BOX SET: 6 Minute English - 'Modern life' English mega-class! 30 minutes of new vocab!

Hello, this is 6-Minute English from BBC Learning English. I'm Neil.

And I'm Rob.

As well as bringing the world to a halt, the coronavirus epidemic has led to an  

increase in misinformation, lies, and conspiracy theories on the internet.

In an era of fake news,  

where even the President of the United States is accused of spreading misinformation,  

could it be that we are living through  a crisis in trust? What is trust,  

and who should we place our trust in? These are some of the questions we'll be discussing in this programme.

And, we'll be hearing from a philosopher who believes the problem is not about trust itself,  

but about trustworthiness—the ability to be trusted as being honest and reliable.

And, as always, we'll be learning some  related vocabulary along the way.

Of course, telling lies and lacking  trustworthiness is nothing new. Just think  

of the Trojan Horse used to trick the ancient Greeks.

More recently, the American financier  

Bernie Madoff became infamous as the biggest swindler in history. In 2009, he was sentenced  

to 150 years in prison for his part in the Ponzi scam. But how much did he defraud from investors?  

That's my quiz question. Was it: A. $6.5 million? 

B. $65 million? C. $65 billion?

Hmm, I'll say B, $65 million.

Okay, Rob, we'll come back to that later. Generally speaking, trust can be described  

as a judgment that someone can be believed and relied upon. When we trust each other,  

it makes life easier, quicker, and friendlier.  

Society can't function without trust. So does that mean the more trust, the better?

Well, not according to philosopher Onora O'Neill.  

Here he is speaking to David Edmonds, presenter of the BBC World Service program The Big Idea:

We have another word, which is 'gullible.' And if you simply place trust indiscriminately  

without making a judgment about whether the other person or institution is trustworthy,  

then just trusting to luck, as we  say, is probably not a virtue.

There's a difference between trusting someone because you have good reason to believe them  

and being gullible—that's easy to deceive because you trust and believe people too quickly.

If you don't judge who is trustworthy and who is not, you are trusting to luck,  

simply believing or hoping that things will happen for the best.

But being gullible and trusting to luck is exactly how Bernie Madoff was able to trick so many people  

into giving him their money. Their biggest mistake was to trust him indiscriminately,  

in a way that does not show care or  judgment, usually with harmful results.

So if indiscriminately trusting people is such a bad idea, how do we avoid it? How  

can we tell who is trustworthy and who is not? Here's the BBC World Service's The Big  

Idea presenter David Edmonds asking  Onora O'Neill to give some details:

An individual or organization is  trustworthy if they can justifiably  

be trusted. To be trustworthy, they need three ingredients. First, honesty—people have to be  

able to believe what they're told. Second, competence—beyond honesty and competence,  

there's a third element to trustworthiness: reliability.

That's the boring one: that's just being honest and competent each time. So that it's not enough to be episodically  

honest and competent for some of the things you claim to be able to do, but not others.

Philosopher Onora O'Neill identifies three ingredients for trustworthiness: honesty, competence, and reliability.

Competence means the ability to do something well. You would trust a  

car mechanic to fix your broken car engine, but you wouldn't go to them for dental work—they're  

not competent to remove your tooth like a dentist is.

And you wouldn't trust your dentist to fix  your broken-down car either. Onora O'Neill also mentions reliability: being trustworthy because  

you behave well all the time and keep all the promises you make.

It's the combination of these three—being honest, competent, and reliable—that make someone truly trustworthy.  

And not someone like Bernie Madoff, who would run off with your money and entire life savings.

All of which brings me to my quiz  question. Do you remember, Rob?

Yeah, I do. You asked how much Bernie Madoff  

stole from the American investors he  lied to, and I said B, $65 million.

But in fact, it was C, $65 billion—a lot  of money to give to such an untrustworthy man.

So we've been discussing whether there is a crisis of trust and are asking how to  

know who is trustworthy—able to be trusted as honest, competent, and reliable.

Placing your trust in someone trustworthy is very different from being gullible: easy to trick because you trust and believe people too quickly.

And it can also be unhelpful to trust things to luck,  

simply hope or believe that everything will work out for the best.

Both of these problems come about when people trust indiscriminately, in an unsystematic way that does not show care  

or judgment, usually with harmful results, as Bernie Madoff's victims found out to their cost.

But luckily, there are many trustworthy people around, and we can spot them using three criteria:  

honesty (in other words, not lying), competence, and reliability.  

Competence means an ability to do something well in the correct and effective way.

And reliability means being honest and competent all the time—not just being honest sometimes or reliable in some actions but not others.

That's all for 6 Minute English. Bye for now!

Bye-bye!

Hello, and welcome to 6 Minute English. I'm Alice.

And I'm Rob. Now Alice, what did  you get up to at the weekend?

Oh, I did some spring cleaning, which  means cleaning a place very well,  

especially places you don't clean  often. So I was tidying up my wardrobe,  

trying to organize things, and suddenly hundreds of shoes tumbled on my head!

Poor Alice! But why do you have so many shoes,  

and why do you keep them at the top of your wardrobe? I only have three pairs.

I like to match my shoes to my outfit, and three pairs wouldn't do the trick. Well,  

the subject of today's show  is having too much stuff.

And you're making me feel guilty, Rob.  You must have too much of something.

Yes, plastic bags. I think they're useful,  

but they're getting out of hand. That means not under control—they're taking over my kitchen.

You can recycle plastic bags, you know, Rob.

Uh, well, you can recycle  shoes too, you know, Alice.

Oh yes.

Now, in general, I don't have a lot of clutter in my flat. That means an untidy  

collection of objects. Clutter makes  it harder to find the things you need,  

and it makes moving house a nightmare—all those boxes full of things you don't need.

Good point. I have a friend who suggested the three-bucket system. You sort things  

into three different buckets: one you label as "to keep," one as "to get rid of," and one  

as "maybe to get rid of." "Get rid of," by the way, means to remove something you don't want.

It's the "maybe" bucket that's tricky,  

isn't it? You never know if you  might need something in the future.

Yes, it would need to be a big bucket too.

Yes, it would. Well, I think we  could all live better with less.

Okay, well let's have today's quiz question before we talk about decluttering our lives. Which word,  

Alice, means a belief that physical possessions are the most important thing in life? Is it: 

A. Metaphysics? B. Materialism?

C. Existentialism?

Okay, I think it's B, materialism.

Okay, well, we'll find out if you got the answer right or wrong later on in the show. Now let's  

listen to Bea Johnson, author of Zero Waste Home, talking about how she and her family  

have adopted a minimalist, or deliberately simple, lifestyle in their California home.

We've really asked ourselves,  what is it that we really need? Uh,  

we've asked really true questions and,  uh, evaluated every single thing that  

we have. There is nothing that we overlook. I, uh, even came to one day look at my, uh,  

vegetable peeler, for example, and ask myself, do I really need that vegetable peeler?"

So one day, Bea Johnson decided to evaluate or to judge the importance of something to see if she needed it.

She evaluated her vegetable peeler and decided to put it in the "get rid of" bucket.

Yes, and overlook something  means not to see it. Now,  

I don't blame Bea at all because I  don't like peeling vegetables either.  

And you can actually get the benefit of the vitamins and minerals by eating the skins.

Very healthy, Rob.

We can really live with fewer things, but some people can't help  

looking for the latest version of something or go for designer goods. Writer and journalist  

James Wallman warns us about this. He wonders how much stuff is too much.

This thing about need is such a  dangerous term because what do you  

need? And I'm not anti-stuff. Stuff  is good. I'm anti-too much stuff,  

and I'm anti-the wrong stuff. Don't go out and buy that labelled 'good' that you think  

is going to make people think something more of you. That's not going to make you happy.

James Wallman there. Now Alice,  do you buy labelled goods?

I'm afraid I do. Labelled goods, or products, are the ones with a famous brand name like Gucci,  

Dior, Prada, etc. But I do think James  Wallman is right. Buying things just  

because other people have them,  for example, doesn't make us happy.

Yeah, that's true. But as he says, not  everything is the wrong stuff. For example,  

I'm very fond of my large schoolboy collection of superhero comics. I might not need them,  

but they make me happy. So, what  stuff makes you happy, Alice?

Oh well, I like my music CDs and my books. Even though I've got the music on an MP3  

player and I don't often pull a book out from the bookcase.

They have sentimental value, don't they?

[Yes] And that means the importance  of something because of a personal  

or emotional feeling that we attach to it. Well, I sold all my music CDs online ages ago.

Oh, well, that sounds like the  sensible thing to do. Okay,  

I think it's time for the answer  to today's quiz question, Rob.

Yes, I asked you which word means a belief that physical possessions are the most important thing  

in life. Is it: A. Metaphysics?

B. Materialism? C. Existentialism?

And I said B, materialism.

And you were right, Alice. Well  done. The answer is indeed B,  

materialism. This is the word used to refer to a desire for material things and wealth and little  

or no interest in ethical values. Now, can we hear the words we learned today, please, Alice?

Yes, of course. They are:

spring cleaning out of hand 

clutter get rid of 

materialism minimalist 

evaluate overlook 

labelled sentimental value 

Well, that's the end of today's 6-Minute English. Don't forget to join us again soon. Bye for now!

Bye bye!

I'm Rob. Welcome to 6 Minute English. I'm joined today by Finn. Hello, Finn.

Yeah, hi Rob. You know, I'm happy you called me to  

present this program with you because I was there by my desk feeling a bit bored.

Great yawn, Finn.

Yeah, now a yawn, of course, is a  typical reaction of someone who is bored.

Yeah, it's when you open your mouth wide and take some air in and slowly out.

Okay, well let's make this  program all about boredom,  

shall we? And I'll start by  stimulating your imagination.

Thank you, but how are you going to make me excited and interested in something, Rob?

Okay, well how about I challenge you to a question that you might not know the answer to?

Okay, well you can try. Go on then.

Well, I know you like the theatre.

I do, but it has to be an  exciting play or I get restless.

Ah, restless. You mean unable to sit still because you get bored or worried even?

Okay, well I wonder how you'd feel watching the longest continuous play recorded.

Well, that's quite an offer. Um, what do you mean?

Well, according to the Guinness Book of Records, the longest continuous dramatic performance was  

held in New Jersey in the US in 2010. But do you know how long the cast for "The Bald Soprano"  

by Eugène Ionesco was on stage for? Was it for about a) 8 hours, b) 17 hours, or c) 23 hours?

Wow, they're all pretty long.  Um, I'll say b) 17 hours, Rob.

Goodness. Right, okay, well I'll let you know the answer at the end of the program. Now let's  

talk more about boredom. I think this is a feeling we have to learn how to cope with.

Yes, we have to learn to deal with this situation successfully, to cope with it. But people often  

feel they want to change their life, to change their job. They might feel stuck in a rut.

That's a good phrase, stuck in a rut. So you mean you have become too fixed in one kind of job?

Yes. You know, Rob, even I sometimes  dream of something a bit more exciting,  

like being a professional diver or maybe even a pilot of a really fast plane.

Well, guess what? Even pilots get bored,

you know, not when they're flying anyway.

Wrong, when they're up in the air.

No way, really? I don't believe you.

Well, Missy Cummings, an American, was a fighter pilot. Listen to the phrasal verb she uses,  

meaning to stop being bored at least for a while.

Is there ever time for a  fighter pilot to get bored?

Oh my gosh, sure. For the same reasons the commercial pilots get bored. These fighter jets  

are very automated when it comes to just holding altitude and heading. So you'd turn everything on  

autopilot, and I probably listened to more Oprah Winfrey TV shows on the high frequency radios.  

And so you get good about using the technology to figure out how to stave off that boredom.

Ah, so she listened to a show hosted by the American presenter Oprah Winfrey on  

the radio to stave off her boredom.  Now, to stave off means to stop or to  

keep an unpleasant feeling away,  in this case, she means boredom.

Yes, indeed. But some experts think  there's something good about feeling bored.

Really?

Let's hear what Tiffany Watt  Smith has to say. She works for the  

Center for the History of Emotions  at Queen Mary University of London.  

Pay attention to the word she uses to  describe what boredom does to people.

On the one hand, people are worried about being under-occupied and bored. On the other,  

there is a set of anxieties about us  not having any more downtime. You know,  

we can constantly check our phones at the bus stop. Everything is to be filled. And what does  

that do to our minds? I think boredom is a very useful emotion. It's an emotion which spurs people  

on to change something about their environment. If you're bored, it gives rise to creativity.

So boredom spurs people on to change something. Now, to spur on means to stimulate or to encourage  

someone to do something.

So, what are you going to do, Finn? How will you change your life?

Change my life? Okay, two things. The first one is I want to know if I got that question right.

Well, I said at the beginning of the  program that the longest continuous  

dramatic performance was held in New Jersey, US in 2010. And I asked you how  

long the cast was on stage for to play  "The Bald Soprano" by Eugène Ionesco?

Yes, the options were 8 hours, 17 hours, and 23 hours, I think. And I said 17. Was I right?

You were not.

Oh no!

It was even longer.

Oh wow, okay.

According to the Guinness Book of  Records, the play lasted 23 hours,  

33 minutes, and 54 seconds. It was  achieved by the 27 O'Clock Players,  

who performed "The Bald Soprano" at Belmar, New Jersey, USA on the 27th of July, 2010. Anyway,  

Finn, what's the second thing you're  going to do to stave off your boredom?

You know what, Rob? I'm going to book myself a fantastic holiday. Maybe I  

could start with a visit to Patagonia  in Argentina to see the penguins.

Yeah, sounds very exciting. But  before you head off to Patagonia,  

could you remind us of some of the  English words we've heard today?

We heard: yawn, stimulating, restless, to cope with, stuck in a rut, to stave off, to spur on.

Thanks, Finn. That's it for this program. I hope you didn't find it boring.

Not at all. I loved it.

Please join us again soon for another 6 Minute English from BBC Learning English. Bye bye.

Bye.

Hello and welcome to 6 Minute English. I'm Alice.

And I'm Neil.

So, Neil, did you sleep well last night?

Uh, yes, thanks. Why do you ask?

Today we're talking about how much sleep we need.

Ah, I like a good eight hours myself.  Ten at the weekend. How about you?

Oh, six is enough for me. But did you  know this? Humans sleep around three  

hours less than other primates, like  chimps, who sleep for about ten hours.

So you're a chimp, Neil, at the weekends at least. Are you ready for the quiz question?

Okay, I'll assume that means yes. Right, what's another word for sleepwalking?  

Is it a) narcolepsy, b) restless  legs syndrome, or c) somnambulism?

I will go for b) restless legs syndrome  since there's a connection with the legs.

Well, we'll find out whether you're  right or wrong later on in the show. So,  

what keeps you awake at night, Neil?

Not much, to be honest. I usually sleep like a log, and that means very heavily indeed.  

But sometimes my own snoring wakes me up, and then I can find it hard to get back to sleep.

Snoring, for those of you who don't  know, means breathing in a noisy way  

through your mouth or nose while you're asleep. Like that! How about you, Alice?

Very good, yes. Well, that's quite ridiculous. Anyway, for me, it's drinking too much coffee  

during the day. It's the caffeine in the coffee, a chemical that makes you feel more awake, which  

can stop you from sleeping at night. But there are so many things that can keep us awake these days.

Oh yes, radio, TV, techie  stuff like 24-hour internet,  

computers, smartphones. I love  my phone; it's never far from me.

Well, let's hear what Professor  Jerome Siegel from the University  

of California found when he studied  the sleep habits of three different  

hunter-gatherer communities who have very little contact with modern society.

They don't have artificial light, electricity, batteries, or any of the gadgets that we rely on today.

Their sleep was not that different from ours. The range of sleep period was about  

6.9 to 8.5 hours. If you actually measure sleep in current populations in the United  

States or in Europe, they're definitely  at the low end of what's been reported.  

They certainly don't sleep a lot less than we do, but they clearly don't sleep more.

Professor Jerome Siegel found that people in these communities don't go to bed until  

several hours after sundown, just like us. But one big difference is that very few of

them suffer from insomnia, which means having difficulty falling asleep and staying asleep.

Now, I don't have a problem with insomnia,  

and hunter-gatherers—people who live by hunting animals and gathering plants to eat—don't either,  

probably because they take a lot of  physical exercise during the day.

Yes, that's right. Taking exercise is an important factor in sleeping soundly or well at night. But  

these days, our minds can be so active that it becomes very difficult to fall

asleep. Let's listen to Professor Kevin Morgan from Loughborough University here in England,

talking about how cognitive behavioural therapy can be used to help people with insomnia.

If you have a train of thoughts which would otherwise keep you awake, one way of dealing  

with this is to block those thoughts. What I'd like you to do is repeat the word 'the'

in your mind at irregular intervals: the,  the, the, the, the, the, the, the. And what

you'll find is that the mind space required to do this blocks out almost everything else.

So, Professor Kevin Morgan suggests saying one word over and over again at irregular  

intervals. Irregular, in this context,  means not spaced out evenly. Doing it  

can help to block out the thoughts that are stopping you from getting to sleep.

It sounds like a very simple  solution. I wonder if it works?

There's one way to find  out, Neil. Try it yourself.

I will.

Okay, and cognitive behavioural therapy, by the way,

is a treatment for mental health problems that tries to change the way you think.

Well, I usually count sheep if I can't  get to sleep. Do you do that, Alice?

No, not usually.

Now, okay, I think it's time for the answer to our quiz question. I asked, what's another  

word for sleepwalking? Is it a) narcolepsy, b) restless leg syndrome, or c) somnambulism?

And I said b) restless leg syndrome.

Sorry, Neil, it's actually c) somnambulism. The roots of this word come from Latin:  

'somnus' means sleep, and 'ambulare' means walk. Narcolepsy is a condition where you  

can't stop yourself from falling  asleep, especially during the day,  

Narcolepsy.

And restless leg syndrome is a condition that makes you desperate to move your legs around,  

especially when you're sitting  quietly or trying to get to sleep.

Get to sleep.

Neil. Wake up!

Oh, hello. Sorry.

Hello. Can we hear today's words again, please?

Ah, okay. Yeah. Sleep like a log, snoring, caffeine, insomnia, hunter-gatherers,  

soundly, irregular, cognitive behavioural therapy.

Well, that just about brings us to the  end of this edition of 6 Minute English.  

We hope you've enjoyed this program.  Please do join us again soon. Bye.

Goodbye.

Hello, I'm Rob. Welcome to 6 Minute English. With me in the studio today is Neil. Hello, Neil.

Uh, hi Rob.

Oh, are you all right, Neil? You're  playing on your smartphone again, are you?

Uh, what was that? Oh yeah, sorry Rob, just doing something on my smartphone. You know,  

the kind of phone which allows you to go online.

Oh, I can see that, but  are you waiting for a call?

No, no, I just carry it with me at all times. Where I go, the phone goes. No phone, no Neil.

Okay, but why do you need your phone so much?

Why? Oh, what if I need to go somewhere? How will I find my way? What about the  

weather? Will it rain today?  I need to know these things.

Why don't you just look up in the sky and see if it's cloudy?

Look up to see if it's going to rain?

I have an app, which is short for application, a computer program for a specific purpose. My  

app tells me the weather, and this  one does all the maths I need. And  

here's one for translations, and this one here can tell me what's going to happen.

Okay, okay, okay, I get the point. Today we are talking about computers, and we'll bring you some  

words connected with the digital age.

Connected—to connect—we use this verb a lot. It means to link  

or join one thing to another thing. In this case, connected means linked to the internet.

Okay, I can see you're very  excited about computers,  

so that's what my question is all about. The first commercially produced desktop computer  

was designed and produced by the Italian company Olivetti and presented at an event  

in New York. When did it happen? Was  it in a) 1955, b) 1965, or c) 1975?

Well, I think it's a) 1955.

Very interesting. You'll get the right  answer at the end of the program. Now  

let's talk about computers.  You can't live without them,  

but American technology writer Nicholas Carr, the author of a book called "The Glass Cage:  

Where Automation is Taking Us,"  thinks they might cause problems.

Problems? They cause us problems  when they crash! That's what we  

say when our computer suddenly stops working.

Well, not just that. Let's listen  to Nicholas Carr. He says if we  

rely too much on computers, we  lose something. But what is it?

The ability of computers to do things we used to do is growing astronomically, and we're rushing  

to hand over to computers tasks, activities, both in our work lives and in our personal lives. And  

what you begin to see is what's often called a deskilling effect. The person becoming reliant  

on computers—because they're not exercising their own talents—those talents begin to fade, and we  

begin to lose, as a result, the unique things that human beings can do that computers can't:  

feel empathy, take a broad perspective, interpret all the stuff that can't be turned into data.

According to Nicholas Carr, using computers means that we're losing skills. He talks  

about deskilling. A skill is the ability to do something well because we've practiced it.

And he also talks about the loss of talent. Talent is a natural ability to do something. You didn't  

have to learn it; you're just naturally good at it. It's something we're all born with. Carr says  

that relying on computers means our talent is fading because we don't use it any more.

And, he goes even further and says we're losing some of the things that make us human,  

like empathy—the ability to imagine and understand what other people might be feeling.

So, do you agree with this writer, Neil?

I think he's got a point, actually. 

It's like the friendships we make  

on social media. It's nice to get to  know new people in different countries,  

but we have to remember that it's important to talk to people face-to-face too.

So, maybe we shouldn't use GPS to  find our way around all the time.

GPS—the Global Positioning System—which gives us directions with the help of  

satellites orbiting the Earth. Instead, have a conversation with someone, ask for directions.

Yes, and perhaps we can give the  spell checker a miss occasionally.  

A spell checker is a very useful piece  of software which helps us avoid making  

spelling mistakes when we're typing on a computer. But it is good to actually  

learn how to spell the words properly  and not leave everything to the machine.

Good idea, Rob. I'll try not to rely so much on digital technology. Computers are here to stay,  

and they'll become more and more sophisticated. But we have to remember they are just tools.

Yes, computers are here to stay. And by the way, when was the first commercially  

produced desktop computer launched? As I told you, it was designed and created by  

Olivetti and launched in New York. But when was it launched? Was it 1955, 1965, or 1975?

And I said 1955.

Perhaps you should ask your smartphone because the correct answer is b) 1965.

I don't believe it!

The computer was called Programma 101, and it was presented at the New York World's Fair.  

They sold 44,000 units all over the world. The initial price in the US was $3,200.

Well, we're almost out of time,  

so let's remind ourselves of some  of the words we said today, Neil.

Smartphone, app, to connect, crash, skill, talent, empathy, GPS, spell checker.

Thank you. Well, that's it for today.  Do log on to bbclearningenglish.com,  

maybe on your smartphone, Neil, to find more 6 Minute English programs. Until next time, goodbye.

Bye.