Music is an international language. The songs that are sung or played by instruments are beautiful to all people everywhere.

    Popular music in America is what every student likes. Students carry small radios with earphones and listen to music before class, after class and at lunch. Students with cars buy large speakers and play the music loudly as they drive on the street.

    Adult drivers listen to music on the car radio as they drive to work. They also listen to the news about sports, the weather, politics, and activities of the American people. But most of the radio broadcast is music.

    Pop or popular music singers make much money. They make a CD or tape which radio stations use in every state. Once the popular singer is heard throughout the country, young people buy his or her tapes. Some of the money from these tapes comes to the singer. Wherever the singer goes, all the young people want to meet him or her. Now the singer has become a national star.

    Besides pop music, there are two other kinds of music that is important to Americans. One is called folk music. It tells stories about the common life of Americans. The other is called western or country music. This was started by cowboys who would sing at night to the cows they were watching. Today, any music about country life and the love between a country boy and his girl is called western or country music.

    The baby is just one day old and has not yet left hospital. She is quiet but alert (警觉的). Twenty centimeters from her face researchers have placed a white card with two black spots on it. She stares at it carefully. A researcher removes the card and replaces it by another, this time with the spots differently spaced. As the cards change from one to the other, her gaze(凝视) starts to lose its focus—until a third, with three black spots, is presented. Her gaze returns: she looks at it for twice as long as she did at the previous card. Can she tell that the number two is different from three, just 24 hours after coming into the world?

    Or do newborns simply prefer more to fewer? The same experiment, but with three spots shown before two, shows the same return of interest when the number of spots changes. Perhaps it is just the newness? When slightly older babies were shown cards with pictures of objects (a comb, a key, an orange and so on), changing the number of objects had an effect separate from changing the objects themselves. Could it be the pattern that two things make, as opposed to three? No again. Babies paid more attention to squares moving randomly(随意地)on a screen when their number changed from two to three, or three to two. The effect even crosses between senses. Babies who were repeatedly shown two spots became more excited when they then heard three drumbeats than when they heard just two; likewise(同样地) when the researchers started with drumbeats and moved to spots.

    Safe Travel Abroad

    Preparing to go traveling abroad can be really stressful （有压力的）, especially if you don't know what to expect. Here is a list of important things to remember, so you know exactly what you need to do before you take off.

    What vaccines(疫苗) do I need?

    Go to your doctor for advice as soon as you know you're going traveling. They will know what vaccines you will need and will be able to advise you on when you need to have them. Remember, some vaccines need to be given months ahead, so make sure you book an appointment as early as possible.

    Do I need a visa(签证)?

    It's important that you have the correct official documents for traveling abroad. If you don't have the necessary paperwork, you might be refused entry. You'll need to check that your passport hasn't been out of date either.

    How do I arrange travel insurance(保险)?

    Travel insurance is really important. It can protect you in different kinds of situations, such as if you need medical treatment or if your flights are canceled. Travel insurance can be arranged easily online or over the phone, but you can always turn to your local travel agency. Travel agents will also be able to advise you on what you are insured against.

    These days, North Kickapoo Street in Shawnee, Oklahoma, is a four-lane road leading out to the highway, and lined with all kinds of places to eat and shop. But in the mid-1950s, it was just a gravel(砂砾) country road, the perfect place for our daddies to teach us how to drive.

We didn't have driver's education at Shawnee High School. We were on our own. Mom took me to pick up an instruction handbook. I was the oldest of my friends, so we were excited at the prospect of a whole new world opening up. We'd have freedom to get around. Best of all, we could go to the Starlite Drive—In theater on 50-cents-a-carload night. We'd have it made.

    Mom let me back our 1949 Ford out of the garage a few times to get used to the clutch (离合器) and gearshift (变速排挡杆). I got familiar with the motion but was hardly ready for my road test.

    Finally, the day came for Daddy to give me a real lesson. He drove out to the end of the paved section of Kickapoo Street and across to where the gravel started. My daddy had come from a family of 10, and they had been farmers in a poor area in Oklahoma. There was only one way to do things, and that was the right way.

Praises were rare, so when he expressed his approval it was special. I didn't want to experience his glare if I ground the clutch or the car shook as I tried to get it going.

    I took a deep breath, slowly let out the clutch, pushed the stick into second gear, eased down the road, and then carefully moved into third gear. He had me stop and repeat the procedure two or three more times until I came to the end of the section. I was feeling pretty good as I came to a stop and looked to Daddy for approval.

He glared at me and then barked, “You've been driving, haven't you?” He must have thought I'd been practicing in somebody else's car. I quickly explained that my training was all done on the Ford.

    That was 60 years ago. I can still see the nod he gave me when he said, "Well, you did a good job."

    Black Friday is the day after Thanksgiving Day and the Friday before Cyber Monday in the United States. It is not a federal holiday, but is a public holiday in some states. Many people take a day of their annual leave on the day after Thanksgiving Day. Some people use this to make trips to see family members or friends who live in other areas or to go on vacation. Others use it to start shopping for the Christmas season. Many organizations also close for the Thanksgiving weekend.

    Shopping for Christmas presents is also popular on Black Friday. Many stores have special offers and lower their prices on some goods, such as toys. Public transit systems may run on their normal schedule or may have changes. Some stores extend their opening hours on Black Friday. There can also be congestion on roads to popular shopping destinations.

    Black Friday is one of the busiest shopping days in the USA. There are two popular theories as to why the day after Thanksgiving Day is called Black Friday. One theory is that the wheels of vehicles in heavy traffic on the day after Thanksgiving Day left many black markings on the road surface, leading to the term Black Friday. The other theory is that the term Black Friday comes from an old way of recording business accounts. Losses were recorded in red ink and profits in black ink. Many businesses, particularly small businesses, started making profits prior to Christmas. Many hoped to start showing a profit, marked in black ink, on the day after Thanksgiving Day.

    Mark Twain left school when he was twelve. He had little school education. In spite of this, he became the most famous writer of his time. He made millions of dollars by writing. His real name was Samuel Langhorne Clemens, but he is better known all over the world as Mark Twain, his penname.

    Mark Twain was born in 1835 and he was not a healthy baby. In fact, he was not expected to live through the first winter. But with his mother's care, he managed to survive. As a boy, he caused much trouble for his parents. He used to play jokes on all his friends and neighbors. He didn't like to go to school, and he often ran away from home. He always went in the direction of the nearby Mississippi(密西西比河). He was nearly drowned nine times.

    After his father's death, Mark Twain began to work for a printer, who only provided him with food and clothing. Then, he worked as a printer, a river-boat pilot and later joined the army. But shortly after that he became a miner. During this period, he started to write short stories. Afterwards he became a full time writer.

    In 1870, Mark Twain got married. In the years that followed he wrote many books including Tom Sawyer in 1876, and Huckleberry Finn in 1884, which made him famous, and brought him great fortune.

    Unfortunately, Mark Twain got into debts in bad investments(投资) and he had to write large numbers of stories to pay these debts. In 1904, his wife died, and then three of his children passed away.

    At the age of 70, his hair was completely white. He bought many white suits and neckties. He wore nothing but white from head to foot until his death on April 21, 1910.