英语每日一听 | 每天少于5分钟

In a world that favours beauty, from aesthetically pleasing interior design to an attractive physical appearance, why are we suddenly fawning over goofy-looking pets, particularly dogs, with exaggerated features? There's been a pet  paradigm  shift – perfection is out, and droopy eyes are in. What's going on? 在一个崇尚美的世界里，从美观的室内...

Extremely small pieces of plastic called microplastics are in the ocean and the air, as well as in our food and water. Scientific study has discovered microplastics in human body tissues also, including the heart, liver and kidneys.   极其微小的塑料碎片，被称为微塑料，存在于海洋和空气中，以及我们的食物和水中。科学研究还发现，微塑料存在于人体组织中，包括心脏、肝脏和肾脏。 Some researchers...

Twenty years ago on an Indonesian island, scientists discovered ancient bone remains of an early human species that stood about one meter tall. 二十年前，在印度尼西亚的一个岛屿上，科学家们发现了一种早期人类物种的古老骨骼遗骸，这种人类身高约为一米。 These early humans became popularly known as “hobbits.” The name comes for the small humanlike creatures that appear in books by English writer J.R.R T...

A new study suggests that particles found in wildfire smoke could increase the risk of getting dementia. 一项新的研究表明，野火烟雾中的颗粒可能会增加患痴呆症的风险。 Dementia is a progressive brain condition that causes thinking problems and other health issues. There are several forms of dementia, including Alzheimer’s disease. 痴呆是一种逐渐恶化的脑部疾病，会导致思维问题和其他健康问题。痴呆症有...

The findings suggest the blood tests may be more helpful for general care doctors. They see many more cases of people with memory problems than specialists do. However, general care doctors have fewer diagnostic tools. 研究结果表明，血液检测对全科医生可能更有帮助。他们接触到的记忆问题患者比专家多得多。然而，全科医生的诊断工具较少。 In the study, patients who visited either a general care doctor or...

New blood tests could help to identify, or diagnose, Alzheimer’s disease faster and with more accuracy, researchers reported recently. However, some of the tests for the brain-wasting disease appear to work better than others. 新的血液检测可能有助于更快、更准确地识别或诊断阿尔茨海默病，研究人员最近报告说。然而，一些检测似乎比其他检测更有效。  Doctors can confirm Alzheimer’s in a patient if th...

The 4,000-character personal statement has been a part of university application for 30 years. But there's been growing concern it's not fit for purpose. While it's meant to be written by the student alone, research suggests middle class parents and schools influence them. 30 年来，提交一份四千字的个人陈述一直是英国大学申请流程的一部分。但越来越多的人担心它能否继续适用于设...

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...