6 Minute English

🌀 @six_mins_english

🌍 Side hustles 1. Introduction A quarter of workers in the UK are thought to have a side hustle. It seems that more and more people want to put their skills and passions into practice to make extra money. These tend to be entrepreneurial young people who want to work on their own projects alongside their main source of income. Are you one of them? Neil and Rob discuss side hustles and teach you related vocabulary. 2. This week's question According to the employee ratings website Glassdoor, which job is thought to be best to have in the UK this year? Is it… a) a software engineer b) a teacher c) an audit manager Listen to the programme to find out the answer. 3. Vocabulary to make ends meet: to have just enough money to pay for the things you need sideline: an extra job you do alongside your main job sacrificing: giving up or going without something accustomed: familiar with creative balance: a good mix of doing creative and uncreative tasks grind: something tiring, difficult or boring which involves lots of effort ━━━━━━━━━━━━━ 🌀 @six_mins_english

🌀 @six_mins_english

🌇 Why do we feel awkward? 1. Introduction We all know the feeling. That horrible uncomfortable silence where we freeze up, or look away or just want to turn invisible. Awkwardness can strike anyone in the wrong circumstances. But why does it happen? How is it connected to rules and what does it have to do with society? Neil and Dan find out and teach you related vocabulary. 2. This week's question Which city has the oldest underground railway? Is it: a) London b) New York or c) Tokyo Listen to the programme to find out the answer. 3. Vocabulary awkward: (adjective), ness (noun) feeling uncomfortable, self-conscious or embarrassed in a social situation implicit: not spoken or written down, but still understood social rules: the way we behave in society in particular situations so that we can live together peacefully to govern: to rule, to control to illuminate: to make something easier to understand, to clarify to breach (a rule): to break (a rule) ━━━━━━━━━━━━━ 🌀 @six_mins_english

🌀 @six_mins_english

🌍 The decluttering trend 1. Introduction Do you have too much stuff? If so, you 're not alone. These days people tend to buy and keep more things than they used to. But what do we do with it all once we've had enough of it? Recently, people have been trying to find ways to reduce the amount of stuff that they own. Rob and Neil find out all about the latest decluttering trend, how to do it and why in this 6 Minute English programme! 2. This week's question The vacuum cleaner is a machine we use to clean our houses. When were the first mechanical floor cleaners, which later became vacuum cleaners, invented? Was it: a) the 1860s? b)the 1890s? Or c) the 1920s Listen to the programme to find out the answer. 3. Vocabulary floordrobe: collection of clothes untidily kept on the floor rather than in a wardrobe. clutter: untidiness caused by having too many things – to declutter is the process of getting rid of things to tackle: (a problem) to deal with a problem and try to fix it sentimental: with an emotional and/or nostalgic connection shift: change make do and mend: an expression that means to use what you’ve got and fix something if it breaks rather than buying new things ━━━━━━━━━━━━━ 🌀 @six_mins_english

🌀 @six_mins_english

🧿 Rabbits: cuddly friends or cunning tricksters? 1. Introduction The animal people often associate with Easter is not free from controversy. Rabbits are cute and fluffy and a most adorable creature for some, but others find it a pest that can multiply rapidly and cause problems. Even in literature rabbits have been represented in very different ways: from the sweet characters of Beatrix Potter, to tricksters like Peter Rabbit. Neil and Rob talk about these furry animals and teach you related vocabulary. 2. This week's question In the last rabbit survey in 1995, how many were estimated to exist in the UK? Is it... a) 370,500 b) 3,750,000 c) 37,500,000 Listen to the programme to find out the answer. 3. Vocabulary a fan of: something somebody who is keen on something endemic: very common or strongly established in a place or situation a warren: an underground area where rabbits live, but also a building or a part of a town where there are lots of confusing passageways or streets where it is easy to get lost a predator: an animal that hunts and kills another animal paradoxical: something that has two opposing characteristics making it hard to understand a trickster: someone who deceives people to get what they want ━━━━━━━━━━━━━ 🌀 @six_mins_english

🌀 @six_mins_english

🌇 The rise in popularity of the comfy shoe 1. Introduction Despite what Neil's been told, comfortable shoes, such as trainers, are considered more acceptable these days than ever before. This is because more and more people are wearing them. But what has caused this rise in popularity? Has it happened suddenly, or over time? And is Neil wearing high heels? Find out and everything and learn the related vocabulary. 2. This week's question Which famous sports clothing company's first pair of running shoes was inspired by the square pattern on a waffle-making machine? Was it: a) Adidas b) Nike, or c) Puma Listen to the programme to find out the answer. 3. Vocabulary comfy: (informal) comfortable casualisation: The process of becoming less formal and more relaxed, more casual streetwear: a style of casual clothing especially worn by young people from urban settings filter through: appear or happen gradually over time knobbly: lumpy; having many raised areas on the surface ━━━━━━━━━━━━━ 🌀 @six_mins_english

🌀 @six_mins_english

🌍 Evolution and anxiety 1. Introduction Can anxiety be a good thing? The psychiatrist Randolph Nesse suggests that anxiety is a result of natural selection. This is the principle of evolution whereby random changes in the biology of a living thing can make it more likely to survive in a particular environment. Rob and Neil discuss mental health and teach you related vocabulary. 2. This week's question Charles Darwin is famous for describing evolution by natural selection. What was the name of the ship he travelled on when he made his discoveries? Was it: a) HMS Beagle b) HMS Badger c) HMS Bear Listen to the programme to find out the answer. 3. Vocabulary anxiety: a feeling of worry and fear natural selection: a principle of evolution when random changes in an organism’s biology may lead it to being more successful in its environment to shape: to have an important impact on the way something develops to cope with: to manage a difficult situation life-threatening: possibly causing death to go off: (talking about an alarm) starts making its warning noise ━━━━━━━━━━━━━ 🌀 @six_mins_english

🌀 @six_mins_english

🖲 Can we trust a smart speaker? 1. Introduction About ten million people in the UK now use a smart speaker, and they 're gaining popularity across the world. These convenient devices listen to our every command. But when does'listening 'become'spying'? Rob and Dan discuss smart speakers and teach you related vocabulary. 2. This week's question By what percentage has the number of smart speakers used in US households increased from December 2017 to December 2018? Is it… a) around 40% b) around 60% c) around 80% Listen to the programme to find out the answer. 3. Vocabulary eavesdrop: secretly listen to someone's conversation bug: small electronic device used for secretly listening to conversations intimate: private and personal circumvent: cleverly bypass or go around be resigned to: accept an unpleasant situation which cannot change trade-off: compromise ━━━━━━━━━━━━━ 🌀 @six_mins_english

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🖲 Being slim: Is it in our genes? 1. Introduction Scientists have found some evidence that our weight is not just controlled by what we eat. Research published in the journal PLOS Genetics, explains how twin studies have shown that about 40% of the variation in a person’s weight is influenced by their genes. Neil and Dan talk about diets and serve you a tasty helping of vocabulary. 2. This week's question What's the name of the popular diet that involves avoiding eating carbohydrates but involves eating as much fat and protein as they want? Is it… a) The Mediterranean diet b) The Atkins diet c) The Graham diet Listen to the programme to find out the answer. 3. Vocabulary paunch: fat stomach that mostly men have skinny: very thin willpower: controlling your own behaviour to achieve something come to terms: (with something) start to accept the difficult or unpleasant situation you are in judgemental: quick to criticise people based on your own beliefs burst: sudden and short increase in something ━━━━━━━━━━━━━ 🌀 @six_mins_english

🌀 @six_mins_english

🖲 What to do when you can't sleep 1. Introduction What can you do when you can 't sleep? Is there anything more frustrating than lying there in the dark with your eyes open — especially if it's not just now and then, but night after night? According to one expert in all things to do with sleep, there is one simple and effective solution — even if it seems like the opposite of what most people would suggest. Neil and Rob find out all about it and teach you the related vocabulary. 2. This week's question What is the record for the longest a human has gone without sleep? Is it: A) about seven days? B) about nine days? C) about 11 days? Listen to the programme to find out the answer. 3. Vocabulary insomnia: the condition of not being able to sleep tossing and turning: moving around a lot in bed and trying to get to sleep without success counter-intuitive: the opposite of what seems obvious or natural, but which may be correct decades: (here) many years diluted: made weaker chronic: long-lasting (of a medical condition) ━━━━━━━━━━━━━ 🌀 @six_mins_english

🌀 @six_mins_english

🌇 Vampire shoppers 1. Introduction More and more people are spending the night shopping on their laptops and smartphones. But is this always a good idea? Neil and Rob discuss their shopping habits and offer you vocabulary for free! 2. This week's question According to the UK's Office for National Statistics, at the end of 2018, what percentage of all retail sales took place online? Was it… a) 9.8% b) 19.8% c) 29.8% Listen to the programme to find out the answer. 3. Vocabulary insomniac: someone who can't sleep easily to: get sucked into something not being able to stop yourself getting involved with something that you don't want to do sleep deprived: not having enough sleep resist the urge: to stop yourself acting on a strong feeling to do something feel-good factor: doing something that gives someone a happy and positive feeling regret: sad feeling you get when you 've made a mistake and wished you hadn't made the mistake in the first place ━━━━━━━━━━━━━ 🌀 @six_mins_english