花式英语

Single on Valentine's Day? Lucky
情节人还单身？那你真走运！


pair对，双
double一对，重复的
celebration庆祝
romantic浪漫的
unmarried未婚的
serious严肃的
carefree无忧无虑的
independent独立的
socialize社交，交际


This month, a lot of Americans are talking about pairs or doubles – words relating to the number two. That is because February 14 is Valentine's Day. It is a celebration of romantic love, usually between two people.


But being part of a couple is not as common as it used to be: More than one in four Americans lives alone. The number of unmarried adults around the world is also higher than it has ever been, says social scientist Bella DePaulo.
And so today we are going to honor the word "single." If someone is single, she or he is not involved in a serious romantic relationship with someone else.


The word "single" can suggest a feeling of fun. One image of a single person is of a carefree man or woman who has many friends and is happy to be independent. The findings of researcher Bella DePaulo support this idea. She finds that, in general, singles in the U.S. socialize with friends and neighbors, take classes and do volunteer work more than married couples. 


新闻来源：VOA

Too Close to Home
近乡情怯

drama戏剧，小题大做
Used to be曾经
avoid doing避免做某事
get along相处
harsh严厉的，严格的
judgy爱下结论的
apologize道歉
agree with同意
NPR：National Public Radio美国国家公共广播电台


We're all getting kind of old in my family. And when we get together for the holidays, there's never any drama anymore. Used to be. I avoided coming home for years all through my 20s and early 30s because my parents and I were not getting along so well. Part of the problem was me. In my early 20s, I was harsh and judgy and said lots of things that now I wouldn't have said and have apologized for.


But part of the problem was them. They did not agree with most of my big life choices, starting with and especially the fact that I worked in public radio. During that period, I was working for the NPR news shows, All Things Considered and Morning Edition. And my parents were completely against it. 


新闻来源：This American Life

Happy or sad: What type of music do you like? 
悲伤还是快乐 —— 你喜欢哪种音乐？

emotion 情绪
memory 记忆
move 打动，感动
depressed 消沉的，抑郁的
sob 抽泣
hooked 入迷的，上瘾的
hormone 荷尔蒙
prolactin 催乳素
circumstances情况，状况
comforting 令人安慰的
downbeat 低调的，悲观的


What would life be like without music? Songs and tunes fill our lives, affecting our emotions, bringing back memories and sometimes making us dance. There is a song for everyone and for every occasion, but it seems that it’s sad music that moves us most.


Sad music certainly does its job in making us depressed, emotional, and causing us to sob – it’s something we might listen to after a break-up, for example. And a recent study has shown why some people are hooked on sad music. Professor David Huron from Ohio State University conducted the research and looked at the difference between people who love to listen to sad music and those who can’t stand it.


He told the BBC radio programme The Why Factor that it comes down to a natural hormone called prolactin. He says: “as you might have guessed from the name, it's associated with ‘lactation’ from breast-feeding. When people cry, they also release prolactin. And, there are circumstances in which prolactin seems to have this comforting effect.” 


新闻来源：BBC

Philippine Artist Uses Ash from Taal Volcano to Make Paintings

菲律宾艺术家用火山灰作画

volcano火山

artist艺术家

erupt喷发

steam蒸汽

blew熔断，引爆

Manila马尼拉

backyard后院

sticky黏糊的

watercolor水彩

aftermath后果

move感动

Ash that came from a Philippine volcano has become painting material for artist Janina Sanico.

Sanico is 24 years old. She lives in a town near the Taal volcano in the western part of the Philippines. The volcano erupted on January 12, releasing huge amounts of ash, steam and rocks. By the next day, ash blew as far away as Manila, about 100 kilometers from the volcano. Ash clouds continued to come out of Taal for many days.

Sanico's backyard plants became covered in ash. She began mixing the ash with water and a sticky substance to create watercolor paint. She then used the mixture to paint images of the destruction that the small but dangerous volcano caused. Some of her paintings were of the volcano itself. Others were of animals that suffrered after the eruption. One of her paintings is called "Animal Tears."

Sanico said, "I was very moved by what happened in the aftermath. The animals affected. They have no way to save themselves. So that was the pain I felt." Sanico describes herself as a "natural watercolor painter." This means she tries to use things from nature to create the colors that she paints with. She is especially known for using coffee in her watercolors.

新闻来源：VOA

Van Gogh self-portrait real
梵高病中自画像系真迹

gloomy忧郁的

genuine真迹

uncertainty不确定性

self-portrait自画像

brushwork笔法

asylum避难所，精神病医院

A gloomy self-portrait by Vincent van Gogh was declared genuine after decades of uncertainty, experts identifying it as the only work painted by the Dutch master while he suffered from psychosis.

The "Self Portrait （1889）" - which shows the artist giving a haunted sideways glance against a swirling blue and yellow background - was confirmed as authentic by the Van Gogh Museum in Amsterdam.

Questions were first raised about whether the painting - owned by the National Gallery in Oslo, - was genuine as far back as 1970 but the Norwegian museum finally decided to end the doubts only in 2014, sending it to Dutch experts.

Using X-ray analysis of the canvas, studies of the brushwork and references to letters to his brother Theo, experts established it was painted while Van Gogh was in an asylum in Saint-Remy in France in the late summer of 1889.

新闻来源：China Daily

The Moon and Sixpence
月亮与六便士


confess坦白
acquaintance熟人
discern察觉
ordinary平凡的
deny否定
discreet朴素的
pompous自负的，浮夸的
tame驯化的，枯燥的
authentic真实的
disturb打扰
arrest逮捕，吸引


I confess that when first I made acquaintance with Charles Strickland I never for a moment discerned that there was in him anything out of the ordinary. Yet now few will be found to deny his greatness. I do not speak of that greatness which is achieved by the fortunate politician or the successful soldier; that is a quality which belongs to the place he occupies rather than to the man; and a change of circumstances reduces it to very discreet proportions. The Prime Minister out of office is seen, too often, to have been but a pompous rhetorician, and the General without an army is but the tame hero of a market town. The greatness of Charles Strickland was authentic. It may be that you do not like his art, but at all events you can hardly refuse it the tribute of your interest. He disturbs and arrests. 


I confess that when first I made acquaintance with Charles Strickland I never for a moment discerned that there was in him anything out of the ordinary. Yet now few will be found to deny his greatness. I do not speak of that greatness which is achieved by the fortunate politician or the successful soldier; that is a quality which belongs to the place he occupies rather than to the man; and a change of circumstances reduces it to very discreet proportions. The Prime Minister out of office is seen, too often, to have been but a pompous rhetorician, and the General without an army is but the tame hero of a market town. The greatness of Charles Strickland was authentic. It may be that you do not like his art, but at all events you can hardly refuse it the tribute of your interest. He disturbs and arrests.

Giant Leaps often Start with Small Steps

不积跬步无以至千里

Imagine(v.) Imagination(n.) 想象

Beam传回

Step步伐

Leap飞跃

Reminder提醒

Seaborne海运的

Delay推迟

Burden负担

Reconciliation和解

Swear, sworn发誓

Opposing相反的

Inspire激发

Armed forces军队

As a child, I never imagined that one day a man would walk on the moon.Yet this year we marked the 50th anniversary of the famous Apollo 11 mission. As those historic pictures were beamed back to Earth, millions of us sat transfixed to our television screens, as we watched Neil Armstrong taking a small step for man and a giant leap for mankind,- and, indeed, for womankind. It's a reminder for us all that giant leaps often start with small steps.This year we marked another important anniversary: D-Day. On 6th June 1944, some 156,000 British, Canadian and American forces landed in northern France. It was the largest ever seaborne invasion and was delayed due to bad weather.   I well remember the look of concern on my father's face. He knew the secret D-Day plans but could of course share that burden with no one. For the 75th anniversary of that decisive battle, in a true spirit of reconciliation, those who had formally been sworn enemies came together in friendly commemorations either side of the Channel, putting past differences behind them.Such reconciliation seldom happens overnight. It takes patience and time to rebuild trust, and progress often comes through small steps. Since the end of the Second World War, many charities, groups and organisations have worked to promote peace and unity around the world, bringing together those who have been on opposing sides.By being willing to put past differences behind us and move forward together, we honour the freedom and democracy once won for us at so great a cost.The challenges many people face today may be different to those once faced by my generation,but I have been struck by how new generations have brought a similar sense of purpose to issues such as protecting our environment and our climate. My family and I are also inspired by the men and women of our emergency services and armed forces; and at Christmas, we remember all those on duty at home and abroad, who are helping those in need and keeping us and our families safe and secure. 

新闻来源：China Daily

Looking Back on Britain’s European Journey

回顾英国欧盟之旅

withdraw 抽出，撤回

Brexit脱欧

entrance入口

currency货币

Conservative保守党

oppose反对，地址

Auld Lang Syne 友谊地久天长

As February begins, Britain is no longer a member of the European Union (EU). 

The British withdrawal from the EU comes 3 and a half years after the country's voters decided to leave the union.

The move, known in news reports as Brexit, was one of the biggest issues in the history of the 62-year-old political and economic partnership. Britain was never a full EU member. It always had its own national currency, but no one actually believed it would ever leave the EU. But the idea grew within Britain's Conservative Party, which had a small group of people who opposed EU membership.

新闻来源：VOA

2020年马丁·路德·金日  

Honor纪念 

Baptist浸礼会教友 

Alabama阿拉巴马州 

Civil Rights Movement民权运动 

non-violent非暴力运动 

Change does not roll in on the wheels of inevitability, but comes through continuous struggle.

改变不会随着不可避免的车轮滚滚而来，而是通过不断的奋斗而来。 disobedience反抗 

seamstress裁缝 

transgression过失 

plight困境 

"The quality, not the longevity, of one's life is what is important." “重要的是生命的质量，而不是长度。” 

On the third Monday of each January, Americans honor the memory of the Reverend Doctor Martin Luther King, Jr. Dr. King, a Baptist minister from the southern state of Alabama, was a leader in the U.S. Civil Rights Movement, advocating social change through non-violent means. On January 15th, he would have celebrated his ninety first birthday. Believing that "change does not roll in on the wheels of inevitability, but comes through continuous struggle," Dr. King organized and participated in mass-action boycotts, sit-ins, peaceful marches and other non-violent acts of civil disobedience. Dr. King once stated that "an individual who breaks a law that conscience tells him is unjust, and who willingly accepts the penalty of imprisonment in order to arouse the conscience of the community over its injustice, is in reality expressing the highest respect for the law." And so, activists sometimes deliberately, but peacefully and respectfully, broke laws aimed at segregating the white citizenry from the non-white, thus hoping to bring attention to the inherent unfairness of such legislation. Thus, when a black seamstress named Rosa Parks broke the law in Montgomery, Alabama, by refusing to give up her seat on a bus to a white passenger, and subsequently was jailed for her transgression, her plight generated national attention and increasing sympathy for her cause across the country. 

新闻来源：VOA常速

Brainstorming a waste of time 

头脑风暴纯属浪费时间?

suggest显示 

professional专业人才 

writers 作家 

musicians 音乐家 

photographers 摄影师 

podcasters 播客录制者 

unhelpful没有帮助 

attest证实 

peril危险 

awful坏的 

collaboration合作 

dutiful负责人的 

consider…as…认为是 

a barrier to…的阻碍  

A new report based on a survey of 20,000 creatives from 197 countries suggests that, a majority of these professionals - including writers, musicians, photographers, and podcasters - find that brainstorming is largely unhelpful for solving a creative challenge. The survey, commissioned by the Dutch file-sharing company WeTransfer, attests to the perils of this form of groupthink.  "In the creative world we hear an awful lot about collaboration, but it seems that while working together is essential to bring an idea to life, it's not that good for shaping ideas in the first place," notes Rob Alderson, WeTransfer's recently departed editor in chief. WeTransfer's survey suggests that dutiful meetings are a primary creativity killer. More than 40% of respondents now consider "work" - including the administrative tasks required of employees in big corporations - as a barrier to good thinking.  "Send people off with the time and space to think properly and the quality of their ideas will probably improve," Alderson says.

新闻来源：ChinaDaily