英语每日一听 | 每天少于5分钟

In the refined garden designs of Chelsea Flower Show, gnomes are usually a no-no. But this year there'll be a scattering of them around the place, many painted by celebrities.
在切尔西花展雅致的庭院设计中，“小矮人” 往往不登大雅之堂。但今年，它们将出现在花展的各个角落，其中许多都由名人亲手彩绘。

All the gnomes will be sold off to raise money for the Royal Horticultural Society's campaign for school gardening.
所有的小矮人都将被义卖拍卖，所得资金将用于资助皇家园艺协会的校园园艺推广项目。

Elsewhere on the 20-acre site, there's a garden from Parkinson's UK, which includes a rose with hardly any scent, a reminder that a loss of smell is an early symptom of the disease. And the King's Foundation Garden, which had creative input from keen gardener Sir David Beckham, contains plenty of the King's favourite flower, the delphinium.
在这片占地 20 英亩的展区内别处，有英国帕金森病协会打造的花园，里面种植了一种几乎没有香味的玫瑰，以此提醒人们，嗅觉丧失是该疾病的早期症状。还有国王基金会花园，该花园由园艺爱好者大卫·贝克汉姆爵士提供创意，里面种有大量国王最喜欢的飞燕草。

Whether you've reached work or study burnout, you're going through relationship dramas, or you just feel weighed down by life in general, stress is something that's difficult to avoid. If only there were an easy and free way to alleviate it. Luckily, there is! Breathwork. Breathing is the first and last thing we do on this planet, and it's the simplest way we can alleviate stress and anxiety both immediately and long-term, when done properly. So, how can we reap the benefits?
无论您是否已达到工作或学习倦怠、是否正在经历人际关系戏剧，或者您只是感到生活的压力，压力都是难以避免的。 如果有一种简单且免费的方法来缓解它就好了。 幸运的是，有！ 呼吸。 呼吸是我们在这个星球上做的第一件事也是最后一件事，如果做得正确，这是我们可以立即和长期缓解压力和焦虑的最简单方法。 那么，我们怎样才能获得好处呢？

It's about slowing down. "We all tend to hyperventilate, breathing too fast and not very effectively," says David Spiegel, professor of psychiatry and behavioural sciences at Stanford University in the US. One way to make our breathing more intentional is a technique called 'cyclic sighing', with a focus on prolonged exhalation. Begin with a deep inhale through your nose. Just when you think you're done, take a short, sharp breath to fully fill the lungs. Then, let out a slow and extended sigh to completely empty your lungs. A 2023 study published in PubMed by Spiegel and colleagues found that just five minutes a day of cyclic sighing improved mood and lowered anxiety.
这是关于放慢速度。 美国斯坦福大学精神病学和行为科学教授大卫·斯皮格尔说：“我们都容易换气过度，呼吸太快而且效率不高。” 让我们的呼吸更有意识的一种方法是一种称为“循环叹息”的技术，其重点是延长呼气。 首先通过鼻子深吸气。 当您认为自己已经完成时，进行短促的呼吸，让肺部充满空气。 然后，缓慢而长久地叹一口气，将肺部完全排空。 Spiegel 及其同事于 2023 年在 PubMed 上发表的一项研究发现，每天只需五分钟的周期性叹息即可改善情绪并降低焦虑。

For a more advanced method, try 'coherent breathing'. To do this, you want to find a comfortable position, with one hand on your belly, and the other on your chest. Inhale through your nose for about six seconds, making the hand on your belly rise by engaging your diaphragm. Then exhale for the same duration. The key is to keep your breath smooth and continuous. "Imagine your breath as a slow tide coming in and going out," says Guy Fincham, who leads a breathwork research lab at Brighton and Sussex Medical School in the UK. The A52 breath method is similar, except at the end of the exhalation, you hold your breath for a couple of seconds before breathing in again.
对于更高级的方法，请尝试“连贯呼吸”。 为此，您需要找到一个舒适的位置，一只手放在腹部，另一只手放在胸部。 通过鼻子吸气约六秒钟，通过接触隔膜使放在腹部的手抬起。 然后呼气同样的时间。 关键是保持呼吸顺畅、连续。 英国布莱顿和苏塞克斯医学院呼吸研究实验室的负责人盖伊·芬查姆（Guy Fincham）说：“把你的呼吸想象成缓慢进出的潮水。” A52 呼吸方法类似，只是在呼气结束时屏住呼吸几秒钟，然后再吸气。

Slowing down our breathing works because it relaxes the sympathetic nervous system, which is responsible for the 'fight-or-flight' response and activates the parasympathetic nervous system, responsible for the body's 'rest-and-digest' functions. This calms the body. So, whenever you start to feel overwhelmed, remember that you have this easy and instant stress-reliever in your toolkit.
放慢呼吸之所以有效，是因为它可以放松负责“战斗或逃跑”反应的交感神经系统，并激活负责身体“休息和消化”功能的副交感神经系统。 这可以使身体平静。 因此，每当您开始感到不知所措时，请记住您的工具箱中有这种简单且即时的缓解压力的方法。

Jesse Williamson is a soldier. In 2009, he is in a dangerous war. A big bomb hits his car. Jesse loses his legs. His friends die in the war.
杰西·威廉姆森是一名士兵。2009年，他身处一场危险的战争中。一枚大型炸弹击中了他的车。杰西失去了双腿，他的战友在战争中牺牲。

When Jesse comes back home, he is very sad. He cries a lot. He takes drugs to feel better. Then, he goes to a special hospital to get help. In this place, a friend shows him the game of golf. Jesse plays golf every day. It helps him feel good. Golf is a quiet game in nature.
杰西回到家后非常悲伤，经常哭泣。他服用药物来让自己感觉好一些。后来，他去了一个特殊的医院寻求帮助。在那里，一位朋友向他介绍了高尔夫运动。杰西每天都打高尔夫，这让他感觉好多了。高尔夫是一项在自然中进行的安静运动。

Now, Jesse is happy. He teaches golf to other old soldiers. He has a new team and a new life. Jesse says that golf is like a doctor for his mind.
现在，杰西变得快乐起来。他开始教其他退伍老兵打高尔夫。他有了新的团队和新的生活。杰西说，高尔夫就像是他精神上的医生。

Many office workers feel frustrated by meetings that seem pointless. A recent survey shows that the average UK worker spends 27 days a year in such meetings. But improving meetings is possible with the right strategies.
许多上班族对那些看似毫无意义的会议感到沮丧。一项最新调查显示，英国普通员工每年平均有27天都耗费在这样的会议中。不过，只要采用合适的策略，会议质量是可以改善的。

First, preparation is very important. Whether you are running the meeting or attending, preparing in advance makes the meeting more useful. Chairs should send out an agenda and maybe a starting question. Participants should read the materials and consider what they want to say. Knowing who is in the meeting also helps – chairs should give everyone, both extroverts and introverts, a chance to speak.
首先，准备工作非常重要。无论你是会议主持人还是参会者，提前准备都会让会议更有价值。主持人应提前发送议程，甚至可以提出一个开场问题。参会者也应提前阅读材料，并思考自己想要表达的内容。了解参会人员也很重要——主持人应确保每个人都有发言机会，无论是外向者还是内向者。

Online meetings offer helpful tools like name tags and hand-raising options, but hybrid meetings (some online, some in person) are less effective if not planned well. Including short breaks and even mindfulness moments can make meetings more productive.
线上会议提供了一些有用的工具，例如姓名标识和举手功能，但混合会议（部分在线、部分线下）如果规划不当，效果会较差。加入短暂休息时间，甚至冥想片刻，都可以让会议更高效。

Finally, following up with notes and thanking people matters. Good meetings need planning, energy, and a bit of kindness from everyone involved. Meetings are not going away, but with a few smart steps, they can be a lot better.
最后，会议后的总结记录以及对参与者表示感谢也很重要。好的会议需要规划、精力，以及所有参与者的一点善意。会议不会消失，但只要采取一些聪明的方法，它们可以变得更好。

A Russian drone crashed into a 10-story residential building in the Romanian city of Galați overnight, and injured a woman and a child. This incident caused great panic among local citizens, who now feel unsafe.
一架俄罗斯无人机在夜间坠毁并撞上了罗马尼亚城市Galați的一栋10层住宅楼，造成一名女性和一名儿童受伤。该事件在当地居民中引发了极大恐慌，许多人因此感到不安全。

Romania quickly scrambled F-16 fighter jets, and the pilots had permission to shoot, but they couldn’t destroy the drone in time. Officials explained that the city is located very close to the Ukrainian border, which gave the military only a few minutes to react. Furthermore, advanced fighter jets like the F-16 are designed for air combat, which makes it very difficult to target small, low-flying, and slow drones. Shooting them down over a large city could also cause dangerous debris to fall on civilians.
罗马尼亚迅速出动了F-16 Fighting Falcon战斗机，飞行员也获得了可以开火的授权，但仍未能及时击落该无人机。官方解释称，该城市距离乌克兰边境非常近，军方只有几分钟的反应时间。此外，像F-16这样的先进战斗机主要用于空战，对付体积小、飞行高度低且速度慢的无人机非常困难。而且在大城市上空击落无人机，也可能导致碎片坠落，对平民造成危险。

While Moscow denied the drone was Russian, Romania is now urgently demanding more NATO air defense equipment. NATO is taking the situation very seriously, as drone incursions into member states like Latvia and Lithuania are happening more frequently.
尽管Moscow方面否认该无人机属于俄罗斯，但罗马尼亚目前正紧急要求获得更多NATO防空装备。北约对此事高度重视，因为类似无人机进入成员国（如拉脱维亚和立陶宛）的事件正变得越来越频繁。