Classic English Curio
由於現代人的工作以及學業越來越忙碌,所以運動的時間也越來越短,同時也不規律。因此從務實的角度來看,我們每天最少要做多少運動才能夠維持身體的健康呢?一起來聽聽 BBC 6 分鐘英語對這個話題的討論。
Exercise for The Lazy 懶人的運動
BBC 6 分鐘英語在 2023 年 02 月 02 日播出的節目 中討論的是人工智慧程式。
在為了保持健康的前提下,一個人最少要做多少運動呢?BBC 6 分鐘英語的主持人尼爾和薩姆討論了此問題,同時和往常一樣,節目主持人也教導聽眾一些相關詞彙與表達方式。
本周的問題
根據英國政府的新建議,為了保持健康,我們每天應該走的最低步數是多少?
a) 五千步
b) 一萬步
c) 兩萬步
詞彙
New Year’s resolution 新年新希望
你對自己作出的承諾,即在未來一年開始做一些對自己有益的事情(或停止做一些不好的事情),從而改善自己的生活方式。
push yourself 推促自己
增加你在任何活動中投入的精力;更努力地嘗試
trade-off 權衡
一種情況,你接受某件事的缺點,以獲得它帶來的好處。
sedentary 久坐不動的
沒有什麼運動或體力活動
easy win 易於勝任
一項既容易完成又能帶來積極效果的任務。
(more) bang for your buck 物有所值
以同樣的努力獲得更好的結果。
中英文稿謄本
點此看英文原稿
Nei
Hello. This is 6 Minute English from BBC Learning English. I’m Neil.
Sam
And I’m Sam. Did you make any New Year’s resolutions this year, Neil? They’re promises that you make to yourself to do something positive in the coming year… And now that we’re into February, it’s getting harder to keep those promises!
Nei
Yes, the same promises I make every year, Sam – to exercise more and get fit. But I’m too lazy to go running on cold winter mornings - I’d rather stay in bed!
Sam
Are you feeling out of shape after Christmas, like Neil? Maybe you want to be more active but can’t find the time? If so, this programme is for you!
Nei
Yes, in this lazy person’s guide to exercise, we’ll be asking: what is the least amount of exercise someone can get away with doing whilst still staying healthy? And, of course, we’ll be learning some useful new vocabulary as well.
Sam
Of course, any exercise is better than none. ‘Structured exercise’ - activities like going to a fitness class, or swimming are great. But if that’s not possible, we’ll be hearing about small changes you can make that will help as well.
Nei
Which is good news because fewer and fewer of us of doing what the UK government recommends - thirty minutes of moderate exercise a day. In fact, the government recently downgraded its recommendations because so few Brits were following it. So, Sam, according to new government advice, what is the minimum number of steps we should walk every day to stay healthy? Is it:
a) five thousand steps?
b) ten thousand steps? or,
c) twenty thousand steps?
Sam
I’ll say a) five thousand steps per day.
Nei
OK, Sam. We’ll find out the answer at the end of the programme. Someone else who’s interested in how little exercise he can do is BBC reporter, James Gallagher. Here’s James speaking with sports physiologist, Dr Zoe Saynor, after Zoe had been monitoring James’s fitness while running on a treadmill for BBC Radio 4 programme, Inside Science.
Dr Zoe Saynor
… I also know you do regularly try and do structured exercise.
James Gallagher
Just to be clear, my structured exercise training is going for a swim once a week.
Zoe
Generally, that's fantastic! I guess my question to you would be, how hard do you push yourself when you go swimming?
James
Not as hard as the treadmill.
Zoe
I think the big thing if we come back to this question of what is the least I can do? There's clear evidence that if you want to do shorter exercise sessions, they need to be of a higher intensity, right?
James
So there's a trade-off.
Sam
Zoe says that if you don’t have much time to exercise it’s okay to do shorter sessions, as long as you push yourself – try harder and put more effort into what you’re doing. If you can swim a length in forty seconds, push yourself to swim it in thirty-five.
Nei
That means exercising harder of course, but for a shorter time. In other words, there’s a trade-off – you accept the disadvantages of something in order to get the benefit it brings.
Sam
Another problem for many people is that their job is sedentary – it involves little exercise or physical activity. Zoe thinks it’s important that office workers who sit down all day also find time to exercise. Here she shares her tips with BBC Radio 4 programme, Inside Health.
Dr Zoe Saynor
Especially people who have office jobs are sat down all day, we then look at some of the easy wins. So, active travel, and even if that's parking a little bit further away. One of the exciting areas in the literature that's coming out at the moment, is actually walking faster. So, if you have no time to suddenly do 10,000 steps a day, can we get you to do 5,000 steps faster? Will we see an improvement on your health? Yes, we will see an improvement on your health, especially over a longer period of time. The big focus around short, sharp exercise sessions is you get more bang for your buck.
Nei
Zoe’s suggestions for active travel, things like walking from the car, and using the stairs instead of the lift, are easy wins - tasks that are both easy to accomplish and bring benefits.
Sam
Easy wins, like short but intensive bursts of exercise, increase fitness and give you more bang for your buck, and idiom which means that you get better results for the same amount of effort you put in. That’s something everyone can appreciate – even you, Neil.
Nei
Well, I’ll definitely try to walk more, but remember, Sam, the body needs rest too!
Sam
And speaking of walking, isn’t it time to reveal the answer to your question: how many steps does the UK government recommend we should walk a day? I guessed it was five thousand… So, was I right?
Nei
You were close, Sam, but in fact the correct answer is ten thousand steps a day, although as Zoe mentioned, walking fewer steps faster has benefits too. OK, let’s recap the vocabulary we’ve learned from our lazy guide to exercise, starting with New Year’s resolution – a promise you make to yourself to do positive things in the coming year.
Sam
When you push yourself, you put more effort into what you’re doing.
Nei
In a trade-off, you accept the disadvantages of something in order to get the benefits as well. ‘Trade-off’ can also be used as a verb.
Sam
The adjective, sedentary, describes something which involves little exercise or physical activity.
Nei
An easy win is a task that is both easy to accomplish and brings positive results.
Sam
And finally, the idiom more bang for your buck, means you get a better outcome for the same amount of effort you put into something. We hope your New Year’s resolutions have made it into February! If there’s just one you keep, make it joining us again soon for more topical chat here at 6 Minute English. Bye for now!
Nei
Bye!
廣播原稿中文翻譯有兩個目的。首先是幫助聽力有困難的讀者能夠快速了解原文的意思。而更重要的原因是,提供給練習英語口語表達的讀者訓練的素材。
由於每個人的知識範疇各不相同,因此碰到超出自己專長的領域,常常會啞口無言,無話可說。這對練習英語表達是一項非常難以克服的障礙。所以參考 6 分鐘英語的對白稿,既可以讓自我練習英語對話時有貼切適當的素材,同時也能順便學些道地的表達方式,實是一舉數得。
使用上,可以在聽完一、兩次原始廣播之後,試著一邊看中文謄本,一邊流利、正確地用英語說出文中的內容。多次練習之後,未來自然能夠在碰到同樣主題時與人侃侃而談。
點此看中文翻譯
尼爾
你好。這裡是 BBC 學習英語的 6 分鐘英語。我是尼爾。
薩姆
而我是薩姆。尼爾,你今年許了什麼新年新希望嗎?這是你對自己做出的承諾,要在來年做一些積極的事情……而現在我們已經進入了 2 月份,要遵守這些承諾越來越難了!
尼爾
是的,我每年都做同樣的承諾,薩姆—要多鍛煉身體,變得更健康。但是我太懶了,在寒冷的冬天早晨不願意去跑步—我寧願躺在床上!
薩姆
你是否像尼爾一樣,在聖誕節後感到身材走樣?也許你想更加活躍,但找不到時間?如果是這樣,本集節目就是為你準備的。
尼爾
是的,在這個懶人運動指南中,我們會問:一個人在保持健康的情況下可以做的最少的運動量是什麼?當然,我們還將學習一些有用的新詞彙。
薩姆
當然,任何運動都比不運動好。「有組織的運動」—像去健身班或游泳這樣的活動是很好的。但是,如果這不可能,我們將聽到你可以做出的小改變,這也會有所幫助。
尼爾
這是一個好消息,因為我們中越來越少的人在做英國政府建議的—每天 30 分鐘的適度運動。事實上,政府最近降低了其建議的級別,因為很少有英國人遵循它。那麼,山姆,根據政府的新建議,為了保持健康,我們每天最少應該走多少步?它是。
a) 五千步?
b) 一萬步? 或者
c) 兩萬步?
薩姆
我說 a) 每天五千步。
尼爾
好的,薩姆。我們會在節目的最後找出答案的。另一位對自己能做多少運動感興趣的人是 BBC 記者詹姆斯.加拉格爾。下面是詹姆斯與運動生理學家佐伊.賽諾博士的對話,此前佐伊一直在監測詹姆斯在跑步機上跑步時的體能,為 BBC 電台第四台節目《科學內幕》做報道。
佐伊.賽諾博士
……我還知道你經常嘗試做有組織的運動。
詹姆斯.加拉格爾
我要澄清一點,我的結構化運動訓練是每週去游泳一次。
佐伊
一般來說,這很好!我想我要問你的問題是,你是怎麼做的?我想我的問題是,當你去游泳的時候,你會把自己逼得多狠?
詹姆斯
不像在跑步機上那麼辛苦。
佐伊
我認為,如果我們回到這個問題,即我能做的最起碼的事情是什麼?有明確的證據表明,如果你想做較短的運動時間,就需要有較高的強度,對嗎?
詹姆斯
所以這是個權衡的問題。
薩姆
佐伊說,如果你沒有太多時間鍛煉,做較短的課程也是可以的,只要你逼迫自己—更努力地嘗試,並為你正在做的事情付出更多努力。如果你能在 40 秒內游完一個長度,就逼自己在 35 秒內游完。
尼爾
這意味著當然要更努力地鍛煉,但時間要短。換句話說,這是一種權衡—你接受某件事的缺點,以獲得它帶來的好處。
薩姆
許多人的另一個問題是,他們的工作是久坐不動的—幾乎不涉及運動或體力活動。佐伊認為,重要的是那些整天坐著的上班族也要找時間鍛煉。在這裡,她與英國廣播公司第四台節目《健康內幕》分享了她的建議。
佐伊.賽諾博士
特別是那些從事辦公室工作的人,他們整天坐著,我們就看一些容易達成的東西。因此,積極出行,就算只是把車停得遠一點。在目前的文獻中,有一個令人興奮的領域,實際上就是步行速度。因此,如果你沒有時間突然每天走一萬步,我們能否讓你更快地走五千步?我們會看到你的健康得到改善嗎?是的,我們會看到你的健康得到改善,特別是在一個較長的時期內。圍繞短而強烈的運動課程的最大重點是你可以得到更多的回報。
尼爾
佐伊對積極行走的建議,如從車上走下來,使用樓梯而不是電梯,是很容易達成的—既容易完成又能帶來好處的任務。
薩姆
簡單的勝利,比如短而密集的運動,可以增加體能,給你帶來更多的收益,這個成語的意思是,你付出同樣的努力,卻得到更好的結果。這是每個人都能享受的東西—就算是你,尼爾。
尼爾
好吧,我一定會試著多走走,但記住,山姆,身體也需要休息
薩姆
說到走路,現在是不是該揭曉你的問題的答案了:英國政府建議我們每天應該走多少步?我猜是五千步……那麼,我猜對了嗎?
尼爾
你很接近了,薩姆,但事實上,正確的答案是每天一萬步,儘管正如佐伊提到的,走得更少更快也有好處。好了,讓我們回顧一下我們在運動懶人指南中所學到的詞彙,從新年新希望開始—你向自己承諾在未來一年中做積極的事情。
薩姆
當你逼迫自己的時候,你會為你所做的事情付出更多的努力。
尼爾
在權衡中,你接受某件事的缺點,以便同時得到好處。「權衡」也可作為動詞使用。
薩姆
形容詞久坐不動的,描述的是很少運動或身體活動的事情。
尼爾
容易達成是指既容易完成又能帶來積極效果的任務。
薩姆
最後,成語「物有所值」是指你在某件事情上付出同樣多的努力,卻能得到更好的結果。我們希望你的新年希望成功進入到 2 月!如果你只保留了一個希望,期待那是盡快加入我們,在 6 分鐘英語上進行更多的專題討論。在此跟您說再見!
尼爾
再見!
About the author
化工博士卻因強烈興趣而投身英語教學,累積超過 30 年的經驗,謝忠理以理工思維突破英語教學迷思,研發專門針對華人的教學方法,自成體系,主攻字彙、文法、閱讀、寫作。教學科目涵蓋 GRE, GMAT, TOEFL, IELTS, SAT, ACT 及實力養成課程,強調實力與分數並進。上課認真嚴肅,下課和藹可親,思緒周密,喜論理,如其名。
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