英语每日一听 | 每天少于5分钟

You've heard of procrastination, putting off tasks you'd rather avoid doing until you have to, but what about precrastination? The name gives a clue. Pre- means before, so it's the opposite – completing tasks before you need to. So, why do we precrastinate, and is it a good thing, or not? 你听说过拖延症，即把你宁愿避免做的任务推迟到必须做的时候，但是提前拖延又如何呢？ 这个...

The area of Weda Bay is now one of the world’s largest nickel production centers. Smelters and coal-fired power plants burn to process nickel ore into material for batteries and steel. 韦达湾地区现在是世界上最大的镍生产中心之一。熔炉和燃煤发电厂燃烧镍矿石，将其加工成电池和钢铁的材料。 The village of Lelilef Sawai is now surrounded by the Weda Bay Industrial Park. There, the deforestation and its e...

As it moves across central Italy, an old train pulling carriages from the 1930s and 1950s crosses the forests of the Majella National Park and the Abruzzo highlands.当它穿越意大利中部时，一列拖着20世纪30年代和50年代车厢的老火车穿过了马耶拉国家公园的森林和阿布鲁佐高地。 Across 100 kilometers, the Park Railway, also known as the Italian Transiberian, travels through valleys and tunnels and over old...

Indonesia aims to be the world’s top nickel supplier. But its efforts to produce nickel have seriously harmed the country’s forests, nonprofit groups say. 印尼旨在成为全球最大的镍供应国。但非营利组织表示，其生产镍的努力严重破坏了该国的森林。 Indonesia is the world’s third most rainforest-covered country, home to giant forest flowers and rare wild animals such as orangutans and elephants. 印尼是全...

Visitors to Paris for the Olympics can now send a smell of France home with their picture postcards and letters. 参加奥运会的巴黎游客现在可以通过他们的明信片和信件将法国的气味带回家。 The smell comes from a special stamp showing the country’s famous bread called baguette. The sweet smell, however, may remind you of a French bakery more than an actual baguette. 这种气味来自一张特殊的邮票，上面展示...

A small space in Tokyo houses a container of fermenting sake. 东京的一个小空间里存放着一个发酵清酒的容器。 The bacteria in the 670-litre container will take more than two weeks to turn the rice and water inside into Japan's traditional alcoholic drink. 670升的容器中的细菌需要两个多星期的时间，将其中的米和水转化为日本的传统酒精饮料。 But the bacteria are not only alive, they are listening too, said...

The  expedition  team is getting ready to leave Providence port in Rhode Island to spend twenty days exploring the Titanic. The  wreck  lies 3,800 metres beneath the waves. The team will study it using two  underwater  robots. They're fitted with an  array  of cameras to create a detailed  3D scan , and sensors including a  magnetometer , which wil...

If you're a sports fan, you may be familiar with the emotional rollercoaster that comes with sports spectatorship. Whether you're part of a buzzing crowd in a stadium, or just watching at home on TV, it's easy to get caught up in the highs and the lows when you celebrate or commiserate with your favourite team or athlete. Those feelings are so strong, in fact, th...

Paris is a popular place for visitors because of its food, art, and history. The city itself is likely to be central to the experience of the Olympic Games.  巴黎因其美食、艺术和历史而成为游客的热门之地。城市本身可能会成为奥运会体验的中心。  The athletes going to France have been making long lists of things they want to try, see and eat.  前往法国的运动员们已经列出了他们想尝试、参观...

Heat in an oven or toaster oven set to 148 degrees Celsius (300 degrees Fahrenheit) for 10 to 15 minutes or until the leaves are completely dry. Brew immediately or cool and keep them in an airtight container for future use. 将烤箱或烤面包机设置为148摄氏度（300华氏度），加热10到15分钟，或者直到叶子完全干燥。立即冲泡，或冷却并储存在密封容器中以备将来使用。 For making oolong tea, put the leaves in o...

People who grow their own food are familiar with planting tomatoes, peppers, squash, herbs, berries and other common fruits and vegetables. 种植自己食物的人熟悉种植西红柿、辣椒、南瓜、草药、浆果和其他常见的水果和蔬菜。 However, they may not think of growing plants for drinks. 然而，他们可能不会想到种植用于饮料的植物。 Gardening expert Jessica Damiano recently wrote about plants you can grow to mak...

Japanese scientists have found a way to attach living skin tissue to robotic faces and make them "smile." This breakthrough could be helpful not only in robotics, but also in cosmetics and medicine. 日本科学家找到了一种将活体皮肤组织附着在机器人面部并使其“微笑”的方法。这一突破不仅对机器人技术有帮助，还可以应用于化妆品和医学领域。 Researchers at the University of Tokyo started the process by growin...

The discovery is important because it pushes back the time that modern humans first showed the ability for creative thought. 这幅壁画的发现意义重大，因为它提前了现代人类首次展现出创造性思维的时间点。 The painting shows a pig standing with its mouth partly open with at least three other human-like figures interacting with it. The largest of them has both arms extended and appears to be holding...

"I'm knackered - have you got any tips for a good night's sleep?" Not only is sleep a common feature of our small talk, we've also spent decades trying to understand and explain it. After all, we spend on average 26 years of our lives asleep. So, what do we know? Here are the highlights of the last decade of research. “我累坏了——你有什么能让我睡个好觉的秘诀吗？” 睡眠不仅是...

Health workers in Ivory Coast have launched the country’s first child vaccination program against malaria. 科特迪瓦的卫生工作者启动了该国首个针对疟疾的儿童疫苗接种项目。 The effort aims to reduce cases of the mosquito-spread disease, which has become one of Africa’s biggest killers. 这一努力旨在减少这种由蚊子传播的疾病的病例，这种疾病已经成为非洲最大的杀手之一。 Officials in the West African natio...

Commander Haston, a biologist, was the first to speak during a ceremony to mark the mission's end. "Hello. It's actually so wonderful just to be able to say hello to you," she said with a laugh. 生物学家哈斯顿指挥官在庆祝任务结束的仪式上首先发言。“你好。实际上，能够和你们打招呼真是太好了，”她笑着说。 Jones – who works as an emergency room doctor – was overcome with emotion after leaving the h...

Four scientists have left a model Mars environment where they lived in isolation for more than a year. 四名科学家离开了一个模拟火星环境，他们在这个环境中隔离生活了超过一年。 The crew took part in the experiment for the American space agency NASA. Team members included commander Kelly Haston, medical officer Nathan Jones, flight engineer Ross Brockwell and science officer Anca Selariu. They ended t...

But cancer is the biggest reason for voice loss. The American Cancer Society estimates that more than 12,600 people will be found to have some form of laryngeal cancer this year. 但是，癌症是导致失声的最大原因。美国癌症协会估计，今年将有超过12,600人被发现患有某种形式的喉癌。 While today many undergo voice-preserving treatment, thousands of people have had their larynx completely removed. These peo...

A man in the Northeastern state of Massachusetts has regained his voice after a rare operation. 美国东北部马萨诸塞州的一名男子在一次罕见的手术后重新获得了声音。 Marty Kedian received a total transplant of his larynx, the organ responsible for speech, commonly called the “voice box.” 马蒂·基迪安接受了一个完整的喉头移植手术，喉头是负责发声的器官，通常称为“声箱”。 Transplants of the larynx are very u...

Richard: Yes, not very nice.   理查德：是的，不太好。 Jackie: Well, some are nicer than others but some are very unpleasant. Um… the laundry, Richard.   杰姬：嗯，有些比其他的好一些，但有些非常不愉快。那个……洗衣服，理查德。 Richard: Yes, washing the clothes.   理查德：是的，洗衣服。 Jackie: Not too bad.   杰姬：不算太糟。 Richard: Very easy, we have a washin...

Emily: Hello 艾米丽：你好 Jackie: So Emily, tell me first of all um… how many credit cards do you have? 杰姬：那么艾米丽，首先告诉我，你有多少张信用卡？ Emily: Well, Jackie, I don’t actually have a credit card um… but I’ve got a debit card. 艾米丽：嗯，杰姬，我其实没有信用卡，但我有一张借记卡。 Jackie: Ah… ok, so it means that the money comes… 杰姬：啊……好的，所以这意味着钱来自…… Emily: Um… it jus...

On the Indonesian island of Sulawesi, scientists have discovered the world’s oldest known cave painting. The researchers used a laser to date the painting. They found it was created at least 51,200 years ago. 在印度尼西亚的苏拉威西岛，科学家们发现了世界上已知最古老的洞穴绘画。研究人员使用激光对这幅画进行了年代测定，发现它至少是在51,200年前创作的。 The painting is inside a cave called Leang Karampu...

American farmers are using an ancient tree from India to produce beans for making protein-rich foods and biofuels. 美国农民正在使用一种来自印度的古老树木来生产用于制作富含蛋白质的食品和生物燃料的豆类。 The tree is called pongamia. It is native to India, Southeast Asia and Australia. But farmers in the southern state of Florida have found the tree grows well there too. 这种树叫做水黄皮。它原产于印...

He was an unknown 23-year-old working at a Cambridge bookstore when Thomas Taylor got a commission for the cover of a children's book. The author JK Rowling was as little known as he was.  在接到委托为一本儿童书籍绘制封面画前，23 岁的托马斯·泰勒只是剑桥一家书店里名不见经传的店员。书的作者 J·K·罗琳和他同样鲜为人知。  As the illustrator, Mr Taylor read the manuscript, so he was one of the...

Did you know that in your gut you have a teeming colony of microorganisms? You have literally trillions of them in your body. They include bacteria, viruses and fungi, and are collectively known as your microbiome. And while some microorganisms cause disease, many are crucial to your health, helping your immune system, digestion and even...