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.
You know the feeling. You finish a full meal and are like "I'm never eating again. " But then, out comes a beautiful piece of cake. And, you said you were full, but not for dessert! It turns out you really can "make room" for dessert.
And there's a scientific reason why. The thing that gives you room for dessert is called "Sensory-Specific Satiety" That's what Dr. Rolls, a nutritional scientist, has been studying since the 1980s. Here is how her experiment went. She gave six people a giant plate of spaghetti and told them to eat until they were full. And then, for the second course, she gave them more. Then, she gave them ice cream. On average, after they said they were full on spaghetti, each person could eat just one more ounce of it in their second serving. But when she gave them ice cream, somehow they could eat three times as much. They "made room" for dessert.
The experiment shows that when you feel full, it's not: necessarily that your stomach is physically full. It's more about how interested you are in eating more. Sensory-specific satiety is the change in how much you like a food, how much you want to eat, as you're eating it. "I've just had enough of the food; I want something else" is really what sensory-specific satiety is.
And that natural ability has a purpose: it's meant to keep us healthy. It's going to help to guarantee that we're going to cat the variety of nutrients that we need. However, it can backfire of course, because if we are presented with a variety of foods, it makes us extra likely to overeat.
Aleeda Rodriguez Pedrasa has one of the most unusual jobs in the world. She gets paid by the Cuban government to make sure that a statue of John Lennon, a famous British musician, always has a pair of glasses on when tourists come to take a picture with it.
In the year 2000, on the 20th anniversary of John Lennon's death on December 8th,Cuba set up a bronze(青铜的)statue of the famous musician with his name carved(刻着)on it in the Havana Park.
The statue of John Lennon quickly became a major tourist attraction, but also a target for thieves who loved nothing more than to steal the artist's symbolic round glasses. In the beginning, the government would replace the stolen glasses with new ones, but the new pair wouldn't last long.
About two years ago, after seeing that Lennon's glasses constantly went missing, Aleeda started placing her own glasses on the statue. One day, they were stolen as well,and then an-other pair. But the authorities noticed her devotion and hired her as the official guardian of the glasses. Today, Pedrasa receives 245 Cuban pesos a month which is more than what most Cu-bans make. Her job is to look after the glasses and make sure that they are on the statue of Lennon's nose when tourists arrive at the Havana Park to take photos with him 72-year-old Aleeda has become known as the guardian of Lennon's glasses. Even though it may not be the best job, Pedrasa is comfortable in her position after doing it for two years.
The life of a premature baby born during the winter storm in Texas was saved thanks to a team of medical professionals, including a doctor and two nurses who traveled from east Austin to Marble Falls in an effort to save a newborn baby's life.
When Arias began experiencing pains, she and her parents headed to the closest hospital, Baylor Scott & White. Arias gave birth to her daughter, Zaylynn, who weighed just over one pound and was in need of advanced special care. However, the hospital does not offer the specialized care premature babies require.
"We had five or six people out at the nurses' station calling hospital networks all over the state of Texas," said Meredith Schubert, the labor and delivery nurse on duty when Arias arrived. "Nobody could answer our cry for help. "
They finally reached Dr. John Loyd through a patient, division neonatologist chief at Dell Children's Medical Center in Austin, Texas. Around 5 p. m. , after already having worked a full shift, Loyd packed his SUV with equipment and he and two NICU nurses set out for Marble Falls, about 55 miles away. The drive took Loyd and the nurses about two hours as they drove in the night through ice and snow.
After safely arriving at the Marble Falls medical center around 8 p. m. , the Dell Children's crew set up a temporary newborn ICU. Together, the Dell Children's and Baylor Scott & White teams worked around the clock to care for the mother and daughter.
Once the weather cleared enough to allow for a helicopter to safely land, Zaylynn was transferred to Dell Children's, where there is a Level IV newborn intensive care unit.
"It was incredible when the helicopter lifted off. There were tears from all of us," said Schubert. "It was a huge relief and sense of accomplishment and joy that Zaylynn was doing so well and getting to the place that she needed to be. "
Arias told KVUE that she was grateful to the doctors and nurses who worked together to save her daughter.
It has been shown that watching English movie trailers (预告片) can improve your English vocabulary and thinking skills.
The first step is to find them. Go to some overseas video websites and do a search for something like "official trailer". Several film trailers will appear. Animated films can be an especially good choice for English practice no matter how old you are. These films are usually humorous and relatable. To find animated films, try doing a search for something like "animated official trailer".
Make sure the video you choose offers closed captions (字幕), which you will use later. You can find the closed caption mark at the bottom of the video. It may be listed as "CC" or something else. Keep in mind that trailers more than five or seven years old may not offer closed captions on some overseas video websites.
Next, watch the video at a normal speed without closed captions. Try to understand what the story is about overall. Then watch it again to seek more details. It will give you an idea of whether the dialogue is too fast or difficult for your skill level.
Find the "CC" setting at the bottom of the video and click the captions. This can help you in several ways. You can confirm whether you understand the dialogue in your first viewing, make clearer any dialogue you do not understand, and connect the sound of words with their spellings. You can also write down a few of the new words in a notebook or on your mobile phone.
A. So choose newer videos.
B. You can choose some that look interesting.
C. They may sound a little strange at a slower speed.
D. With this method, you are testing your English skills.
E. Then watch the video again, this time with closed captions.
F. Besides, try using your notebook as you learn English in your everyday life.
G. Now let's talk about steps you can take to get the most out of watching them.
Alina's life as an angel of love began in middle school, when, in the planting club of her school. She learned how to grow eggplants.
From then on, she was1 in growing the eggplants. Later she found a big piece of land in the home backyard to plant seeds, hoping to2 her crop in fall.
This was3 than it sounds. She spent all her spare time caring for the plants and she became thinner. However, her great work4 . Much more than the family can consume(消费), she suddenly had an idea that she sold some eggplants to5 fund for local Rescue Center for Blind Children. Her father Barret strongly supported her 6 ,and did some7 on social media but he didn't expect his daughter's crop to become a big 8 .
Alina's eggplants 9 well, though eggplants aren't the only choice when people buy vegetables. 10 , they knew the earnings were for a good cause. Within a week, those eggplants helped her raise $1,000! Her father and she11 every penny to the center.
What she did was very12 to the center. The head said fund-raising 13 to providing treatment for blind children and her donation can make a difference.
Alina felt very happy, planning to do it with her family all over again next year. In her words, "I get a lot from this 14 , I'll try my best to use my own hands to help the blind children in the poor15 . "
Yuan Longping, is one of the greatest figures in modern China, is （wide） known as the " father of hybrid rice（超级稻） ". He made huge (contribution) to the problem of world huger by promoting rice production. Yuan is not only outstanding scientist; he is also a person who has a wide range of hobbies, like listening to music and swimming in daily life.
Yuan was born in Beijing on 7 September 1930. After (graduate) from Southwest Agricultural College, he went to Hunan province and (devote) himself to agricultural education and research all along. Owing to years of hard-working, this man succeeded cultivating(培育) hybrid rice in 1975 and was awarded the Medal of the Republic in 2019. On 22 May 2021, it (report) that Yuan had passed away, and our whole country felt sorrowful deeply.
"I was a seed," he once said. " To be a good one, both my body spirit should be healthy. " Yuan is a person who looks thin has a strong mind. Yuan is a man who lives in poverty but owns spiritual richness.
注意：1. 写作词数应为80左右：2. 请按如下格式在答题卡的相应位置作答。
参考词汇：木偶戏表演Puppet Show 掌声与欢呼applause and cheers 传统的traditional
A Bowl of Noodles
Jenny was the only child in her home. She had a quarrel with her mother that afternoon and she ran out of the house angrily. She couldn't help crying sadly when she thought of he scolding from her mother. Having wandered aimlessly in the street for hours, she felt a little hungry and wished for something to eat, but it was not even possible for her, since she had nothing with her. She stood beside a stand for a while, watching the middle-aged seller busy doing his business. However, with no money in hand, she sighed and had to leave.
The seller behind the stand noticed the young girl and asked, "Hey, girl, you want to have the noodles?"
"Oh, yes... but I don't have money on me... " she replied.
"That's nothing. I'll treat you today," said the man,
"Come in. "
The seller brought her a bowl of noodles, whose smell was so attractive. Jenny thanked the man and started to gobble (狼吞虎咽) up the delicious food... then cried silently.
"What is it?" asked the man kindly.
"Nothing, actually I was moved by your kindness!" said Jenny as she wiped her tears, "Even a stranger on the street will give me a bowl of noodles, while my mother drove me out of the house. She showed no care for me. She is so mean and cruel!"
Hearing the words, the seller smiled "Girl, do you really think so? I only gave you a bowl of noodles and you thanked me a lot. But it is your mother who has raised you since you were a baby. Can you number the times that she has cooked for you? Have you expressed your thanks to her?"
Jenny sat there, speechless and numb with shock; she remembered her mother's familiar face and weathered hands. "Why did I not think of that? A bowl of noodles from a stranger made me feel grateful, but I have never thanked my mum for what she has done for me. "
On the way home, Jenny made up her mind to make an apology to her mother for her rudeness as soon as she arrived home.
注意：1. 续写词数应为150左右；2. 请按如下格式在答题卡的相应位置作答。
Paragraph 1:
Approaching the doorway, Jenny took a deep breath.
