【推荐1】Many daily American expressions are based on(以……为基础) colours.

Red is a hot colour. Americans often use it to represent heat. When they say “red-hot”, that means they are very angry about something. Loud music is popular with many people. Some may say that such music is red-hot.

Pink is a lighter kind of red. People sometimes say “I’m in the pink” when they are in good health. The expression was first used in America at the beginning of the 20th century. It probably comes from the fact that many babies are born with a nice pink colour that shows that they are in good health.

Blue is a cool colour. The old Blues music in the United States is the opposite of red-hot music. Blues is slow and sad. Someone who is “blue” is very sad.

The colour green is natural for trees and grass. But it is an unnatural colour for humans. A person who has an upset stomach may say “I’m feeling a bit green”. A person on a boat who is feeling very sick from high waves can be said “look very green”. Sometimes a person may be very jealous because he does not have anything as nice as someone has, like a fast new car. That person may say “I’m green with envy”. Some people are green with envy because someone has more dollars or “greenbacks”. Dollars are called greenbacks in American slangs because that is the colour of the bottom of their bank notes.

The colour black is used often in expressions. People may say “it’s a black day” when everything goes wrong on that day.

In some cases, colours describe a situation. Blackouts were common during the World War II. All the lights in a city were turned off at night to make it difficult for enemy planes to find their aims in the dark.

【推荐2】If you go shopping in any toy store, you can see there are a lot of pink toys on one side of the store for girls；and dark-colored cars, guns, and soldiers for boys. Some big stores with toys may even have a pink floor for girls and a blue floor for boys. In fact, it is difficult to buy a toy for a girl that is not pink.

Some people think that too much pink is bad for girls. Sue Palmer, writer of Toxic Childhood, is very worried that most girls over the age of three are crazy about the color. Sue Palmer says that girls at this age cannot make proper decisions by themselves, but the pink can affect (影响) the choices and the decisions they will make in the future.

Some parents are worried too. For example, Vanessa Holbum who has two girls under the age of four. Their bedrooms are a sea of pink and Vanessa is not happy. “Pink says that you are soft and gentle. Blue says that you are strong and powerful. I want my daughters to be strong and powerful. I’m worried that pink will not help them with that,” she says.

But not everyone thinks there’s something wrong with pink. Grayson Turner is a father of three girls and he isn’t worried at all. “People forget that things change all the time,” he says. “My girls used to love pink when they were little, but as they get older, they change.” Turner explains that his twelve-year-old daughter never wears pink clothes anymore. “This love of pink is just a fashion and all fashions change,” he adds.

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【推荐3】If you go shopping in any toy store, you can see clearly the different games and toys for boys and girls: there are a lot of pink toys on one side of the store for girls; and dark colored cars, guns and soldiers for boys. Some big stores with toys may even have a pink floor for girls and a blue floor for boys. In fact, it is difficult to buy a toy for a girl that is not pink.

Some people think that too much pink is bad for girls. Sue Palmer, writer of Toxic Childhood, is very worried that most girls over the age of three are crazy about the color. According to some scientists, this happens for two reasons. Firstly, most companies offer too many products in pink. Also, many parents think their little daughter looks cute in pink. Sue Palmer says that girls at this age can not make proper decisions by themselves, but the pink can affect (影响) the choices and the decisions they will make in the future.

Some parents are worried too— for example, Vanessa Holburn, thirty-two, who has two girls under the age of four. Their bedrooms are a sea of pink and Vanessa is not happy. “ Pink says that you are soft and gentle. Blue says that you are strong and powerful. I want my daughters to be strong and powerful. I’ m worried that pink will not help them with that,” she says.

But not everyone thinks there’ s something wrong with pink. Grayson Turner is a father of three girls and he isn’ t worried at all. “ People forget that things change all the time, ” he says. “My girls used to love pink when they were little, but as they get older, they change. ” Turner explains that his twelve - year - old daughter never wears pinks clothes anymore. “ This love of pink is just a fashion and all fashions change, he adds. “ It’ s only since the 1940s that people have started dressing girls in pink — before that it was a color for boys. ”

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【推荐1】The Internet is full of false information. It is important for us all to avoid being fooled by such information. Here are three examples of Internet hoaxes (恶作剧).

On his website, a man by the name of Tony has asked for money to save the life of a pretty little rabbit named Toby that he saved from under his house. A cat must have attacked the rabbit, the man said, so he took it in. He gave Toby loving care and nursed him back to health. There is a very cruel point, however. If the man doesn't receive enough money, he will eat poor little Toby. (Don't worry, thought. Remember, it's just a hoax!)

While the streets of New Orleans, the USA, were still flooded after a terrible hurricane (飓风), a frightening e-mail was sent around the Internet. It included a photograph of a large crocodile (鳄鱼)over five meters long. According to the message, it had been swimming around the flooded city eating people. It was later discovered that the photographs of the crocodile were of one that was caught in the Congo (刚果) years before.

The following e-mail hoax takes in many people. It says that a large British company will pay you to send their e-mail to as many people as possible. For every person that you send the e-mail to, it promises you will receive $5.00; for every person that you send it to that sends it to someone else, you'll get $3.00; and for every third person that receives it, you will be paid $1.00. To make it even more believable, the sender says that at first he thought it was a hoax, but the company soon sent him $800.00.

【推荐2】What do you think of life? Life comes in a package (包、捆). This package includes happiness and sadness, failure (失败) and success and so on. Life is a learning process. Experiences in life teach us new lessons and make us be a better person. With each passing day, we learn to do with all kinds of situations.

Love is very important in our life. Love makes you feel wanted. Without love, a person could become unkind. In the early period of our life, our parents are the ones who show us with love and care. They teach us about what is right and wrong, good and bad. But many of us don’t always care about it in the beginning.

Happiness can bring people a relaxing mind. No mind is happy without peace (宁静). Sadness comes from the death, the failure, etc. But all of these things will pass away. Failure is the way to success. It helps us to touch the sky, teaches us to continue to live and shows us a special way. Success brings in money, pride and self-respect (自尊).

Hope is what keeps life going. Parents always hope their children will do well. Hope makes us dream. Life teaches us not to be sad even in the darkest hour, because there is a day after every night.

Life teaches us not to regret (后悔) over yesterday, as it has passed and is out of our control. Tomorrow is unknown, for it could either be bright or dark. Instead, we should do our best to work hard today so that we will enjoy a better tomorrow.

【推荐3】If you're reading this right now, you are probably interested in learning English as a second language. But these days, fewer college students in the United States are studying foreign languages themselves.

The Modern Language Association (MLA) is a group in the US that tracks language studies. It has found that the number of US college students who were studying a foreign language dropped by 9 percent from 2013 to 2016. And the number is still smaller and smaller.

One reason for this could be that students don't think mastering(掌握) a foreign language is practical. After the global financial crash(金融危机) of 2008, many students have chosen majors(专业) that are "safer" for finding jobs. These include majors like business management and nursing.

Also, college students have more choices these days. There are many majors now, such as digital arts(数字艺术), that we didn't have in the past. with more choices than before, students are less likely to choose foreign languages.

But failing to learn a second language could take away potential(潜在的) job chances for US students in the future. As countries within the global economy become more connected, they will need more foreign language speakers.

"The reality of the 21st century job market is that Americans will be compared for a job…they will be compared to a multilingual candidate(掌握多种语言的候选人)," Clayton Lewis wrote for US Newes.