Audio digital books(有声图书) are becoming more and more popular these days. One of the reasons for this is that audio digital books can be "read" in many places comfortably.

    The first favorite place of many people is in bed, before going to sleep. Many people like to just lie in bed in the dark before they fall asleep at night. This would be the perfect time to listen to an audio digital book. If you read a usual book, the lights have to be turned on and you have to turn the pages with your hand. An audio book can just be listened to while a person stays comfortably in bed.

    The next favorite place to listen to audio digital books would be in the kitchen. For some people, kitchen chores are boring. Audio digital books provide good entertainment, and people don't need to turn pages.

    An audio digital book is a favorite while a person is gardening. It can help take a person's mind off the job at hand. It can be fun and exciting to do gardening with the help of the book.

    An audio digital book is a favorite while a person is exercising. It allows the mind to be free while the legs, body and arms are kept busy. This would be a great place to listen to these books.

    The years from A.D 500 to 1450 are called the Middle ages. Sometimes they are also called the Dark Ages since few people had an education during that time. Still, there were lots of new ideas and inventions. Many of them came from China.

    Animals, including insects, do not have a language like ours. They do not talk to each other in words and sentences. But if we watch them, we can see that they do have ways of communicating with each other.

    Can you see the rabbit's tail which is moving up and down? When rabbits see this white tail moving up and down, they run too. They know that there is danger. The rabbit has told them something without making a sound. It has done this by using its body language.

    Many other animals use this kind of language. When a cobra is angry, it raises its hood and makes itself look fierce. This warns other animals. When a bee has found some food, it goes back to its home. It cannot tell the other bees where the food is by speaking to them, but it does a little dance in the air. This tells the bees where the food is.

    Some animals say things by making sounds. A dog barks, for example, when a stranger comes near. A cat purrs when pleased. Some birds make several different sounds, each with its own meaning. Sometimes we human beings speak in the same way. We make sounds like "Oh" or "Ah!" when we are frightened or pleased or when we drop something on our toes.

    But we have something that no animals have—a large number of words that have the meanings of things, actions, feelings or ideas. We are able to give each other all kinds of different information in words and sentences, which no other animals can do. No other animals have so wonderful a language as we have.

    When someone says, "Well, I guess I'll have to face the music", it doesn't mean that he is planning to go to hear a singer or attend a concert. It is something far sadder than you are called in by your leader to explain why you did this and that or why you did not do this or that.

    At some time or another, every one of us has to "face the music", especially as children. We can all remember Father's angry words "I want to talk to you". And only because we did not listen to him. What a bad thing it was!

    In the middle or at the end of every term, we students have to "face the music". The result of the exam will decide whether we will face the music or not. If.…that means parents' cold faces and contempt (轻蔑) of the teachers and classmates.

    The American novelist James Fennimore Cooper said in 1851 that the expression "face the music" was first used by actors while waiting aside to go on stage. When it was their turn to go on the stage, they often said, "It's time to face the music." An actor might be frightened or nervous as he moved onto the stage in front of the audience because they might be friendly, or perhaps they are hostile, especially if he forgot what he would say. But he had to go out. If he did not, there would be no play. He would lose his job.

    "To face the music" is well known to every American, young or old. It is at least 100 years old. It really means that you have to do something, no matter how terrible the whole thing might be, because you know you have no choice.

    The coffee shop Starbucks will give people a discount if they bring their own cups. It wants to cut down on the number of paper cups that are put in the rubbish bins. It is part of a two-month experiment in cafes in England. Starbucks wants to reduce waste and recycle more, The president of Starbucks in the UK said, "We are very happy to increase recycling rates(比率)，and reusable cups are a key part of our waste reduction plan." Bosses will decide later if they will continue the discounts. People who bring their own cups will not get a discount on the cafe's cheaper filter coffee.

    The problem of paper cups has been in the news a lot. Around seven million cups are thrown away every day. Reporters say that some cafes lie about how many paper cups they recycle. The reporters say the cafes do not recycle as many cups as they say. Customers wrongly believe that a coffee shop is environmentally friendly. Less than one in 400 paper cups at coffee shops are recycled. A coffee drinker said she would bring her own cup. She said, "I am so sad that cafes recycle so little. I thought they were more responsible."