Maybe you have heard of the“Mozart Effect". It says that listening to classical music, especially Mozart, can help with math and science learning, and develop smart children. But how can we enjoy music.

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    Listen in the car, while the children draw and color, and at dinner, for fun. Listen and talk about music.

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    Do you like this song? Why, or why not? If you like this kind of music, how does it make you feel? Happy or sad?

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    Get to know classical music, but don't forget jazz, blues or many other kinds of music. Many children enjoy different sounds from around the world as well.

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    Learn about a singer and then listen to his or her music. Libraries often offer CDs as well. Learn an instrument. This costs some money and time, but the result can be worth it. This including singing. Learn how to sing traditional songs.

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    Find concerts that you attend. Many towns and cities offer family concerts (for parents and their children）. Look for one near you house. Go to a music festival.

    All over the world, and for many different reasons, there are millions of people who never eat meat. These people are called vegetarians(素食主义者). To people who eat meat, being a vegetarian may seem like a very strange thing. But they won't eat meat for several different reasons.

    First, vegetarians have a big health advantage. One of the major health problems in modern world is too much food, especially in the form of animal fats. Medical study suggests that animal fats, including butter, quicken the development of cholesterol (胆固醇) in the human body. Too much cholesterol seems to be part of the cause of heart disease. Most vegetarians have low level of cholesterol. Too much animal fats also seem to lead to certain kinds of cancer, and vegetarians have less these cancers than people who eat a lot of meat. Overall, studies comparing the health of vegetarians and meat-eaters show that the meat-eaters are twice as likely to die of heart disease as vegetarians are.

    Better health is one reason that people choose to become vegetarians. Another reason is religion (宗教). Eating of meat is never allowed in some religions. The largest of these is the Hindu religion, which has about.600 million believers in the world. Although not all Hindus are vegetarian, many are, and there are many believers of other religions, such as Buddhism and even some Christian religions that also do not eat meat. Many vegetarians do not eat meat simply because they do not like the taste of it. They have no religious or other reasons; they just do not like meat. Another important reason that vegetarians give for not eating meat is the health advantages that were given above. Lastly, there are many people who do not eat meat because they just do not like the idea of killing animals for food. They believe that life, all life, is valuable and that we do not have to destroy life to feed ourselves when there are other good sources of food.

    The Spring Festival is Chinese people's festival. There are different names for each Chinese year. We call it the Year of the Rooster, the Year of Gog…And this year is the Year of Pig.

    Before the festival, people are busy shopping and cleaning their houses. On the eve, there is a big family dinner. After dinner, all the family stay up late to welcome the New Year.

    On the Spring Festival, people put on their new clothes and go to visit their relatives and friends. They say "Happy New Year" and some other greetings to each other. People have a good time during the festival.

    The Silk Road is known all over the world.{#blank#}1{#/blank#}It went along the north of China, India, and Persia and ended up in Eastern Europe near today's Turkey and the Mediterranean Sea.

    It was called the Silk Road because one of the major products traded was silk cloth from China. Chinese silk was soft and of high quality. So people throughout Asia and Europe loved it very much.{#blank#}2{#/blank#}Even the Romans called China the "land of silk".

    Besides silk, the Chinese also sold tea, salt, sugar, porcelain(瓷器)and spices(香料). Most of the goods were expensive. This was because it was a long trip and trades didn't have a lot of room for goods. They bought goods like cotton, ivory, wool, gold and silver.

    Traders traveled in large caravans (商队). They would have many guards with them.{#blank#}3{#/blank#}Most of the road was through dry land, so camels were popular animals for transport.

    Although there was some trade between China and the rest of the world for some time, the silk trade developed quickly during the Han Dynasty which ruled from 206 B. C. to 220 A.D.{#blank#}4{#/blank#}During this time, Chinese traders traveled safely. Also, traders had a higher social position.

    {#blank#}5{#/blank#}It not only helped develop trade between different countries, but also helped make ideas, cultures and inventions spread across the world.