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The business news at the moment is dominated by the falling price in oil. We're looking at some of the reasons behind this. So Richard, falling oil prices, what's it all about? Like any commodity, it's all about supply and demand.目前的商业新闻几乎都被油价下跌所主导。我们正在探讨这背后的一些原因。那么，理查德，油价下跌到底是怎么回事？和任何一种大宗商品一样，这归根结底还是供求关系的问题。So presumably you're saying that demand is going down? Demand is going down because the world economy is slowing, especially China. So therefore there is less demand for oil, so the price goes down. So there's a decrease in demand.所以你的意思是需求在下降？是的，需求在下降，因为全球经济正在放缓，尤其是中国。因此，对石油的需求减少，价格自然就下跌了，也就是说需求出现了下降。So what about supply then? Well, that's the double whammy. That's why the oil price has gone down so much, because there's been a surge in supply. From OPEC countries? No, from the US.那供给方面呢？这就是“双重打击”了。这也是油价大幅下跌的原因，因为供应量激增。是来自欧佩克国家吗？不，是来自美国。The US has doubled its production of oil since 2010. How come they've done that? Well, it's all about fracking. Right.自 2010 年以来，美国的石油产量翻了一番。他们为什么能做到这一点？这主要得益于水力压裂技术。对。They're producing oil from new deposits that they're finding in the US. So that's very successful for them. Successful for them.他们正在从美国本土新发现的油藏中开采石油，这对他们来说非常成功。确实是成功的。But again, it leads to a lower oil price. So how much are we talking about then for a barrel of oil, Richard? Well, from a high of $110 a barrel in 2014, it's now less than $50 a barrel. OK.但这同样也导致了油价下跌。那么现在一桶油大概多少钱呢，理查德？2014 年的时候最高达到每桶 110 美元，而现在已经跌到每桶 50 美元以下了。好。So obviously some of the OPEC countries are panicking about this? Yes, but it's affecting them very differently. Some are really suffering. For instance, Nigeria and Russia, they depend on oil.那么显然，一些欧佩克国家对此感到恐慌了？是的，但这对它们的影响各不相同。有些国家确实在承受巨大压力，比如尼日利亚和俄罗斯，它们高度依赖石油。Right. To keep their economy afloat. They are really suffering.没错。为了维持经济运转。它们确实遭受了严重冲击。What about Saudi Arabia? Well, they've got so much oil and they've got so much reserves of cash and oil that they're hoping to ride the storm out. And they, again, they're hoping that the low oil price will send the American frackers out of business. So it really is a supply and demand issue.那沙特阿拉伯呢？他们拥有大量石油资源，同时也积累了大量的现金和石油储备，希望能够挺过这场风暴。而且他们还希望低油价能把美国的页岩油生产商挤出市场。所以归根结底，这还是一个供需问题。Yes, but there's also another factor on supply, on the supply side, because obviously the sanctions have been lifted against Iran. Which is an oil-producing country. They used to produce an awful lot of oil, and obviously now they're going to be producing more again.是的，但在供应端还有另一个因素，那就是对伊朗的制裁已经被解除。伊朗是一个产油国，过去曾生产大量石油，而现在显然又将重新增加产量。Now that the sanctions have lifted. Exactly. So the outlook is for even lower prices.制裁解除之后。没错。所以前景是油价可能会进一步走低。You say that, Richard, but when I take the car to the garage to be filled up with petrol, the prices are going down. Slowly. Slowly.你是这么说的，理查德，但我把车开去加油站加油时，油价确实在下降，只是很慢，很慢。But why is it not going down at the same speed as the price of oil? Well, I think that's quite simple, really, because petrol companies, they're very, very reluctant to lower their prices, aren't they? And if their competitors aren't lowering their prices, they're not going to be lowering their prices. So prices are coming down. But as always happens, the prices go up quickly, but they come down slowly.但为什么油价没有像原油价格那样快速度下降呢？我觉得原因其实很简单，因为石油公司非常不情愿降价，对吧？如果竞争对手不降价，它们也不会降价。所以价格确实在下降，但一如既往，涨得快，跌得慢。Are there any winners in this scenario? Theoretically, yes. Theoretically, Europe, for instance, which is a net importer of oil, they should like it because, obviously, cheaper oil, it should stimulate the economy. But they're keeping quite quiet about this.在这种情况下有没有赢家呢？理论上是有的。比如欧洲，作为石油净进口地区，按理说应该欢迎油价下跌，因为更便宜的石油有助于刺激经济。但他们对此却相当低调。And obviously China as well. They're a big importer of oil. It should be better for them.当然还有中国，他们也是石油进口大国，油价下跌本应对他们更有利。But they're suffering from their economy as well. So there doesn't seem to be any big winners at the moment. So this is something that's going to be affecting the business world for quite some time to come then?但他们的经济本身也面临压力。因此，目前看来并没有真正的赢家。那么，这是否意味着油价问题还将在相当长的一段时间内持续影响商业世界呢？

Some time between now and 2017, the British government will hold a referendum on whether to leave the European Union. We will give the British people a referendum with a very simple in or out choice. But what does leaving the EU actually mean? There's a few scenarios for what could happen.在现在到 2017 年之间的某个时间，英国政府将举行一次是否退出欧盟的全民公投。英国人民将面对一个非常简单的选择：留下还是离开。但“脱欧”究竟意味着什么？可能出现的情况其实有好几种。The first is total independence. Britain becomes just another country that sells to the EU but doesn't have to follow any of its silly rules. Just like the United States.第一种情况是完全独立。英国将成为一个向欧盟出售商品、但不必遵守欧盟那些“繁琐规则”的普通国家，就像美国一样。This sounds empowered, like Britain is finally releasing itself from the shackles of Eurocrats and Brussels. But what it really means is that Britain would have to negotiate everything it sells to Europe on a case-by-case basis. This type of complicated bargaining leads to real costs.听起来这似乎很振奋人心，仿佛英国终于摆脱了欧盟官僚和布鲁塞尔的束缚。但实际上，这意味着英国出口到欧洲的每一种商品都必须逐项谈判。这种复杂的谈判方式会带来实实在在的成本。US companies pay a 10% tariff on any car they sell in Europe. Tariffs on clothing are 30%. This scenario could cost Britain as much as 14% of its GDP.美国公司在欧洲出售汽车需要支付 10% 的关税，服装的关税则高达 30%。在这种情况下，英国可能会付出高达国内生产总值 14% 的代价。That's as much as Greece lost in the first four years of the financial crisis. Alternatively, Britain could leave the EU but stay in the European Economic Area. Under this scenario, Britain becomes Norway.这相当于希腊在金融危机最初四年中所遭受的损失。另一种选择是，英国退出欧盟，但继续留在欧洲经济区。在这种情况下，英国将变成“挪威模式”。It still buys and sells from Europe, but it's not a member of the club anymore. The only problem is, this doesn't actually get Britain out of European control. Members of the European Economic Area still have to contribute to the EU budget.英国仍然可以与欧洲进行买卖，但不再是“俱乐部”的成员。唯一的问题是，这并没有真正让英国摆脱欧盟的控制。欧洲经济区的成员国仍然需要向欧盟预算出资。And they still have to follow EU regulations on everything they sell in Europe. A lot of the arguments for leaving the EU are about the weird rules that British companies have to follow when they export to Europe. But Britain would still have to follow all those rules, it just wouldn't have a say in making them anymore.而且，他们在向欧洲销售商品时仍然必须遵守欧盟的各项规定。许多脱欧的理由，正是因为英国企业在向欧洲出口时不得不遵循那些“奇怪的规则”。但在这种情况下，英国仍然要遵守所有这些规则，只是再也没有参与制定规则的发言权了。The third option is for Britain to negotiate a special deal. A bilateral trade agreement custom-made for its own economy. Under this scenario, Britain becomes Switzerland.第三种选择是英国谈判一份特殊协议——一项为其自身经济量身定制的双边贸易协定。在这种情况下，英国将成为“瑞士模式”。It's not officially a member of the European Economic Area or the EU, but it still gets all the benefits of selling its goods there. The problem with this scenario, though, is negotiating power. According to Brussels, the market can't be divided up sector by sector.瑞士既不是欧洲经济区成员国，也不是欧盟成员国，但仍然能够享受向欧洲销售商品的各种好处。不过，这种模式的问题在于谈判实力。布鲁塞尔方面认为，市场不能被拆分成一个个行业分别谈判。If you want free trade, you have to agree to open up other parts of your market as well. Including the labor market. This is exactly what happened to Switzerland.如果你想要自由贸易，就必须同意同时开放市场的其他部分，包括劳动力市场。这正是瑞士所经历的情况。In 2014, Swiss voters demanded restrictions on EU migration. But Brussels said no. If Switzerland wanted European trade, they had to take European workers as well.2014 年，瑞士选民要求限制来自欧盟的移民，但布鲁塞尔拒绝了这一要求。如果瑞士想继续与欧洲进行贸易，就必须接受欧洲劳工。Switzerland, as a single country, just didn't have the negotiating power to stand up to 28 European countries at once. Most people who want Britain to leave the EU want freer trade and stricter immigration. But with the EU facing an unprecedented migration crisis, it's unlikely that Britain will get both.作为一个单独的国家，瑞士并没有足够的谈判能力去同时对抗 28 个欧洲国家。大多数希望英国脱欧的人，既想要更自由的贸易，又想要更严格的移民政策。但在欧盟正面临前所未有的移民危机之际，英国同时得到这两点的可能性并不大。Maybe the EU is too rigid and too boring. Maybe it does need to adapt as the world changes around it. Maybe the exact thing it needs is a big, liberal, pragmatic member to push it in that direction and do it from the inside.也许欧盟确实过于僵化、过于乏味。也许它确实需要随着世界的变化而进行调整。也许它真正需要的，正是一个规模大、开放、务实的成员国，从内部推动它朝这个方向改变。I wonder who that could be.我在想，那会是谁呢？

Children, particularly those under the age of seven, seem to develop more aggressive type 1 diabetes than those diagnosed later in life. Researchers at the University of Exeter studied pancreas samples from 250 donors, allowing them to see how the beta cells which produce the hormone insulin formed normally and in type 1.儿童，尤其是七岁以下的儿童，似乎比在年龄更大时诊断出的人 1 型糖尿病发展得更凶猛。埃克塞特大学的研究人员仔细研究了来自 250 名捐赠者的胰腺样本，这让他们得以一窥产生胰岛素这种激素的胰岛 β 细胞在正常人的胰腺和 1 型糖尿病患者的胰腺中形成方式的区别。They showed early in life the beta cells live in small clusters which are easy for the immune system to pick off and destroy. The researchers say it's a really significant finding and that the future was looking much brighter with drugs that can slow the immune system's attack.这些样本显示出在生命早期胰岛 β 细胞会以小团的形式存在，这让免疫系统能够轻易地识别并破坏它们。研究人员称这项发现意义重大，它为糖尿病治疗的未来带来了希望，因为将会有可以减缓免疫系统攻击的药物。

We've all heard advice about good sleep hygiene. No phones or caffeine before bed, and make sure that we get a good eight hours' rest. But is this the best sleep pattern, or have we just been led to it by modern life?我们都听过关于良好睡眠习惯的建议：睡前不要玩手机或摄入咖啡因，并且要确保有充足的八小时睡眠。但这真的是最好的睡眠模式吗？还是说，我们只是被现代生活方式引导成这样的？Artificial light in our houses and streets means that we no longer have to go to bed at sundown. Having a job to go to at a set time in the morning can be the main determining factor on when we decide to rouse ourselves. In past centuries, the time of sunset and sunrise had a much bigger impact on people's days. Historical studies have shown that in many parts of the world it was common for people to sleep in two sections, from dusk until around 11 and then from one in the morning until sunrise. This segmented or biphasal sleep pattern is referred to as far back in history as ancient Greece.家中和街道上的人工照明，使我们不再需要在日落时就上床睡觉。而早晨必须在固定时间上班，往往成为我们决定何时起床的主要因素。在过去的几个世纪里，日落和日出的时间对人们的日常生活影响要大得多。历史研究表明，在世界许多地区，人们普遍采取分两段的睡眠方式：从黄昏睡到大约晚上十一点，再从凌晨一点睡到日出。这种分段式或“双相睡眠”模式，早在古希腊时期的历史记载中就已经出现。So, if modern sleep patterns are in some part due to modern lifestyles and technologies, could segmented sleep patterns be more natural? Some studies suggest that they are. The circadian rhythms that determine when we start to feel drowsy are greatly affected by light. Study participants subjected to 14 hours of complete darkness a day started to develop a biphasal sleeping pattern. As recently as 2017, similar patterns have also been seen in some communities in rural Madagascar that do not have access to electric light.那么，如果现代的睡眠模式在某种程度上是现代生活方式和技术造成的，分段睡眠是否反而更自然呢？一些研究表明，答案是肯定的。决定我们何时开始感到困倦的昼夜节律，会受到光线的强烈影响。研究中，每天处在十四小时完全黑暗环境下的参与者，开始逐渐形成双相睡眠模式。甚至就在2017年，在马达加斯加一些无法使用电灯的农村社区中，也观察到了类似的睡眠模式。They may be more natural, but are these sleeping patterns healthier? Experts caution that the small number of studies carried out means that the risks and benefits of segmented sleeping are not well understood. Nevertheless, some people have found it to be a useful way to find time to be creative. Psychologist Gregg Jacobs suggests that the period of time that people used to spend awake in past centuries could have been used to regulate stress. Other experts remind us that many people find that they wake in the night, and then get anxious at not being able to get back to sleep, which in itself exacerbates any sleeplessness.这种睡眠方式也许更自然，但是否更健康呢？专家提醒，由于相关研究数量有限，分段睡眠的风险和益处仍未被充分了解。尽管如此，一些人发现这种方式能帮助他们腾出时间进行创造性活动。心理学家格雷格·雅各布斯认为，在过去的几个世纪里，人们夜间清醒的那段时间，可能被用来调节压力。其他专家则提醒我们，很多人会在夜里醒来，并因无法再次入睡而感到焦虑，而这种焦虑本身反而会加重失眠。Making use of the awake time to do something restful could help people improve their sleep. If you do want to try it, sleep researcher Mary Carskadon reminds us that we should stay away from bright lights to avoid disturbing our circadian rhythms. You also might want to check that it won't disturb your work and social life too much.如果能善用夜间清醒的时间，去做一些让人放松的事情，或许有助于改善睡眠。如果你想尝试这种方式，睡眠研究员玛丽·卡斯卡登提醒，应当远离强光，以免干扰昼夜节律。同时，你也需要确认这种作息不会对你的工作和社交生活造成太大的影响。

At least 12 homes were either destroyed or damaged when a wildfire swept through a coastal area north of Sydney, local authorities said.当地政府表示，悉尼以北的沿海地区遭遇野火侵袭，至少有 12 所房屋被毁或受损。The blaze broke out in the town of Colwong, New South Wales.这场大火发生在新南威尔士州的科尔旺镇。Scores of wildfires are burning across the state, fueled by soaring temperatures.由于气温飙升，全州有数十处野火正在燃烧。An unnamed local resident said, you had no time to even think, we've lost everything, all we've got left is what we're wearing.一位未透露姓名的当地居民表示：“你根本没有时间思考，我们失去了一切，现在唯一剩下的就是身上穿的这些。”Aerial footage shows several homes ablaze as firefighting helicopters work to extinguish the flames.航拍画面显示，多座房屋正在燃烧，灭火直升机正努力扑灭火势。