈtræk] 过去的记录；业绩记录 pose a threat [pəʊz] 构成威胁 scenario [sɪˈnɑːriəʊ] 设想，可能的局面，情景 stop short of 差一点，未到达，并未 unrecoverable collapse [ˌʌnrɪˈkʌvərəbl kəˈlæps] 无法恢复的崩溃 rule out 排除…的可能性，不考虑 calamity [kəˈlæməti] 灾难，灾祸 unprecedented proportion [ʌnˈpresɪdentɪd prəˈpɔː(r)ʃn] 前所未有的程度 engineered pandemic [ˌendʒɪˈnɪəd pænˈdemɪk] 人造流行病，人工合成的流行病 catastrophe [kəˈtæstrəfi] 大灾难，灾祸 biotechnology [ˌbaɪəʊtekˈnɒlədʒi] 生物技术 modify [ˈmɒdɪfaɪ] 修改，更改，改进 germ [dʒɜː(r)m] 微生物，病菌，细菌 biowarfare [ˌbaɪəʊˈwɔː(r)feə(r)] 生物战，生化战 genome sequencing and modification [ˈdʒiːnəʊm ˈsiːkwənsɪŋ ˌmɒdɪfɪˈkeɪʃn] 基因组测序和修改 availability [əˌveɪləˈbɪləti] 可获得性，可利用性，可用性 pathogen [ˈpæθədʒən] 病原体，致病菌 unaligned [ˌʌnəˈlaɪnd] 不受规范的；未对齐的；不结盟的 cede [siːd] 让给，放弃；割让 solely [ˈsəʊlli] 仅仅，唯独，只 superintelligent AI [ˌsuːpərɪnˈtelɪdʒənt] 超级智能的人工智能 be aligned with [əˈlaɪnd] 与…保持一致，与…相符合 anthropogenic [ˌænθrəpə'dʒnɪk] 人为的，人类活动引起的 background rate 本底率，背景率（是指在没有特定影响因素自然发生的比率） odd [ɒd] 几率，可能性 fulfil its potential [pə'tenʃ(ə)l] 发挥其潜能 in one's hands 在某人的掌控中，由某人负责 🎬翻译、视频和pdf见公众号【琐简英语】，回复"1" 可加入【打卡交流群】

Stretching: the overlooked fitness essential Physical fitness is all about cardio exercises and weightlifting… right? If you've ever finished a run and then jumped straight into the rest of your day without stretching, only to wake up the next day feeling stiff and with aching muscles, then listen up. Flexibility plays a big role in our lives – even bending down to pick something up off the floor requires flexibility – but it's often ignored and neglected. So, why and how should we stretch? When athletes stretch, it's not just for show, they do it to prevent injury. A review of research called 'Effects of Stretching on Injury Risk Reduction and Balance' highlighted that stretching not only reduces injury risk by improving the flexibility of the muscles, it also improves balance, which reduces the risk of falls and those associated injuries. Stretching can also help maintain good posture by keeping our muscles long and loose, which is especially important if you spend hours hunched over a desk. In the modern world, many of us spend a large proportion of our days sitting, which can lead to chronic pain, particularly in the neck and shoulders. Stretching can alleviate this tension and boost blood circulation. What's the best way to reap these benefits? While stretching advice varies, the ACSM's Health & Fitness Journal provides guidelines which include stretching the major muscle groups such as the hamstrings and quadriceps at least two or three times per week. A 2017 review of research, published in the Sports Med journal, suggests that dynamic stretches, where you stretch in slow, repeated movements, have greater benefits in a pre-exercise warm-up than static stretches, where you hold a pose. Stretching is better after a quick warm-up because the muscle is more pliable, reducing the risk of muscle strains. Stretching isn't just for athletes and fitness lovers. "Stretching is also an accessible way to unwind and destress during or after a busy day," says Jessica Matthews, professor of kinesiology and author of 'Stretching to Stay Young'. So why not finish the day relaxing in a child's pose, a spinal twist or a happy baby? 词汇表 physical fitness [ˈfɪzɪkl ˈfɪtnəs] 身体素质，身体健康，体能 cardio exercise [ˈkɑːdiəʊ] 有氧运动 weightlifting [ˈweɪtlɪftɪŋ] 举重 stretching [ˈstretʃɪŋ] 拉伸，伸展运动 stiff [stɪf] 僵硬的，不灵活的 aching muscle [ˈeɪkɪŋ] 酸痛的肌肉 flexibility [ˌfleksəˈbɪləti] 柔韧性，灵活性 bend down [ˈbend] 弯腰，俯身 associated [əˈsəʊsieɪtɪd] 相关的，有联系的 posture [ˈpɒstʃə(r)] 姿势，体态 hunch over [ˈhʌntʃ] 弓着背，弯腰驼背 chronic pain [ˈkrɒnɪk] 慢性疼痛 alleviate [əˈliːvieɪt] 减轻，缓解 tension [ˈtenʃn] 紧张，紧绷感 blood circulation [ˌsɜːkjəˈleɪʃn] 血液循环 reap the benefits [ˈriːp] 收获益处，获得好处 ACSM 美国运动医学学会（American College of Sports Medicine） hamstring [ˈhæmstrɪŋ] 腿筋（大腿后侧的肌肉群） quadricep [ˈkwɒdrɪsep] 股四头肌（大腿前侧的肌肉群） dynamic stretch [ˈdaɪnəmɪk] 动态拉伸（即缓慢、重复地进行拉伸动作） pre-exercise warm-up 运动前热身 static stretch [ˈstætɪk] 静态拉伸（即保持一个姿势） pliable [ˈplaɪəbl] 柔韧的，柔韧的，易弯曲的 muscle strain [streɪn] 肌肉拉伤 accessible [əkˈsesəbl] 容易获得的，可行的，容易做到的 unwind [ˌʌnˈwaɪnd] 放松，松弛；解开，松开 destress [ˌdiːˈstres] 缓解压力，消除紧张 kinesiology [kɪˌniːsiˈɒlədʒi] 人体运动学 child's pose 儿童式（瑜伽姿势） spinal twist ['spaɪn(ə)l] 扭脊式（瑜伽姿势） happy baby 快乐婴儿式（瑜伽姿势） 📖 翻译、pdf见公众号【琐简英语】，回复"1"可进【打卡交流群】

Asteroid contains building blocks of life, say scientists In labs around the world, scientists have been studying tiny black specks of dust from asteroid Bennu. They were collected by a NASA spacecraft which travelled to the space rock and unfurled a robotic arm to grab a sample to bring back to Earth. The detailed analysis has found the asteroid contains thousands of organic compounds, including amino acids, which are the molecules that make up proteins, and nucleobases – the fundamental components of DNA. This doesn't mean Bennu ever had life on it, but the theory is that asteroids like it crashed into the Earth early in our history, delivering these vital ingredients that enabled life to start here. Scientists think if asteroids were bringing water and organic molecules to Earth, the same was happening on other planets too. This raises the question of whether Earth is unique, or if life started elsewhere in our solar system but we just haven't found it yet. 词汇表 building block [blɒk] 基石，组成部分，构成要素 specks of dust [speks][dʌst] 尘埃颗粒，灰尘微粒 asteroid [ˈæstərɔɪd] 小行星 Bennu [ˈbenjuː] 贝努（小行星名称） NASA spacecraft [ˈnæsə][ˈspeɪskrɑːft] 美国国家航空航天局的宇宙飞船（NASA全称为National Aeronautics and Space Administration） unfurl [ʌnˈfɜːl] 展开，打开（帆、旗帜等） robotic arm [rəʊˈbɒtɪk] 机械臂 sample [ˈsɑːmpl] 样品，样本 organic compound [ɔːˈɡænɪk][ˈkɒmpaʊnd] 有机化合物 amino acid [əˈmiːnəʊ][ ˈæsɪd] 氨基酸 molecule [ˈmɒlɪˌkjuːl] 分子 protein [ˈprəʊtiːn] 蛋白质 nucleobase [ˈnjuːkliəbeɪs] 核碱基 fundamental component [ˌfʌndəˈment(ə)l][kəmˈpəʊnənt] 基本的组成部分，基本构件 ingredient [ɪnˈɡriːdiənt] （构成某物的）要素，成分；原料 🗒️翻译和pdf见公众号【琐简英语】，回复1可加入【打卡交流群】

Freelance: Working for yourself Hello. This is 6 Minute English from BBC Learning English. I'm Georgina. --And I'm Rob. Rob, what's the best job you've ever had? Err, well, this one, of course! It's very creative, with lots of variety. --OK, any other reasons? --Well, yes, it's a permanent job - a staff job - with regular income and a pension. Yes, these things can be important, but have you ever been freelance - by that I mean, working for yourself and selling your skills and services to different businesses? --Well, I worked as a paperboy once, delivering newspapers. But not really, it's a risky way to earn an income. It can be, Rob. But many people choose to or have to work as a freelancer to survive. And that's what we're talking about in this programme. But let's start with a question for you, Rob. --OK. This is about job titles, back in the 19th Century, what kind of job was a drummer? Were they a) someone who played the drums, b) a traveling salesman, or c) a music publicist who drums up meaning encourages, support for a band? --Well, it's got to be someone who plays the drums - that's my kind of job. --OK, Rob, we'll find out if that's right at the end of the programme. But let's talk more about work now. Long gone are the days of a job for life, where you spend your adult life working your way up the career ladder at the same company. Yes, that's right. We work in many different ways now because the needs of businesses change frequently and it needs to be agile - changing the size and type of workforce in order to meet demand. So, people need to adapt and some choose to work for themselves, offering their skills to different businesses as and when they are needed. But it can also be a lifestyle choice, as we're about to find out. Yes, some people have chosen to become self-employed, working for themselves, but also, because of the recent coronavirus pandemic, some people have been forced into this situation. Let's hear from Carla Barker, who set up her own business after giving up her regular job. She told BBC Radio 4's programme You and Yours how she felt. You know, the idea of giving up a solid, permanent, full-time, paid, comfortable role is a bit petrifying. It is super-scary because you then have that fear of 'oh, my goodness, can we do this'? You also have things creeping in that say you know like self-sabotage, are you good enough to do this? Are people gonna want to take me on as a business? So, Carla decided to go it alone, an informal way of saying work for herself. She described giving up a full-time job as petrifying - so frightening you can't speak or move. She may have been exaggerating slightly but she also said it was 'super-scary'! I guess working for yourself must be scary as you're solely responsible for your own success. It's no surprise Carla had feelings of self-sabotage, having doubts and fears that stopped her achieving something. Luckily, she persisted and things went well. And many other people who have become self-employed or freelance have overcome the fear and discovered the benefits. Like Fiona Thomas, who's the author of a book called 'Ditch the 9 to 5 and be your Own Boss'. She also spoke to the BBC's You and Yours programme and explained why she gave up the 9 to 5 - the regular, full-time staff job, and how it helped her. A kind of combination of wanting some creative fulfillment from a job, compared to the job that I was in before, which was very much customer based and working face-to-face in hospitality. But I also wanted the flexibility to accommodate my mental health because I suffer from depression and anxiety and I found working in a rigid schedule and being in front of a lot of people all the time really exacerbated a lot of my symptoms. And I also wanted the financial freedom to be able to, over time, increase my income without just having to wait on being promoted or getting a pay rise in traditional employment. So, working for herself gave Fiona a good feeling that she achieved something she wanted to do - it gave her creative fulfillment. It also meant she could work more flexibly and that helped her with her mental health because she didn't have to follow a fixed rota of tasks. And it gave her financial freedom, meaning the money she earned was not controlled by someone else, and she didn't have to wait for someone else to give her a pay rise. Of course, that can be risky too. Let's get back to my quiz question now, Rob. Earlier I asked you if you knew what job a drummer used to do back in the 19th Century? --And obviously, a drummer plays the drums! --Well, you are sort of right but a drummer also used to be an informal way of describing a traveling salesperson, because their job was to drum up business for a company, meaning they tried to increase sales. --Ahh, very interesting, although I know which drummer I would rather be - a freelance drummer in a rock band! 📝词汇表，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】

Why Do We Work So Hard? We work as we do because – of course – we need to; because nothing is cheap, because the bills are incessant; because of all the good and wise and sensible reasons that we've been highly aware of since mid-adolescence at least. But that is too neat, and we know it deep down; we know that there is also – alongside this – something a bit more complicated that we use the idea of necessity to avoid. We work so hard because we are in terror of stillness. Because being scared of the world offers the most respectable distraction from a dread of our own minds. Because we have no idea how to let anyone know us outside of our achievements; because it seems inconceivable that we have any value beyond what we do. Because we were schooled early on in the art of being terrified – and we are still too young to question our elders. Because we use the noise from without to drown the murmurs from within. Because we can't read poetry; for we despise anything that doesn't have a charted purpose or goal, and that therefore threatens to collide us with the unexpected. Because we don't allow ourselves to be acquainted with the night. Because if we started with the questions, we have no idea where we might have to go – and what might need to be discarded. Because we are in flight from untenable sadness and regret. Because we haven't got too many (or even any) real friends. Because few people ever just held us quietly. Because we have no idea what to do with ourselves other than run. Because we find peace so much harder than war. And because the real work might lie elsewhere. 词汇表 bill [bɪl] 账单 incessant [ɪnˈsesnt] 连续不断的，没完没了的 sensible [ˈsensəbl] 明智的，理智的，合理的 mid-adolescence [ˌædəˈlesns] 青春期中期 deep down 在心底，实际上 be in terror of [ˈterə(r) ] 害怕，恐惧 stillness [ˈstɪlnəs] 静止，寂静 be scared of [skeəd] 害怕，恐惧 respectable [rɪˈspektəbl] 体面的，得体的，值得尊敬的 distraction [dɪˈstrækʃn] 分心的事物；注意力分散 dread [dred] 恐惧，畏惧 inconceivable [ˌɪnkənˈsiːvəbl] 难以想象的，不可思议的 school [skuːl] 培养，教育 terrified [ˈterɪfaɪd] 恐惧的，很害怕的 murmur [ˈmɜː(r)mə(r)] 低语， 杂音 despise [dɪˈspaɪz] 鄙视，看不起 charted [ˈtʃɑː(r)tɪd] 既定的，明确的，规划好的 threaten to [ˈθretn] 可能会，威胁着要 collide [kəˈlaɪd] 碰撞，冲突，抵触 be acquainted with [əˈkweɪntɪd] 熟悉，了解，与…相识 discard [dɪˈskɑː(r)d] 丢弃，摒弃 be in flight from [flaɪt] 逃避，逃离 untenable [ʌnˈtenəbl] 难以忍受的，难维持的；站不住脚的 🏫翻译、视频版和pdf见公众号【琐简英语】，回复"1"可进入【打卡交流群】