Most visitors come to the UK expecting the rain and weather for which the country is famous. However, when summer finally arrives, British people like nothing more than heading for the coast. Here are some of more famous places of interest that you could expect to visit on a trip to Britain. Black pool, in the northwest of England, is the most visited place in the UK. Each year around 6.5 to 7 million people come to enjoy the miles of sandy beaches, the 158m Black pool Tower and the 11km-long Golden Mile, where there are entertainments, pubs, ice rinks (溜冰场) and even a zoo. On the south coast of the country you can find Brighton. Until 1786, Brighton was a sleepy village. Then the future king, George IV, decided to build a house there, and now it has become a large, international centre. Apart from the beaches, Brighton is famous for its pier (码头). There are theatres, entertainments and restaurants there. Brighton is also fantastic for shopping. If you want to travel a little further, why not go to Cornwall in the far southwest of the UK? South Cornwall offers miles of sandy beaches and beautiful scenery. The climate there is warmer than the rest of Britain, and you can even find palm trees. For a bit more excitement, go to North Cornwall. The scenery there is nicer, and the beaches are famous for their powerful waves. As a result, North Cornwall has become the home of British surfing. One word of warning though, if you are using the roads in the UK during holidays, you can expect long traffic jams on the motorways. It might be better to take the train.

    The English language has a lot of words which can be used in many different ways and in many different expressions.

    One such example is the word matter. In fact, matter can mean just about anything. It could be one of the most useful words in the English language.

    Let's get to the heart of the matter —a matter of principle(原则).

    If someone says that you owe(欠) him $50, but you don't, a friend might say, “Well, you could pay him the $50. It's not that much money. Then you won't have to hear him say it anymore. But if you do not owe him the money, do not pay him the money. It's a matter of principle.

    There is another way to use the word matter. But be careful with your choice of words.

    If you ask someone, “What's the matter?”, it shows you are worried about the other person. But saying, “What's the matter with you?” has a completely different meaning. And it usually sounds rude (粗鲁的). In fact, when you say, “What's the matter with you?” you are suggesting that the person did something wrong or stupid.

    Another expression that could sound rude is to say, “It doesn't matter to me.” Here, it depends on the context, and how you say it.

    Let's say you tell someone that a friend just got a big raise at work. That person answers with, “It doesn't matter to me.” Here, it means he or she does not care. And it sounds rude.

    But saying, “Oh, you pick where we eat dinner. It doesn't matter to me.” does not sound rude. In this situation, “it doesn't matter” shows you are easy-going(随和的).

    No matter how you look at it and what you say, matter is a very useful word. And it's only a matter of time before you will become an expert on the use of matter.

    I was raised in a house where my sisters and I weren't trusted by our mother to manage our own appearance. As a result, there were rules, and trends were largely ignored. A few years ago, I was home for a visit when my mom, now in her early 70s, called me into her bedroom. We were about ready to leave for dinner. “I don't know what to wear” she complained “You girls always look so good. ”

    I paused in the doorway and looked at her, wondering if I'd misheard. “What do you mean?” I asked her. “You know what to wear" No. ”she answered. “I don't. Can you pick something?” I was so surprised.

    This was the same woman who, in 1989, told my younger sister she wasn't allowed to leave the house wearing a pair of ripped(有破洞的)jeans；the same woman who, in high school, called me while l was out at a party to ask if my hair was up. “You look better with it down, ”she told me, before I could answer I realized, suddenly, that my mother—always so strong—not only wanted my opinion, but needed it. I pulled a pair of blue jeans from the closet and a light blue sweater from her drawer “Wear this with your black shoes, ”I told her. She did My mother certainly doesn't need anyone to take care of her. In fact, she still cares for my grandmother who lives with her. But with that one question, my mother and I started the role reversal(转变)that happens with all parents and all children, from caregiver to receiver.

    Now, if I'm visiting or we're together, it's rare for her to wear anything without checking with me first. But every so often, it seems like she asks me just to be able to disagree with my answer and pick out something on her own. And when she does, I just tell her what I think of the way she looks. Sometimes it's “great”. And sometimes it's "awful."

    Don't we all know a "Happy Meal" when we see one—the famous boxed meal that includes a hamburger, kid-sized French fries, fruits and milk, served with a toy that's extremely popular with children who love to collect them?

    A Happy Meal is a form of kids' meal sold at a certain fast-food chain since 1979. A toy is included in the meal, both of which are usually contained in a box or paper bag. However, collectors of these little toys will not get them any longer, since the company will replace toys with books and each of these books will mainly pass on nutritional messages.

    Happy Meals are extremely popular with kids, especially for their collectable toys, when you consider that over 1.3 billion of these packages are sold each year. These packages have been very controversial. Health supporters believe that drawing kids to these meals with toys is clever way of promoting unhealthy food choices. They see it as an advertising strategy of "catching its customers young"—a move that has paid off very well for the fast-food company.

    Child development experts say that food habits get formed in children by age six and continue through to their adult life. Fatty and sugary foods such as those served in Happy Meals are believed to play a big role in growing health problems such as obesity and diabetes. Public health care costs have gone up and untold amounts of money have been spent on coping with these health problems. On November 2, 2010, the San Francisco Board of Supervisors passed a law requiring that children's meals sold in restaurants must meet certain nutritional standards before they could be sold with toys, to overcome the problem of childhood obesity—in other words, the State of California tried to ban the toys in Happy Meals. However, it was strongly opposed by some as being heavy-handed, and the ban was thrown out by the government.

    While some people believe that the fast-food company, with its large following of children, can create a powerful message through the books, others believe its actions are contradictory. Anyway, the company is trying to spread the message of nutrition while it is serving food that is anything but healthy.

Friends play an important part in our lives, and although we may take friendship for granted, we often don't clearly understand how to make friends. While we get on well with a number of people, we are usually friends with only a very few — for example, the average among students is about 6 per person. In all the cases of friendly relationships, two people like one another and enjoy being together, but beyond that, the degree of intimacy between them and the reasons for their shared interests vary greatly. As we get to know people, we take into account things like age, race, economic condition, social position, and intelligence. Although these factors are not of great importance, it is more difficult to get on with people when there is a marked difference in age and background.

Some friendly relationships can be kept on argument and discussion, but it is usual for close friends to have similar ideas and beliefs, the same opinions and interests — they often talk about "being on the same wavelength". It generally takes time to reach this point. And the more intimately involved people become, the more they depend on one another. People who want to be friends have to learn to put up with annoying habits and to stand differences.

In contrast with marriage, there are no friendship ceremonies to strengthen the association between two people. But the supporting and understanding of each other that results from shared experiences and emotions does seem to create a powerful bond, which can overcome differences in background, and break down barriers of age, class or race.

German cities are redrawing road markings to create new cycle paths for the duration of the Covid-19 lockdown, as cyclists demand more space to physically distance on their way to work.

Local authorities in the Kreuzberg district of Berlin trialled (试行) temporary widening of two cycle paths on 27 March, arguing it would help cyclists keep the required 1.5-metre distance apart while car traffic was down owing to Germans' coronavirus (冠状病毒) restrictions.

On Friday, the council declared the plan a success because it had improved cycling safety while not blocking traffic.

The council said it had used removable tape and mobile signs to mark out the widened paths, which can be removed when the current restrictions on movement are lifted.

Residents in 133 other German cities have formally submitted applications for similar pop-up bike paths to their local authorities on the back of a campaign by Environmental Action Germany (DUH), an environmental NGO.

The campaign group cites new research linking air pollution to higher coronavirus death rates as an argument for redrawing road signs across the country. "The coronavirus is showing us that clean air is necessary," said DUH's chair, Jurgen Resch. "It is now especially important to temporarily make it more important for people to move safely on their bikes. This will help improve air quality, enable exercise in fresh air while keeping a safe distance and avoid unnecessary accidents."

In Germany, bike repair shops are allowed to work because of the Covid-19 going on. Three federal states, Berlin, Saxony-Anhalt and Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, have allowed bike shops to stay open.