This column is part of a series on websites that are useful for English language learning.

Activities for ESL Students

    Includes various types of tests, exercises and puzzles designed to help people studying English as a second language（ESL）.The activities include grammar, vocabulary and idiom tests at easy, medium and difficult levels. The specially designed Chinese-English vocabulary tests can help Chinese memorize English words.

http://a4esl. org/

Interesting Things for ESL Students

    Contains a comprehensive list of audio clips（听力剪辑）from the Special English programs of Voice of America（VOA）.The list covers news of all kinds on VOA. The listening and vocabulary exercises and the word list designed with the clips will help English learners improve listening ability and increase vocabulary.

http://www.manythings.org/voa/

World-English

    This site provides a list of radio or TV channels offering English news clips. It includes the BBC radio program clips from England, CNN and ABC news clips from the US, and other news clips from other English-speaking countries. Click on the links and you will be taken to channels where you can listen to clips. This is a good way to practice listening.

http://www.world-english.org/listening.html

Listen to English

    Offers a large number of materials for English learners to practice listening. The materials include business English, English literature, history, movies, and politics. Students can improve their English while enjoying the beauty of the English of literature, songs, movies, and news in different countries.

http://eleaston.corn/listen, html

    Macao is only forty miles from Hong Kong and it is easy to reach. You can get there by sea. It is an interesting place and it has a long history. Macao is part of China and most people living there are Chinese.

    The first Europeans in Macao came from Portugal. More than four hundred years ago the Portuguese went there to trade with China. Some settled and made their homes there. They built strong forts（要塞）to guard the city and the harbor. They also built churches, schools, hospitals and other places. Slowly the city grew. People from many other countries came to live and work in Macao.

    Today many people live in Macao. Some only go there to watch dog-racing or motor-racing or to gamble（赌博）with their money. But Macao is a quiet and peaceful place. It is pleasant just to walk around and look at the old buildings and forts. You feel you are back in the old days. Of course，some of the buildings are now in ruins. The Church of St. Paul has only the front wall with many steps leading up to it. But it is still interesting to see.

    When you are hot and tired, there are small cool gardens to rest in. When you are hungry, there are good restaurants with many kinds of food. Nearby are some islands, which are also nice to visit and are easy to get in. There are certainly a lot to see and to do in Macao.

    A private sixth grade is set to start its lessons at 1.30 pm every day because the school's teacher thinks his students will study better after a morning lie-in (懒觉).

    Instead of rising early for a 9 am start, students at the ￡15,000-a-year Hampton Court House, in East Molesey, Surrey, will get to enjoy a lie-in and work from 1.30 pm until 7pm. Head teacher Guy Holloway says the move for all sixth grade students, set to begin from September, has been made according to research by scientists. He predicts (预测) that not only will his students aged 16 and upwards get great night's sleep, but their productivity (效率) will also be improved.

    The co-educational school will have the latest start time in the UK, and will be the only one to begin lessons in the afternoon.

    Experts say young people are programmed to get up later, and that rather than laziness it is simply a shift (转变) in their body clocks.

    There are 168 hours in a week and how productive they are depends on how they choose to use those hours,' said Mr Holloway. 'At Hampton Court House we don't think we have the answer for everybody; it's about what works in our school. We want to get them into a condition where they can get great sleep and study well.' He said students would also benefit from reduced journey times as they travel to and from school after rush hour (上下班高峰时间).

    Year 10 student Gabriel Purcell-Davis will be one of the first of 30 A-level students to start at the later time. 'I want to wake up in my bed, not in my maths lesson,' said the 15-year-old. Lessons for all other students at the school will still begin at 9 am as usual.

A Blessed Teacher

    I remembered Ricky came back to see me ten years after he was in my class. He told me how I had inadvertently(不经意地) changed his life.

    Ricky often gazed out the window during one of my ninth-grade history classes early in my teaching career. He was quiet, and his good grades and mild manner were why I did not move him away from the seat by the window.

    One day, I leaned over his shoulder and quietly asked, “What are you looking at? You gaze out of this window during every class.”

    He said, “I am looking at the band.”

    According to Ricky, I said, “If you like the band so much that you have to look at them during this class every day, I want you to go down to Mr. Overby (the band teacher) and tell him that I sent you. Tell him that you want to be in the band. Now turn around and finish working before the bell rings.”

    The next day Ricky went to Mr. Overby and told him I had sent him and he wanted to be in the band. He added that he did not know how to play any instrument.

    When Ricky visited me ten years later, he thanked me for telling him to go to Mr. Over by because he fell in love with music and discovered his musical talent that had not been tapped. His musical talent resulted in him getting a scholarship to college and earning a degree that now allowed him to provide for his family. Most of all, music had brought great pleasure and satisfaction to his life.

    After Ricky thanked me, I pointed out that he did all of the hard work it took to become the wonderfully talented person that he was. I did not make him walk downstairs to join the band, practice his instrument, and get the good grades that led to his college scholarship.

    Ricky responded that I could have yelled at him for looking out the window. Instead, I gave him an alternative that changed his whole life.

    After he left, I thought about his words. I realized that I was teaching children with every word I said, every action I took, and with every decision I made. Ricky's story raised my teaching bar. Most of all, I have never forgotten the lesson Ricky taught me, a blessed teacher.

    Have you ever noticed tiny raised areas on the branches of a tree? These may have been insects. These small insects feed on tree sap (汁液). Insects on urban trees are notably more abundant than those on rural trees. As a result, urban trees suffer from heavy infestations (害虫横行), and are often unhealthy or die. To protect and restore urban trees' health, we need to determine the factors that make these tree pests more successful in urban habitats.

    Living organisms interact closely with their environment. The warmer, more drought-stressed trees harbor more successful pests than cooler, less drought-stressed trees. As cities and natural habitats become hotter and drier, damaging insects will become more abundant on urban trees.

    Trees within urban forests are valuable economically and for the environmental sustainability (可持续性) of the region. More than half of the world's population lives in cities. Across the globe, people are moving into cities at a faster rate than ever. Rapid growth may turn cities into places with harder conditions. Although cities are primarily made of buildings, roads, parking lots, and vehicles, there are still plants in them. The trees within a city are referred to as the urban forest. Urban forests offer very big benefits to human and environmental health. They improve air and water quality, provide habitat for wildlife, cool down temperatures and beautify our environment. They make cities livable.

    However, being a city tree is not easy. Heat released by human activities is trapped in cities. As a result, temperatures in urban areas are often warmer than their surrounding rural areas. We call this urban warming or the urban heat island effect. Urban habitats are mostly made of surfaces of asphalt (沥青) and concrete. These surfaces reduce the amount of rainwater that reaches tree roots. As a result, urban forests may suffer, which can negatively affect people and the environment.

    What can we do to restore urban forests? Regular irrigation when possible may help keep pest populations under control. Planting tree species that are suitable to handle heat and drought stress would also reduce the occurrence of insect pest outbreaks.

    The spine (脊柱) stands at the center of your health, providing your body with structure and support. It also contains a major collection of nerves that deliver electric signals from the rest of the body to your brain. So it's important to take care of it.

    Staying in a good position is one of the most important things to keep your spine healthy. A proper position means standing or sitting while keeping your spins straight, except for its natural bending. Positions play a vital part even when you're asleep. Stomach sleeping is far from a good idea. Many people prefer sleeping on their side, which is in the interests of their spine. Sleeping on your back has lots of benefits yet can cause lower back pain and put some pressure on your spine.

    Staying still for too long — even if your position is good — can be hard on your back. Especially if you work at a task most of the day, it's important to get up and stretch (伸展) periodically. Strength exercises with light weights like push-ups can also help by strengthening the muscles. However, don't overdo the exercise, as repeated movements can hurt the muscles around the spine, as trying to lift heavy weights with poor technique.

    Vitamins also affect the health of your spine. In particular, vitamin B and omega-3 fatty acids help keep nerves healthy. Another important part is vitamin D, which is required for strong bones. Vitamin D can come from some foods, but it's also absorbed from sunlight, so it may help to do some exercises outside. At last, many of the actions necessary to keep a spine healthy are similar to those used to protect your health in other ways. So protect your back, and the rest of the body will benefit.