Buttons are found on all sorts of clothing. They are usually small and round and made of metal or plastic. They fasten, or connect, one piece of clothing to another. They make sure your clothes don't fall off. When we are speaking or writing m English, buttons can be just as useful.

    Men or women often wear button-down clothes to the office. Button-down as an adjective means to be conservative（保守的）or traditional. People who are described as buttoned-down stay close as possible to the normal way of dressing and behaving. They don't wear crazy clothing or do unusual things. People and events can both be described as buttoned-down.

    If someone is buttoned-up, he or she seems very business-like. In personal relationships, a buttoned-up person is cold and standoffish, meaning they physically and emotionally keep away from others. Buttoned-up people are not warm or friendly. And they do not share their inner thoughts and feelings with others.

    In the expression “button up”, button is a verb. It means to stop talking. Now, let's say you find yourself buttonholed in a conversation at a party. The person just keeps talking and talking and talking! Finally, you can't take it any longer. You tell the person to button it! This is a direct, but unacceptable way of saying “stop talking”. Button you lip is another equally rude but effective to stop a person who talks too much.

    Another kind of difficult person is someone who pushes your buttons. To push someone's buttons means to know exactly how to get that person angry or upset. People who like to push other people s buttons usually do it for selfish reasons. First they find a person's weak point. Then they use it to upset him.

    Washington, D.C. Bicycle Tours

    Cherry Blossom Bike Tour in Washington, D.C.

    Duration: 3 hours

    This small group bike tour is a fantastic way to see a world-famous cherry trees with beautiful flowers of Washington, D.C. Your guide will provide a history lesson about the trees and the famous monuments where they blossom. Reserve your spot before availability — the cherry blossoms—disappear!

    Washington Capital Monuments Bicycle Tour

    Duration: 3 hours (4 miles)

    Join a guided bike tour and view some of the most popular monuments in Washington, D.C. Explore the monuments and memorials on the National Mall as your guide shares unique facts and history at each stop. Guided tour includes bike, helmet, cookies and bottled water.

    Capital City Bike Tour In Washington, D.C.

    Duration: 3 hours

    Morning or Afternoon, this bike tour is the perfect tour for D. C. newcomers and locals looking to experience Washington, D.C. in a healthy way with minimum effort. Knowledgeable guides will entertain you with the most, interesting stories about Presidents, Congress, memorials, and parks. Comfortable bikes and a smooth tour route(路线) make cycling between the sites fun and relaxing.

Washington Capital Sites at Night Bicycle Tour

    Duration: 3 hours (7miles)

    Join a small group bike tour for an evening of exploration in the heart of Washington, D.C. Get up close to the monuments and memorials as you bike the sites of Capitol Hill and the National Mall. Frequent stops are made for photo taking as your guide offers unique facts and history. Tour includes bike, helmet, and bottled water. All riders are equipped with reflective vests and safety lights.

    Some students prefer a part-time job after class to earn some money and improve themselves. Here are some good companies:

    IN-N-Out Burger

    It is the best hamburger shop in the west of America. Regarded as one of the best employers, it offers flexible hours and the highest part-time salaries(薪水). Above all, the company treats its employees the way they would like to be treated: like family. However, there is no discount offered to its employees.

    Position: selling assistant (experience required)

    Website: www.in-n-out.cm

    Starbucks Coffee

    Starbucks has been at the forefront(前沿) of the United States' coffee revolution. Working hours are flexible. Fit twenty hours of work into your week. There is also a 30% discount and a free pound of coffee or box of tea every week.

    Position: assistant coffee taster(experience required)

    Website: www.Starbucks.Com

    Whole Foods Market

    Whole Foods Market is the world's largest natural and organic food selling company. With its focus on organic ingredients, Whole Foods Market is all about health. Working hours are flexible. Benefits include paid-time off and a 20% discount so you can eat like a king or at least like a top chef in training. There are also training courses on health and food every week.

    Position: secretary

    Website:www.wholefoodsmarket.com.

    Lands' End

    Lands' End is a Wisconsin-based clothes store that focuses on casual comfort and warmth for the great outdoors. Employees(even part-time employees) have the chance to go to a company-owned entertainment centre and get a 25% discount on theme parks and movies, and an invitation to the yearly company picnic. Besides, for part-time employees, working hours are flexible and they can come to work anytime they like as long as they work for 4 hours a day.

    Position: salesperson

    Website: www. landsend.com

    There are two main things that make aircraft engineering difficult: the need to make every component as reliable as possible and the need to build everything as light as possible. The fact that an airplane is up in the air and can't stop if anything goes wrong, makes it perhaps a matter of life or death that its performance is completely dependable.

    Given a certain power of engine, and consequently a certain fuel consumption, there is a practical limit to the total weight of aircraft that can be made to fly. Out of that weight as much as possible is wanted for fuel, radio navigational instruments, passenger seats, or freight room, and of course, the passengers or freight themselves. So the structure of the aircraft has to be as small and light as safety and efficiency will allow. The designer must calculate the normal load that each part will bear. This specialist is called the "stress man." He takes notice of any unusual stress that may be put on the part as a precaution against errors in manufacture, accidental damage etc.

    The stress man's calculations go to the designer of the part, and he must make it as strong as the stress man says is necessary. One or two small parts are always tested to prove that they are as strong as the designer intended. Each separate part is tested, then a whole assembly—for example, a complete wing, and finally the whole aeroplane. When a new type of aeroplane is being made, normally only one of the first three made will be flown. Two will be destroyed on the ground in strict tests. The third one will be tested in the air.

    When a plane has passed all the tests it can get a government certificate of airworthiness, without which it is illegal to fly, except for test flying.

    Making the working parts reliable is as difficult as making the structure strong enough. The flying controls, the electronic equipment, the fire precautions, etc. must not only be light in weight, but must work both at high altitudes where the temperature may be below freezing point and in the hot air of an airfield in the tropics.

    To solve all these problems the aircraft industry has a large number of research workers, with elaborate laboratories and test houses, and new materials to give the best strength in relation to weight are constantly being tested.

    When Kevin Durant gave his tearful MVP speech in 2014, the NBA star made sure to thank one person who had been there with him from the very beginning: his mother. His heartfelt words about the sacrifices she made for Durant and his brother led to a lifetime movie about her journey as a single parent, The Real MVP: The Wanda Durant Story.

    Today, the NBA superstar's mom travels the country as a motivational speaker and philanthropist (慈善家). On Monday, she spoke at Thomson Reuters' in New York about her personal struggles to achieve financial stability and shared the financial advice she gave her son when he entered the league with CNBC.

    “I wanted him to realize he has worked hard," she says, "And it is OK for him to enjoy himself because of his hard work. But it is also imperative that he prepares for his future.” While she advised him to enjoy the rewards of his labor, she also wanted to make sure that her son knew the importance of financial planning.

    She told the audience that when she found herself a single parent to two children at 21, she couldn't follow the financial principles. Rather than planning for the future, she focused only on how her money could make ends meet for that moment.

Recently, Durant has teamed up with Laurene Powell Jobs for a new philanthropic program called College Track which is aimed at helping disadvantaged kids attend college. As part of the program, Durant has committed to donating $10 million to his hometown's public school system.

    Durant's mom says that in addition to his financial decisions, she is proud of his philanthropic work and his desire to help the community. “I thought giving back was always very important, and so we talked about that and he had seen that from us as a family and it's one of the things that I taught him," she says.

Hearing aids usually bring to mind images of ugly, ineffective devices mainly worn by the elderly. But this ill repute (恶名) is quickly changing, as they've recently taken a turn thanks to two innovators, Dr. Marco Vietor and Paul Crusius, who now lead the fastest-growing hearing aid company in the world-hear. com.

Hear. com's years of research led to the development of two game-changing hearing aids-the Silk and Styletto. These impressive devices pack cutting-edge (尖端的) technology in designs that are practically invisible. They also use a unique way that has been clinically (临床地) proven to deliver better-than-normal hearing so you can clearly understand speech in any environment. With additional features like Bluetooth and rechargeability, today's hearing aids are attracting even younger customers skilled in tech.

But hear. com knows it's not just about tech and design. They've put an enormous effort into the entire experience to make hearing care more accessible and more affordable. "Everyone should be able to hear well to live well," Crusius says. "And it's very individual. Each person's hearing loss is different and requires a personalized approach to find the best solution."

"We hear with our brains, not our ears. And it takes at least 30 days for our brain to adjust and relearn how to hear again with new hearing aids," Dr. Vietor says. "To guarantee your best outcome with hearing aids, we developed the industry's first 30-day program, Hearing Success Program, so customers have that extra level of care and knowledge to succeed."

And it's working. Hear. com has now helped more than 100,000 customers improve their hearing. Their A+ rating with the Better Business Bureau and 5-star rating on the customer review platform, Trustpilot, speaks for itself.

Hear. com's "customer first" approach also helps drive the company's success, encouraging employees to act like owners and put customers first. "We're investing heavily in shaping our company culture," Crusius says. "Individuals who work at hear. com say they are here to do more than a job. They're helping change lives all around the world."