【推荐1】English is changing, INNT (isn’t it)?

Millions of people around the world are learning English but how many of them realise that the English they are learning is constantly changing? New words are entering the language, existing words are developing new meanings and other words are tailing out of use.    1    So what drives these changes and should we try to stop them?

Not surprisingly, technology is responsible for a lot of new words. Twenty years ago, no one knew what a “blog” was but when people began writing web logs online, the phrase was quickly shortened to “blog” and the writer was called a “blogger”. And nowadays, internet users are constantly warned about the dangers of “phishing”, where criminals try to get your credit card and bank details by sending dishonest mails.    2    Criminals use emails to catch victims just like fishermen use worms to catch fish.

The arrival of texting on mobile phones created a quick and easy way to stay in touch with friends. It also created the need for a very short form of English — a text message is only 160 characters long. Instead of writing “see you later”, teenagers started to write “c u 18 r” and when they found something funny, they wrote “lol”. instead of “laugh out loud”. At the moment it is still wrong to use this language in essays, job applications and so on.    3    It will change soon, I think, lol!

Globalisation has been an effective way of spreading English around the world. But now many people believe that non-native speakers of English are creating their own form of the language, which has been named Globish. With its limited vocabulary and simple sentences, this form of English enables a Spanish businessman to communicate easily with a Chinese student, for example.    4    Perhaps it already is! So if we could travel into the future, would we find people all over the world speaking a common language? Probably not but at least communication might be simpler one day… innit?

【推荐2】Even for native speakers, the English language is full of traps. That’s why people are so hesitant to use whom instead of who, and why thinking about the differences between lay and lie gives even language professors a headache.     1    

Both words describe similar situations, with only one letter separating them. Though they’re often used interchangeably(可交换地), there is a difference between them. For anyone who struggles with grammar, it seems really hard to make a choice.

    2     Farther and further are both used in relation to progress, but the type of progress they describe differs. Farther is used for physical distance, such as “he can run farther than before”.

    3     For example, “she was interrupted before she could go further in her speech.” This can remind you to use farther when describing things like trips and walks, and save further for concepts like projects, education, and dreams.

This distinction is clear enough, but it is hard to decide when it’s not totally obvious whether it is dealing with physical or abstract distance.     4     If the progress being referred to is lines on a page, farther works just fine, but if the speaker is talking about the poem as a piece of art, further may be more appropriate. In such instances, it’s usually safest to use further, usage for farther is slightly stricter, and since further deals with situations that are hard to define, you can get away with using it in more contexts (语境).

    5     After all, lots of great writers have been using farther and further interchangeably for centuries.

【推荐3】“Tear them apart ! ”“Kill the fool! Murder the referee(裁判)!”

These are common remarks one may hear at various sporting events. At the time they are made, they may seem innocent enough. But let’s not kid ourselves. They have been known to influence behavior in such a way as to lead to real bloodshed. Volumes have been written about the way words affect us. It has been shown that words having certain connotation(涵义)may cause us to react in ways quite foreign to what we consider to be our usual humanistic behavior. I see the term “opponent” as one of those words. Perhaps the time has come to delete(删除) it from sports terrors.

The dictionary meaning of the term “opponent” is “enemy”; “one who opposes your interests. ” Thus, when a player meets an opponent, he or she may tend to treat that opponent as an enemy. At such times, winning may be the most important, and every action, no matter how rude, may be considered acceptable. I remember an incident in a handball game when a referee refused a player’s request for a time out for a glove change because he did not consider them wet enough. The player started to rub his gloves across his wet T-shirt and then shouted, “Are they wet enough now?”

In the heat of battle players have been observed to throw themselves across the court without considering the consequences(后果) that such a move might have on anyone in their way. I have also seen a player reacting to his opponent’s intentional and illegal blocking by deliberately(故意地) hitting him with the ball as hard as he could during the play. Off the court, they are good friends. Does that make any sense? It certainly gives proof of a court attitude which goes against normal behavior.

Therefore, I believe it is time we elevated(提升)the game to the level where it belongs, thereby setting an example to the rest of the sporting world. Replacing the term ”opponent“ with ”associate“ could be an ideal way to start.

The dictionary meaning of the term “associate“ is” colleague, “friend”, “companion”. Think about it! You may soon see and possibly feel the difference in your reaction to the term “associate“” rather than ”opponent".

【推荐2】Language learning begins with listening. Children are greatly different in the amount of listening they do before they start speaking, and later starters are often long listeners. Most children will “obey” spoken instructions some time before they can speak, though the word “obey” is hardly accurate as a description of the eager and delighted cooperation usually shown by the children. Before they can speak, many children will also ask questions by gesture and by making questioning noises.

Any attempt to study the development from the noises babies make to their first spoken words leads to considerable difficulties. It is agreed that they enjoy making noises, and that during the first few months one or two noises sort themselves as particularly expressive as delight, pain, friendliness, and so on. But since these can’t be said to show the baby’s intention to communicate, they can hardly be regarded as early forms of language. It is agreed, too, that from about three months they play with sounds for enjoyment, and that by six months they are able to add new words to their store. This self-imitation leads on to deliberate imitation of sounds made or words spoken to them by other people. The problem then arises as to the point at which one can say that these imitations can be considered as speech.

It is a problem we need to get our teeth into. The meaning of a word depends on what a particular person means by it in a particular situation; and it is clear that what a child means by a word will change as he gains more experience of the world. Thus the use, at seven months, of “mama” as a greeting for his mother cannot be dismissed as a meaningless sound simply because he also uses it at another time for his father, his dog, or anything else he likes. Playful and meaningless imitation of what other people say continues after the child has begun to speak for himself. I doubt, however, whether anything is gained when parents take advantage of this ability in an attempt to teach new sounds.

【推荐1】The small unframed painting called “Fisherman” was signed by a little-known Italian artist, Maveleone (1669-1740). When it was sold recently in New York for $27,000, the seller, Mr. Oliver Pitt, was asked to explain how the picture had come into his possession.

Pitt said, “I didn’t know it was so valuable. I’m not an art expert. Photography is my hobby. I bought ‘Fisherman’ in Italy in 1970 for $140. The picture was dirty, and I couldn’t see the artist’s signature. But anyway it wasn’t the picture that I liked. I bought it because of the frame.”

“It’s a most unusual frame, made of tiny, silvery sea-shells. They are set in such a way that they reflect perfect light onto the surface of a picture. I now have a photograph of my wife in that frame, and I’ll never part with it.”

“When I returned to New York I showed the painting in its frame to a customs officer. I told him that I had paid $140 for it but admitted I didn’t know its actual worth. The customs man valued it at $140, and I was asked to pay duty on that value. I did so, there and then.”

“Later, I took off the frame, and that uncovered Maveleone’s signature. My wife suggested in fun that the painting might be a valuable one, so I cleaned it and put it up for sale.

As a result of this explanation, Oliver Pitt had to appear in court. He was accused of knowingly making a false statement of the value of a picture so as to cheat the Customs Department.

Pitt was not happy. “I told the truth as I knew it then,” he said, “What else could I say?”

And then the judge agreed with him. “The Customs Department is to be responsible,” he said, “for making a true valuation of goods brought into the country, so that the correct amount of duty may be charged. Mr. Pitt did not cause or try to cause the mistake that was made. He paid the duty that was demanded. If, now, the Customs Department finds that its valuation was not correct, it cannot be allowed to have another try. Pitt is not guilty”.

【推荐2】Lunch is a part of Chinese culture. When I'm back home in England, I often miss Chinese lunch.

At home, at work, at school, English lunchtime is far from a formal meal of the day. It seems that we can't wait to finish lunch as quickly as possible. People working in the office take out packed sandwiches that are not delicious. Work canteens(餐厅) are crowded with people too busy to eat, rushing to the checkout(收银台) with something in hand so that they can quickly eat up on the way to another meeting. A lot of work in England leaves little time to have our meals and enjoy them. Perhaps this is why so many of us hold such unhealthy relationships with food.

The way we plan our days in England shows we don't care about mealtimes. Meetings, lectures, interviews and so on are all planned from 12 a.m. to 2 p.m. In Beijing lunch often starts from 11:30 p.m. to 1 p.m. And owners of many shops gather in small groups to share a meal, which is hardly seen in England. I have never experienced such a culture where finding time to eat is so important.

In China, food is shared and the time is enjoyed as a moment of get-together in busy days. This is a value and practice we should hold in our lives in England. In China food is not only a necessity(必需品), but also a time for get-together with friends and family, and I love it.

【推荐3】The first visit to a foreign country that I can remember was when I was about seven years old. We live about 5 miles away from the Canadian border(边界). My family and I went to Parc Safari, Quebec, a wonderful place that has animals and rides. We drove down a nice long road. My sister and I sat in the back of the car, and it was a hatchback(有仓门式后背的汽车) so we opened it up. I remember feeding the animals snacks we had bought for ourselves.

The time we went we were told there would not be monkeys because they had escaped and had not been found. I remember thinking to myself, how cool it would be to see a monkey in our backyard.

Even though the monkeys were not there it was still so much fun. When we reached the area that had camels, giraffes and other animals, I remember one of the camels reached into the car to get our snacks. However, we were a little gross out because the camels seemed to froth(吐白沫) at the mouth and we had camel slobber(口水) all over the car and us.

It was one of the best family vacations that I can remember. It was not too far from home, it was in a different country and it was with my family. I cannot remember if we went on the rides or not but seeing many animals was a great time. Now I am grown up and have a son, and I am planning to go there again. He is 7 years old and I think he is at a great age to enjoy a trip like this. I am sure it has changed a lot over the years but it will still be a great family trip.

【推荐1】Modem architecture has brought many amazing buildings to the world. Here are some of the strangest buildings in the world.

Habitat 67, Montreal, Canada

Habitat 67 is a very interesting arrangement of cubes, which looks like the building blocks that children play with. It is pretty interesting how it was designed. In its material sense, the cube is a symbol of stability. It looks so original and at the same time comfortable for living. It was created as a main attraction for Expo 67, one of the world’s largest universal expositions (博览会) where housing was one of the main themes.

The Basket Building, Ohio, United States

The Longaberger Basket Company building in Newark, Ohio might just be a strangest office building in the world. The 180,000-square-foot building, a copy of the company’s famous market basket, cost $ 30 million and took two years to complete. Many experts tried to persuade Dave Longaberger to change his plans, but he wanted an exact copy of the real thing.

The Crooked House, Sopot, Poland

Finished in 2003, the Crooked House has an extraordinary and amazing structure. Its design was based on the pictures of polish artist Jan Marcin Szancer and Swedish painter Per Dahlberg. It looks as if it had been taken from a cartoon: The building lines are not straight, but they are balanced, so the house is not ugly at all, just strange! The interesting part is how builders managed to create this genius idea, but the house is a fact and everyone admires their creativity.

La Pedrera, Spain

It is situated in the Eixample district of Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain. The story of the house is pretty interesting. The house was designed by Antoni Gaudi and built for a married couple. It is an extraordinary but stylish building considered to be highly unconventional-there is not even one straight line!

【推荐3】I said, “Papi, let me finish school.” None of his other daughters completed more than three grades. “I still can do my chores(家务),” I told him. “Pay for me to finish school.”

He dug his boot into the dry earth of Quanajuato, the state he never left in his entire life. But he still was the smartest man in our village. He read books about Egypt and knew how to handwrite, unlike my mother, who never had an education.

“Why do you want to return to school?” he said, lowering his eyes to me. “So you can meet a man, marry, and quit? You want me to pay for that?”

“No, Papi,” I said. “I won’t marry in school and I promise I’ll graduate.”

The wind whistled through the trees. My father saw a fisherman with a pole bent over the riverbank. I said urgently, “Papi,” and I almost grabbed his thick brown wrist. In the country, my father would stop and talk with any stranger, no matter what he was doing.He would talk aboutthe harvest, the weather, the family, but mostly, he would listen.

He turned, making his way to the fisherman. I followed behind him in my open-toed shoes, carefully picking my steps. I knew I had lost his attention and I searched around me for something to fill the time I would spend waiting. But there was nothing and nobody.

“Buenos dias,” my father said to the fisherman.

I took my seat ten feet from them. The two men stared across the lake and talked. Their voices droned on and were blended with the wind. I daydreamed.

“Marta, come here,” my father called to me.

I lifted myself up and walked very slowly toward them without lifting my feet off the ground.

“Marta,” my father said, “I have asked Don Toms what he thinks about your promise.”

I stared at this fisherman, this stranger, and then back at my father with wide eyes.

“I told him about your promise to stay single, and he told me—let her go.”

The fisherman looked down at his worn shoes. “If you want it,” he said to the earth beneath his feet.

Later, I became Father’s only daughter to complete high school education, and the only one to leave his house unmarried.