From San Francisco, Las Vegas is about 600 miles away and can easily be reached by taking a plane or traveling by bus or car. There’s no direct train service between cities, but travelers in search of a fun road trip have the choice of taking a few scenic detours (弯路).

With summer temperatures frequently exceeding (超过) 100 degrees Fahrenheit (37 degrees Celsius), you won’t find too many people visiting this desert city between the months of June and August. Wintertime is actually considered high season, since this is when travelers from around the U.S. usually come to escape the colder temperatures in other parts of the country. Hotels are usually booked up. For the best weather and the smallest number of crowds, a visit during the spring or fall months is ideal.

The scenic route to Las Vegas will add a few hours to your trip, but it’s a lot more entertaining and you can see some beautiful landscapes along the way. Your choices are to move north to Lake Tahoe, which will add about three hours of driving to your trip, or go through Yosemite and Death Valley National Parks, which will add about four to six hours of driving. If you’re taking the scenic route, you may consider camping overnight.

You don’t have to be the gambling (赌博) type to have a good time in Las Vegas. The city offers plenty to entertain travelers of all kinds, from headlining shows from world-class performers, to beat-pumping nightclubs and family-friendly attractions like the thrill rides at Stratosphere Tower.

The horses, llamas, donkeys and dogs who arrive at Horse Creek Stable Rescue Sanctuary are often sick, weak or just tired. Lester Aradi, a retired police chief, along with his wife Diane, makes sure no one lets them down again. The refuge for special needs animals they founded in Georgia’s Blue Ridge mountains is a bustling 35-acre beacon of new beginnings. But there are endings here, too.

When they die, the animals are buried on a slight hillside overlooking the grass land. Graves for dogs are lined up in a row. Burials for bigger animals — horses, llamas, donkeys — are marked with a fruit tree. Lester and Diane see it as a symbol of the circle of life. “We just try to honor them that way,” Lester said. But the most obvious marker for a fresh grave will be a three-legged dog named Tricycle. When an animal dies, he shows sadness — sometimes for as long as three days.

“I don’t know if he can sense it, smell it, or whatever, But I think he is grieving. That is his way of saying goodbye.” The first time was back when his friend Major died. “When Major died, we buried him here on the farm,” Lester said. “Tricycle went over and laid on his grave for about three days. He would come into the house. But every time he was outside, he would go to Major’s grave and lay on it.”

Lester posted a picture of Tricycle mourning Major on Horse Creek Stable’s Facebook page. Not long after that, a dog rescue group got in touch with him. They thought maybe Lester and Diane could take in another three-legged dog who needed a second chance in life. And so, Romeo arrived at the farm. Naturally, Tricycle bonded with his new friend, just like him. It truly is the circle of life.

When most people hear the words “Big Ben” they immediately think of the attractive Victorian Gothic structure of the clock tower of the Palace of Westminster. Let’s clear up a common misunderstanding first; technically speaking, the name “Big Ben” does not refer to the famous tower, nor to the four huge clock faces of this London landmark; instead, it refers to the largest one of the five bells inside the clock tower.

Construction of the tower was begun following the disastrous fire which destroyed the old Palace of Westminster in 1834. Charles Barry was responsible for rebuilding the Palace, and his designs included a clock tower.

It took 16 years to build the clock tower of the Palace of Westminster and it was completed in 1859. The tower is 316 feet high. The spire of the tower is built with an iron frame, and it is this frame which supports the weight of the bells. Several small rooms are built into the lower part of the tower, including a small prison cell.

The iron frame of the clock face was designed by AW Pugin, who was responsible for many of the Gothic decorative elements of the Palace of Westminster. The dials are 23 feet in diameter and the faces themselves are not solid, but are made up of many small pieces of opal glass, like a glass window. Several of the central pieces of glass can be removed to make it easier for people to check the hands of the clock from inside.

At the time of its construction the clock movement was easily the largest in the world, and it is still among the largest today. The clock, designed by Edmund Beckett Denison, has proven to be very accurate over the years.

Big Ben — the hour bell — is said to have been named after Sir Benjamin Hall, who was known for his great size, as is the bell! The first Big Ben hour bell was completed before the tower, so the bell was hung in New Palace Yard. After repeated public ringing the bell cracked and had to be replaced by the current bell.

Ignore what they say about TV rotting your brain — our research found that many people are using television shows as both a form of entertainment and a way to help them learn English. One of the best ways to teach and to learn how to speak the English language is to actually watch American and British television shows and some learning channels.

We were interested in discovering what English learners are watching to help them improve their skills outside of the classroom. US political drama series House of Cards was the most popular TV show among our 6,000 global survey participants, particularly in China, South Korea and India. British period drama Downtown Abbey is the favourite of Russian and Japanese respondents, however, learners in Mexico, the USA, Turkey and Brazil prefer Breaking Bad.

The rise of on-demand streaming services has enabled viewers all over the world to watch shows without having to wait for them to be broadcast in their country, which explains why shows created especially for online providers, such as House of Cards, have become so universally popular.

Perhaps one of the biggest surprise success stories is Downtown Abbey, which is one of the most-watched British TV shows of all time. The show, which explores the lives of an aristocratic (贵族的) British family and their servants during the early twentieth century, has been watched by more than 120 million people worldwide. Downtown’s creators didn’t expect the subject matter to resonate (引起共鸣) so well with global viewers, but most of the stories are about emotional situations that everyone can relate to, no matter where they are in the world.

Television programs may be a fun way to improve vocabularies and build familiarity with genuine dialogue and different cultures, but in recent years there have been complaints (抱怨) that actors are mumbling (含糊地说) their way through their lines. Even native English speakers are struggling to understand what they are watching on screen. This is partly down to the desire for actors to appear “genuine” and capture the true feature of a character.