英语每日一听 | 每天少于5分钟

• 第2844期:Customer loyalty

  We belong to an organisation that puts you in touch with pet-sitters when you go away. People who can look after your house and animals while you're on holiday. And it was coming up for renewal, wasn't it? The subscription, yes.我们加入了一个组织，当你外出时，它会帮你联系宠物看护的人。他们可以在你度假期间照顾你的房子和动物。而我们的会员马上要续费了，是吗？对，就是订阅服务。Every year. Fine. But what they didn't tell us was it was more expensive than the previous year.每年都要续费，好吧。但他们没告诉我们的是，这次续费比前一年更贵。And what's more, it was more expensive, a lot more expensive than new customers were going to pay. We're looking at customers' loyalty. It wasn't the first time that we found out that we as existing customers were paying more for a product than new customers coming on.更糟的是，这次续费比新客户要付的钱贵得多。我们说的就是对老顾客忠诚度的“惩罚”。这不是第一次我们发现，作为老客户，我们反而比新客户付更多钱。We're not the only ones. In the UK, Citizens Advice, which is an independent charity, have recently complained to a government department about these loyalty penalties, which people are paying in essential markets. Yes, now these essential markets, they include things like paying for your mobile, broadband, home insurance is a big one, bank savings and mortgages.我们并不是唯一的例子。在英国，一个独立慈善机构“公民咨询局”最近向政府部门投诉这种“忠诚惩罚”，它出现在很多基本民生市场里。是的，这些基本市场包括手机套餐、宽带、家庭保险（这个特别严重）、银行储蓄和房屋贷款。They're all more expensive for their loyal customers than for new people joining. Yeah, their existing customers. Up to 64% of consumers didn't know that they were being charged either the same or much more than newer customers.这些服务对长期客户来说都比对新加入的人更贵。是的，就是说对老客户更贵。多达 64% 的消费者甚至不知道自己被收取的费用要么和新客户一样高，要么更高。Yes, and they found that 8 in 10 bill payers are currently charged significantly higher prices for remaining with their existing supplier rather than getting a new supplier. And I suppose, Richard, part of this is because of privatisation. In the past, a lot of these – especially gas and electricity, things like that – the government provided those.是的，而且他们发现，十分之八的账单付款人因为继续使用原服务商，而不是更换新服务商，被收取了明显更高的费用。我想，Richard，这部分原因是私有化导致的。过去很多服务——特别是燃气、电力之类——都是政府提供的。And now you have to go and look, and it's difficult to choose which company to go for. And when they've got special offers to attract new customers, that's got to be paid for by someone. So, we're feeling very sympathetic towards these people, especially because of our own situation.而现在你必须自己去选择，挑选哪家公司很麻烦。而且企业为了吸引新客户会推出特价优惠，而这些成本总得由某些人承担。所以我们对这些被多收费的人很同情，尤其是因为我们自己也遇到了类似的情况。However, Richard... Yes? I'm wondering whether this might change your mind. OK. Now, we have a couple of dogs and we go to the supermarket and we buy dog food.不过呢，Richard……什么？我在想这件事可能会改变你的看法。好，现在我们有几只狗，我们去超市买狗粮。Yes. We can choose to switch to a different brand if we discover that it's cheaper. We have the option to do that.对。如果我们发现另一种品牌更便宜，就可以换品牌。我们完全可以这样做。Yes. And it would actually be very nonsensical of us to stay with our normal brand if it has become more expensive. Do you agree with that? If the quality is identical, you go for the cheaper the product.是的。如果我们发现平常买的品牌变贵了，还坚持不换，那其实很不明智。你同意吗？如果品质一样，当然选便宜的。Right. OK. Because this is all about a competitive market.好的。因为这一切都与竞争性市场有关。And competition is for the benefit of the consumers. And so, if you're going to have a competitive market, this includes switching from one brand to another. Loyalty doesn't pay.而竞争是为了让消费者获益。所以在竞争市场里，你就应该在品牌之间切换。忠诚并不划算。Right. OK. So, there is less sympathy for people being penalised for being loyal if, in fact, they just need to do a little bit more work and go for the cheaper brand.好的。所以如果消费者只需要稍微动动手，就能找到更便宜的品牌，那么他们因忠诚而被多收费，别人可能就不太同情了。It's just like buying in a supermarket. I'm not so sure about that. Obviously, there's more to it, isn't there, Richard? Because in the supermarket, the switching is very simple, isn't it? You just choose the other brand.这就像在超市购物。我不太确定哦，显然事情没那么简单，是吧 Richard？因为在超市换品牌很容易，你只要拿另一包就行了。Exactly. And I think what's happened nowadays, it's much more difficult to switch from one brand to another. And there are often penalties.没错。但现在情况更复杂了，从一个品牌切换到另一个往往非常困难，而且还会有罚金或额外费用。And also, if it's an auto-renewal subscription, then that price increase should be communicated to customers.而且如果是自动续订的订阅服务，价格上涨应该明确告知客户。Definitely. Actually, recently we changed our web host that hosts the site, Podcast in English.没错。事实上，我们最近更换了为 "Podcast in English" 网站提供服务的网络主机。I didn't choose the very cheapest host. I chose one a bit more expensive because their renewal price didn't actually go up that much. You're computer savvy, you see.我没有选择最便宜的那家，而是选了稍微贵一点的，因为他们续费的涨幅不大。你是电脑高手嘛。So, at the end of the day, if you know there are cheaper options out there but don't switch, that's your problem. However, if you stay with a brand who is overcharging because the barriers to switching, you know, it's too expensive or it's difficult to understand, those barriers are too big, then that is not acceptable.所以，最终如果你明明知道外面有更便宜的选择却不切换，那是你自己的问题。但如果你因为转换成本太高、太复杂，而被迫留在一家乱收费的公司，那就不可接受了。But really, people are going to be less sympathetic to us because we can find out about the switching and go for the cheaper option.但说实话，别人对我们不会太同情，因为我们有能力查到替代方案，也能选择更便宜的选项。

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• 第2843期:Mosquitoes found in Iceland for first time

  Iceland has no shortage of natural dangers – volcanic eruptions, glacial floods, scaldingly hot springs and bitterly cold winters. But it is at least one of the few places on Earth where humans don't have to worry about mosquitoes – until now.冰岛总是有各种各样的自然危险，那里有火山喷发、冰川导致的洪水、滚烫的温泉和苦寒冰冷的冬季。不过，冰岛至少是地球上少数几个人类不必担心蚊子的地方之一，直到现在。Two females and a male have been caught on a sticky trap used to attract moths. They're a species that's resistant to the cold.两只雌蚊和一只雄蚊被一个用于吸引飞蛾的粘性陷阱所捕获。它们属于一种能抵抗寒冷的蚊种。It isn't clear how many other mosquitoes are in Iceland or exactly how they got there. One scientist said he did not believe their arrival was linked to climate change and suggested they could have been stowaways on a ship.人们尚不清楚冰岛目前还有多少只蚊子，以及这些蚊子如何来到了这里。一名科学家表示，他不认为这些蚊子的到来和气候变化有关，并提出它们也可能是坐船抵达冰岛的 “偷渡者”。

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• 第2842期:Zone zero: Does no-effort exercise have benefits

  "No pain no gain!" That's a mindset applied to many things – from working long hours when starting a new business, to studying hard for an important exam. And gym culture often encourages people to push themselves to their limits, leading people to have an all or nothing attitude, where they feel they must either have an extremely tough fitness regime, or do nothing at all. But what if it doesn't have to be this way? What if you can improve your fitness and wellbeing with minimal effort? Meet the new trend gainingtraction: zone zero exercise.“不劳无获！” 这种心态适用于许多事情——从创业初期的长时间工作，到为重要考试而刻苦学习。健身文化往往鼓励人们把自己推到极限，导致一种“要么全力以赴、要么干脆不做”的态度，仿佛非得执行极其严苛的健身计划，否则就是零运动。但事情真的一定要这样吗？如果只需付出最小的努力，也能提升健康与体能呢？让我们来认识一个正在流行的新趋势：零区运动（zone zero exercise）。Zone training is about your heart rate. For example, zone 1 exercise requires 50% of your maximum heart rate, up to zone 5 which is 100% effort. Activities range from a dog walk or easy warm-up in zone 1, to a sprint up the stairs at zone 5. Think of zone zero as any kind of movement that keeps your heart rate below 50%. This could be a gentle stroll, a few stretches in between long stints of sitting at your desk, even gardening or light housework. Terry Tateossian, a personal trainer and nutritionist, said that for many of her clients, "zone zero is the bridge between sedentary and sustainable". It is exercise that feels effortless.分区训练（zone training）主要基于你的心率。 例如，一区运动需要达到最大心率的 50%，五区则是 100% 的全力输出。日常活动从牵狗散步或轻松热身（一区），到冲刺上楼梯（五区）不等。所谓的零区，就是任何让心率维持在 50% 以下的动作。这可能是一段轻松的散步、久坐办公期间的几下伸展运动，甚至是园艺或轻度家务。私人教练兼营养师 Terry Tateossian 说，对于她的许多客户来说，“零区是从久坐到持续运动之间的桥梁。” 它是一种几乎不费力的运动方式。One major benefit of zone zero activity is accessibility. For those unable to do high intensity workouts, such as those recovering from injury, light exercise may feel like a smaller mountain to climb. And with this comes another benefit – consistency. A routine based on zone zero activity is easier to sustain, meaning the long-term benefits are easier to achieve. A 2018 review of research, published in the International Journal of Behavioural Nutrition and Physical Activity, found that zone zero activity can support mental wellbeing, help regulate blood sugar and improve circulation. It can even lower the risk ofcardiovasculardisease.零区运动的一大优势是容易执行。 对于无法进行高强度训练的人，如正在从伤病中恢复者，轻度运动更像是一座较易攀登的小山。同时也带来另一项好处——坚持性更强。以零区活动为基础的运动习惯更容易长期维持，也因此更容易获得长期健康效益。2018 年发表在《国际行为营养与体育活动杂志》上的一项研究综述显示，零区运动有助于提升心理健康、调节血糖并改善血液循环，甚至可以降低心血管疾病风险。Of course, if you're gunning for a personal best, or wanting to significantly improve your fitness, you shouldn't stop at zone zero activities. You'll need to do challenging, high-intensity workouts to grow stronger. But even top athletes must embrace gentle movement. Endurance coach Stephanie Holbrook says, "it's often the missing piece that unlocks breakthrough performances because it facilitates genuine recovery." Maybe slowing down is the best way to move forward.当然，如果你想刷新个人最佳成绩，或者显著提升体能，就不能只停留在零区活动上。你仍然需要具挑战性的高强度训练来变得更强。但即便是顶尖运动员也必须接受轻柔的活动。耐力教练 Stephanie Holbrook 说：“这往往是促成突破性表现的关键，因为它让身体真正恢复。” 或许，放慢脚步才是继续前进的最好方式。

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• 第2841期:The best restaurant in London

  We're talking about a restaurant. A restaurant that became the top-rated restaurant in London. Except that the restaurant was a fake.我们要谈的是一家餐厅——一家成为伦敦最高评分餐厅的餐厅。只不过，这家餐厅是假的。It didn't exist. Yes, so we ask who did it, why he did it and how. Well, let's start with who, Richard.它根本不存在。那么我们来问：是谁干的？为什么要这么做？又是怎么做到的？我们先从“谁”开始吧，理查德。It was a journalist, OK? By the name of Ubar Butler. And what's interesting was that his original job included writing fake reviews for TripAdvisor restaurants, even though he never went to them, right? And he saw that these fake reviews actually helped the restaurants to become very popular. The reviews were always positive.是一个记者，名叫乌巴·巴特勒。有趣的是，他之前的工作就是帮餐厅在TripAdvisor上写假评论——虽然他从来没去过那些餐厅。而且他发现，这些虚假的好评确实能让餐厅变得很受欢迎。Yes, obviously the restaurants themselves paid for him to write the reviews. Of course, which leads on to why he had his idea. Yes, he wondered whether it was possible for not only to have fake reviews but actually have a fake restaurant.没错，那些餐厅当然是付钱请他写好评的。而这也引发了他的灵感：他在想，既然有假的评论，那能不能干脆弄一家假的餐厅？Would it be possible to become the best restaurant in London? Yeah, now this became a challenge for him, didn't it, Richard? And we're talking about April 2017. So how did he go about it, Richard?能不能让这家假餐厅成为伦敦最好的餐厅？对，这对他来说成了一个挑战。时间是在2017年4月。那他是怎么做的呢，理查德？Well, the first thing is he decided to use his real shed in the garden. That was the restaurant.首先，他决定用自己花园里的小棚子当作餐厅。Yeah, and he called it The Shed. And for £10 he was actually able to get it verified as a real place. Because it wasn't real, he didn't want to give his real address, so he made it appointment-only.对，他把餐厅命名为“The Shed（棚屋）”。花了10英镑，他居然真的能让TripAdvisor验证通过。因为餐厅并不存在，他不想公开真实地址，于是设置为“仅限预约”。And then, so he did that, then he designed a website and he created a concept. What was that? He named all his dishes after moods. So he had a happy, love, comfort as his dishes.接着他做了网站，并设计了一个概念。他把所有菜品都以情绪命名，比如“快乐”“爱情”“安慰”等。So comfort for me would be something like shepherd's pie. Yes, and he also took some photos of the dishes. Yeah, those arty, soft, focused, close-up photos of food that is very popular nowadays.比如“安慰”这道菜，对我来说可能就像牧羊人派一样。是的，他还拍了一些菜的照片——那种现在很流行的艺术感、柔焦、特写的美食照。But they were all fake as well. Yeah, he didn't even use real ingredients, right? He used shaving cream instead of cream. Shaving cream, yes, and paint.但那些照片也全是假的。他根本没用真正的食材，比如用剃须膏代替奶油。没错，还有颜料。He painted his things to look attractive. Yeah, so he had a name, had a logo, and lots of great photos. So then he submits his restaurant to TripAdvisor and... Well, it's approved and then it's put on their site for everyone to see.他用颜料把东西涂得看起来很诱人。于是，他有了名字、有了标志，还有很多漂亮的照片。接着，他把餐厅提交到TripAdvisor——结果真的通过审核，上了网站。He started out ranked at number 18,149, but by the end of August he was at number 156. And by the winter he's number 30. How did he do that, Richard?起初他的排名是第18,149名，但到了八月底，已经上升到第156名。到了冬天，更是进入前三十。理查德，他是怎么做到的？Well, obviously, he has a history of writing fake reviews. Yes. He had lots of contacts. He got all his friends to write really great reviews for his non-existent restaurant and that soon got him shooting up the charts.很明显，他有写假评论的经验。而且人脉广，他请朋友们帮忙为这家不存在的餐厅写极好的评论。没多久，排名就蹭蹭往上涨。It was all about the reviews. All the reviews were fantastic and it made all the difference. And of course he couldn't have any bad reviews because no real people went to the restaurant at all.一切都靠评论。所有的评论都极其出色，这就是关键。而且根本不会出现差评，因为没有真正的顾客去过。Exactly. And then on the 1st of November, the same year, just six months after listing The Shed online, he gets an email from TripAdvisor. He's worried, isn't he?没错。然后在同年11月1日，也就是上架六个月后，他收到了TripAdvisor的邮件。他当时很紧张，对吧？Yes, he thinks they've rumbled him. Yeah. But an actual fact is to tell him that he's London's top-rated restaurant.对，他以为自己被揭穿了。其实不是。那封邮件是告诉他，他的餐厅成了伦敦排名第一的餐厅。A restaurant that doesn't exist, he's told, is currently the highest ranked in one of the world's biggest cities on perhaps the internet's most trusted review site.一间根本不存在的餐厅，成了世界上最大城市之一、也许是最受信任的评论网站上的第一名。Number one, Richard. I mean, that is just incredible.第一名啊，理查德。这真是太不可思议了。Now, he stayed there for two weeks, but of course now that the page has been deleted, everybody realises it was a fake.后来它保持第一名两周，但如今页面已被删除，大家才意识到那是个骗局。But he said it was a fake, didn't he? Yeah, he... It wasn't actually found out by anybody. No, no, no. He wanted to show that this was possible, right?不过是他自己公开承认的。并不是被揭穿的。他只是想证明，这一切是可以做到的。And I suppose it's sad really because it just shows how easily fooled people are.说起来也挺讽刺的，这说明人们是多么容易被欺骗。How fake everything is. But an actual fact, in his own words, he's much more positive. He says, if he can transform his garden into London's best restaurant, then literally anything is possible in the business world.世界多么虚假。但用他自己的话说，他倒是更乐观——如果他能把自家花园变成伦敦最好的餐厅，那在商业世界里，一切皆有可能。

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• 第2840期:Riding in a driverless taxi

  Hey, what's up guys, MKBHD here, still in Las Vegas, and I've seen a lot of self-driving tech so far here at CES, like if you walk through any of the halls with cars in them, there's tons of like open room concepts and things like that, but they feel kind of useless, you know, like as long as they're still in a concept phase, they don't really feel real yet.大家好，我是 MKBHD，现在还在拉斯维加斯。在今年的 CES 展会上，我已经看到了很多自动驾驶技术。走进任何一个汽车展厅，都能看到各种“开放空间”式的概念车，设计很炫，但感觉都没什么实际用途。你懂的，只要还停留在概念阶段，就让人觉得离现实还挺远的。So then I got an email from a company called Yandex, you may know them as a Russian tech company, and they said, hey, come check out our autonomous car at CES.然后我收到一封来自一家叫 Yandex 的公司的邮件——你可能知道，这是一家俄罗斯科技公司。他们说：“嘿，来看看我们在 CES 上的无人驾驶汽车吧！”I'm kind of thinking, okay, well, I've seen a lot of autonomous concepts and things like that, how could this be much different? But then they said, listen, we have a fully autonomous driverless car hitting the streets of Las Vegas with all the other regular cars right now, you can go for a ride, you in? So I'm super in, let's do it.我当时心想，好吧，我已经看过那么多自动驾驶概念了，这还能有多不一样？但他们接着说：“听好了，我们的车已经在拉斯维加斯的街头，与普通车辆一起行驶，你可以亲自坐上去试一试。要不要来？”我当然要啊，立刻答应了！So the car itself is a retrofitted Prius, on top is radar, lidar, and camera array for the car to map out its surroundings.这辆车本身是一辆经过改装的丰田 Prius（普锐斯），车顶上安装了雷达、激光雷达和摄像头阵列，用来扫描和绘制周围的环境地图。I think as someone who's used the autopilot from a Tesla, it helps me to not be as nervous in the backseat, but it's still crazy not having anyone in the driver's seat at all as the car navigates the streets.我以前开过特斯拉的自动驾驶，所以坐在后座的时候没那么紧张，但眼前这辆车完全没有司机、自己在街上行驶，还是让人觉得很不可思议。There's a safety engineer in the passenger seat, which had a kill switch next to him for if anything happened to go wrong or it needed to be interrupted, but we did about a 15 minute loop around real streets, real drivers, real people, and everything went smoothly and it was kind of still trippy the whole time.副驾驶坐着一位安全工程师，旁边有个紧急关闭开关，如果出现问题可以立刻介入。我们在真实街道上行驶了大约15分钟，周围都是正常行驶的车辆和行人，一切顺利，但整个过程还是让人觉得有点“魔幻”。This really feels like the future, I gotta say. It might not be this crazy self-driving interior that everyone else is talking about, but this tech part is cool to me.我得说，这真有种“未来已至”的感觉。虽然它没有其他厂商展示的那种炫酷自动驾驶内饰，但技术本身就已经够让我兴奋了。The details are that this is a small area in Las Vegas that was already mapped by this company, so it was a predetermined route and the car knew where it was going to go, but everything else, road conditions, the other cars, the pedestrians, the traffic lights, the turns, speed changes, all of that was decisions made by the car, but all that makes sense for a taxi.具体来说，这辆车运行的区域是 Yandex 事先绘制好的拉斯维加斯一小片区域，路线是预设的，车知道自己要去哪。但像路况、其他车辆、行人、红绿灯、转弯、加减速这些，全都是车自己实时判断的。对无人驾驶出租车来说，这样的模式其实挺合理的。I mean you map the town or city you want to be in, you have predetermined routes for pickup and drop off, and then the taxis are driverless and they just go from there.比如说，你先把城市或镇区地图建好，设定好接送点的路线，然后这些出租车就可以无人驾驶运行了。And the even cooler, nerdier part is these iPad Pros you're seeing, that's a visualization of what the sensors on top of the car are seeing in real time.更酷、更“极客”的部分是，车里这些 iPad Pro 上显示的，就是车顶传感器实时捕捉到的周围环境画面。So the radar, lidar, and cameras are all combining to identify what is other cars on the road, what's pedestrians, what is a stationary object, and seeing things up to 250 meters away in every direction.雷达、激光雷达和摄像头的数据融合在一起，用来识别道路上的其他车辆、行人以及静止物体。它可以在四个方向上探测到最远250米外的情况。So things 6, 7 cars away were on the iPad that I couldn't even see in real life out the windows.我在 iPad 上能看到六七辆车之外的物体，而从车窗外肉眼是完全看不到的。So there are some red paths, and when we start driving you're going to see some green paths. And basically what I'm seeing here is, it's evaluating what's currently happening on the road and what's about to happen.屏幕上有一些红色路径和绿色路径。开车时你会看到绿色路径代表可行方向。简单来说，车在实时评估当前路况和即将发生的情况。Red paths, no good. Green paths, good. And it takes the green path, and it has a predetermined destination, we're on a left turning lane, so you can see way up ahead where it wants to go, and it's just going to follow where it can.红色路径代表不可行，绿色路径代表可行。车辆会自动选择绿色路径行驶。现在我们在左转车道上，可以看到系统已经标出了它想去的方向，车辆会顺着可行的路线前进。Based on the cars around us, you can't really merge right now, so those paths are red, but it has a green path, and it has a bunch of other possible paths to take if it wants to switch it up. But right now, it's all green.根据周围车辆的情况，现在无法并线，所以那些方向是红色的。但它仍然有一条绿色路线可走，而且系统还规划了备用路线以防需要变道。此刻，一切都是绿的。And the best part is the reaction from other people on the road was pretty great.最有趣的是，路上其他人的反应相当精彩。There's people pulling out their phones to record the driverless car, people kind of stare a little bit at stoplights when they realize what's going on, and apparently Las Vegas cops think it's pretty funny too.有人掏出手机拍摄无人驾驶车，也有人在红灯时发现没有司机后，盯着看个不停。听说连拉斯维加斯的警察都觉得挺有意思。But overall, the 15 minutes we spent in this car were a lot of fun, I learned a lot just looking at these iPads and what they were seeing as the car drove around, and this gave me sort of an optimism for the future of self-driving tech.总的来说，那15分钟真的很有趣。我通过这些 iPad 看到车在“看什么”，也学到了不少，让我对自动驾驶技术的未来充满信心。So that's pretty much it, I figured I would share my experience.这就是我今天的经历，想和大家分享一下。Would you let yourself get driven in a driverless taxi like this? Maybe share this video with other people you think would be interested, and I'll leave some links below with some more information so you can look it up if you want to see that too. Either way, thanks for watching, see you guys in the next one.你愿意坐上这样一辆无人驾驶出租车吗？可以把这个视频分享给感兴趣的朋友。我会在下方附上更多相关信息的链接，想了解的可以去看看。不管怎样，感谢观看，我们下期再见。

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