If you are interested in studying at an American university, you have to take the Test of English as a Foreign Language. The test is widely known as the TOEFL. It is the most widely used language exam for American universities.

    There are two major kinds of the TOEFL test. The first is the IBT，or Internet based Test. It is offered in most of the world and accepted by nearly every university and scholarship program in the United States. The other kind of the test is called the Paper­based Test or PBT. The PBT is less costly to take and does not require use of the Internet.

    But how to get started with TOEFL? Here are some tips.

    ⒈Plan ahead — It takes a long time to improve your TOEFL score. Do not expect a big lift in your test results after two weeks. You will have to spend a lot of time and energy.

    ⒉Master the basics first — You should have to be good at basic English before you take the test. If you score below 500 on the PBT or 70 on the IBT, study for a few months and come back to the TOEFL later.

    ⒊Get a study guide — It is easy to find study guides for the IBT. Pearson, Barron's, ETS, and Kaplan all produce quality materials, take a practice test once or twice a month. The best study guides will have explanations in the answer key.

    ⒋Use outside resources — Remember, you are learning a language, not a test. You can improve your TOEFL score by making English part of your daily life. Some simple ways are listening to English speakers, watching movies and reading newspapers. Some others are reading English textbooks, sending and reading text messages in English, and writing online in English.

    The best way to do well on the TOEFL is to know English well. The real goal of the test is to measure how well a student can communicate in English­speaking classroom.

    If you want to know more, please click here.

    China's hot word, tuhao, may be in Oxford English Dictionary.

    In Chinese, tu means rude and hao means rich. In recent years, people use this term to describe those who spend money in an unreasonable way. The word became more popular with Apple's gold-colored iPhone, which is loved by China's rich people. The color became known as “tuhao golden”. The word is now often used to refer to people who have money but lack taste.

    There are two other Chinese hot words: dama and No Zuo No Die, which may also be taken in the dictionary. Dama, meaning middle-aged women, was first used in the Western media by the Wall Street Journal. Thousands of Chinese women were buying a large amount of gold when the gold price had gone down. Another phrase No Zuo No Die, meaning if you don't do stupid things, they won't come back to bite you, is also very popular. Other words, such as Maotai, Chinglish and dim sum have also been included in the dictionary.

    BBC World News recently made a special program called “Tuhao, let's be friends!” “The frequent use of Chinglish by foreign media suggests that foreign people are looking more to the lifestyle and popular culture of China,” says Zhang Yiwu, professor of Beijing University.

    What does this trend suggest about the Chinese language's influence?

    Xing Hongbing, a professor from Beijing Language and Culture University (BLCU) said “These show that Chinglish is now being accepted by the rest of the world and they play important roles in daily life of Chinese. Behind these Chinglish words and phrases are the Chinese culture. They are reflections of the changes and trends in the Chinese society and they help people from other countries to understand what's happening in China.”

    October 15th is the Global Hand washing Day. Activities are planned in more than 20 countries to get millions of people in the developing world to wash their hands with soap（肥皂）. For example, donators（捐献者）will give 150,000 bars of soap to schools in Ethiopia.

    Experts say people around the world wash their hands every day, but very few use soap at so-called important moments. These include after using the toilet, after cleaning a baby and before touching food.

    Global Hand washing Day is the idea of the Public-Private Partnership for Hand washing with Soap. Partners include the United Nations Children's Fund, American government agencies, the World Bank and soap makers Unlever and Procter and Gamble. The organizers say all soaps are equally effective at removing disease-causing germ（细菌）. They say the correct way to wash is to wet your hands with a small amount of water and cover them with soap. Rub it into all areas, including under the fingernails. Rub for at least twenty seconds. Then rinse well under running water. Finally, dry your hands with a clean cloth or wave them in the air.

    The Partnership for Hand washing says soap is important because it increases the time that people spend in washing hands. Soap also helps to break up the dirt that holds most of the germs. And it usually leaves a pleasant smell. The Partnership for Hand washing also says washing with soap before eating or after using the toilet could save more lives than any vaccine（疫苗）or medicine. Hand washing could also prevent the spread of other diseases. When people get germs on their hands, they can infect（传染）themselves by touching their eyes, noses or mouths. Then they can infect others.

    Ammie Reddick was only 18 months old when she had the accident that had scarred（留下创伤） her for life. The curious child reached up to grab the wire of a hot kettle in the family kitchen and poured boiling water over her tiny infant frame.

    Her mother Ruby turned round and, seeing Ammie horribly burnt, called an ambulance which rushed her daughter to a nearby hospital. Twenty percent of Ammie's body had been burned and all of her burns were third-degree. There, using tissue taken from unburned areas of Ammie's body, doctors performed complex skin transplants to close her wounds and control her injuries. Over the next 16 years, Ammie underwent 12 more operations to repair her body.

    When she started school at Maxwelton Primary at age 4, other pupils made cruel comments or simply wouldn't play with her. “I was the only burned child in the street, the class and the school,” she recalled, “some children refused to become friends because of that.”

    Today, aged 17, Ammie can only ever remember being a burned person with scars; pain is a everlasting part of her body. Yet she is a confident, outgoing teenager who offers inspiration and hope to other young burns victims.

    She is a member of the Scottish Burned Children's Club, a charity set up last year. This month, Ammie will be joining the younger children at the Graffham Water Center in Cambridgeshire for the charity's first summer camp. “I'll show them how to get rid of unkind stares from others,” she says. Ammie loves wearing fashionable sleeveless tops, and she plans to show the youngsters at the summer camp that they can too. “I do not go to great lengths to hide my burns scars,” she says, “I gave up wondering how other people would react years ago.”

    Doctors in hospital emergency rooms often see accidental poisonings. A frightened parent arrives with a child who swallowed a cleaning liquid. Or perhaps the harmful substance is a medicine. Or it might be a product meant to kill insects. These are common causes of accidental poisoning.

    In cases like this, seek medical help as soon as possible. Save the container of whatever caused the poisoning. And look on the container for information about anything that stops the effects of the poison. Save anything expelled from the mouth of the victim. That way, doctors can examine it.

    Millions of people know how to give abdominal thrusts(腹部按压)to save a person choking on something trapped in the throat. The American Red Cross says a rescuer should first hit the person on the back five times between the shoulder bones. If the airway is still blocked, the Red Cross suggests pushing hard five times along the victim's abdomen. You can do these abdominal thrusts by getting directly behind a sitting or standing person.

    The Mayo Clinic health centers suggest several steps if bleeding is severe. First, if possible, remove dirt from the wound and press on it with a clean cloth or piece of clothing. In the past, people were advised to stop severe bleeding with a tourniquet(止血带). But experts now say tourniquets are dangerous because they can crush(挤压) major arteries and nerves. If a wound seems infected, let the victim rest. Physical activity can spread the infection. Treat the wound with a mixture of salt and water until medical help arrives.

    To learn more about first aid, ask a hospital or an organization like the Red Cross or the Red Crescent Society for information. Training may be offered in your area.

    If you know first aid methods, you can be calmer and more helpful in case of emergency. 

    Cooking programs and classes for children seem to positively influence children's food preferences and behaviors, according to a recent review. And, although the review didn't look at long-term effects of such programs, the findings suggest that such programs might help children develop long-lasting healthy habits.

    This research comes at a time when childhood obesity(肥胖) rates have been rising rapidly. More than one-third of adolescents in the United States were obese in 2012, according to the U. S.Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). This trend has been caused, at least in part, by a significant decrease in the amount of meals that people consume at home since the 1980s, according to background information in the study.

    Cooking education programs, such as Food Explorers, teach children about new healthy foods and how to prepare them. They also stress the importance of eating five fruits and vegetables every day. A volunteer parent explains a new food to the group, and the kids make something based on the lesson, such as fruit or vegetable salad. Depending on the program, kids may be sent home with information about healthy foods to bring to their parents, the review explained.

    The study team reviewed eight other studies that tested different types of cooking education programs. Children in these classes were between 5 and 12 years old, according to the review. The goal of the study team was to learn more about developing an efficient program to encourage healthy food choices that last a lifetime. The study found that it is particularly important to expose kids to healthy foods on a number of occasions. This makes them feel comfortable with the new foods, which helps them build healthy habits.

    The study stressed the importance of getting parents involved in(参与) their children's eating habits. Parents who are unable to enroll their kids in a cooking class can achieve similar benefits by having their kids help them while they prepare meals at home. Children are more comfortable at home, which makes them more receptive to new foods because they will make the connection to a positive experience.