【一起听英语】挺胸抬头（在线收听）

对上班族来说， 挺胸抬头，姿势正确才不会导致腰酸背痛。

Kate: Hello, I'm Kate and this is 6 Minute English…and thanks to Rosie for joining me

today! Hello, Rosie.

Rosie: Hi Kate

Kate: Now, Rosie, one thing I always notice about you is that you always sit up very

straight, with your shoulders back and head held high….

Rosie: You're not the first person to say that to me. It's because I have a bad back so I

always try to make sure my posture is really good.

Kate: So, you have what we call a good posture. You never slouch or hunch over your

desk as so many people seem to do.

Rosie: Well, I try not to. Slouching and hunching are other words for not sitting up

straight. I try not to do that - it's just a habit really…

Kate: Well, you'll be pleased to know some of the benefits of your good posture is you

will feel less tired, get fewer headaches, you will sleep better and look slimmer!

Rosie: Wow – well, I think that's more than enough reasons to keep me standing and

sitting up straight.

Kate: I agree. Before we go any further, here's my question for this week. As many of us

know, poor posture can cause back pain. In the UK, how many working days do

you think are lost every year due to people staying off work with back problems?

Is it: 

6 Minute English © bbclearningenglish.com 2010

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a: five million

b: five thousand

c: five hundred.

Rosie: answers.

Kate: We'll find out the correct answer at the end of the programme. Now we're going to

hear from a lady called Jo Kushar, who a trained nurse and teaches deportment -

another word for describing the way someone walks and stands. She believes that

the British have the worst posture in Europe! Let's listen. What problems did she

see people suffering from in connection with their bad posture?

Extract 1

'A lot of people were coming to me with postural issues – tension, neck, shoulder problems,

RSI, back pain. So I was having to give them exercises to do to address those problems.Then

I realised that it was very tied up with issues of self confidence and the way people perceive

themselves and the stresses and the strains that modern day brings.

Rosie: She mentioned a variety of problems there – tension, neck and shoulder problems,

RSI and back pain.

Kate: That's right. Let's explain some of them. Tension is when all the muscles feel tight

and stressed. She also mentioned neck and shoulder problems and RSI. Can you

explain what RSI is Rosie?

Rosie: RSI stands for 'repetitive strain injury' and I actually suffer a bit from this myself.

It's a pain caused by repeating the same action over and over again. It could be

from carrying a heavy bag every day, reading a book while looking down or

speaking on a mobile phone for a long period of time in the wrong position. I get

it sometimes from computer work and typing. 

6 Minute English © bbclearningenglish.com 2010

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Kate: Unfortunately, a lot problems are becoming increasingly common in today's world

of sitting at computers or desks for long periods of time and many of us not

walking correctly.

Let's hear that extract again and see if you can hear the expression the speaker uses

for all these problems put together.

Extract 1 (repeated)

'A lot of people were coming to me with postural issues – tension, neck, shoulder problems,

RSI, back pain'.

Rosie: The expression she used was 'postural issues' – this refers to all problems

connected with bad posture.

Kate: Well on of the ways we can avoid developing these postural issues is by making

sure we walk properly. Let's listen to the next extract. What does the speaker say

are the main benefits of walking well?

Text 2

'If you walk well, you exercise all your muscles in the right way, in a balanced way'.

Rosie: She said if you walk well, you exercise all your muscles in the right way. You are

balanced.

Kate: Yes, well that makes sense. Now let's listen to how she advises we walk. What

two important things does she say we should be doing?

Text 3

'We walk with our feet. We need to pick the knees up. That's the first stage for walking

well – is to pick you knees up. The second is to keep the step really short. Shorten your step,

to find your natural alignment.' 

6 Minute English © bbclearningenglish.com 2010

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Rosie: The two main things she advises to walk well are to pick the knees up and to keep

our steps short in order to find our natural alignment. Sounds slightly odd to me

but I'll try it anyway.

Kate: Yes, so we have to pick our knees up and shorten our step. This will help us find

our natural alignment, she said - which means the way our back is supposed to be

without any strain or stress being placed on it by the way we walk.

Rosie: Yes, I'm going to remember all that.

Kate: So now it’s time now for the answer to today’s question. Rosie, I asked you how

many business days were lost due to sick days caused by back pain in the UK.

 Was it: a: five million

 b: five thousand

 c: five hundred.

Rosie: answers

Kate: And you were ….. And a quick re-cap of the vocabulary we've come across

today:

good posture

slouch

hunch

deportment

tension

RSI

natural alignment

Well, that's all we've got time for at today. Thanks for joining me today and

keep walking tall! Good bye!