【推荐1】Music festivals in Europe

Visiting a festival abroad can be a great reason to travel and a way to experience different cultures. These days there is such a number of choices that it’s possible to spend the whole summer watching live music in exciting places. Of course, it’s also a chance to meet people from across the world.

Melt! Festival, Germany

This festival takes place on the site of an open air museum for industrial machinery. There’s also a lake which can be used for swimming when it’s hot. This year’s line-up has over 120 different bands (乐队). Around 90% of the people attending the festival are German providing a perfect chance to practise speaking the language.

Exit Festival, Serbia

Set on the banks of the Danube in an old fortress (城堡), the festival began as a way to show people’s dissatisfaction with the government. These days it’s less political (政治的) but still worries about people who are poor, ill, old, etc and tries to help them. This year’s festival will host many famous bands. From electronic music and dance music to hard rock, there is something for everyone to enjoy.

Open’er Festival, Poland

Held in an airfield near the northern city of Gdansk, each year Open’er has a seriously good selection of bands. This year is no exception, with many famous bands set to play. Not only are there amazing artists, but both Poland and the festival itself also provide very excellent value for money.

Belladrum Tartan Heart Festival, Scotland

Set on a Scottish estate (庄园) near Inverness, this year Belladrum will welcome artists from around the world. The most enjoyable part of the weekend is the ceilidh (traditional Scottish dance and party) which is always a lively event. It doesn’t even matter if you’re a beginner because the band teaches you each dance.

【推荐1】In America, after middle school comes high school, which includes grades 9 through 12.Students are required to take compulsory subjects like English, social studies, maths, science, and physical education. In addition, they choose among elective subjects to complete their high school education. Electives include subjects in technology, music, art, and foreign languages

Each student in the school has their own locker (储物柜) for books and personal items. This convenience saves students from carrying textbooks, and allows students a small space they can decorate with posters and favorite objects.

Cheating in any form is strictly prohibited (禁止) in American schools. And in fact, high school students usually don’t cheat. If they are caught cheating, they will have to face severe punishment.

Each school holds certain yearly activities for all school students, such as homecoming (返校节), prom night (学年舞会), holiday celebrations, etc.

Most high schools have at least one sports team that competes in local games, and all students are encouraged to take part in athletics. Schools often offer football, baseball, softball, basketball, volleyball, tennis, and soccer. Some may even have sports like golf, swimming, gymnastics and cross-country skiing.

Many high school students have part-time jobs by the age of 15 or 16, some even earlier. Their first jobs are often baby sitting or cutting lawns (草坪), but later they will likely get a job at a fast-food restaurant, video store, or clothing shop.

Sixteen years old is the legal (法定的) driving age in most states, and students usually want to own a car as soon as they can. Some parents allow their children to drive a family car, and may even buy a car as a graduation present. Others prefer that their sons and daughters earn enough to buy a used car. Many teenagers feel it's necessary to own a car, and will do whatever it takes to be able to drive.

【推荐2】In every British town, large or small, you will find shops that sell second-hand goods. Sometimes such shops deal mostly in furniture, sometimes in books, sometimes in ornaments(装饰品) and household goods，sometimes even in clothes.

The furniture may often be"antique", and it may well have changed hands many times. It may also be very valuable, although the most valuable piece will usually go to the London salerooms, where one piece might well be sold for hundreds of thousands of pounds. As you look around   these shops and see the polished wood of chests and tables, you cannot help thinking of those long-dead hands which polished that wood, of those now-closed eyes which once looked at these pieces with love.

The books, too, may be antique and very precious;some may be rare first printings. Often when someone dies or has to move house, his books may all be sold, so that sometimes you may find whole libraries in one shop.On the border between England and Wales, there is a town which has become a huge bookshop as well. Even the cinema and castle have been taken over, and now books have replaced sheep as the town’s main trade.

There are also much more humble(简陋的)shops, sometimes simply called"junk shops", where you can buy small household pieces cheaply. Sometimes the profits (利润)from these shops go to charity. Even these pieces,though,can make you feel sad; you think of those people who once treasured them, but who have moved on to another country or to death.

Although the British do not worship(崇拜) their ancestors, they do treasure the past and the things of the past. This is true of houses as well. These days no one knocks them down: they are rebuilt until they are often better than new. In Britain, people do not buy something just because it is new. Old things are treasured for their proven worth; new things have to prove themselves before they are accepted.

【推荐3】For years, the Empire State Building in New York was recognized as the tallest building in the world, but in recent decades, many much higher structures have been built. Read on to learn more about four of the tallest skyscrapers existing today.

● Buri Khalifa

Buri Khalifa in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, is currently the tallest building in the world. The tower is part of a new development built on a man-made lake. Burj Khalifa has a distinctive shape so that the windows look out onto the Persian Gulf. A 304-room hotel occupies the lower floors and there is an observation deck on the 124th floor. The top floor is home to a private VIP club, closed to anyone except members.

● Shanghai World Financial Centre

This skyscraper has the highest observation deck in the world, although the building itself is no longer the tallest. Construction stopped between 1998 and 2003 because of the Asian financial crisis, but it was eventually finished in 2008. The most distinctive feature in its design is the geometric opening at the top of the tower.

● International Commerce Centre

This skyscraper in Hong Kong stands on top of Kowloon Station, which gave its name to the original proposal for the building. The tower is not as high as in earlier plans because of regulations that prevented buildings from being taller than the surrounding mountains. A five-star hotel occupies the upper fifteen floors of the building. There is an observation deck on the 100th floor and a number of five-star restaurants on the 101st floor.

● Petronas Tower

These towers in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, are the tallest twin buildings in the world. They were built on the site of the city’s horse-racing tracking and an exclusive shopping centre is located at the base. The towers are connected by a sky bridge on the 41st and 42nd floors, which is the highest two-storey bridge in the world. It is open to the public, but only a limited number of free tickets are given out each day, and visitors are allowed no more than ten minutes on the bridge.