Global English Center

    General English in all four skills: listening, speaking, reading and writing.

    3-month (700 yuan), 6-month (1,200 yuan) and one-year (2,000 yuan) courses.

    Choice of morning or evening classes, 3 hours per day, Mon.--Fri.

    Experienced college English teachers.

    Close to the city center and bus stops

    Add: 105 Zhongshan Road Tel: 6760000

    Modern Language School

    Special courses in English for business, travel, banking, hotel management and office skills.

    Small classes (2~16 students) on Saturday and Sunday from 2:00 to 5:00 p.m..

    English teachers from Canada and the USA.

    3-month (1,000 yuan), 6-month (1,800 yuan).

    Add: 675 Park Road Tel: 6777777

    The 21st Century English Training Center

    We offer morning or afternoon classes. Both of which last three months and a half at a cost of 800 yuan. Entrance exams: June 1 and December 1.

    We also have a six-week TOEFL preparation class during winter and summer holidays

    Only 15-minute walk from city center.

    Call 6016666 for more information.

    The International House of English

    3-or 6-month English course for students of all levels at very low cost: 60 yuan for 12 hours per week; convenient class hours: 9:00~12:00 a.m. and 2:00~5:00 p.m.

    4~month evening classes for developing speaking skills (same cost as day classes)

    Well- trained foreign teachers

    Free sightseeing tours and social activities

    Very close to the Central Park.

    Call 6886666 for further information.

    My dad is the kind of parent that expects my best. He would never be angry if I failed at something as long as I tired. He never changes his mind after he makes it, which sometimes makes him seem too stubborn. My dad's strictness comes from the way he was raised. He grew up working long hours on his family farm. His dad was bad-tempered, and he would get angry enough to throw wooden boards at my dad when he did something wrong. In high school, my dad woke up at four in the morning to get his chores(家务杂事)done and walk to school so that he would make it to basketball practice by five.

    Through all of the duties my dad had at home, he played three sports and went to school on top of it. school would have been easy, but my dad had dyslexia(读写困难)which made it nearly impossible for him to read. Since dyslexia wasn't recognized back then, every teacher my dad had passed along thinking that he was just unable to learn. My dad struggled in school until one teacher took the time to sit down and teach him how to read and write.

    The best part about my dad is his attitude toward daily life. even though he likes things once right, he also knows how go to with the flow and have a good time. My dad doesn't worry about things he can't control. When he comes home from a terrible day at work, he always puts on a smile on his face because he knows family is a lot more important than any other tings.

    I know that I get my best qualities from my parents and the way they raised me. My dad has shown me that with discipline and hard work I can achieve anything, and have fun while doing it.

    A new study says electronic toys are not helping babies learn.

    "Even if companies are marketing them as educational, they're not teaching the babies anything at this time," said Anna Sosa the study's author.

    Researchers listened to audio(声音的) recordings of parents playing with their babies aged 10 months to 16 months. The researchers compared the experiences when the children played with electronic toys, traditional toys such as blocks, or when the children looked at books. What they found is that parents talked less with their babies when the babies played with electronic toys.

    Why is this important? Research shows that how quickly children develop language is often based on what they hear from parents. When the infants played with electronic toys, parents said little to their children. But with traditional toys, such as blocks, parents shared the names and descriptions of the animals, colors and shapes as their children played. There was even more information given by parents as their babies looked at the pictures in books.

    Of course, there is no need for parents to throw out electronic toys, but they should look at their infants' play with such toys as entertainment, not a learning experience.

    Toy Industry Association spokeswoman Adrienne Appell responded to the study. She said it is important that parents make time to play with their children. "Playing is a way that kids can learn so much, not only cognitive(认知的) skills, but social and developmental skills," she said. She added that play should be balanced, including time for just "make believe" activities, as well as traditional and electronic toys.

    When you're on the go, your best friend and resource can be your phone. In the age of smart phones, apps are like guiding stars: They can point you in the right direction for a hotel, list expenses, send postcards, and much more. When used together, these apps can be the basic travel tool, placing a wealth of information at your fingertips no matter where you are on the planet. U.S. NewsTravel has picked the essential travel apps, known for their utility and reliability. Best of all, they cost absolutely nothing.

Trip It

    Your Personal Travel Agent

    Be your own travel agent and plan every detail of your trip—from car rental to accommodating restaurants—with Trip It. You can make travel schedule by hand, or simply forward the email confirmations of your flight, rental car, train tickets, and hotels to plans.

Weather Free

    Your Go-To Meteorologist(气象学者)

    Stop trying to explain the weather forecast on the evening news (particularly when it's in a foreign language). The Weather Free app informs you (in English) of the climate in various locations. It features the local weather, and other key factors that will inform your decision about what to wear before stepping outside.

Goby

    Your Event Guru

    When you're in a foreign city, you sometimes look around and ask: Where are all the people? Goby has the answer. This app pinpoints the neighborhood hot spots (including museums, hotels, eateries, and more) in your neighborhood. But its true value comes in finding nearby events. You'll discover concerts, plays, and more right around the corner.

    Have you ever been into a cave? If not, please follow us and explore some of the most beautiful caves from around the world!

    Marble Caves

    Located in the center of Lake General Carrera, the Marble Caves in Chico, Chile, are only accessible by boat. The surrounding crystal clear waters allow visitors to see the rock formations beneath them while the rock ceilings above change color(depending on the writer levels and the season). The best time to visit: during sunrise and sunset, when the sun's rays light up the cave walls, making it an experience to remember.

    Reed Flute Cave

    Reed F1ute Cave known as "the Palace of Natural Arts" is located in the northwest of Guilin in southern China. The limestone cave offers a grand fairyland of stalactites(钟乳石), stone pillars, stone curtains, birds, plants and animals in fantastic shapes and colors.

    Fingal's Cave

    This incredible sea cave is located on the uninhabited island of Staffa in Scotland. The cave's size, shape, and naturally­arched(拱形的) roof combine with the waves to create strange sounds that enhance its cathedral­like atmosphere.

    The Blue Grotto

    The Blue Grotto is the symbol of Capri. It is a sea cave found on the coast of the island and is a well-known spot to all who visit the area. This cave is unique for its brilliant blue light which comes from two sources: the entrance to the cave and a bigger hole beneath the entrance. When viewed from inside the cave, the entrance appears as a brilliant white light just above the waterline, while the underwater hole, which is the larger source of light, provides a blue light.

    Three important changes that will affect people's everyday life in the future.

    The cashless society

    Cash and bank notes will disappear almost completely. They will be replaced by smart cards with microchip (微芯片) "loaded" with some money. When we pay for goods, we will put our smart cards into a payment terminal (终端) and money will be transferred (转) from our cards to the retailer's (零售商的) card. When all the money is used up, we will be able to "reload" it by inserting it into a telephone, dialing our bank account and putting money to the card from the account. If we want to transfer money from our cards to a bank account, we will use the same method. Smart cards will be able to hold several different currencies at the same time. So if we go abroad, we will be able to use our smart cards in the same way.

    Interactive telephones

    Human telephones will be replaced by talking computers. These computers will recognize speech, ask us what information we need, find the information and change it to speech. If we want to book a flight or pay a bill by phone, we will ask a talking computer to do it. Of course, this won't happen until all the technology is in place, but when it is we will soon get used to using computers in this way.

    ________________

    Traffic congestion (拥挤) in cities will be reduced because drivers will use electronic maps to find the quickest way to their destinations and avoid traffic jams. Because people have to pay to drive in cities, they will stop using their cars and use public transport instead. Speed control systems will be built into cars. These systems will control the speed of the car according to the traffic and weather conditions and prevent accidents.