花式英语

'Mommy brain' does not last

"Mommy brain" is a long-held perception that mothers are more forgetful and less attentive.
"妈咪脑"是一种根深蒂固的看法，即女性当了妈妈后更健忘，注意力更差。
"In most studies, however, attention and memory tests are given to mothers very early postpartum," said Valerie Tucker Miller, a PhD student in Purdue University's Department of Anthropology.
美国珀杜大学人类学系博士生瓦莱丽•塔克•米勒称："然而，在大多数研究中，注意力和记忆力测试的对象是那些处于产后极早阶段的女性。"
"There are a few issues with that," she added. "When you first have a child, you have a cascade of hormones and sleep deprivation that might be affecting attention and memory processes in the brain."
她还说："这没什么问题。当你刚有孩子时，会遇到一连串的激素和睡眠缺乏问题，这可能会影响大脑中的注意力和记忆过程。"
In a new study, Miller compared reaction times among 60 mothers, all of whom were at least one year postpartum, and 70 non-mothers.
在一项新研究中，米勒对60名母亲(均处于产后一年以上)和70名非母亲的反应时间进行比较。
The results show that mothers performed equally as well or better compared with women who had never been pregnant or had children.
研究结果显示，与从未怀孕或从未生育的女性相比，妈妈们表现得同样出色甚至更好。
"We wanted to see the long-term effects of maternity," Miller said. "Overall, moms did not have significantly different attention than non-mothers, so we did not find evidence to support 'mommy brain' as our culture understands it. It's possible, if anything, that maternity is related to improved, rather than diminished, attentiveness."
她说："我们希望看到为人母的长期影响。总的来说，母亲与非母亲的注意力没有太大差别，因此我们发现没有证据支持人们所谓的'妈咪脑'。如果说有的话，那么为人母可能与注意力的增强而不是减弱有关。"

新闻来源：China Daily

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Pluto May Have Started Out Very Hot

Pluto is a cold little world far from us in the outer reaches of our solar system. But researchers believe Pluto may have been born as a much warmer place. They say it may even have sheltered a subsurface or underground ocean – one that still exists today.

A report on Pluto appeared earlier this month in the scientific journal Nature Geosciences. The lead author was Carver Bierson, a planetary scientist at the University of California Santa Cruz.

In the report, researchers pointed to evidence for a "hot start" situation at Pluto's beginning, some 4.5 billion years ago. Their study was based on images of the dwarf planet's surface as well as computer models of the subsurface.

"When Pluto was forming, new material would have been coming in and impacting its surface," Bierson said. "Each impact is like an explosion that would warm the nearby area."

新闻来源：VOA

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UK top destination for study

英国成首选留学目的地

For the first time, the UK has overtaken the US as the preferred overseas study destination for Chinese students, a report released Sunday showed. 

6月28日发布的一份报告显示，英国首次超越美国成为中国留学人群的首选目的国。

In the survey for the annual Report on Chinese Students' Overseas Study, the UK was preferred by 42% of respondents, up by 1 percentage point from last year. 

在这份关于中国留学生海外学习的年度报告中，42%的受访者更青睐英国，占比较去年上升1个百分点；

Study in the US was preferred by 37% of respondents, down by 6 percentage points. 
37%的受访者更青睐赴美国留学，占比下降了6个百分点。

Australia and Canada, both at 16%, tied as the third most popular destinations for overseas study, followed by Japan, Germany and Singapore. 
澳大利亚、加拿大在最受青睐的海外留学目的地排行中并列第三，16%的受访人群选择了这两个国家。

The report attributed the shift in students' preferences from the US to the UK to tense Sino-US relations in the past two years and the UK's advantages, such as the reopening of the Post Study Work Visa and quicker graduation requirements.
日本、德国和新加坡紧随其后。报告认为，留学首选目的地从美国变为英国，原因在于过去两年里紧张的中美关系，以及英国再度放开毕业生工作签证、更快的毕业要求等优势。

新闻来源：China Daily

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With No Students, Small College Town Worries over Future


Many colleges and universities in the United States are in small towns around America. When the coronavirus struck in March, students went home, leaving the towns empty.


So, what will happen to those communities in the near future? The New York town of Ithaca is about to find out.


In Ithaca, most of the 24,000 students at Cornell University and 6,200 from Ithaca College have left. Now, locals who run businesses that depend on students' money are wondering if things will ever return to normal.


"It's going to be hard. I mean, normally we have about seven months that the colleges are here," said Gregar Brous. He runs several restaurants in Ithaca. He has brought about 100 of his usual 330 employees back to work.


Brous added that one of the biggest problems for small businesses is that there are "so many unknowns."


Ithaca College says its students will return to the school in the autumn. But they will do so in October, several weeks later than usual. Cornell – one of America's so-called Ivy League Schools –says it plans to bring students back this fall. But they also will arrive weeks later than usual.


Many people expect that even if students do return, they will mostly stay on campus and not go out to restaurants and bars. Locals also worry that returning students will bring COVID-19 into their community.

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New ‘Drive-In’ Concert Series to Include US Music Stars

The world's largest organizer of live music events has announced its first ever "drive-in" concert series in the United States.

International promoterLive Nation says its "Live from the Drive-In" series will offer nine shows in three cities next month.

Award-winning stars Brad Paisley and Nelly will be among the performers.

The drive-in events aim to bring live concerts back after months of social distancing and stay-at-home orders because of the coronavirus health crisis.

Paisley, a Grammy-winning country artist, will perform in all three cities. They are Saint Louis, Missouri; Nashville, Tennessee; and Indianapolis, Indiana. The concerts will take place on July 10, 11 and 12.

新闻来源：VOA

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Fashion Industry Clears Its Calendar, Looks to Other Changes

From Armani to Gucci, top fashion houses are slowing the rate at which they hold fashion shows and launch new lines of clothing.

The move comes as the coronavirus health crisis forces the fashion industry to re-think the way it operates.

High-end designers are reducing the number of collections they show at fashion weeks throughout the year in London, Paris, Milan, and New York City.

It has been more than two months since health officials around the world announced stay-at-home orders to limit the spread of the coronavirus. Since then, many stores have been closed, and fashion houses have suspended work at factories that manufacture their products. Bain & Company, a business advisory service, estimates the $310 billion luxury goods industry will report a drop in sales this year of up to 35 percent.

新闻来源：VOA

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Many Students Not Taking Part in Distance Learning

As the school year ends in the United States, educators have been trying to get large numbers of students moving forward in their studies again.

The concern is that students who were behind on their schoolwork before the COVID-19 crisis will drop back even further when classes re-start in the fall.

n this Friday, June 5, 2020 photo, Titilaya Thompson and her son Nehemiah talk with Dr. Tayarisha Batchelor, right, and Community School Director for The Village for Families and Children Trisila Tirado, left, in Hartford, Conn. 

One of those educators is Tayarisha Batchelor, principal of Rowson Elementary School in Hartford, Connecticut. She recently visited students at their homes.

Jamie-Lee is a third grader at Rowson. Batchelor held her arms out as if she were giving him a big hug when she visited his home. She told him how much she had missed him since the pandemic closed the school.

The boy's eyes stayed on his smartphone as they spoke. Batchelor asked him what he was doing. Playing video games was his answer.

"I like playing games," Batchelor told the boy as his parents looked on. She then suggested he spend more time on his daily schoolwork. "I want to make sure you are still learning," she said.

Almost one-third of Batchelor's students have not taken part in the school's online learning program.

新闻来源：VOA

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Britain Struggles with Debate Over History

Across Britain, statues of famous people are at the center of a public debate.

Activists say statues honoring some political or business leaders from the past should be removed from public places. But other people say these monuments should be kept, not destroyed, for the lessons they teach.

Many statues were put up during the years of the British Empire, between 1830 and 1914. Now, some of them are at the center of angry debates over culture and history. These arguments have turned violent and destructive in some cases.

Some monuments are being guarded to prevent damage from activists. For example, a statue of former Prime Minister Winston Churchill in London's Parliament Square has been covered up to protect against damage.

新闻来源：VOA

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Spike Lee’s Vietnam Film Is the Movie for Right Now

American film director Spike Lee's "Da 5 Bloods" has just been released on the streaming service Netflix. It is a film about four African American Vietnam War veterans who return to Vietnam years later.

Lee says there was not enough money in his Netflix budget for costly special effects. But critics say the film's extraordinary creativity and powerful sense of purpose can be seen as special effects, too.

As a filmmaker, Lee is known for having good timing. That may be clearer than ever with the release of "Da 5 Bloods." It comes during a growing national movement demanding racial justice and an end to police brutality.

"Da 5 Bloods" shows powerful images of the political and social events of the 1960s. The film begins with historical clips from the Vietnam War and shows the experience of African American soldiers in the war.

新闻来源：VOA

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