When we talk about stars, especially women stars, it seems that they are always young, pretty and own charming body shapes. But recently a Britain's Got Talent（英国达人）star Susan Boyle has changed our views absolutely.

    Simon Cowell, one of the judges of the talent show spoke of his shock over Ms Boyle's voice. "This lady came up, and I'm thinking, 'This will take five seconds and I can go to have a cup of tea'. That changed when she began to sing I Dreamed to Dream from Les Miserables. She knew we were going to have that reaction and just to see that look of satisfaction on her face through -it was one of my favorite moments," Cowell said.

    The performance was posted on line and before long, the 47-year-old Scottish woman has been famous all over the world.

    Speaking from her home in Scotland, Ms Boyle said that she hasn't thought of changing her appearance. She said that her friend helped her with make-up. "I mean, that's hardly a makeover（改头换面）," she added. Ms Boyle also spoke of the reason she first began to explore her vocal talents, "I was kind of slow at school, so getting like singing was a good way of hiding behind that and thus it built my confidence."

    Suppose you work in a big firm and find English very important for your job because you often deal with foreign businessmen. Now you are looking for a place where you can improve your English, especially your spoken English. Here are some advertisements(广告) about English language training from newspapers. You may find the information you need.

    Global English Centre

    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 city centre and bus stops.

    Tel: 67605272

    Add: 105 Zhongshan Road, 100082

    Modern Language School

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

    Small classes (12~16 students) on Sat. & Sun. from 2:00~5:00 p.m.

    Native English teachers from Canada and USA.

    Language lab and computers supplied.

    3-month course: 1,050 yuan; 6-month course: 1,850 yuan.

    Write or phone: Modern Language School, 675 Park Road, 100056

    Tel: 67353019

    The 21^st Century English Training Centre

    We specialize in effective teaching at all levels.

    We offer morning or afternoon classes, both of which last three months and a half at a cost of 800 yuan.

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

    Entrance exams: June 1 and Dec. 1.

    Only 15-minute walk from city centre.

    Call 67801642 for more information.

    The International House of English

    Three/Six-month English courses for students of all levels at a very low cost: 60 yuan for 12 hours per week, convenient (方便的) class hours:

    9:00~12:00 a.m. and 2:00~5:00 p.m.

    A four-month evening programme for developing speaking skills (same cost as day classes).

    Well-trained Chinese and foreign teachers with experience in teaching English as a second foreign language.

    Free sightseeing and social activities.

    Very close to the Central Park.

    For further information call 674322308.

    The idea of turning recycled plastic bottles into clothing is not new. During the last five years, a large number of clothing companies, businesses and environmental organizations have started turning plastics into fabric to deal with plastic pollution. But there's a problem with this method. Research now shows that microfibers could be the biggest source of plastic in the sea.

    Dr. Mark Browne in Santa Barbara, California, has been studying plastic pollution and microfibers for 10 years now. He explains that every time synthetic clothes go into a washing machine, a large number of plastic fibers fall off. Most washing machines can't collect these microfibers. So every time the water gets out of a washing machine, microfibers are entering the sewers and finally end up in the sea.

    In 2011, Browne wrote a paper stating that a single piece of synthetic(合成的) clothing can produce more than 1, 900 fibers per wash. Browne collected samples from seawater and freshwater sites around the world, and used a special way to examine each sample. He discovered that every single water sample contained microfibers.

    This is bad news for a number of reasons. Plastic can cause harm to sea life when eaten. Studies have also shown that plastic can absorb other pollutants.

    Based on this evidence, it may seem surprising that companies and organizations have chosen to turn plastic waste into clothing as an environmental “solution.” Even though the science has been around for a while, Browne explains that he's had a difficult time getting companies to listen. When he asked well-known clothing companies to support Benign by Design—his research project that seeks to get clothes that have a bad effect on humans and the environment out of the market, Browne didn't get a satisfying answer. Only one women's clothing company, Eileen Fisher, offered Browne funding.

    In today's society, language plays a key role in defining gender (性别) by vocabulary, and also their non-verbal (非语言的) vocabulary. Each one of these different types of ways of communicating is obviously different between men and women.

    Many different studies show that men tend to talk much more than women. It has also been proven that women tend to speak faster than men; this is due to the fact that women tend to be interrupted more often than men are, and also have the ability to speak more clearly, precisely, and more quickly than men. In one study it was found that women spoke for an average of three minutes describing a painting, as opposed to the thirteen-minute average it took men to describe it.

    Men and women also tend to have a very different non-verbal way of communicating, which can also make it very hard for one another to understand what the opposite sex is trying to say. Men's body language is much more reserved when talking to women. Men tend not to make as much eye contact and they generally stay farther away from women when talking to them. Men avoid other people's body space while talking, and they also tend to sit back when talking. All of these have given off the impression of disinterest or boredom. Women are by far better listeners and much more enjoyable to talk with and they tend to raise more topics for conversation.

    Women also make it clearer whether or not the conversation is going somewhere or just stuck in neutral. After learning about our styles of communicating with each other, I have decided that although men have not quite mastered communicating, what fun would it be if we all spoke the same "language"? The little games men and women play with each other while conversing would be lost. The question everyone asks himself or herself after talking with someone of the opposite sex, "I wonder if there's something there?" would no longer exist.

This famous site features one of the largest and most representative collections of Buddhist architecture and art in China. It was rated as a 5A-class tourist attraction in 2010.

The Lingshan Grand Buddha is an 88-meter-high open-air bronze statue of Sakyamuni. It is 17 meters higher than the Grand Buddha at Leshan Mountain. It is part of the pattern of Five Buddhas in five directions together with the Big Buddha at Lantau Island in Hong Kong to the south, the Grand Buddha at Leshan Mountain to the west, the Grand Buddha in Yungang Caves to the north and the Grand Buddha at the Longmen Caves in the central area. At the feet of the Grand Buddha, you can feel the loftiness (雄伟) and dignity of Buddhism.

Tips：

Location: Lingshan Road, Mashan town, Binhu district, Wuxi

Tickets: Through ticket: 210 yuan ($ 31. 85), and free tickets for the performance of Ode to Auspiciousness for individual visitors

Opening hours for Lingshan Mountain: 7:00 17:00

Opening hours for Brahma Palace: 9:00 18:00

Recommendations:

The Nine-Dragon Fountain

The Nine-Dragon Fountain in front of the giant Buddha will start to play music and the song, The Birth of Buddha, at 10 am every day. A huge lotus (莲花) slowly blooms with six petals, and a 7-meter golden statue of Prince Buddha rises from the lotus, with one hand pointing to the sky and one hand at the earth, symbolizing Buddha's light shining on all things.

The Brahma Palace

The whole palace shows the mixture of traditional cultural elements with Western architectural features. Many cultural heritage items and art works can be found there. Its splendid design surprises every visitor.