A grey area 灰色地带 New York's Empire State building was the world's tallest for over 40 years 今日小常识 The Empire State Building opened during the Great Depression in 1931 and was the tallest in the world until 1972 when the World Trade...
To dawn on 终于明白 St Paul's Cathedral in London at dawn 今日小常识 Dawn and sunrise are two different things in English. Dawn begins when it starts to get light, before the sun appears. Sunrise starts when the first part of the sun can be...
Sour grapes 吃不到葡萄说葡萄酸 The island of Mallorca has seen a revival of its wine industry due to the demand for quality wine by tourists 今日小常识 In the Middle Ages, wine was commonly drunk instead of water, mainly because - unlik...
Under the table 私下，秘密地 Artist Giancarlo Neri's work 'The Writer' consists of a 10m-high chair and 7.30m table, made of wood and steel. Photo: BBC 今日小常识 The installation 'The Writer' was shown in Rome's Villa Ada in 2003, then in...
Hold the fort 守住堡垒 今日小常识 Bagpipes were designed to be played outside, and the sound they make can be heard up to ten miles away. In the past they were used when Scottish armies went to battle and their music could be heard above the...
Horse around 闹着玩儿 This horse seems to be enjoying its roll in the sand. Photo: BBC 今日小常识 Horses were domesticated 6,000 years ago on the grasslands of Ukraine, southwest Russia and west Kazakhstan, according to a study by a Cambridg...
To chicken out 临阵退缩 Chickens roam free at the Hackney City Farm in London. Photo: BBC 今日小常识 According to the Guinness World Records website, the oldest living chicken was found in Maryland, US, in 2011. It was called Muffy and was 2...
Wise old owl 生活经验丰富的人 A long-eared owl at a display of birds of prey in London. Photo: BBC 今日小常识 Long-eared owls spend most of the year as a solitary species. But in winter they stay together in groups of up to 200. The visi...
Child's play 易如反掌 A child's crayon drawing from a London primary school. Photo: BBC 今日小常识 Research by scientists based at King's College London and Brown University, Rhode Island, suggests that immersing children in a bilingual envi...
Catty 阴险恶毒 Cats can see very well at night. They only need one sixth of the level of light humans need to see. Photo: BBC 今日小常识 Cats appear in Egyptian paintings and sculptures from 3,000 BC. They were used to chase mice in grain st...
