Spring is coming, and it is time for those about to graduate to look for jobs. Competition is tough, so job seekers must carefully consider their personal choices. Whatever we are wearing, our family and friends may accept us, but the workplace may not.

    A high school newspaper editor said it is unfair for companies to discourage visible tattoos(纹身) nose rings, or certain dress styles. It is true you can't judge a book by its cover, yet people do “cover” themselves in order to convey certain messages. What we wear, including tattoos and nose rings, is an expression of who we are. Just as people convey messages about themselves with their appearances, so do companies. Dress standards exist in the business world for a number of reasons, but the main concern is often about what customers accept.

    Others may say how to dress is a matter of personal freedom, but for businesses it is more about whether to make or lose money. Most employers do care about the personal appearances of their employees, because those people represent the companies to their customers.

    As a hiring manager I am paid to choose the people who would make the best impression on our customers. There are plenty of well-qualified candidates, so it is not wrong to reject someone who might disappoint my customers. Even though I am open-minded, I can't expect all our customers are.

    There is nobody to blame but yourself if your set of choices does not match that of your preferred employer. No company should have to change to satisfy a candidate simply because he or she is unwilling to respect its standards, as long as its standards are legal.

    Recently I and other Red Cross volunteers met a group of victims from Hurricane Katrina. We were there, as mental health professionals, to offer “psychological first aid” and I was struck by the simple healing power of presence. As we walked in the gate to the shelter, we were greeted with a burst of gratitude from the first person we met. I felt appreciated, but also guilty, because I hadn't really done anything yet.

    I first realized the power of presence many years ago when a friend's mother passed away unexpectedly. I received a call saying she had just passed away. I wanted to rush down there immediately, but didn't want to intrude(打扰) on this very personal period of sadness. I was torn about what to do. Another friend with me then said, “Just go. Just be there.” I did, and I will never regret it.

    Since then, I have not hesitated to be in the presence of others. Once I sat at the bedside of a young man suffering from the pain of his AIDS-ralated dying. He was not awake, and obviously unaware of others' presence. However, the atmosphere was by no means solenm. His family, playing guitars and singing, allowed him to be present with them as though he were still fully alive.

    In my life, I am repeatedly struck by the healing power of presence. In it, none of us are truly alone. It not only is something we give to others but also changes me for the better.

    Having a great collection of books at home doesn't really mean that you are a person who loves reading. It may be got from your father or your father's father, and it can just impress people around you with the fact that you are a person of culture.

    From my point of view, reading is very important in our daily life. For example, reading is a way of gaining knowledge in different areas. It can help us have a great imagination, and it makes things easier when it comes to making compositions on different themes. It gives you the possibility to speak about science, even if you don't work in this field. You can express your opinions about a political event because you have read something about that.

    Secondly, reading gives us the possibility to enter the world of imagination. We can imagine what life will be like in the future. Sometimes, we compare ourselves with the people in the stories we read and they can give us some clues to solve the problems and tell us what to do in certain situations. Books are based on real life. Even if writers are considered to be somehow different from common people, they often face the same problems as we all do.

    In short, I would like to say that literature is the perfect way of enriching our culture, expressing correctly, having a rich vocabulary, being able to understand different fields and really being considered to be a learned person.

    People often say that there is nothing in the world that can be as great as a mother's love. Some mother expressions mean just that. The phrase "mother lode" comes from mining. It means the place where the largest amount of gold can be found. But now, the term "mother lode" means a rich supply of anything. For example, you might say, "She just graduated from college and struck the mother lode with her new job!"

    When we call something "the mother of all", this means it is the biggest or best of something. Here is an example: "We are going to throw the mother of all parties this weekend. So you have to come!"

    Naturally, the word "mother" can be used to mean to give birth, even to something you cannot touch, such as an idea or wisdom. The saying "necessity is the mother of invention" means that when people really need to do something, they will find a way to do it. And "experience is the mother of wisdom" means that people learn from what happens to them.

    You might think all expressions about mothers are sweet and loving. Not so. A boy who is "tied to his mother's apron strings(围裙带)" is controlled by his mother. We can also call him a "mama's boy". Both of these terms are even more insulting(侮辱人的) if you are talking about a man, not a young boy. It can be a huge mistake for a woman to marry a "mama's boy" who is still "tied to his mother's apron strings".

    A show about mothers would not be complete without talking about the very popular but mysterious "Mother Goose". The short poems and songs that "Mother Goose" wrote are a part of growing up in the United States. Real or not, you could say "Mother Goose" is the mother of all nursery rhyme(童谣) writers.

Sagrada Familia (2,056,448 visits/year)

Opening hours: 09:00—18:00 (October—March); 09:00—20:00 (April—September) Admission: $ 11, or $ 10 with the Barcelona Card.

Disabled Access: Yes.

The temple has been under construction since 1882 and they've still got another 30 to 80 years to go before it is finished. The project's vast scale and its special design have made it one of Barcelona's top tourist attractions for many years.

La Pedrera (1,133,220 visits/year)

Opening hours: November—February: 09:00—18:30; March—October: 09:00—20:00

Admission: $ 9.50. Save 20% with the Barcelona Card.

Disabled Access: No.

This building used to be called Casa Mila but nowadays it's more commonly known as La Pedrera. It is a unique modernist building in Barcelona and was made of bricks and had colorful tiles (瓦). It was built between 1906 and 1912 by famous Catalan architect Antoni Gaudi (1852—1926) and in 1984 it was declared a UNESCO World Her it age site with other Gaudi buildings in Barcelona.

Barcelona FC Museum (1,032,763 visits/year)

Opening hours: 6th April—4th October: (Monday to Saturday) 10:00—20:00; the rest of the year: 10:00—18:30

Admission: $ 8.50 for entry to the museum and $ 17 for a guided tour.

Disabled Access: Yes.

When you buy your ticket you have two options. You can buy a ticket for the museum to see the football stadium or you can buy a dual (双的) ticket for $ 15 where you get to see the museum and the scenes at the club.

Miro Museum (518,869 visits/year)

Opening hours: Check the website for details as they vary relying on the time of the year. Admission: $ 8. Save 20% with the Barcelona Card.

Disabled Access: Yes.

This museum has a wide range of Miro's works dating back as far as 1914. This art work collection not only includes his paintings but also a good selection of sculptures.

Scientists have long thought about whether each animal species has a different language, much like different human languages that we cannot understand. Language experts agree on the fact that the way animals communicate through various calls does not fit the definition of human languages.

Animal calls are not considered a language because the calls are limited to signals related to food activities, warning about the presence of enemies and so on. They lack the characteristic of productivity that all human languages share. That is — humans create new expressions every day by combining different words to express meanings. Animal calls are fixed in their meanings, while human language goes further and includes expressions of complex ideas that do not have a limit.

However, animals do communicate. People who study humans believe that people speak with their entire bodies. To express a message, one does not always need words. Have you ever shared a private joke with your friends across the table? All you did was to give them a self-satisfied smile, Animals can communicate in much the same way as humans do. Although animals do not have the ability to speak words, they can use other methods, such as gestures, movements, calls and their sense of smell. In short, most of their communication is not related with speech.

If animals can make noises, why can't they talk? Humans and animals both have the necessary organs that produce sounds, such as lungs, throat, voice box, lips and tongue. But the differences lie in the movement and relative position of these organs that make it possible for us to speak.

When humans developed from apes, a lot of our features were improved to better shape sounds along the way. The mouth started getting smaller and the neck grew longer. All other animals, including our closest animal relatives — chimpanzees, have little similarity, which determines humans' ability to speak.