Have you ever found yourself in this situation：You hear a song you used to sing when you were a child-a bit of nostalgia（怀旧）or "blast from the past，"as we say．But it is not a distant childhood memory．The words come back to you as clearly as when you sang them all those years ago．

    Researchers at the University of Edinburgh studied the relationship between music and remembering a foreign language．They found that remembering words in a song was the best way to remember even one of the most difficult languages．

    Here is what they did. Researchers took 60 adults and randomly divided them into three groups of 20．Then they gave the groups three different types of "listen-and-repeat" learning conditions．Researchers had one group simply speak the words．They had the second group speak the words to a rhythm，or beat．And they asked the third group to sing the words．

    All three groups studied words from the Hungarian language for 15minutes．Then they took part in a series of language tests to see what they remembered．

    Why Hungarian，you ask ? Researchers said they chose Hungarian because not many people know the language．It does not share any roots with Germanic or Romance languages，such as Italian or Spanish．After the tests were over，the singers came out on top．The people who learned these new Hungarian words by singing them showed a higher overall performance．They did the best in four out of five of the tests．They also performed two times better than those who simply learned the words by speaking them．

    Dr．Katie Overy says singing could lead to new ways to learn a foreign language．The brain likes to remember things when they are contained in a catchy 3，or memorable 4，tune 5．

    Dr．Ludke said the findings could help those who struggle to learn foreign languages．On the University of Edinburgh's website Dr．Ludke writes，"This study provides the first experimental evidence that a listen-and-repeat singing method can support foreign language learning，and opens the door for future research in this area．"

    Types of Fire Extinguishers

    Fire extinguishers are marked according to the kind of fore on which they should be used. Using the wrong type of the extinguishers can be dangerous and make things worse.

    Type A extinguishers are used for fires on paper, cloth, wood, rubber, many plastics and so on. These types of fires usually leave ashes when they burn, so use Type A extinguishers for fires that leave ashes.

    Type B extinguishers are used for burning liquids, such as oil, gasoline, and paints. These substances often come in barral-shaped containers, so use Type B extinguishers for such barrals.

    Type C extinguishers are used for electrical fires Electricity travels in a circuit, so use Type C extinguishers for circuits.

    Remember, A is for Ashes, B is for Barrals, and C is for Circuits. Make sure you have the correct type of fire extinguisher, learn PASS. PASS stands for Pull, Aim, Squeeze, and Sweep.

    Pull the pin at top of the extinguisher cylinder（灭火器圆筒）.

    Aim the nozzle（喷嘴）at the base of the fire.

    Squeeze or press the bandle.

    Sweep the sprary from side-to-side at the fire's base until it goes out.

    Imagine that you're the creator and show runner of the newest comedy show on television. Only it isn't so popular yet, and your live Studio audience isn't giving you the big laughs the show deserves. Do you film the show all over again, hoping that this time the audience will laugh? Or is there another option for making a joke sound funnier than it was received?

    Sweeten(改善) the sound by adding a laugh track! “Sweetening,” or the addition of sound effects such as laughs, screams, and other audience-produced noises to the audio track of a TV show, has been used since the 1940s to produce the appearance, or rather the sound, of an engaged and entertained response to a show's comedy. Laugh tracks came into existence as not only a solution, and sometimes replacement, for an unengaged live audience but also as a way to engage an at-home audience into a more-traditional, public, and theaterlike experience. Adding a laugh track to a television show makes the viewers at home feel much less like they're sitting on a couch staring at the television screen and much more like they're in a room full of laughing happy people to varying degrees of success.

    Though the art of sweetening has risen and fallen in popularity over the past 60 years, credit for its creation and continued use is owed to laugh-track pioneer and sound engineer Charles Douglass. Douglass was the first to develop, in 1953, a machine for producing “canned laughter”, accessible at the push of a button or pull of a lever (操纵杆). Despite being artificial, sensibly edited laugh tracks are found by television studios to bring about a positive audience response, as their use is usually accompanied by higher ratings and increased audience memory. Though some television audiences may disagree with the value of the laugh track, the cheerful and repetitive sound holds a permanent place in the history and future of television comedy.

    It is important for everyone to learn how to apologize effectively. You might think a simple “I'm sorry.” will take care of everything.{#blank#}1{#/blank#} There are some situations in which you need to apologize properly.

    Apologize truly.

    Apologizing through a half-hearted “sorry” will get you nowhere.{#blank#}2{#/blank#}. If you are really want to apologize, you must do it truly. Accept the fact that you are wrong.{#blank#}3{#/blank#} Contrary to what you might think, apologizing over and over again isn't going to help, especially you are apologizing to someone who is your boss.

    Don't wait too long to apologize.

    One piece of advice on how to apologize effectively is to do it as soon as you realize your mistake. Some people put off giving an apology because they think it will save them from the offended(被冒犯的) person's anger. However, that's just not polite. If you can't approach the person personally at once, send him or her a message first.{#blank#}4{#/blank#}

    Don't expect too much.

    You can't expect that person to forgive you immediately. If you are going to apologize, you have to be prepared for the worst. The conversation isn't going to be the most comfortable one either.{#blank#}5{#/blank#}

    Learning how to apologize effectively is very important. It shows people that you are a very kind person.

A．Don't apologize again and again.

B．However, that's not exactly true.

C．Pay a visit to others ahead of time.

D．You'd better prepare yourself for anything.

E．But make sure you make an apology in person as well.

F．In fact, it might get you into even bigger trouble than before.

G．A lot of people don't know how to make an apology to their boss.

    If you do not use your arm or your legs for some time, they become weak; when you start using them again, they slowly become strong again. Everybody knows that. Yet many people do not seem to know that memory works in the same way. When someone says that he has a good memory, he really means that he keeps his memory in practice by using it. When someone else says that his memory is poor, he really means that he does not give it enough chance to become strong.

    If a friend says that his arms and legs are weak, we know that it is his own fault. But if he tells us that he has a poor memory, many of us think that his parents are to blame (受责备), and few of us know that it is just his own fault.

    Have you ever found that some people can't read or write but usually they have better memories? This is because they cannot read or write and they have to remember things; they cannot write down in a little notebook. They have to remember days, names, songs and stories, so their memory is the whole time being exercised. Therefore, if you want to have a good memory, learn from the people: practice remembering.

    In Kansas City, Missouri, a computer helps firefighters. The computer, which works very fast, has information about all the 350, 000 street addresses in the city. Within two or three seconds after a call is received, the computer provides necessary information for the firefighters. The information is then sent to them by radio from the computer centre in the City Hall. The exact place of the burning building and its size, type and any other details are clear to them.

    The Kansas City computer system also has a medical record of each of the city's 900 firefighters. This kind of information is especially useful when a firefighter is injured. With the information, doctors at hospital can treat the injured firefighters more quickly and easily.

    The firefighters themselves greatly appreciate the computer's help. They know about possible danger ahead of them and can prepare for it. Many times the computer information helps to save lives and property (财产). Sometimes the lives are those of firefighters themselves.

    Mike Horan, a firefighter captain, says, "I feel as if the computer is ready to help me if I get hurt."