When her five daughters were young, Helene An always told them that there was strength in unity (团结). To show this, she held up one chopstick, representing oneperson. Then she easily broke it into two pieces. Next, she tied several chopsticks together, representing a family. She showed the girls it was hard to break the tied chopsticks. This lesson about family unity stayed with the daughters as they grew up.

Helene An and her family own a large restaurant business in California. However, when Helene and her husband Danny left their home in Vietnam in 1975, they didn't have much money. They moved their family to San Francisco. There they joined Danny's mother, Diana, who owned a small Italian sandwich shop. Soon afterwards, Helene and Diana changed the sandwich shop into a small Vietnamese restaurant. The five daughters helped in the restaurant when they were young. However, Helene did not want her daughters to always work in the family business because she thought it was too hard.

        Eventually the girls all graduated from college and went away to work for themselves, but one by one, the daughters returned to work in the family business. They opened new restaurants in San Francisco and Los Angeles. Even though family members sometimes disagreed with each other, they worked together to make the business successful. Daughter Elisabeth explains, "Our mother taught us that to succeed we must have unity, and to have unity we must have peace. Without the strength of the family, there is no business."

        Their expanding business became a large corporation in 1996, with three generations of Ans working together. Now the Ans' corporation makes more than $20 million each year. Although they began with a small restaurant, they had big dreams, and they worked together. Now they are a big success.

    A new study, conducted by British company Mindlab International, has found that listening to music at work increases accuracy and speed, The Telegraph reported. Perhaps, some parents disagree with this idea, saying, "Switch off the music and concentrate!" Well, if that's the case with your parents, you might now be able to convince them that you have science on your side.

    The company gave 26 participants a series of different tasks for five days in a row, including spell checking, mathematical word problems, data entry, and abstract reasoning. The participants completed these tasks while listening to music or no music at all.

    The results showed that while music was playing, 88% of participants produced their most accurate test results and 81% completed their fastest work. David Lewis, chairman of Mindlab International, told The Telegraph, "Music is a very powerful management tool if you want to increase not only the efficiency of your workforce but also their emotional state... they are going to become more positive about the work."

    However, you may have a list of your favorite songs, but not all kinds of music match all homework. For maths or other subjects involving numbers or attention to detail, you should listen to classical music, the study found. In the study, pop music enabled participants to complete their tasks 58% faster than when listening to no music at all. If you are reviewing your English writing, pop music is the best choice, as it is the best kind for spell checking. It cut mistakes by 14%, compared to listening to no music. After finishing your homework, do you often take time to check your answers? Maybe, some dance music is suitable for you.

Cycling or even walking in city areas can be a little dangerous, thanks to the fact that one is sharing the road with vehicles that are increasingly getting larger and heavier. A recent study proves that of the 1.27million people that die in road traffic crashes each year, about half are walkers, motorcyclists and cyclists. Now there may be a solution that could provide at least some help to protect this helpless group—an airbag!

    If you are worried that this safety measure will involve you taking around a heavy package or worse still, wrapping yourself inside an ugly plastic bag, the bag is fitted not on the human, but on the outside of the vehicle. And, while there are several versions of the idea in the works, the one most recently unveiled by Dutch car company TNO, seems to be the most advanced and ready to go into production.

    In the works since 2011, the airbag covers only the lower part of the windshield. This will provide the much needed buffer(缓冲)between the person's head and the pane of glass he/she would otherwise meet.

The chain of events leading to an airbag cause are quite simple—A camera fitted beneath the rear-view mirror monitors the vehicle's closeness to a walker or cyclist. Any contact with either one of them sets off the sensors in the car's bumper and quickly blows up the airbag. In addition to that the sensors also set off the car's automatic brake, reducing the chances if an even worse injury.

    In tests conducted using a model, the success of not getting injured after being hit by a car travelling at about 40km/h was about 50-50! While not perfect, it will still result in reducing the number of deaths by a huge amount.

    With TNO ready to license its technology to car makers and many more companies trying to develop similar concepts, we would not be surprised if outer airbags become a standard feature in every car pretty soon.

    Teachers say the digital age has had a good influence and a not-so-good influence on this generation of American teenagers. More than 2,000 high school teachers took an online survey.

    75 percent of the teachers said the Internet and digital search tools have had a “mostly positive” effect on  their students' research habits and skills. But 87 percent agreed that these technologies "make the students not have enough attention.” And 64 percent said the technologies “do more to distract students than to help them academically.”Many students think “doing research” now means just doing a quick search on Google.

    Judy Buchanan is a director of the National Writing Project. Ms. Buchanan says digital research tools are helping students learn more, and learn faster. Teachers really like these tools, because they are ways to make some of learning exciting. Young people enjoy using these tools. And the goal is to help them become creative students of meaningful work, and not just that kind of copyist.

    But one problem the survey found is that many students don't have a good understanding of how to use the digital knowledge well. In other words, they trust(信任) too much of the information. Judy Buchanan says these students have not developed the skills they need to tell whether the online information is good or bad.

    Another problem the survey found is something that might not seem like a problem, at all, being able to quickly find information online. Teachers say the ability of their students to work hard to find answers is becoming weaker. They say students depend too much on search engines (引擎) and do not make enough use of printed books or research, librarians.

    Besides, many teachers are also worried about the problem that the Internet makes it easy for students to copy work done by others, instead of using their own abilities.

    Frank Woolworth was born in Rodman, New York, in 1852. His family were very poor farmers, and there was never enough to eat. Frank decided he did not want to be a farmer. He took a short business course, and went to work as a salesman in a large city.

    Woolworth realized he had a natural skill for showing goods to attract people's interest, but he soon learned something more important. One day his boss told him to sell some odds and ends (小商品) for as much as he could get. Frank put all these things on one table with a sign which said FIVE CENTS EACH. People fought and pushed to buy the things and the table was soon cleared.

    Soon afterwards, Woolworth opened his own store, selling goods at five and ten cents. But he had another lesson to learn before he became successful. That is, if you want to make money by selling low-price goods, you have to buy them in large quantities directly from the factories. Once, for example, Woolworth went to Germany and placed an order for knives. The order was so large that the factory had to keep running 24 hours a day for a whole year. In this way, the price of the knives was cut down by half.

    By 1919, Woolworth had over 1000 stores in the US and Canada, and opened his first store in London. He made many millions and his name became famous throughout the world. He always run his business according to strict rules, of which the most important was: “ THE CUSTOMER IS ALWAYS RIGHT.”

    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 about English language training from newspapers.

    You may find the information you need.

    Global English Center

    General English in all four skills：listening, speaking, reading, and writing.

    3-month(700yuan), 6-month(1200yuan)and one-year(2000yuan)courses.

    Choice of morning or evening classes, 3 hours per day. Mon-Fri.

    Experienced college English teachers.

    Close to city center and bus stops.

    Tel：67605272 Add：105 Zhongshan Road, 100082.

    Modern Language School

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

    Small classes(12-16 students)on Sat. ＆Sun. From 2∶00-5∶00pm.

    Native English teachers from Canada and USA.

    Language lab and computers supplied.

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

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

    Tel：67353019

    The 21st Century English raining Center

    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 800yuan.

    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 center.

    Call 67801642 for more information.

    The International House of English

    Three/Six-month English courses for students of all levels at very low cost：60yuan for 13 hours per week; convenient class hours：9∶00－12∶00am and 2∶00－5∶00pm.

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

    Well-trained Chinese and foreign teachers experienced in teaching English as a second/foreign language. Free sightseeing and social activities. Very close to Central Park.

    For further information call 67432308.