英语每日一听 | 每天少于5分‪钟‬ 晨听英语

"Take your brolly, it's chucking it down!" The UK is famous for its rainy weather, and Brits LOVE to complain about it – particularly when the arrival of spring teases us with warmth and light, but with them come the 'April showers', lovingly shared by Britain, Ireland and some of coastal northern Europe. What exactly are they, and why do they insist on coming every year?
“拿起你的雨伞，它正在把它扔下来！” 英国以多雨的天气而闻名，英国人喜欢抱怨它——尤其是当春天的到来给我们带来温暖和光明的时候，但随之而来的是“四月阵雨”，英国、爱尔兰和一些沿海国家都喜欢分享这种天气。 北欧。 他们到底是什么人，为什么每年都坚持要来？
Meteorologists differentiate between rain and showers. The UK's national weather service, the Met Office, says that rain is precipitation brought by a weather front, is usually long-lasting, and stretches over large areas, whereas showers fall from individual clouds and are characterised by intermittent patterns. So, it can be sunny one minute, and the next you're getting caught in a large downpour, but then ten minutes later, you can put away your waterproof jacket and get your sunnies out!
气象学家区分雨和阵雨。 英国国家气象局英国气象局表示，降雨是锋面带来的降水，通常持续时间较长，覆盖大片区域，而阵雨则是从个别云层中落下，具有间歇性模式。 所以，可能前一分钟还是阳光明媚，下一分钟就下起了倾盆大雨，但十分钟后，你就可以收起你的防水外套，拿出你的太阳镜了！
So, what's responsible? Rob Thompson, meteorologist at the University of Reading, says that as the hot air rises, it forms the cumulus clouds that produce showers. These are then driven by the jet stream – strong winds that move northwards during spring – creating rather unsettled and unpredictable weather. Besides the drizzle, we're just as likely to experience snow as we are to feel sun as strong as that in late August!
那么，责任是什么？ 雷丁大学气象学家罗布·汤普森表示，随着热空气上升，它会形成积云，从而产生阵雨。 然后，它们受到急流（春季期间向北移动的强风）的驱动，造成相当不稳定和不可预测的天气。 除了毛毛雨之外，我们也可能会遇到雪，就像八月底那样强烈的阳光一样！
With all this in mind, would it surprise you to hear that April is actually one of the driest months of the whole year? In 2021, data company Statista recorded 137.6mm of rainfall in January, compared to just 20.1mm in April, with similar results for the last four years. That's because while there are lots of rainy days in April, the showers are scattered, and there aren't as many of the long downpours we see in the winter months. But, this is likely to change as the world warms up. Weather that causes flash floods is predicted to be four times as frequent in Britain by the 2070s, according to a study by Elizabeth Kendon and colleagues, published in Nature Communications.
考虑到这一切，当您听到四月实际上是全年最干燥的月份之一时，您会感到惊讶吗？ 2021 年，数据公司 Statista 记录的 1 月份降雨量为 137.6 毫米，而 4 月份仅为 20.1 毫米，过去四年的结果相似。 这是因为虽然四月有很多雨天，但阵雨分散，而且没有冬季那样多的长时间倾盆大雨。 但是，随着世界变暖，这种情况可能会发生变化。 根据伊丽莎白·肯登 (Elizabeth Kendon) 及其同事在《自然通讯》(Nature Communications) 上发表的一项研究，预计到 2070 年代，英国引发山洪的天气频率将增加四倍。
There is a British proverb that goes "March winds and April showers bring forth May flowers". It is a reminder that, despite our complaints, April showers can be a symbol for renewal and new beginnin

Boeing launched astronauts into space with its delayed Starliner spacecraft for the first time Wednesday. 
波音公司于周三首次使用其延迟的星际线飞船将宇航员送入太空。
The launch marked the company’s entry into competition with SpaceX to provide service for the American space agency NASA. 
此次发射标志着该公司进入与SpaceX竞争，为美国航天局NASA提供服务。
NASA test pilots Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams lifted off in the Starliner spacecraft for the International Space Station (ISS) from Cape Canaveral in Florida. It was powered by an Atlas V rocket from the United Launch Alliance of Boeing and Lockheed Martin. 
NASA测试飞行员Butch Wilmore和Suni Williams乘坐星际线飞船从佛罗里达州的卡纳维拉尔角起飞前往国际空间站（ISS）。该飞船由波音和洛克希德·马丁公司的联合发射联盟的Atlas V火箭提供动力。
Boeing designed Starliner to fly without human assistance. But the astronauts can take control of the spacecraft if necessary. The test flight calls for Wilmore and Williams to take control of the vehicle on the way to the space station. The trip to the ISS is expected to last 25 hours, with arrival on Thursday. The two astronauts will spend just one week at the orbiting laboratory before heading back to Earth to land in the western United States on June 14. 
波音设计的星际线飞船可以在没有人为干预的情况下飞行。但如果有必要，宇航员可以控制飞船。测试飞行要求Wilmore和Williams在前往空间站的途中控制飞行器。预计到达ISS的时间为25小时，预计将在周四到达。两名宇航员将在轨道实验室停留一周，然后于6月14日返回地球，降落在美国西部。
Wilmore and Williams are former Navy pilots and long-time astronauts. The two have spent a combined 500 days in space over two ISS missions each. Both said repeatedly before the launch that they had full confidence in Boeing for this flight after so many delays. 
Wilmore和Williams都是前海军飞行员和长期的宇航员。两人分别在两次ISS任务中共度过了500天的太空时光。两人在发射前反复表示，在经历了这么多次的延误后，他们对这次飞行充满信心。
The launch came two years after Starliner completed its first test flight to the ISS without astronauts on board. Last-minute problems had delayed the Starliner's first two launch attempts with humans. 
此次发射是在星际线完成首次无宇航员的ISS测试飞行两年后进行的。最后时刻的问题导致星际线的前两次载人发射尝试被推迟。
NASA halted a planned May 6 launch two hours before liftoff because of a problem with a rocket. Another attempt last Saturday was halted less than four minutes before liftoff because of a problem with a launchpad computer. 
由于火箭问题，NASA在计划于5月6日的发射前两小时叫停了发射。上周六的另一次尝试则在发射前不到四分钟因发射台计算机问题而被叫停。
“I know it’s been a long road to get here,” NASA’s commercial crew program leader Steve Stich said before the weekend delay. 
“我知道到达这里的道路很漫长，”NASA商业载人计划负责人Steve Stich在周末推迟前说道。
Boeing and SpaceX are both paid to carry NASA’s astronauts to and from the space station. The space agency wanted two competing U.S. companies after ending the space shuttle program. 
波音和SpaceX都获得了运送NASA宇航员往返空间站的报酬。在结束航天飞机计划后，NASA希望有两家竞争的美国公司。
In 2020, SpaceX became the first private business to launch astronauts into orbit. Only three countries, Russia, the U.S., and China have launched humans into space using their own systems. Since then, SpaceX has taken nine crews to the space station for NASA and three private groups for a Houston company. 
2020年，SpaceX成为首个将

NASA's Lucy spacecraft visited a little asteroid called Dinkinesh last November. The visit, scientists say, unlocks a surprisingly interesting history of the asteroid along with its companion, Selam.
NASA的露西号航天器去年十一月拜访了一个名为Dinkinesh的小行星。科学家们表示，这次拜访揭示了该小行星及其伴侣Selam的一个令人惊讶的有趣历史。
Asteroids are ancient objects from the beginning of the solar system. They offer clues about how Earth and other planets formed about 4.5 billion years ago.
小行星是太阳系形成初期的古老天体。它们提供了关于地球和其他行星在大约45亿年前如何形成的线索。
The U.S. space agency launched Lucy in 2021 on a 12-year mission to study asteroids. The mission is especially interested in Jupiter's Trojan asteroids, two groups of space rocks that lead and follow the giant planet as it orbits the sun.
美国航天局在2021年发射了露西号，执行一个为期12年的小行星研究任务。该任务特别关注木星的特洛伊小行星，这两组空间岩石在木星绕太阳运行时分别位于其前后。
On the way, Lucy flew past Dinkinesh and Selam in the inner edge of the main asteroid belt. The spacecraft observed ridges, trough structures and other features on Dinkinesh.
在途中，露西号飞过了主小行星带内缘的Dinkinesh和Selam。航天器观察到了Dinkinesh上的山脊、槽状结构和其他特征。
Dinkinesh has a diameter of nearly 720 meters. Selam is made up of two similarly sized lobes, one about 230 meters wide and the other about 210 meters. Selam orbits Dinkinesh once about every 53 hours at a distance of about 3.1 kilometers.
Dinkinesh的直径接近720米。Selam由两个大小相似的叶状体组成，一个约230米宽，另一个约210米宽。Selam以大约每53小时绕Dinkinesh一圈，距离约3.1公里。
It appears, the researchers said, that a big piece of rock broke free sometime in the past from Dinkinesh. The rock was about a quarter its total size, creating a trough on its surface and sending debris into space. Some of this debris, they said, fell back onto Dinkinesh's surface to form a ridge structure.
研究人员表示，过去某个时候，一大块岩石从Dinkinesh上脱落下来。该岩石约占其总大小的四分之一，形成了一个槽，并将碎片送入太空。他们说，其中一些碎片重新落回Dinkinesh的表面，形成了一个山脊结构。
Other materials came together to form Selam, becoming what is called a contact-binary moonlet.
其他材料聚集在一起形成了Selam，成为了所谓的接触双星小卫星。
Katherine Kretke, from the Southwest Research Institute in Colorado, is a co-writer of the study published in Nature. She said that “a contact-binary is when it appears that a single body is composed of two objects that collided gently enough not to become disrupted.”
来自科罗拉多州西南研究所的Katherine Kretke是发表在《自然》杂志上的这项研究的共同作者。她说，“接触双星是指看起来由两个相互碰撞且碰撞力度足够轻不会破碎的天体组成的单一天体。”
Kretke said they are common in the solar system, but Selam was “the first time a contact-binary has been observed orbiting another asteroid.”
Kretke表示，它们在太阳系中很常见，但Selam是“第一次观测到的绕着另一颗小行星运行的接触双星。”
Simone Marchi is another co-writer of the study. He said, "A planet like Earth formed by the accumulation of countless small bodies. Understanding the properties of small asteroids such as Dinkinesh and Selam helps us to have a better picture of the earliest phases of planet formation.”
Simone Marchi是该研究的另一位共同作者。他说：“像地球这样的行星是由无数小天体聚集形成的。了解像Dinkinesh和Selam这样的小行星的性质，有助于我们更好地了解行星

Robert: Well, there is another opportunity that might be more appealing… 
Robert: 嗯，还有一个可能更吸引人的机会……
Jessica: Ookaay, I’m listening…
Jessica: 好吧，我在听……
Robert: So that’s the classic hedge fund. High risk, high reward. But I wonder if you’d be interested in a newer product… a different kind of hedge fund. More distributed risk. Longer play. 
Robert: 那就是经典的对冲基金。高风险，高回报。但我想知道你是否会对一种新的产品感兴趣……一种不同类型的对冲基金。风险更分散，周期更长。
Jessica: But still… I’d need at least 250K? 
Jessica: 但我还是需要至少25万美元吗？
Robert: Not with this one. It’s just twenty-five thousand. And this is like a fund of hedge funds. It’s more of a long-term strategy that beats the stock market over time. Much lower risk than a classic hedge fund, and registered with the SEC. And get this: it’s a 1% management fee, with no performance incentive. 
Robert: 不是这个。只需要两万五千美元。而且这就像是一个对冲基金的基金。这是一种长期策略，随着时间的推移能够击败股票市场。风险比经典对冲基金低得多，并且在美国证券交易委员会注册。而且你看：管理费只有1%，没有业绩激励。
Jessica: That’s… interesting. In a few different ways. But… I wanted to ask about something else I’ve been reading about: corporate bonds. I’ve seen some pretty good numbers… like returns of over 10%. That sounds pretty good to me. 
Jessica: 这……很有趣。从几个不同的方面来说。但……我想问一下我最近读到的另一件事：公司债券。我看到了相当不错的数字……比如超过10%的回报。听起来很不错。
Robert: Yeah, corporate bonds… there’s a ton of stuff online about those. But not everything is 100% reliable, just as a note of caution. Kind of depends on the source.
Robert: 是的，公司债券……网上有很多关于它们的信息。但并不是所有的信息都100%可靠，这只是一个提醒。这有点取决于来源。
Jessica: Sure… I get that. I looked at several sites that touted the benefits. So I was just curious if that was part of the strategy? 
Jessica: 当然……我明白。我看了几个宣传其好处的网站。所以我只是好奇这是否是策略的一部分？
Robert: Well here’s the thing about corporate bonds: it’s a big investment in a single entity. Which is pretty much the same risk as a classic hedge fund, if you see what I’m saying. 
Robert: 关于公司债券的问题是：这是对单一实体的大笔投资。如果你明白我的意思，这和经典对冲基金的风险差不多。
Jessica: Hmm. Will have to think that through some more. 
Jessica: 嗯。我还得再仔细考虑一下。
Robert: You know, rather than corporate bonds, you might consider REITs. Or Real Estate Investment Trusts. Basically a company with diverse real estate holdings that pays dividends on a regular basis. Pretty stable, and pretty attractive returns. 
Robert: 你知道，与其考虑公司债券，你可能更应该考虑房地产投资信托基金。基本上就是一家拥有多样化房地产持有的公司，定期支付股息。相当稳定，而且回报也相当吸引人。
Jessica: Stability and returns… something to think about. So…that different kind of hedge fund you mentioned. The one with the low fees. “Fund of funds”didyou say? That might be appealing too. 
Jessica: 稳定性和回报……值得考虑。那么……你提到的那种不同类型的对冲基金。低费用的那种。你说的是“基金的基金”吗？那也可能很吸引人。
Robert: You know, there’s absolutely no need to rush on this. Your investments are doing fine for the time being. Just looking for some ways to dial up earnings without taking on too much risk. Anyway I’ll send you some things to re

Michael: The news isn’t great I’m afraid. I know all of us had very high expectations for the launch, but we’re going to have to come to grips with the situation. 
Michael: 恐怕消息不太好。我知道我们大家对这次发布都抱有很高的期望，但我们需要面对现实。
Rachel: Sorry, but I don’t quite see what you mean. What are you getting at? 
Rachel: 对不起，但我不太明白你的意思。你在说什么？
Michael: Well, Rachel, what I’m saying is... we’ve had a closer look at the numbers, and it isn’t pretty. 
Michael: 嗯，Rachel，我的意思是……我们仔细看了一下数据，情况不容乐观。
Ryan: I see. So in other words, you’re saying it’s been a complete failure? Is that right?Ryan: 我明白了。换句话说，你是说这完全是个失败？对吗？
Michael: That would be one way of looking at it. I prefer to see it as a challenge. But to salvage this situation, we really have our work cut out for us. 
Michael: 这是一种看法。我更愿意把它看作是一个挑战。但要挽救这种情况，我们确实需要付出很多努力。
Rachel: What exactly do you mean by “salvage?” Do you think we are going to have to scrap the whole product line? 
Rachel: 你说的“挽救”究竟是什么意思？你认为我们需要废弃整个产品线吗？
Michael: I’m afraid so. Actually, I’m thinking about how to salvage the company. It’s going to take everything we have just to keep this company afloat. 
Michael: 恐怕是的。事实上，我在想如何挽救公司。我们需要竭尽全力才能让公司维持下去。
Ryan: Is it really that bad? I mean, we do have strong investor support don’t we? 
Ryan: 真的这么糟糕吗？我的意思是，我们有强大的投资者支持，不是吗？
Michael: Let me make sure I understand what you mean. You’re asking if our investors will stay with us through this, is that right? 
Michael: 让我确认一下你的意思。你是在问我们的投资者是否会在这期间继续支持我们，对吗？
Ryan: Yeah, that’s right. I mean, they’ve been very enthusiastic from the beginning. There’s always going to be a few problems along the way. 
Ryan: 是的，没错。我的意思是，他们从一开始就非常热情。一路上总会有一些问题。
Michael: Well, unfortunately, it’s not that simple. They want to know who is going to take responsibility for this mess. They want to see some major adjustments, you see.
Michael: 不幸的是，事情没那么简单。他们想知道谁会为这场混乱负责。他们希望看到一些重大调整，你明白吗？
Rachel: Wait a second. What do you mean by “adjustment”? We’re not talking about redundancies here, are we? 
Rachel: 等一下。你说的“调整”是什么意思？我们不是在谈论裁员吧？
Michael: Actually, it’s funny you should mention that, Rachel. You know, no one has contributed more to this project than you have. And we all really appreciate that...Michael: 实际上，Rachel，你提到这个真的很有意思。你知道，没有人比你对这个项目的贡献更多。我们都非常感谢你……

The fox was about the size of a German shepherd dog and lived across much of South America, only going extinct a few hundred years ago. A near-complete skeleton of the animal was found in a human grave dating back to 1,500 years ago.
这种狐狸和德国牧羊犬差不多大，曾生活在南美洲的大部分地区，直到几百年前才灭绝。考古人员在一座距今 1500 年前的人类坟墓中发现了一副近乎完整的该动物骨架。
The study, by researchers at the University of Oxford, shows the fox ate a similar diet to ancient hunter gatherers, suggesting it lived alongside them and might have been a highly valued pet or companion animal.
牛津大学的研究人员进行的这项研究表明，这种狐狸的饮食跟古代狩猎采集者的相似。这说明该动物曾跟人类一起居住，可能是一种受高度重视的宠物或伴侣动物。
There have been other finds of fox teeth in the area, which adds to the evidence that foxes were highly revered by our ancestors and may have formed a strong bond with humans long before domestic dogs came along.
在这个地区还有其它有关狐狸牙齿的考古发现，这进一步证明了狐狸在当时受到我们祖先的高度尊重与喜爱，并且可能早在家犬出现以前就已经与人类结成了牢固的纽带。
词汇表
German shepherd 德国牧羊犬extinct 灭绝的，绝种的dating back 追溯到，距今（时间）hunter gatherers 狩猎采集者highly valued 高度重视，认为非常有价值的finds 发现，考古发现revered 受尊重的，可敬的ancestors 祖先strong bond 牢固的纽带domestic 家养的，家庭的