If you are going to Europe, you might consider taking some time to visit Provence. Whether you are interested in beautiful places, ancient history, good food, or music and theater, Provence has something to offer to you.
Provence once was a Roman province and is in the southeast of France now. You will be attracted by its green hills, olive trees, and old towns with pretty houses. Visitors can find forests, colorful flowers, horses, and people with smiles there. Provence is also "the city of dream in Europe." Some people say it is Provence that makes France so romantic. The palace should play an important part in the romantic stories.
The Flowers: Provence is the hometown of lavenders and sunflowers. Lavender means "waiting for love". It also means beautiful. The mountains of Lubero is the most beautiful area across France. And there are also many kinds of lavenders. Compared with the fantastic flowers Lavender, sunflower is a lot warmer. Under the sunlight, thousands of yellow sunflowers are smiling at the sun.
The Food: The people there are well-known for keeping their traditional lifestyles. And in the restaurant, you will have the experience of eating the food that has the too much use of olive oil. The food is fresh and healthy. All the things make Provence become the heaven to those who like delicious food.
The other activities: Provence is the Kingdom of city. They hold many parties, dance, and festivals. You can even see a bullfight in the towns of Arles and Nimes, or enjoy great shows with the famous stars.
May to July are the best tourist months. Not only the red sky, the sweet smell of olive, but also the wonderful lavenders, make Provence send out the breath of romantic.

    We know music is very important in our daily life. Do you notice music playing at any of those places when you go somewhere? Today most stores, stations, restaurants and other places play music. You might even hear music in an office or on a farm.

Scientists believe that music influences the way people behave. They think that the sound of western classical music makes people feel richer. When a restaurant plays classical music, people spend more money on food and drinks. When the restaurant plays modern music, people spend less money. Without music, people spend even less. Scientists also believe that loud, fast music makes people eat faster. Some restaurants play fast music during their busy hours. This makes people eat faster and leave quickly. Restaurants can make more money in this way.

Some scientists think that music makes you think and learn better. They say that music helps students to be more active. It is true that people learn better when they are relaxed. And listening to music can help you relax.

The next time you hear music somewhere, be careful. It might influence the way you do things.

    When you are learning English, you find it not clever to put an English sentence, word for word, into your own language. Take the sentence "How do you do?" for example. If you look up each word in the dictionary, one at a time, what is your translation? It must be a wrong sentence in your own language.

    Languages don't just have different sounds; they are different in many ways. It's important to master the rules for the word order in the study of English, too. If the speaker puts words in a wrong order, the listener can't understand the speaker's sentence easily. Sometimes when the order of words in an English sentence is changed, the meaning of the sentence changes. But sometimes when the order is changed, the meaning of the sentence doesn't change. Let's see the difference between the two pairs of sentences.

    "She only likes apples." "Only she likes apples." "I have seen the movie already." "I have already seen the movie."

    When you are learning English, you must do your best to get the spirit of the language and use it as the English speaker does.

    Do you have a special talent or skill but there is no one that enjoys it? If so, you might want to go to Christ church, New Zealand, for the World Buskers Festival.

    January is summer time in New Zealand, and the entertainment (娱乐活动 ) takes place outside. However, this is not the typical outdoor music concert or festival you have known. The buskers-people who perform on the streets and in other public places—bring the city to life with amazing entertainment.

    The event begins in late January and attracts (吸引) around 300,000 visitors every year with about 500 performances. The performances include the circus(马戏表演) and magic acts, street dancing and singing, and other crazy forms of entertainment.

    One of the best things about the festival is how well it attracts many people, from the youngest to the oldest .Laughs are everywhere, especially when unprepared visitors are asked to become a pan of the performance.

    The festival director says, "We have performers from all over the world. Most of the performances are free, so it means you can bring your family and spend a whole day here."

    There's something for everyone at the World Buskers Festival, one of the biggest and most popular street festivals in the world.

    For most people in the West, Valentine's Day(情人节) ends on February 15, but here in Japan it's not quite over until March 15. March 14-exactly one month after Valentine's Day--is White Day in Japan.

    To really understand what White Day is all about, you have to understand what Valentine's Day in Japan is like. Japanese Valentine's Day is all about men getting presents. Japanese women are usually too shy to show their love, though it might not be true today. Valentine's Day is a great chance to let women show their feelings. Men should return gifts to women on White Day.

    On both days, chocolate is the gift of choice. More often, the colour of the chocolate is white because of the name of the day. You can also buy flowers, candy or cookies.

    Does it sound good to you? Don't get too excited when you get chocolate from Japanese girls! They give chocolate not only to their loved ones, but also to men such as bosses( 老板) and male(男性的) friends.

    The Japanese first celebrated White Day in 1978. Now it is also celebrated in South Korea and Taiwan, China.