英语每日一听 | 每天少于5分钟

How is your memory? Remembering things is an important function of our brain – if we can’t recall how to do something, we can’t survive. If you think about it, there is so much we have to remember – from where we left our car keys to how we walk. Maybe it’s no surprise that sometimes we are forgetful. 你的记忆力如何？记住事情是我们大脑的一项重要功能——如果我们不记得如何做某事，我们就无法生存。如果...

Shakespeare once wrote: ‘Neither a borrower nor a lender be; For loan oft loses both itself and friend’. It’s often paraphrased and used as a warning about the dangers of lending, and how you could risk a friendship through it. But why can lending money be so detrimental to our friendships? 莎士比亚曾经写道：“既不是借款人，也不是贷款人；因为贷款经常会失去自己和朋友”。它经常被解释并用作关于借贷危险...

When did you last write a letter? Properly write one – by hand? In a digital world, where sending a text or email is far more convenient than using snail mail, is the writing on the wall for traditional pen and paper? Well, some people claim that writing still has many benefits, so maybe it’s not time to ditch your ballpoint or fountain pen yet. 你上次写信是什么时候？正确地写一个 - 手写？在数字世...

We’ve all heard of IQ, and terms like EQ, which relates to your emotional intelligence, are commonly used. But have you heard of AQ? AQ stands for adversity quotient and measures your ability to deal with the ups and downs of life. Being able to handle these rough patches we all go through is not only important in our personal lives but in our professional lives too. So how can we learn to be more...

You’ve studied hard, you’ve got the grades and now you’re off to university! This is the journey that many students are taking, but how prepared are they to leave home, stand on their own two feet and be self-sufficient? One study, carried out by the Higher Education Policy Institute and Unite Students in 2017, suggested that as well as being excited and nervous, many stud...

Artificial intelligence becoming self-aware and exterminating the human race is a common theme in science fiction. But the levels of high intelligence that AI could reach is a real concern among some scientists. But with more talk of AI and smart devices in the home, what are the positives of bringing these things into your life? 人工智能具有自我意识并消灭人类是科幻小说中的共同主题。但人工智能可以...

We often try to save money for a variety of different reasons. It might be to save up for a new computer, put money aside into a rainy-day fund or put a deposit down for a mortgage on a house. Learning how to save is important, but a recent study showed that over half of all 22 – 29-year-olds living in the UK have no savings at all. Did they splurge and splash out on too many things, or are there...

Some say you can tell a lot about a person by the way they decorate their home. We often find pleasure in the things we stick in our houses, be it trinkets we bought on holiday, film memorabilia or paintings to liven up walls. And when we head to others’ houses, we often see things we appreciate, but wouldn’t have in our own homes, because maybe they’re not quite to our taste. The point is, the wa...

From a young age, many of us learn the benefits of being an extrovert – those gregarious individuals who always seem to be the life and soul of the party, often outspoken and able to express their opinions easily. However, not all of us are wired that way – so is being an extrovert really better? 从很小的时候起，我们中的许多人就知道成为外向的人的好处——那些善于交际的人，他们似乎总是党的生命和灵魂，...

Some of us like to keep some things private – maybe we don’t want people knowing about our relationship status, our age or where we live – because these details are personal. The problem is, everywhere we go online, we seem to leave a digital footprint. 我们中的一些人喜欢将某些事情保密——也许我们不希望人们知道我们的关系状况、我们的年龄或我们住在哪里——因为这些细节是私人的。问题是，无论我们上网，我们...

Children are naturally curious, inquisitive beings, but getting them to study something they aren’t interested in can be a difficult task. Teachers and parents often find themselves resorting to rewards in the form of stars, promises of high grades and wonderful careers, or threats of punishment. But what if rewards and threats aren’t the answer? 孩子们天生好奇、好奇，但让他们学习他们不感兴趣的东...

Breaking up is hard to do – or so some people say. If you’re in a relationship but not as loved-up as you once were, when is the right time to call it a day? The longer the relationship, the harder it can be. But once you do make the break, is it still possible to maintain a friendship with your ex-partner? 分手很难——至少有人这么说。如果您正在恋爱但不像以前那样被爱，那么什么时候是结束这一天的合适...

How long have you been in your job for? If you’re climbing a career ladder, how long do you intend to stay on it? It’s hard to know when to jump ship and to do something different, and it’s even more problematic deciding whether to quit if you don’t have a new job to go to. 你工作多久了？如果你正在攀登职业阶梯，你打算坚持多久？很难知道何时跳槽并做一些不同的事情，如果你没有新工作可去，决定是否辞职...

Have you ever heard someone say, “breakfast is the most important meal of the day”, or give you advice about why it’s vital to start the day with a healthy breakfast? It seems that this feast, for many of us, is necessary for our day to start well, but is it really that important? 你有没有听过有人说“早餐是一天中最重要的一餐”，或者告诉你为什么以健康的早餐开始新的一天很重要？对于我们中的许多人来说，...

Charles Darwin once said “A man who dares to waste one hour of time has not discovered the value of life”. If you live one hundred years, that only equates to twelve-hundred months – and when you break it down even further into days, hours and minutes, it gets more frightening. Why is this relevant? Well, quite simply put: life is short. Spending eight hours every day in a slumber means you’re los...

Procrastination is often seen as the enemy of productivity. Images of lazy people with feet up on desks or wasting time to dodge work spring to mind at the very mention of the word. And there are many things which indicate that procrastination is a problem which needs addressing. But could there be some benefits to it too? 拖延通常被视为生产力的敌人。一提到这个词，人们就会想到懒惰的人把脚放在桌子...

Rolling hills and endless green pastures – those images are easy to conjure when thinking of the idyllic country lifestyle. When lockdowns descended upon many countries across the world during the pandemic, social media seemed to be dominated by pictures of cottages and village life – people getting away from it all. So, why is living in the countryside becoming a modern fantasy – and are there be...

How do you consume your music? What format do you listen to it on? Technology now allows us to stream and download our favourite songs through websites and apps. This means it’s easy to access and it’s very portable, so we could enjoy it whenever and wherever we like. So, it’s surprising to know that the popularity of some old tech is increasing. 你如何消费你的音乐？你用什么格式听的？现在，技术允...

Do you like to keep fit? We’re always told that regular exercise is good for our body and mind. More and more people are taking up activities that improve their fitness. But is there a risk some of us might get obsessed and overdo it? 你喜欢保持身材吗？我们总是被告知定期锻炼对我们的身心都有好处。越来越多的人开始从事可以提高身体素质的活动。但是我们中的一些人可能会痴迷并过度使用它吗？ Well, for some...

If you could travel back in time, which period of history would you visit? It’s a great question to ask your friends, and time travel is the subject of many science fiction films. Of course, sci-fi is familiar to most of us, but what is cli-fi? The simple answer is climate fiction – a genre which focuses on the subject of climate change. 如果时光倒流，你会去哪个历史时期？问你的朋友是一个很好的问题...

Should you eat to live or live to eat?... a question posed by French playwright Moliere in his work ‘The Miser’. While eating is functional, and our bodies need the fuel that food provides, dining with friends or loved ones can be a wonderful experience. However, some of us often find ourselves reserving a table for one in a restaurant. But is dining alone really that bad? Maybe not. 你应该为生活...

Have you ever made a promise to yourself that you didn’t keep? Commonly, when the new year ticks over, we make resolutions: going to the gym, studying harder or giving up a bad habit. Sadly, not long after we’ve made the promise, we often end up breaking them. But what if you want to create a new good habit? Well, it’s possible, but willpower might not be the only thing you need. 你有没有对自己做...

‘We are what we eat’ – or so the saying goes. From calorie-inducing meals to low-fat lunches, much of our health depends on what we eat. We know about the benefits of eating properly for our physical wellbeing, but food – and cooking it – is proving to be good for our mental wellbeing as well. “我们就是我们吃的东西”——或者俗话说。从卡路里诱导餐到低脂午餐，我们的健康很大程度上取决于我们吃的东西。我...

Our working lives are becoming more flexible. The coronavirus pandemic has made us rethink how and where we work. For many, working from home has become the new norm, with some people finding the cosiest place to do this is in bed! But is this really the best place for your mind and body to carry out your job? 我们的工作生活变得更加灵活。冠状病毒大流行使我们重新思考我们的工作方式和地点。对于许多人...

The chicken or the egg – which came first? It’s probably one of the most commonly cited paradoxes – a chicken hatches from an egg, so the egg came first, right? But then what laid the egg? The two ideas seem contradictory, and that’s exactly what a paradox is – a problem that seemingly has no definitive solution and can’t be logically solved. 先有鸡还是先有蛋？这可能是最常被引用的悖论之一——鸡从鸡...