Four Free Mobile Apps to Help You Learn English Faster
Have you realized that you can put your smartphone to really good use for learning English? Here are 4 free mobile apps that will help you do just that.
Hello English
It covers all the aspects of language learning, including vocabulary, translation, grammar, spellings, spoken and reading skills. It uses interactive games to teach different English lessons and offers new audiobooks, latest news, and books. However, you should already understand basic English structures and alphabets, for the app can't help you learn English from scratch(从零开始).
Duolingo
If you want to learn English from scratch, then this is the app you are looking for. Duolingo uses interactive games to help you learn English. For beginners, the app focuses on helping you learn verbs, phrases and sentences.
Lingbe
If you are ready to practice your spoken skills in the real-world, you'll need Lingbe. It's a community-based app where people help each other and share their native languages. It connects you with real people on call who are native English speakers.
HelloTalk
HelloTalk is similar to Lingbe as it connects you with native speakers to help improve your language skills. However, it adds a few extra functions that might interest you. You can view the information about users to find a match that interests you. Additionally, you can also send text and audio messages, and even do video calls with other people.
If you are a beginner, start from Duolingo and then use Hello English to take full command over the language. For fluent spoken English learners, you can try out Lingbe or HelloTalk.
It's apparently become a trend in schools around the world to ban students from using the term, “best friends,” according to psychologist Dr. Barbara Greenberg. The movement, which is believed to have started in Prince George's school in South London, isn't intended to discourage close friendships, but rather encourage a wider friend group, Greenberg says.
“Let's face it. You can't ban somebody from having a close relationship, and you can't really ban somebody from having a best friend but what the schools are trying to do is foster the idea of kids having more than a single friend,” Greenberg said.
The idea is to increase the number of interactions a student may have with different members of his or her peer group. “I see kids come in all week long who are feeling awful because they are either nobody's best friend or their best friend has moved on,” Greenberg says.
Jay Jacobs, who operates Timber Lake Camp in New York, stresses the downside of not fostering multiple relationships at a young age, for exactly that reason. “I think that there are problems in just having one friend,” Jacobs says. “Remember as you grow up, interests change, and children go in different directions.” Jacobs adds that teachers at Timber Lake, which changes positions between Glen Cove in winter and Shandake in summer, have made it a point to promote a more inclusive environment for years.
Jacobs reminds people that, “As you grow up, interests change, and children go in different directions,” so having only one friend can be risky. He holds the belief that children will be better set up for success later in life if they get used to having a wider friend group at a young age. “It's about promoting kindness, looking to children to be kind to one another and to be aware of what it looks like when you're not,” Jacobs says.
Scientists are trying to save Puerto Rico's endangered Amazon parrots after Hurricane Maria destroyed the birds' habitats and food sources(来源).
El Yunque is a large national forest on the eastern part of Puerto Rico. Just two of the 56 wild parrots that once lived there survived Maria, the Category-4 storm that struck Puerto Rico in September 2017. Scientists report other forests have seen great drops in parrot populations as well.
In the 1800s, there were more than a million of the bright green parrots living in the wild in Puerto Rico. By the 1970s, the number was down to just 13 birds after years of forest clearing.
A special program was started in 1972 to help increase the parrot population, which led to the creation of three breeding(繁殖) centers. Just weeks before Hurricane Maria hit, scientists counted 56 wild parrots at El Yunque. That was the highest number in the program's history. Scientists say that even though several parrots have been born in captivity(笼养) and in the wild since Maria, the species is still in danger.
The Puerto Rican Amazon is the island's only remaining native parrot. More than 460 of the birds are kept inside the breeding centers at El Yunque and the Rio Abajo forest. Scientists have not released(释放) any of the birds since Hurricane Maria. A third breeding center, in a forest in the western area of Maricao, has not been in operation since the storm.
Scientists are considering whether to catch some of the remaining wild parrots and put them in the same cage as the birds that are set to be released. This way, the captive birds can learn from the wild birds how to survive in the forests. Another consideration is to release some captive parrots in Maricao, which was not as heavily damaged by Maria.
Experts like to say the best form of exercise is whatever kind you'll actually do. But that may not always be the case; new research finds that people who combine exercise with their social lives may be at an advantage over solitary（独自） exercisers. Tennis, badminton and soccer are all better for longevity(长寿) than cycling, swimming, jogging or gym exercise, according to the research.
The study was based on data from about 8,500 adults who were part of the Copenhagen City Heart Study. They completed a health and lifestyle questionnaire, which included questions about type and frequency of physical activity, and were monitored by the researchers for around 25 years, a period during which about 4,500 of the subjects died.
Tennis came out on top in the research. Compared with people sitting all day, those who reported playing tennis as their main form of exercise could expect to add 9.7 years to their life time, followed by badminton (6.2 years), soccer (4.7 years), cycling (3.7 years), swimming (3.4 years), jogging (3.2 years) and health-club activities (1.5 years).
Tennis likely took the top spot because "it's very interactive," says study co-author Dr. James O'Keefe, a physician at Saint Luke's Mid America Heart Institute. "At every point you're talking. It's just a very natural way to emotionally bond with people, besides getting your exercise." But he adds that the study may not have been able to fully account for the fact that wealthier, better-educated people—who tend to be healthier to begin with—may be more likely to play tennis.
Activities like running and weight lifting still extend your life and offer plenty of other health benefits. But for the best possible benefits, O'Keefe says gym-goers may want to consider combining those workouts with activities that foster social connection.
O'Keefe, whose exercise typically includes running and weight lifting, says he's even changed his own behavior because of the study: he and his family have taken up badminton.
"You can't play badminton without feeling like a kid again," he says. "It's just pure fun."
Traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) isn't supported by most Westerners.
TCM will be included in the new version of the International Classification of Diseases (ICD), which will be published by the World Health Organization in 2019, Nature magazine reported. Ryan Abbott at the Center for East-West Medicine at the University of California, Los Angeles, US, said this could benefit TCM.
For example, during the 2016 Rio Olympic Games, US swimmer Michael Phelps was seen with circular bruises(瘀青) on his body. Such bruises are caused by cupping, a traditional Chinese medicinal practice that has been around for more than 2,000 years.
In 2015, Chinese scientist Tu Youyou was awarded the Nobel Prize in Medicine for her discovery of artemisinin(青蒿素), a drug that can cure malaria(疟疾). She said she was inspired by traditional Chinese medicine.
Twenty-six TCM centers were set up overseas over three years, according to a 2017 report published by Xinhua News Agency.
TCM still faces many challenges, such as a lack of clinical evidence as to precisely how it works. Some say that TCM methodology should be combined with modern scientific methods to make it more acceptable to people outside of China.
A. However, this is starting to change.
B.TCM has cured millions of people in the world.
C. China has made some efforts to promote TCM overseas.
D.TCM's effectiveness has been difficult to study or provide evidence for.
E. Tried and tested over thousands of years, the effectiveness of TCM is clear.
F.TCM has seen some growth in other countries, with a number of famous people being known to use it.
G. This is the first time for TCM to be included in the ICD, which serves as the international standard for diseases and health conditions.
A letter to Mum and her mince (肉末) pies
When I was a little girl, you and I loved decorating the living room and Christmas tree. After 1, we would bake cakes. “Make enough mince pies, because Santa likes them,” you would tell me.
Christmas Eve came and you would put me on my 2 made bed. I'd fall asleep until Christmas 3. I'd wake up and thrill at the 4 before me. At the bottom of my bed would be loads of presents. I'd scream in delight, 5 tearing the paper open. Running downstairs, I would 6 that Santa hadn't just stopped in the 7 : there were also lots of 8 around the Christmas tree.
Many years later, the 9 continued. The only thing that 10 was the presents at the end of the bed – I grew out of them.
One afternoon while we were 11 extra mince pies as usual, it 12 hit me that the extra wasn't for 13. I said, “Those extra mince pies were never for Santa, were they? They were for you!” You never said a word – a smile was your only 14.
Christmas changed in 1986, when you suffered a 15 brain disease. After 16 throughout Christmas, you passed away on the 29 December.
Only now am I starting to enjoy Christmas again, and while I don't do the 17 any more, I do have mince pies in the house. I leave one out just for you, as if you were 18 a part of my Christmas. And I make sure I put up the decorations 19 you, and us. Thanks for the 20 memories of Christmas, Mum.
Shawn Cheshire is a blind cyclist who competed in the 2016 Paralympics in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. She lost her ability (see) after an accident nine years ago. She has tried to become as (depend) as possible in the last few years.
She said that, a long time, she was in a really dark place and hated being blind. She said that sports and physical exercise gave (she) another opportunity at living.
Earlier this month, Cheshire crossed 68 kilometers of steep and uneven ground in the Grand Canyon(大峡谷). She did so in 24 hours and 15 minutes, is believed to be a record for a blind hiker (徒步旅行者). The (early) record of 28 hours (set) in 2014.
Three friends helped her during the Grand Canyon hike. They walked several steps apart. They guided and warned her of (barrier). She listened for and followed the sound of a bell (wear) by the lead hiker. She used hiking poles for balance.
Cheshire and her friends finished the hike on October 8, 2018. She said as the group neared end of the trip, “I had a huge ball of emotion welled up in my chest –I cannot believe we just did that.”
增加：在缺词处加一个漏字符号（Λ），并在其下面写出该加的词。
删除：把多余的词用斜线（\）划掉。
修改：在错的词下划一横线，并在该词下面写出修改后的词。
注意：1．每处错误及其修改均仅限一词；
2．只允许修改10处，多者（从第l1处起）不计分。
I'm writing to complain about the quality of the computer which I purchase from your store on January 1, 2019. It unexpected went wrong a few days late. The monitor turned out to be a black screen. I read through accompanying instructions, and tried my best restart the computer several time, but it still failed to work. However, I'm sure there is something wrong for the computer. I am hoping if you can direct me to a store where I may return it for a new replacement within the next three days. Since your store has been gained a good reputation for customer satisfaction, I'm confidence that you will process my complaint at your earliest convenience.
1）推荐从广州到北京的交通方式；
2）推荐两到三处北京景点；
3）表达祝愿。
注意：1）词数100左右；
2）可以适当增加细节，以使行文连贯。
