This is a download from BBC Learning English.
To find out more, visit our website.
Welcome to Six Minute English.
Where today, we introduce a hair-raising topic and six items of vocabulary.
I'm Tim, so what's hair-raising about today's topic, Neil?
Hair-raising means scary, but also exciting.
We're talking about hair, which may be exciting for some, but definitely won't be scary.
Hair-raising is a real thing, though, isn't it?
Our hairs do rise.
Yes, Tim, they do.
We get goosebumps when we're cold, scared, or excited.
But other mammals do it better than us.
Cats fluff up when they see other cats they don't like.
That's true.
We can't fluff up because we don't have enough body hair.
I suppose we used to be as hairy as gorillas.
If you go back a million years or so.
Do you know why we lost so much hair, Tim?
Isn't it because it allowed us to sweat more easily?
This meant we didn't get so hot and tired.