选择知识点

The fast development of modern technology has not only provided people with more income, but also enable them to enjoy long weekends and holidays. Never before have so many people traveled to so many different parts of the world and, with the help of fast, comfortable forms of modern transport, more and more people are tempted to（试图）leave their homes to see more of the world. It seems as if there are travelers everywhere.

People travel because traveling benefits them in a number of ways. First, it enables them to get much pleasure from sight-seeing and photo-taking. Second, traveling makes them fully relaxed and ready to get back to work happily. Third, it offers them an opportunity to visit old friends and make new friends as well. Finally, it allows them to see different customs, learn new things, gain new experience and enables them to come back with a broader mind.

With so many advantages to traveling, I think people should be encouraged to travel from time to time, especially on holidays, if their pocket and health permit.

Low-Cost Gifts for Mother's Day

Gift No. 1

Offer to be your mother's health friend. Promise to be there for any and all doctor's visits whether a disease or a regular medical check-up. Most mothers always say "no need," another set of eyes and ears is always a good idea at a doctor's visit. The best part? This one is free.

Gift No. 2

Help your mother organize all of her medical records, which include the test results and medical information. Put them all in one place. Be sure to make a list of all of her medicines and what times she takes them. "Having all this information in one place could end up saving your mother's life," Dr. Marie Savard said.

Gift No. 3

Enough sleep is connected to general health conditions. "Buy your mother cotton sheets and comfortable pillows to encourage better sleep," Savard said. "We know that good sleep is very important to our health."

Gift No. 4

Some gift companies such as Presents for Purpose allow you to pay it forward this Mother's Day by picking gifts in which 10 percent of the price you pay goes to a charity (慈善机构) Gift givers can choose from a wide variety of useful but inexpensive things -many of which are "green" - and then choose a meaningful charity from a list. When your mother gets the gift, she will be told that she has helped the chosen charity.

English songs have been very popular for people around the world for many decades. Songs from Elvis Presley to Ricky Martin, from the Beatles to Eminem and from Natalie Cole to Britney Spears have all been enjoyed by people around the world, even for people who don’t speak English, and even for people who speak zero English.

From my experience, some people listen to English songs for 20-30 years but still don’t achieve any good English skills. Some people choose English songs to be their main learning method, but most of them fail.

Listening to English songs does not help you to speak English fluently. It does help you gain some vocabulary, but most of these words are unusual ones that you don’t use in everyday life. You won’t learn the sentence “It is a difficult project. We really need to meet the deadline.” in any English songs. All you will hear are love, passion, affection, hate and blue, for the feeling, not the color.

People like using English songs to practice English skills because it’s easy and enjoyable. They think that sitting in the car listening to English songs day after day will improve their English skills. It actually will not.

You will definitely not improve your listening skills because normal people don’t speak with a tune. People don’t talk like Eminem’s songs. You can’t get yourself familiar with English pronunciation or accent just from listening to English songs. The words that they pronounce in the songs are not the words that you will hear in your everyday life. They can even confuse you more about how English is pronounced.

I would fully encourage you to watch English movies and listen to radio news or other normal talks, but not music. Of course, you can consume it for fun but not with the aim of improving your English skills. Having good English skills is not that easy. Remember you should work hard to improve your English step by step.