Although I started learning English during my college years, when I entered the States, I only understood two English words “Yes” and “No”. We learned many grammar rules but we could not make the language connections to the real English world. Language frustration worries almost all first generation immigrants. For example, I got a letter from a Chinese-American who has lived in the States for a long time and has a good IT job saying “My 11-year-old girl writes quite well, but as her parents, we could not even read her article.”In addition, my Chinese-American professor friend has difficulty reading a novel. Improving our English skills has become a long journey for all of us. Honestly, if I have a chance, I really want to reach out to everyone in the world who has had a similar experience: learning a second language in adulthood. I wish I could encourage them to speak out about the culture shock, frustration they felt about the differences between West and East.

     I have mainly focused on my English writing since 2008 after I found “Literacy Volunteers”, an organization that specially focuses on helping immigrants improve their English. I decided to challenge myself, writing a story like an American. I saw many wonderful Americans there. As soon as I met my teacher Alice, I asked her to be my private language tutor and have taken Tims English class. Every week Alice and I have worked on my English essays sentence by sentence.

     To observe the culture differences between West and East, occasionally, I posted a few of my English essays online. I mentioned previously about American culture; when people read the same article or even face the same situation, American and Chinese act very differently. In my viewpoint, these differences make America the strongest country in the world. I know you have the right to express your own opinions, but accusing others without proof is not acceptable.

    Up to 60 Shanghai maths teachers are to be brought to England to raise standards, in an exchange arranged by the Department for Education.The announcement comes as a campaign is launched to raise adult maths skills.A survey of 300 adults for the numeracy campaign found that over a third thought their level of maths had held them back.An accompanying economic analysis said that a lack of maths skills cost the UK 20 billion pounds per year.

    The plan to bring 60 English-speaking maths teachers from Shanghai is an attempt to learn from a city that has been the top performance in the OECD's Pisa tests.The OECD says that children of poor families in Shanghai are on average better at maths than middle class children in the UK.The Shanghai teachers, expected to arrive from the autumn, will help share their teaching methods, support pupils who are struggling and help to train other teachers.

    “We have some smart maths teachers in this country but what I saw in Shanghai-and other Chinese cities-has only strengthened my belief that we can learn from them.” said education minister, Elizabeth Truss, who has recently visited Shanghai, accompanied by head teachers from England, “They have a can-do attitude to maths-and I want us to match that, and their performance,” She stressed the economic significance of raising maths standards, for individuals and the country.'As part of our long term economic plan, we are determined to drive up standards in our schools and give our young people the skills they need to succeed in the global race.Good maths qualifications have the greatest earning potential and provide the strongest protection against unemployment,” said the education minister.

A warm drink of milk before bed has long been the best choice for those wanting a good night's sleep. But now a study has found it really does help people nod off—if it is milked from a cow at night.

    Researchers have discovered that “night milk” contains more melatonin(褪黑激素), which has been proven to help people feel sleepy and reduce anxiety.

    The study, by researchers from Seoul, South Korea, involved mice being fed with dried milk powder made from cows milked both during the day and at night.

    Those given night milk, which contained 10 times the amount of melatonin, were less active and less anxious than those fed with the milk collected during daytime, according to the study published in The Journal of Medicinal Food.

    Night milk quickened the start of sleep and caused the mice to sleep longer.

    While the effect of cow's milk harvested at different time has not been tested on humans up to now, taking melatonin drugs has been suggested to those who are struggling to fall asleep at night.

    Previous studies have also indicated that milk can be excellent for helping sleep because of the calcium content, which helps people to relax.

    Milk is also sugar-free and additive-free with nutritionists recommending skimmed milk as the best choice before bed as it is the least fattening. The more fat you take in before bedtime, the greater burden you will put on your body at night.

    The FBI is investigating the disappearance of a visiting Chinese scholar from a central Illinois university town as a kidnapping(绑架) as her whereabouts(下落) have remained unknown since Friday.

    Zhang Yingying, 26, was last seen on June 9 near the north end of the campus of the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign (UIUC), wearing a charcoal-colored baseball cap, a pink and white top, jeans and white tennis shoes and carrying a black backpack. She boarded a Champaign-Urbana Mass Transit District bus and exited the West Springfield and North Mathews avenues at 1:52 pm local time (1852 GMT), police said.

    The FBI has labeled the case as a kidnapping but isn't ruling out anything, said Campus police spokesman Patrick Wade. The suspect appears to be a white male who was in a car and stopped to talk to Zhang on Friday afternoon, the FBI said. Almost one month into a year long appointment at the UIUC campus, Zhang's friends told police that she was heading to an apartment complex in Urbana to sign a lease(租约).

    Security camera footage(连续镜头) on Monday released by university police showed that Zhang talked to the driver of a black Saturn Astra, about five blocks from where she got off a bus in Urbana on Friday afternoon. She entered the car shortly thereafter. Zhang has not been seen or heard from since then and attempts to contact her by phone remain unsuccessful. Authorities have asked the public to help identify that vehicle.

    A massive search has been launched in Urbana in the US state of Illinois since Zhang's disappearance. Police are interviewing with her colleagues, checking local hospitals and coordinating with ride hailing(打车) companies as part of their investigative efforts.

    In an interview with Xinhua through Wechat on Thursday, Zhang Ronggao, father of the ,missing visiting scholar from china's Fujian Province, expressed gratitude to all the people involved in the search and asked US police to accelerate the search.

    Held in Valencia, La Tomatina is a tomato-throwing activity that causes the number of people to increase to more than 40,000 in a town of just 9,000 persons.

    The festival takes place on the town's main square. At 11 o'clock, the third Wednesday in August every year, a large pole(杆) with a ham tied to the end of it is raised into the air, and there is a mad climb as people struggle against each other to pull it down. Once this is achieved, a rocket goes skywards and more than 100 tons of ripe tomatoes are tipped from trucks to the waiting crowd. For precisely one hour, until a second rocket is fired, everyone joins in a cheerful tomato battle.

    La Tomatina began in 1945, but it is not known why. Locals have many theories, including the popular tale of angry townsfolk attacking city councilmen(议员) during a town celebration. However, it could also have started because of anything from an anti-France protest or simply a fun food fight between friends. Whichever way it started, the townsfolk of Valencia enjoyed it so much that it was repeated year after year, finally becoming an officially recognized celebration in 1952. Despite being cancelled briefly during the 1970s for having no religious significance, it has returned every year since then.

    Most people come for the day, arriving on the morning train from Valencia and heading back in the afternoon. But if you want the full La Tomatina experience, stay for the week-long celebration which involves music, dancing, parades and fireworks. The night before the fight, a cooking competition is held where women traditionally dress in white, and men without shirts altogether.

    Protection for the fight is recommended—wear old clothes and shoes and a pair of glasses to protect your eyes. What you don't bring to La Tomatina is also important. The crazy tomato-throwers attack each other with all their strength: cameras are seen as positive invitations to throw at the owner.

    Can you imagine being able to remember every single experience of your life and every word in your favorite book? That's what Becky's life is like, and as wonderful as it sounds, it can also be quite terrifying at times.

    Three years ago  Becky was reading a newspaper article which mentioned that it was impossible for people to remember the details of their life in the first three years. "What nonsense (胡说八道)!" she thought, because she could clearly remember her life all the way back to when she was just 12 days old. Her parents had carried her to the driver's seat of their car and laid her down for a photo. But it wasn't nonsense. She was just one of only 80 known people who have a condition called HSAM(Highly Superior Autobiographical Memory).

    Becky's unusual condition was recently shown on a program called 60 minutes, where reporter Allison tested her ability by asking her questions about her favorite book series, Harry Potter. Allison would pick up a book and open a page and read her a line. Immediately Becky would name the book, chapter number, chapter name and could recite every word until Allison told her to stop.

    Being able to remember every little detail is a great ability, but as every person with HSAM will tell you, it can be very hard to deal with. Forgetting is one of the things we use to get over sad experiences in our lives, but it's something that people like Becky are unable to do. Even walking on the street and lightly bumping(撞) into somebody brings back memories from Becky's childhood, when a boy knocked her over. She's taken right back to that time, living the experience all over again. Also, like Becky, people with HSAM never do well in school, because they have problems filtering(过滤) through all the information, remembering only the important bits.

    Becky's special brain could help scientists find a way to treat people with terrible illnesses like Alzheimer's. Her condition could hold the secret to treating or even preventing Alzheimer's.