【推荐1】English is the most widely used language in the history of our planet. One in every seven human beings can speak it. More than half of the world’s books and three quarters of international mail are in English. Of all languages, English has the largest vocabulary — perhaps as many as two million words.

However, let’s face it: English is a crazy language. There is no egg in an eggplant, neither pine nor apple in a pineapple and no ham in a hamburger. Sweet-meats are candy, while sweetbreads, which aren’t sweet, are meat.

We take English for granted. But when we explore its paradoxes (探讨它的矛盾), we find that quicksand can work slowly, boxing rings are square, public bathrooms have no baths in them.

And why is it that a writer writes, but fingers don’t fing, grocers don’t groce, and hammers don’t ham? If the plural of tooth is teeth, shouldn’t the plural of booth be beeth? One goose, two geese — so one moose, two meese?

How can a slim chance and a fat chance be the same, while a wise man and a wise guy are opposites? How can overlook and oversee be opposites, while quite a lot and quite a few are alike? How can the weather be hot as hell one day and cold as hell the next?

English was invented by people, not computers, and it reflects (反映) the creativity of human beings. That’s why, when stars are out, they are visible (能看见的); but when the lights are out, they are invisible. And why, when I wind up my watch, I start it; but when I wind up this essay, I end it.

【推荐2】The Spring Festival is the biggest festival for Chinese people all around the world. The celebration usually lasts for 15 days. There is a lot to do．

On the eve of the Spring Festival, family members get together and have big meals. Their favorite dish on this day is dumplings. Days before the Spring Festival, families will clean their homes. People think cleaning sweeps away bad luck. It makes the house ready for good luck.

The color red is everywhere during the Spring Festival. People think red is a happy color and will bring them a bright future. People wear red, too. They decorate their homes with pieces of red paper. Kids get a lot of “hong bao”. It is a red paper bag with money in it. Usually, the older people give children hong bao. They think it brings good luck. The Spring Festival is the time to make everybody happy. So don't say any bad words or do anything that will bring unhappiness to other people. For example, you'd better not say any bad words like “death”. Don't break anything. People think that it means your luck is running out.

Also, don't borrow or lend money on these days. If you have borrowed money, return it before the Spring Festival．

【推荐3】What do you think of your Chinese? If you think your Chinese is good enough, you can take part in the competition named Chinese Characters Dictation Competition (中国汉字听写大会).

Today teenagers are using more and more smart phones. They spend too much time in shopping, chatting, playing games and so on. Many of them cannot stop using smart phones to help with their study. Overuse of smart phones will make students too lazy to think and write. Some of them even forget how to write Chinese characters by hand. Teachers and parents are very worried about it.

In order to draw people’s attention to the problems above, in 2013 CCTV held the first Chinese Characters Dictation Competition. About 200 students from 32 teams took part in it. They stood on the stage to write down Chinese characters by dictation. Lu Jialei, a 14-year-old girl from Zhejiang, got first place.

Since then, the competition has been popular among teenagers. Many people are interested in this kind of competition, too. They like to write down the characters while the competitors(参赛者) are writing them.

Can you be the next winner?

【推荐1】You are about to hear a strange but true story. Legend has it that, Harry Houdini, the master magician, once claimed that he could break out of any jail cell in the world. All he had to do was walk into that jail cell with his street clothes on. 'I will be out of there in one hour. No problem!' He said. A very old jail down South heard about Houdini's claims and they accepted the challenge. On the day of the event, many people gathered outside. Very confidently, Houdini walked into the jail and into the cell and they shut the metal door behind him.

The first thing Houdini did was to take off his coat. Then, very strangely, he took off his belt. Secretly hidden in Houdini's belt, was a ten-inch piece of steel; very tough and very flexible and Houdini started working.

In about 30 minutes, that confident expression Houdini had when he walked in disappeared. In one hour, he was bathed in sweat. And at the end of two hours, Houdini in defeat, collapsed against the door, which then opened. It opened because you see, that door had never been locked. But that's not entirely true is it? That door was locked. It was firmly and thoroughly locked in Houdini's mind, which meant it was locked as if the best locksmith in the world had put his lock on it.

The mind is powerful. How many doors in your life do you think are locked but aren't? how many times have you been stuck in the mental prison of over thinking something that really had a simple solution. There is an ancient African proverb that says when there is no enemy within, the enemy outside can do us no harm.

Your mind is the most powerful force you will ever face. It will tell you lies. It will tell you can't do that. You're not meant for that. You're not good enough for that. You can't go on anymore. You don't have the energy. You must thank it for its opinion and carry on. Because as Houdini showed us the only locked doors that exist are in your own mind. The doors in reality are open and all you have to do is walk through.

【推荐2】I went to the Chinatown market in London last Sunday. The first thing I did was to go to one of the Chinese green grocers’ shops. As soon as I entered the shop. I smelt mixtures of Chinese spices and saw the new season’s fruits. My son wanted a bag of sweets, so we walked into the shop next door which sells many kinds of candy.

There is a lot of noise in the Chinatown market and you will see many tourists, too. There are a lot of cars and trucks that never stop beeping (按喇叭). While people are loading and unloading their goods, most of them have their cars and trucks parked in the middle of the road. This causes great trouble for other drivers. Can you imagine that?

After we had done all our shopping, my son and I went to a restaurant for lunch. We enjoyed our meal very much. But the shopping made us both very tired in the end. We headed down the road to catch our bus home. My son and I enjoyed riding in the bus. We also enjoyed looking at different buildings and people walking by dressed in fancy outfits (服装). Although Chinatown can be a busy place to shop in, I do enjoy going there now and then. I can buy some of my necessities, and I can also look and browse(浏览)around the other shops and department stores where I can indulge (使沉迷) myself with some nice things. Chinatown is located in the heart of central London, where you can find tons of shop and other places to amuse you. And for me, I certainly don’t mind going back there again soon.

【推荐2】George is in his bedroom. He is playing on his computer again! George plays on his computer every day. But George feels sad. He plays on his computer because he doesn't have any friends. Sometimes he dreams he is playing football with lots of friends, but it never happens.

Today George is playing a computer football game. He is playing against the computer and he is winning. Suddenly the computer speaks to George.

"Hello, George! What game can we play now?"

George is surprised and jumps up from his chair. He can't believe it. Maybe he is dreaming.

George looks at the computer with big eyes. "You can speak!"

"Yes. I can do many amazing things!" Two arms shoot out of the sides of the computer. And then two legs. Suddenly the computer is walking!

"Let's go for a walk to find a friend," says the computer. The computer runs along the road. It goes into the library, where there are lots of computers. There is a boy, Tommy, sitting there, doing his homework.

Tommy looks at the crazy computer.

"What's this?" he cries. "A computer with arms and legs?" George's computer is in the middle of the room. It's getting bigger and bigger.

It is out of control. The lights in the library are flashing on and off. People are running out of the library.

"Quick!" says George. He grabs a stick and hits his computer. There is a loud bang and it explodes into the air and falls to the ground into small pieces.

"He's gone," says Tommy.

Tommy and George leave the library together. Tommy lives in the next street to George. "That's my house," says Tommy. "Do you want to play football in the garden?"

"Yes," says George, smiling. "Who needs computers?"