英语每日一听 | 每天少于5分钟

Bath or shower? How do you prefer to keep yourself clean? Whatever your daily ablutions, we know it’s important to have good personal hygiene. Nobody wants to smell, and nobody wants to catch your odour! A shower can bring you certain other benefits, but how often should we wash ourselves under a watery spray? 浴缸还是淋浴？你喜欢怎样保持自己的清洁？无论您的日常沐浴方式如何，我们都知道保持良好的个...

One thing we always remember from our childhood is our favourite teddy bear. This soft, ragged toy was our comfort and companion. As we grow up, we normally give up our childish ways, and our furry friend often ends up in storage or at a jumble sale. But that’s not the case for everyone. 我们从小就永远记得的一件事是我们最喜欢的泰迪熊。这个柔软、破烂的玩具是我们的安慰和伴侣。随着我们的成长，我们通...

How bored are you? Having nothing to do, or doing the same task again and again, can certainly be demotivating. And if boredom persists, you can lose your lust for life, and it can even affect your mental health. But does being bored have to be boring? 你有多无聊？无事可做，或者一次又一次地做同样的事情，肯定会让人失去动力。如果无聊持续存在，您可能会失去对生活的渴望，甚至会影响您的心理健康。但是无...

Who do you count as your friends? From our BFF to a work mate, it’s good to have someone to chew the fat with or offer comfort and support. But when it comes to friendship, is it more important to have quantity or quality? 你认为谁是你的朋友？从我们的 BFF 到工作伙伴，有人一起咀嚼脂肪或提供安慰和支持是件好事。但是说到友谊，是数量重要还是质量重要？ The recent isolation we have endured due to the cor...

Sometimes life doesn’t seem to play fair. It blindsides you at the most inopportune moments, and even if we can learn to grin and bear the ups and downs, they can take their toll on our psyche. So rather than suffer in silence or let these things get you down, maybe there is another way: what if humour can help you get through the dark times? 有时生活似乎并不公平。它在最不合时宜的时刻让你措手不及...

There’s one thing for certain – we’re all getting older. And while the older amongst us may be no spring chickens any more, growing old gracefully is no bad thing. And with age comes wisdom. However, as the world population ages, will there be enough people to replace our younger selves? 有一件事是肯定的——我们都在变老。虽然我们当中的老年人可能不再是春鸡，但优雅地变老并不是一件坏事。随着年龄的增长...

It’s the middle of winter, and the prospect of warm sunny days is a long way off. For some of us, it’s the most depressing time of year, where daylight is limited and the weather is often miserable – this is when the winter blues set in. So what can be done to lift our spirits? 现在是隆冬，距离温暖晴朗的日子还有很长的路要走。对于我们中的一些人来说，这是一年中最令人沮丧的时候，日光有限，天气通常很...

What’s your favourite genre of film? For many people who love being petrified, or scared out of their wits, by jump scares that answer will be horror. Whether it’s splatter films, wastelands in the apocalypse, monsters like demons, zombies, vampires, werewolves or phantoms, there’s something to suit everyone’s taste. But just why do people enjoy watching these terrifying films? 你最喜欢的电影类型...

We are all aware of the effect greenhouse gas emissions is having on our planet and the efforts needed to tackle climate change. Most of us are doing our bit to minimise our impact on the environment, but despite our collective effort, are we doing enough to achieve net zero by 2050? 我们都知道温室气体排放对我们星球的影响以及应对气候变化所需的努力。我们大多数人都在尽自己的一份力量来尽量减少我们对...

Do you like to bury your head in a good book? Getting absorbed in a good story is a great way to relax. It improves your literacy, and, according to some experts, it’s good for your health as well. Studies show that it can increase our emotional intelligence as we understand a range of perspectives and motivations. But despite these benefits, does the way we consume a story make any difference? 你...

It’s difficult not to admire the talent of a skilled musician. Whether it be a pianist, flautist or cellist, these individuals have shown dedication and passion over a long period of time to reach the highest levels of performance. But they say it’s never too late to learn. So what are the benefits, for both children and adults, in learning a musical instrument? 很难不钦佩一位技艺高超的音乐家的才...

Weddings are expensive affairs – there’s nothing new or surprising in that statement. When we talk about the costs of a wedding, we often think about the financial toll on the person paying for it. The outlay on tiered cakes, the dress with a long train, appliques and veil, and canapes at the reception can all add up. But what about the guests? The cost to your friends and family to attend. 婚礼是...

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...