【推荐1】The late president of South Africa, Nelson Mandela, once said: “If you talk to a man in a language he understands, that goes to his head. If you talk to a man in his own language, that goes to his heart. ”

Mandela understood that our mother language is a very intimate（亲近的）thing to us. For people who speak an ancient language as their mother language, it helps them keep their traditions. Their language is their main link（联系）with their ancestors. And it is also how they imagine in the future.

So it's a serious thing that a language disappears. Over the last century, more than 400 languages have died out. Some languages are now spoken only by a few dozen people, like Yagan in Chile. Africa and South America are also places where many languages are dying.

Why are humans speaking fewer languages than we once did？The answer has to do with globalization（全球化）. Now, it's more useful to speak certain languages—English is one example rather than others. This has killed some languages, usually ones spoken by fewer or less influential people.

But some people aren't prepared to accept a planet with fewer and fewer languages. The United Nations has set Feb, 21 as International Mother Language Day.

The organization wants people to pay more attention to dying languages.

This work is very important. As US writer Ria Mae Brown wrote, “Language is the roadmap（路线图）of a culture. It tells where its people come from and where they are going. ”

【推荐2】If you want to be a better reader, what should you know about the speed of reading? Some people read very quickly. The slow reader may be a good reader. But he may spend too much time reading a story for fun. So, the reader who reads everything quickly or the one who reads everything slowly isn’t really a good reader.

Knowing why you are reading will help you to know whether to read quickly or slowly. Some things should be read slowly throughout (始终). Examples are instructions (说明) for making or doing something. Math books and science books are full of important information. You must read these things slowly to understand and remember everything important.

Some things should be read quickly throughout. Examples are stones for enjoyment, letters from friends and some news from newspapers.

In some of your reading, you must change your speed from fast to slow and slow to fast. You will need to read some pages quickly and then slow down and do more careful reading when you come to important ideas.

【推荐3】February 29^th comes up on the calendar only every four years. A year with a February 29^th might be good news if you are paid by the day or the week. But it might be bad news if you were born on a February 29^th. You have to wait three years in between birthdays!

American English has an expression for the unusual situation. February 29^th is called a leap day. And the year with a February 29^th in it is called a leap year. This year, 2020, is such a year.

As a verb, the word “leap” means to jump, or to move quickly. “Leap” can also be a noun, meaning a jump, or a sudden move.

In a leap year, the dates jump over one day of the week. Let me explain. In 2017, the last day of the year, December 31^th, fell on a Sunday. In 2018, it fell on a Monday. In 2019, it fell on a Tuesday. But in 2020, December 31^th will fall on a Thursday. It jumps right over Wednesday.

The reason for a leap day or a leap year is because our calendar does not follow the Earth’s orbit（轨道） around the sun exactly. Each year, we have a little time left over. So every four years, we put all that time together into an extra（额外的）day.

Some people choose to marry on February 29th because it is an unusual date. But some ancient peoples would likely tell couples not to do it. Leap years were believed to be difficult, and leap days were unlucky. To be honest, these have no scientific basis（依据）.

【推荐2】Moments (朋友圈)

My parents don’t understand me at all. They always tell me I should do this, and shouldn’t do that. It often makes me unhappy.

【推荐3】For a long time, “made in China” made people think of cheap, low-quality goods.     1     Time magazine recently released (发布) a list of the 100 most influential companies in the world. Several Chinese companies were included, such as Alibaba, Huawei, Tencent, DJI, TikTok and DiDi Chuxing.

These companies are shaping the world with highly developed technology. It is reported that DJI holds 70 percent of the drone (无人机) market in the world. This year, it invented a new drone with a set of glasses that gives users a first-person picture of their drone’s flight. TikTok has become one of the most popular apps in the US with its endless videos.     2    

    4     Thanks to a bigger market, improved supply chains (供应链) and efficient producing, Chinese brands and homemade products are rushing to the public. The best period of time for the development of Chinese brands has come.