Here are some tips on listening. We hope it can help you in one way or another.
●Relax yourself.
Before you start to listen to something, You need to relax.
{#blank#}1{#/blank#} This will help you with your listening.
●Listen carefully to the first sentence.
{#blank#}2{#/blank#} For example, if eyou hear“Many shops in many parts of China have decided to take away all kinds of Japanese goods off their shelves, but some people say it's not a good idea. Our reporter says…”,you know you will hear a piece of news, not a children's story or a science report.
●Think when you're listening.
{#blank#}3{#/blank#} For example, you can think of the following questions: What happened? When , where and how? What was the result and what does the speaker want to tell us? In this way, you may undersrand the passage better.
●Listen for important facts.
{#blank#}4{#/blank#} For example, if the passage is a science report, you should try to remember its findings , and how the scientists got their results.
●Don't think about one or two words for too long.
You may hear some words that you don't know. But don't spend too much time on them.
{#blank#}5{#/blank#} But you can remember some words or sentences that you think are important, and you can use them when you're answering the questions.

    Listening to songs is a great way to learn English. Here are a few reasons.

    {#blank#}1{#/blank#}. And when you are enjoying yourself, you learn without even realizing it. The best thing is that there are so many good songs in English and there are so many kinds of music, including pop, country, R&B, rock, soul and so on. Let David Bowie, Madonna, The Beatles, Alicia Keys...be your teachers!

    {#blank#}2{#/blank#}. Just take your MP3 player with your favorite tracks and press “play”. And you can listen to them whenever and whatever you want, so you can learn English while you're walking, driving, doing sports or relaxing on the sofa.

    {#blank#}3{#/blank#}. While you're listening to songs, you are raising your awareness of language structures. And you're seeing how the structures are formed and used.

    {#blank#}4{#/blank#}. And after singing along to the songs several times, all those phrases and expressions will become firmly fixed in your long-term memory. Then later you'll find that you use them naturally when you're speaking or writing.

    {#blank#}5{#/blank#}. For example, the song American Pie is about the 1959 plane crash that killed Buddy Holly, Ritchie Valens and the The Big Bapper, which was an important event in US history.

    So, load up your MP3 player, put on your headphones and press “play”!

A. Learning English by listening to music is easy, too.

B. Songs can also teach you about history, culture and traditions.

C. Songs are full of useful language that you can use when you're speaking and writing.

D. Songs are good for developing your understanding of English grammar.

E. Listening to music is fun.

    Children know that summer is probably the most fun of all seasons. However, experts say it is also the most dangerous, especially, for children aged 14 and under. In its first study of children's safety in the US, the National Safe Kids Campaign(NSKC) founds that nearly half of the injury-related(与受伤相关的) deaths among children happened in summer.

    Experts are not surprised by the study's results. They always know summer is a dangerous season for children. During the summer, children are out of the school and spend more time outdoors. They are more likely to get into an accident or be injured. “While we encourage children to be active and spend more time outdoors, they need to understand the importance of safety,” said Everett Koop, an expert of the NSKC.

    To help children say safe, the NSKC started a “Make it a Safe Kids Summer” campaign during National Safe Kids Week, from May 5 through May 12. Here are some important summer safety tips from the NSKC:

    Always wear your seat belt.

    Make sure there is an adult around when you decide to go swimming.

    Wear a life jacket when on a boat or doing water sports.

    Obey all traffic rules.

Language Learning Tips

    Singing in the Shower One of the most pleasant ways to practice a new language is to sing your favorite songs while you're taking a shower. Then you can take a look at the lyrics to see if you've missed any words. Have fun, but don't waste too much water

—By Maria

    Don't Worry About Mistakes! Don't worry too much about mistakes. It's a part of learning a new language and you'll learn much more quickly by having a try at speaking than by saying nothing. In fact. People are only pleased to hear you trying to speak their language and think it's OK if you don't get it exactly right

—By Lee

    Talk to Your Animal Friends I talk to my pets in other languages, give them a common name in that language, and have them talk back in the language. My dog Ben, seems to understand me well even in a new language.

—By Keith

    Record Your Voice Listen to the made by a native speaker. Read the same text and record your voice. Now listen to both of them carefully to find out the differences and the weak points in your pronunciation. It's a great way to improve your speaking skills

—By Shirin

    Scientists are trying to make the deserts into good land again. They want to bring water to the deserts, so people can live and grow food. They are learning a lot about the deserts. But more and more of the earth is becoming deserts all the time. Scientists may not be able to change the deserts. People are doing bad things to the earth.

    Some places on the earth don't get much rain. But they still don't become deserts. This is because some green plants are growing there. Small green plants and grass are very helpful to dry places. Plants don't let the hot sun make the earth even drier. Plants don't let the wind blow the earth away. When a little bit of rain falls, the plants hold the water. Without the plants, the land can become a desert much more easily.

How to be a friend of yourself?

We often pay attention to developing relationships with others. However, we forget the basic step: being friends of ourselves. How can we have good relationships with others if we don't even have good relationships with ourselves?{#blank#}1{#/blank#}.

First, forgive(原谅) yourself. It's true that you are not perfect, and neither is everybody else. It's normal for everyone to make mistakes.{#blank#}2{#/blank#}.

Second, accept things you can't change. There are many things you cannot change, such as your background and past.{#blank#}3{#/blank#}If you face the things you can't change, just smile and move on.

Third, focus on(聚焦于) your achievements. You can try making a list of your achievements, which do not have to be big things. There are a lot of small but important achievements in our life.{#blank#}4{#/blank#}

Last but not least, stop comparing yourself with others. You are unique.{#blank#}5{#/blank#} Your success is not determined(决定) by other people. Instead, it is determined by your own life purpose.