A2 · Getting started
Longer stories about daily life, past and future.
- 七条裙子和银鱼 Polly goes down to town and sees gull ladies in seven skirts drying fish in the sun. ? Quiz included Audio
- 骑士和鹿 Polly hears the old story of a rider and a deer at the cliff edge. Audio
- 海底的大峡谷 Polly finds a giant canyon hidden under the sea near the beach. Audio
- 特意种出的草 Polly learns that Central Park was built by hand on blasted rock, and that real sheep once ate the grass... Audio
- 没有人经过的车站 Polly finds an old subway station built to look nice, closed long ago because new trains were too long for... Audio
- 带阳台的房间 Marcos gets a hotel room with a nice balcony. Audio
- 一个人的桌子 Mia eats alone in a small restaurant, and the waiter helps her choose. Audio
- 曾经和黄金一样贵的香料 Saffron comes from tiny flower threads picked by hand, and for most of history a pound of it cost about the... Audio
- 每年夏天都会消失的湖 In Slovenia, a huge lake fills a valley in winter and then vanishes underground every summer, leaving... Audio
- 我家旁边的公园 A squirrel describes the small park next to its tree: the pigeons by the benches, Mr. Badger and his bread,... Audio
- 把黄金贴在冰淇淋上的城市 Kanazawa in Japan makes almost all of the country's gold leaf, and wraps whole sheets of it around soft ice... Audio
- 只飞九十秒的航班 A tiny plane hops between two Orkney islands in Scotland on the shortest scheduled flight in the world. Audio
- 不喊就会坐过站 A shared minibus with no bell and no screen, where the only way off is to say so out loud, early and twice. Audio
- 永远吃不完的午餐 In Spain, the best part of lunch starts when the food is finished. It even has its own name. Audio
- 在意大利千万别点拿铁 In Italy, the word latte does not mean coffee. One small word can bring you a big surprise. Audio
- 咖啡从哪里来 Coffee begins as a red fruit on a green plant and travels far before it fills a cup. Audio
- 在夜车上睡觉 Night trains in Europe carry travelers between cities while they sleep in cozy beds. Audio
- 蜜蜂如何酿蜜 Honeybees turn sweet flower nectar into golden honey through hard teamwork in the hive. Audio
- 那条漫长的丝绸之路 The Silk Road was a famous trade route that linked China with Europe for many centuries. Audio
- 亚马逊河，最大的河流 The Amazon is the river that carries the most water in the world. Audio
- 有三颗心脏的章鱼 The octopus is a clever sea animal with three hearts and blue blood. Audio
- 海底的电缆 Long cables under the ocean carry almost all of the information that travels between countries. Audio
- 那场叫作马拉松的长跑比赛 The marathon is a very long running race with a curious and surprising history. Audio
- 村子里第一盏亮起的灯 While the whole village sleeps, one window glows: the baker lights the oven so fresh bread will be ready by... Audio
- 藏在时钟里的小鸟 In Germany's Black Forest, carved wooden cuckoo clocks call out every hour while children wait and laugh. Audio
- 禁止死亡的小镇 When a small Italian town ran out of space in its cemetery, the mayor signed an order telling people not to... Audio
- 会坐公交车的猫 Every morning a cat climbs onto the same city bus, watches the streets go by, and gets off at his own stop. Audio
- 会爬瀑布的鱼 In Hawaii, a fish smaller than your finger climbs up waterfalls taller than buildings, using its mouth as a... Audio
- 蒸汽与小碟子 A first night at a Taipei night market, where pointing, smiling, and one brave question buy a very good... Audio
- 拉出方块的动物 Wombats make cube shaped poop, and now we know why. Audio
- 这种鸟边飞边睡觉 Frigatebirds fly for many days and sleep only a little. Audio
- 全国人都吃的午饭 In the Dominican Republic, everyone eats the same lunch at the same time. Audio
- 火山煮的晚饭 In the Azores, people cook food inside a hot volcano. Audio
- 末班车 Tomas misses the last train in Tokyo and sleeps in a tiny room. Audio
- 空杯子 On his first day, Pedro drinks from a cup that is not his. Audio
- 四十七号 Carla waits a long time at the clinic for a small cut. Audio
- 在里斯本迷路 Sofía gets lost in Lisbon and a woman helps her with a map. Audio
- 天亮前的厨房 Before sunrise, Polly visits Omicho market, three hundred years old, where crabs are sold in winter. Audio
- 打到几乎消失 Polly visits a gold leaf workshop, where a piece of gold the size of a coin becomes a sheet as big as a table. Audio
- 大声吸面才有礼貌 In Japan, slurping your noodles loudly is not rude, it is a sign that you are enjoying the meal. Audio
- 往上流的瀑布 On very windy days, strong gusts can blow a Norwegian waterfall's spray back up into the sky. Audio
- 石圈与早班船 The Ring of Brodgar at dusk, then the small practical business of leaving an island, done in four sentences... Audio
- 九十天的谷子 In a bar in Kirkwall, a flat dark bannock turns out to be the reason the islands were farmable at all. Audio
- 礁石上的聚会 Grey seals are hauling out on the low rocks before the pupping season, and the questions Polly has been... Audio
- 用手边的东西造出来的 On Lamb Holm, two army huts hold a chapel that prisoners of war made out of scrap, and the only honest... Audio
- 风暴下的村庄 At the Bay of Skaill, a guide with a carrying voice explains a village that a storm returned to the light... Audio
- 炉火旁的椅子 A guesthouse above the harbour, an argument about what counts as a quiet room, and a chair whose whole... Audio
- 船靠岸了 Polly lands at Stromness off the morning boat and works out, one question at a time, how a place with no... Audio
- 粉色并不存在 Pink has no wavelength of its own; it is a color the brain invents when the eyes see red and blue light... Audio
- 你现在正在发光 The human body constantly emits an extremely faint light, invisible to the eye but detectable with a... Audio
- 雾在她身后合拢 On her last afternoon, Polly flies high over the island before fog rolls in and hides it behind her. Audio
- 一座接在火山上的村子 Polly learns that the same volcano heat that cooked lunch also warms a big public pool and heats homes in... Audio
- 天亮就埋下的晚餐 Polly watches a cook bury pots of food in the ground, where the volcano's heat cooks dinner with no fire. Audio
- 一个火山口,两种颜色 Polly finds a huge old crater with two lakes, one blue and one green, joined together under a strip of land. Audio
- 两次被认定消失的鸟 Polly looks for the priolo, a tiny grey and pink bird that lives only in one forest and was once thought to... Audio
- 欧洲最后的两座茶园 Polly finds one of the only two tea farms left in Europe, started after the island's orange trees died. Audio
- 九座岛,三大板块 Polly arrives over São Miguel, the biggest of the nine Azores islands, made of black rock, green fields,... Audio
- 波莉坐公交车 Polly's first bus ride: does this bus go downtown, one ticket, how much, where do I get off, next stop,... Audio
- 波莉问路 Polly is lost on the way to the library and asks an owl for directions: excuse me, where is it, is it far,... Audio
- 波莉点一杯咖啡 Polly's first cafe order: good afternoon, a coffee with milk, do you have churros, the check please, how... Audio
- 波莉逛市集 Berta takes Polly to the market. Polly buys fruit for the first time: what is this, two apples, how much, a... Audio
- 波莉认识新朋友 Polly moves to a new street and meets Berta the bear. First greetings: hello, your name, nice to meet you,... Audio
- 阿穆尔河 Polly reaches the Amur River and meets a rare crane on the sixth day of the Trans-Siberian. Audio
- 贝加尔湖 Polly spends a day on the train along Lake Baikal, the deepest and oldest lake on Earth. Audio
- 穿越乌拉尔山脉 Polly crosses the Ural Mountains, the line between Europe and Asia, on the Trans-Siberian train. Audio
- 雅罗斯拉夫斯基火车站 Polly boards the Trans-Siberian train at Moscow and begins her seven-day journey to Vladivostok. Audio
- 告别意大利面 Polly says goodbye to Pasta the octopus and flies out of Naples. Audio
- 自我编辑者 Polly learns that octopuses can change their own nervous systems by editing RNA in real time. Audio
- 披萨与悠长午餐 Polly has lunch with Chiara at a Neapolitan pizzeria and learns about traditional Neapolitan pizza. Audio
- 会看颜色的皮肤 Polly learns that octopus skin can sense colours even though octopus eyes cannot. Audio
- 会思考的身体 Polly watches an octopus solve a maze with two arms working independently. Audio
- 那不勒斯湾 Polly arrives in Naples and meets a giant Pacific octopus at the world's oldest marine biology institute. Audio
- 离开山谷 Polly says goodbye to Ranger Tomas and flies west out of Yosemite. Audio
- 冰川点上的银河 Polly watches the Milky Way at Glacier Point and looks through a telescope at the centre of our galaxy. Audio
- 俯冲猎鹰 Polly tries to copy a peregrine falcon's dive, learning what makes the falcon the fastest animal in the world. Audio
- 与护林员托马斯同行 Polly spends the morning in Ranger Tomas's truck, learning about bear feeding and peregrine falcon nests. Audio
- 山谷之上 Polly flies into Yosemite Valley, watches climbers on El Capitan, and rides the shuttle bus at dusk. Audio
- 肉桂的香味 A new neighbor leaves a small surprise outside her door. Audio
- 两公斤的耐心 A first trip to the local market with a vendor who refuses to let her leave with the wrong tomatoes. Audio