To develop one's taste in English, the most effective way is to read English books extensively. However, one may be at a loss to choose the suitable books, especially as a beginner. I would like to share some of my experience.

    My first English novel was Jane Austen's Pride and Prejudice, recommended (推荐) by many English teachers and professors as an ideal book for English learners. But I had great difficulty in understanding the novel, let alone enjoying it. It's not the vocabulary that troubled me, but rather the way Austen constructs sentences, and her way of thinking, which seemed too remote to me at that time. My fading enthusiasm was much recovered after reading Hemingway's novel Farewell to Arms. I particularly liked his brief and lively style. So my first suggestion is, as a beginner, you'd better choose contemporary (现代的) novels instead of classical ones.

    However, reading novels is not the only way to improve your English. English essays (散文) can at once inform you, entertain you, and improve your taste in English. The best example is Bertrand Russell's work. Its language is plain, yet you cannot help feeling the elegance and the unique sense of humor. His simple language enables his philosophy (哲理) within the reach of ordinary people. Here comes my second suggestion—essays are indispensable.

    Never follow other's opinions blindly, however famous or influential the person might be. As a saying goes, one man's meat is another man's poison. With that in mind, we are sure to find out our favorite writers through reading and develop our fine taste in English.

    I often dreamed about Pisa when I was a boy. I read about the famous building called the Leaning Towers of Pisa(比萨斜塔）. But when I read the word Pisa, I was thinking of pizza. I thought this tower must be the best place to buy pizza in the world.

    Many years later, I finally saw the Leaning Tower. I knew then that it was Pisa and no pizza and that the tower got its name because it really did lean to one side. Some people want to try to fix it. They are afraid that it may fall over and they don't want it to lean over the city.

    I don't think it a good idea to try to fix it. The tower probably will not fall down. It's 600 years old. Why should anything happen to it now? And, if you ask me, I like what it looks like. It seems to say nothing is perfect. Imperfect things may be more interesting. Why is it so famous? There are many other older, more beautiful towers in Italy but Pisa tower is the most famous.

    Tickets for the 2014 World Cup in Brazil have gone on sale, with fans able to apply on FIFA's website. FIFA is expecting a similar demand to that in Germany 2006, when there were about seven applicants for every ticket of the 64 matches. And now around 3.3 million tickets will be available for the matches in 2014.

    Tickets will range in price from￡58 for first-round matches to￡632 for the final at Maracana Stadium in Rio de Janeiro. Brazilian citizens over 60, local students and members of some social programs can purchase tickets for ￡15.

    The Price of Football - World Cup 2014

    "It's always difficult to predict," said FIFA marketing director Thierry Weil. "But I truly believe that it will be more similar to what happened in Germany than in South Africa in 2010." According to FIFA, the 2006 World Cup was attended by more than 3.3 million fans. Almost two million tickets were sold to the general public in South Africa, although the number of applications during the first ticketing phase was significantly lower.

    All applications made before 10th October 2013 will enter a random selection draw if there are not enough tickets available to fulfill all requests. The sales of the leftover tickets will begin on 5th November on a first-come, first-served basis. Another phase（阶段） will begin on 8th December after the draw is made. The tournament begins on 12th June, with Brazil playing the opener in Sao Paulo.

    A study on the price of World Cup 2014 looked at the ticket prices and the cost of travelling to Brazil and found that our English fans face hotel costs of between￡46 and￡797 a night, while packages range from￡2,999 to￡14,999.

Welcome to Cengiz Tours

    If you are looking to have a relaxing and unforgettable vacation, sailing on the turquoise waters of the Mediterranean Sea in Turkey, you are at the right place!

Cengiz Tours offers blue cruises starting from June until the end of October each year, in the Gulf of Gokova, located on the Mediterranean Sea.

    You are encouraged to make reservations one-month ahead of time. The blue cruise usually starts from Bod rum, in the Gulf of Gokova, and takes you along the beautiful shores within the Mediterranean Sea. Cengiz Tours offers trips based on your desired destinations. Mr. Cengiz Tozluklu, a licensed captain, a skilled cook and a tour guide, has been sailing for almost 40 years, and will make sure that you have an unforgettable time during your vacation on his boat. He offers a pick-up and drop-off service at the Bodrum Airport. Three meals are included per day and so is moderate alcohol.

    Please make sure that you inform us of any allergies or medical conditions you might have. Sleeping is quite comfortable on the sailboat and you are also certainly invited to sleep on the deck of the boat, under the stars.

    Mr. Tozluklu is a very friendly tour guide, so expect your vacation to be extremely pleasing and a little surprising. The Mediterranean beaches, visiting beautiful Turkish countryside, watching the sunset and sunrise, the moon and the stars, swimming, fishing and enjoying the quiet coves within the Gulf of Gokova will be a vacation hard to forget.

    Call for reservations. You are encouraged to make reservations one-month ahead of time.

    Please note that there is a one-week minimum stay per tour.

    Cellphone (Turkey): + 90-533-923-3222

    When it comes to medical care, many patients and doctors believe "more is better." But what they do not realize is that overtreatment—too many scans, too many blood tests, too many procedures—may bring harm. Sometimes a test leads you down a path to more and more testing, some of which may be invasive, or to treatment for things that should be left alone.

    Terrence Power, for example, complained that after his wife learned she had Wegener's disease, an uncommon disorder of the immune system, they found it difficult to refuse testing recommended by her doctor. The doctor insisted on office visits every three weeks, even when she was feeling well. He frequently ordered blood tests and X－rays, and repeatedly referred her to specialists for even minor complaints. Even when tests came back negative, more were ordered, and she was hospitalized as prevention when she developed a cold. She had as many as 25 doctor visits during one six－month period. The couple was spending about $30,000 a year for her care.

    After several years of physical suffering and near financial ruin from the medical costs, the couple began questioning the treatment after discussing with other patients in online support groups. "It's a really hard thing to determine when they've crossed the line," Mr. Power said. "You think she's getting the best care in the world, but after a while you start to wonder: What is the purpose?" Mr. Power then spoke with his own primary care doctor, who advised him to find a new specialist to oversee Mrs. Power's care. Under the new doctor's care, the regular testing stopped and Mrs. Power's condition stabilized. Now she sees the doctor only four or five times a year.

As people are becoming more socially conscious about where their food comes from and how it impacts the planet, they are choosing animal-free plant-based options. Cow-free meat has been around for quite some time and the popularity of brands of the cultivated meat is rising. While there are a large number of plant-based milk substitutes, none of them have the same taste of cow's milk. Now, a food-tech company created real dairy products without harming a single cow or the planet.

The company stresses that their product produced in the lab is not a milk substitute but rather is the real deal. And it is very healthy. The company also says that the lab-produced milk tastes identical to the real thing and they hope to eventually replace cows by creating every dairy product sold. They expect to roll out plant-based cheese and yogurt in addition to milk. “Our company was founded with the mission to stop using animals to produce -our food because, as dairy lovers, we realize that giving up on milk is not an option,” John said. “But today's milk comes with an unreasonable price tag. The dairy industry is destructive to our planet, our health, and our animals, and is simply not sustainable anymore.”

The environmental price tag of dairy farming is way too high. According to the World Wildlife Fund, dairy cows add a huge amount of greenhouse gases to the atmosphere and-contribute to global warming and climate change as well as pollute the air around them. Dairy operations consume large amounts of water and run-off of manure and fertilizers from these farms get into local waterways. The production uses only 5 percent of the resources and produces only 1 percent of the waste of producing cow's milk according to the company. And they accomplish this by being 100 percent cruelty-free unlike dairy farms.