英语每日一听 | 每天少于5分钟

There's no doubt that I have a  sweet tooth  – I  crave  cakes and biscuits and could happily finish off a bar of chocolate in minutes. I'm sure I'm not alone, the sweet sugary taste is addictive but the big question is, is it bad for me? I think I know the answer! 毫无疑问，我爱吃甜食——我想吃蛋糕和饼干，并且可以在几分钟内愉快地吃完一块巧克力。我确信我并不孤单，甜甜的味道让人上...

As new technology is introduced, there are many who worry about its impact on our current and future lifestyles – particularly when it comes to jobs. It is a current belief that with the rise of robotics and artificial intelligence, many people’s jobs, and therefore their  livelihoods , are likely to be lost to automation.  随着新技术的引入，许多人担心它对我们当前和未来生活方式的影响——尤...

How long does it take you to fall asleep? Are you  out like a light  as soon as your head hits the pillow, or does it take you more than a little time to  doze off ? 你需要多长时间才能入睡？当你的头撞到枕头上时，你是不是像灯一样亮了起来，还是你需要一点时间才能打瞌睡？ If the average night’s sleep is eight hours, or a third of a day, then it means we spend around one third of our liv...

Millions of us grab a coffee on our way to work. And when we do, it probably comes served in a branded, disposable, cardboard coffee cup. Once the coffee is done, just pop the cup into a recycling bin and forget about it. The cup will be taken away and turned into a new one for you to use again tomorrow. The system works, right? 数以百万计的人在上班的路上喝杯咖啡。当我们这样做时，它可能会装在一个...

Have you ever had a stressful day? Many people do in the course of their daily lives. And on these high-pressure days, they might find themselves reaching for a sugary snack. Perhaps this is part of their daily routine. Or perhaps on this particular day, their self-control is a bit low and they feel compelled to take a sugar hit. 你有过紧张的一天吗？许多人在日常生活中...

No one knows how long humans have been giving themselves names, but one thing is sure: surnames are a much more recent idea than given names. In Europe, surnames were developed to distinguish between individuals who had the same moniker. They were brought to the UK by the French nobility following the Norman Conquest around the 12th century and became common around the 14th cen...

There's an old riddle used by psychologists which shows the  gender bias  people have when it comes to the types of jobs men and women do. Let's see if you can do it: A father and son are in an accident. The father dies. The  surgeon  refuses to operate on the injured boy saying, "The boy is my son." Can you explain? 心理学家使用了一个古老的谜语，它显示了人们在涉及男性和女性从...

Going to the gym can be something that many people find a gruelling experience. It takes time and effort, it often hurts, and it can be extremely tedious. Most weight-related exercises are a combination of sets and reps. In order to see any significant change from any one exercise, it will probably need to be repeated six to eight times, for a minimum of three se...

Do you like to start your day with a cup of joe? Well, you wouldn’t be alone. Millions of people from all over the world brew a cup of coffee first thing in the morning, or at any time of day, for that matter. Do you make it yourself, using instant coffee? Or, if you are a coffee connoisseur, perhaps you use freshly ground beans. Do you take it straight? With&nbs...

When you were at school, the last thing you probably wanted to do was spend your weekends going to work. There was homework to do, sport to play and fun to be had. But our parents probably persuaded us to find a job to earn some money and get some life experience. When I was a teenager I had a paper round: delivering newspapers to people's homes. I then progressed to a Saturday...

Are men able to dance? Well, if I am an example, then no – I have  two left feet  and taking to the  dance floor  just fills me with dread. But of course, we know that most of us have the potential to  throw some shapes , so what is it that's stopping us? 男人会跳舞吗？好吧，如果我是一个例子，那么不——我有两只左脚，走上舞池让我充满恐惧。但是，当然，我们知道我们大多数人都有...

As a dog lover, our canine companions always fill me with joy. Whether pedigree or mongrel, tame or stray, whenever I see one, I smile. After all, their loyalty is indisputable, their companionship is always welcome, they fetch for us, guard for us and even work for us when required. Good old Fido has always been ...

We all have a different approach to money – some of us like to spend it as soon as we have it, even splashing the cash on extravagant things, while some of us like to hold on to it and spend it carefully. But for people who are very savvy about their cash, there are a number of interesting ways to invest it and, if things go well, make a tidy profit. 我们都有不同...

It's that time of year when many of us spend money buying gifts for family and friends. We spend hours, even days, searching the shops and websites trying to find the right present for someone - a pair of socks, perfume, a new gadget – only to find the recipient already has it or they've been given it already. Or worse, they just don't like it, which makes me think, "Are we wasting our t...

When's it's time for a wardrobe makeover, who's the best person to give you some advice? You'll probably turn to your friend for some feedback and fashion tips – let's face it: they know you best and can offer an honest opinion about which colours clash – and which outfit makes you look a million dollars. 什么时候该进行衣橱改造，谁是给你一些建议的最佳人选？你可能会向...

Sweet or savoury? What kind of tastes do you like? If like me, you have a sweet tooth, you probably can't resist eating cakes, biscuits or chocolate and will sweeten your tea or coffee with spoonfuls of sugar – delicious! But the taste makes it very easy to ignore the warnings that too much of the white stuff is bad for our health. 甜的还是咸的？你喜欢什么样的口味？如果像我一样，你爱吃甜...

I am a massive science fiction geek. Ever since I was young, I’ve been captivated by tales of interstellar adventure, aliens, robots, and cutting-edge technology. I always loved the concept of cyborgs. That’s a human-robot hybrid. They are ordinary humans who have been enhanced in some way by technology; more intelligence, faster speed or better resilie...

How much sleep do you need? Do you find that if you don't get enough shut-eye and wake up feeling dopey, you spend the rest of the day in a bad mood? I certainly need my eight hours a night and that's important according to research, because bad sleep isn't good for our health. 你需要多少睡眠？你是否发现如果你没有得到足够的睡眠并且醒来时感到昏昏欲睡，你会在剩下的时间里心情...

Here’s a  staggering  statistic. Scientists have calculated the total amount of plastic ever made: 8.3 billion tonnes. Looked at another way, that’s as heavy as 25,000 Empire State Buildings or one billion elephants. And incredibly, almost all of it has been made in the last 65 years.  这是一个惊人的统计数据。科学家计算出塑料的总量：83亿吨。换个角度看，它有 25,000 座帝国大厦或 10 亿...

Life isn’t fair. Some people just seem blessed with the ability to effortlessly charm anyone they meet. You know the kind of person, the one who can strike up a conversation with a complete stranger and end up with a new friend or business lead. How do they do it? 生活是不公平的。有些人似乎很幸运能够毫不费力地吸引他们遇到的任何人。你知道那种人，他可以与...

It’s a question that has puzzled scientists for a long time: why exactly do we yawn?  这是一个困扰科学家很久的问题：我们到底为什么会打哈欠？ In a recent breakthrough, scientists have discovered the part of the brain responsible for contagious yawning. It’s called the primary motor cortex, and controls movement in the body. When triggered it makes us yawn. But we can’t choo...

I’ll let you into a secret. There’s a place that gets me every time: whenever I’m there, I can’t help but well up. Where is this tear-inducing location? It’s thousands of metres high in the sky, in the cabin of an aeroplane. Especially when there’s a trashy romantic comedy on.  我会让你进入一个秘密。每次都有一个地方让我感动：每当我在那里时，我都会情不自禁地振作起...

Time to own up. When you’re sitting at your computer, do you work solidly all day? Or do you allow yourself to become distracted now and again… to open a few extra tabs, check social media, read a spot of news, browse the latest fashion trends, maybe catch up on some celebrity gossip, and look at some…  是时候拥有了。当您坐在电脑前时，您是否整天都在认真工作？或者...

Here’s a simple challenge: name a famous inventor. Perhaps Renaissance polymath Leonardo da Vinci springs to mind. Or the pioneer of the telephone, Alexander Graham Bell. But you might be hard-pressed to name many female inventors, even though women are behind some of the most widely used technologies in the modern world. 这是一个简单的挑战：命名一位著名的发明家...

We all have one, don’t we? A friend who’s always late. The one who turns up for coffee a full half hour after the appointed time. The one who seems to be forever ‘stuck in traffic’. The dear pal who sends a message saying “Sorry, bit delayed”, when they’re already 20 minutes behind schedule. I mean, what kind of a friend is that? Or just maybe, if you’re really honest, this per...