【推荐2】Latin and the works of Sophocles (索福克勒斯,诗人) are no longer the preserve of private schools thanks to a project that links professors with underprivileged teenagers.

The new project between King’s College London (KCL) and Newham Sixth Form College in east London offering lessons in Classics to bright senior-three students is now in its second year.

Students from disadvantaged backgrounds with high academic potential can attend the classes, which are designed to inspire and engage them in challenging topics that are often the preserve of private schools.

Lecturers cover subjects including ancient literature, religion, theology, Persian history and philosophy. Some teenagers from neighbouring state schools also attend. The students act out Greek plays such as Antigone by Sophocles and are encouraged to consider Classics as a degree.

Edith Hall, a Classics lecturer at KCL, said: “We wanted to enable the students from Newham to understand the richness and relevance of the classical world. They have a unique opportunity to engage with world-class lecturers,”

Juned Malek,19,who is in his first year at KCL, was introduced to literature, theology, history and philosophy by the classical outreach program when he was at Newham. He now helps to run it. He said the program was “essential in making the myths that surround studying Classics disappear, namely that it is an elitist (精英) subject or that it has limited career opportunities”.

The analytical skills that the degree develops are in high demand by employers, particularly investment banks and law firms.

He said all schools should teach Classics to give a “basic introduction of historical principles passed down through millennia”, adding: “A limited classical education leaves you stuck in the constant present, lacking the ability to use the past as a frame of reference when making decisions.”

【推荐3】Every country has certain cultural patterns making it unique. Of course, habits and customs between cultures and countries tend to overlap(重叠). The popularity of social media, for instance, ignores borders and breaks down cultural differences. Technology has made the world a much smaller and culturally similar place. However, when looking at a foreign country, we will always find differences between our traditions and theirs. Young Italians and young Americans, for example, though alike in many respects, have also some pronounced differences, especially when it comes to work, pastimes and sports.

Most American teens have part-time jobs through high school and college. Youths in Italy tend not to. The reasons behind this are multifaceted. It is, to begin with, rather hard in Italy to find the type of part-time jobs students usually take up. Moreover, there is also a different cultural attitude to take into consideration, especially when thinking of certain parts of Italy. Young Italians like to enjoy life to the full and feel there will be time to work once they become adults, hence the lack of interest in finding odd jobs while still in school. Like the old saying goes, some Italians work to Live, while some Americans often live to work.

In a lot of ways, young Italians and Americans spend their free time in a similar fashion. Listening to music, watching movies, hanging out, practicing sports and surfing the Internet are all common ways to pass some free time. Italians, especially, make a point of going out and being social, often choosing between pizzeria or birrerie (place for pizza or beer), which stay open late. Italians often pile into a couple of cars and go out in a big group. In general, American teens participate in a lot of extracurricular(课外的) activities, many often through school, while Italians may not take part in so many.

When going out, Italian teens tend to meet and gather on the streets of their cities or towns, something not as common in the United States, especially in highly populated areas. This very Italian habit can be linked to the urban arrangement of Italian towns. Many of them date back thousands of years and feature central piazzas(广场) and areas built around historical sites that have now become gathering places for the young. If you’re in Italy, don’t be surprised by the sight of hundreds gathered in a piazza or on the street, laughing and drinking the night away.

【推荐1】I think a close friend is someone you get on really well with, who helps you when you have problems, who gives you advice, and who always has time for you. I didn’t use to have many close friends when I was at school or at university as I was very shy, but now I have several. They are all women—I think it’s difficult to have a close friend of the opposite sex(异性).

I don’t really have any close friends. I know a lot of people but mainly through work, and the kinds of social occasions(场合)when we meet are business dinners and evening parties. I think if you come from a really close family, then friends are a bit unnecessary. I prefer to spend the little free time I have with my family.

I think a close friend is someone who you’ve known for a long time, and who you still get on with. They probably have similar hobbies to you so you can do things together. I’ve got three close friends who I was at high school with and we often go away together(without our parents of course). We always go camping and somewhere we can go walking, play football and be outside in the open air.

For me close friends are the people you spend your free time with. I go out at weekends with a group of people—there are about seven of us, and I’d say we are all close friends. We also live near each other. I don’t think you can have close friends at a distance; you need to be able to see each other often. But I don’t think you need to be doing the same things. I mean I’m at university but none of my friends are.

【推荐2】This is a common situation for beginner-level language learners—they want to read classic（经典的）books, but what their language skills allow are usually little more than children's books.

Oxford University Press tried to solve this problem back in 1988 by designing a series of graded English reading materials known as the Oxford Bookworms Library. It now has a collection of over 200 books—many of them simplified versions of classics—which fall into seven difficulty levels from "starter level" to level six.

However, there has always been a debate over whether shortened versions of classics have less value. Some worry that by reading them, students don't get to learn the essence（精华）of the original（原版的）text.

Rob Waring, a Japanese professors, mentions one of his students, Satoko, as an example in his booklet The "Why" and "How" of Using Graded Readers. Satoko was a Japanese student majoring in English. But by the time she graduated, she had only managed to finish reading just one English book because it was far beyond her language level. "For Satoko, reading in English was a fight; a fight that she lost, "wrote Waring, who suggested that reading easy texts is necessary because it helps language learners build up confidence and fluency in reading. By reading a lot-rather than getting stuck in one book—they can get used to kinds of English expressions and writing styles. Only by doing this can they reach what Waring calls the "reading-with-ideas" level of reading.

So it doesn't matter if the books are original classics or not--for beginner--level language learners, the simple act of reading is a form of learning in itself. "Stories offer a window to other cultures, other worlds, real or imagined, beyond the classroom," Jennifer Basset, the first editor of the Oxford Bookworms Library, said in an interview with Get English Lessons.

【推荐3】We all want to be successful in our work. But what happens if our success comes at the risk of losing important friendships? If your friends didn’t receive what they were hoping for, your success could make them feel uncomfortable. But does that mean we shouldn’t enjoy our achievements in case we displease someone or that we should feel sorry for being successful while others aren’t?

Those of us who value friendships might feel embarrassed for achieving more than our friends. But we deserve (应得) our success, and nothing can take it away. Jealousy (嫉妒) is only natural, but it’s often unreasonable, too. Your success is probably not connected with your friends’ progress, so you shouldn’t feel bad about achieving your goals. If your friends stay unfriendly, don’t be afraid to keep yourself away from them. You are not responsible for their weaknesses.

Meanwhile, your friends may think highly of your recent success while hiding their real feelings. They could be jealous, angry or sad that they are not progressing at the same rate. So, be careful not to talk big. It’s a thin line between pride and overconfidence, and by crossing the line, you may risk losing team support.

Next time you want to boast about your end-of-year win, or high-class new office, consider your listeners. Maybe your friends narrowly missed out on a promotion, or experienced pay cuts, which meant they didn’t get what they were expecting. If your work is on a rising path, it doesn’t mean that’s the case for everyone.

Perhaps a step forward in your work means that you don’t spend as much time with your friends as you used to. If you’ve changed a job or moved to a new office, take the time to stay in touch with old friends. Don’t let that hard work go to waste by losing touch with them.