(Reading Practice (Improve your pronunciation in English

listen and practice my father is a doctor he works in a hospital for children in paris he works very hard but he loves his job he's a very kind person i miss him a lot because i live in england but when he comes home he always brings me something nice i love my grandmother very much she doesn't get angry with me like my parents do sometimes and she always wants to listen to what i say she is 74 years old and lives with my aunt and uncle in the same town as me i see her every weekend my brother is four years younger than me but he goes to the same school as me he has blonde hair and is quite small for his age i have a notice on my door at home that says private but he comes in without knocking so annoying but he is very funny sometimes too uncle harry is an actor he's often on tv he lives in london but he often comes to see us he's my mother's brother and he's an interesting person i like to talk to him about films and tv programs he's a wonderful storyteller listen and practice studying abroad every year thousands of students choose to study abroad whether it's for six months a year or even longer many people find the experience of studying abroad very exciting but also very scary living in another country will help you learn a language and learn about another culture you will see the world in a new way and learn more about yourself studying abroad is also excellent training for the working world many companies want employees who speak a second language or who have experience living or working in another country to choose the right country or school ask yourself these questions for how long do i want to study abroad do i want to live with a host family with roommates or alone how much can i afford to pay based on our experience it's best to get your passport and visa early before you go learn as much of the language as you can and read about the customs of your host country also talk with people who have experience studying abroad and call the school to make sure someone can meet you when you get there make sure to bring some local money and a credit card be curious and open to meeting new people and having new experiences don't expect to always be comfortable after the first few weeks it's usual to feel a little homesick you'll miss your family and friends remember that it takes time to get used to a new place with new customs talk to your new friends and write about your feelings listen and practice this really happened to me i was about 10 years old and was camping with my best friend it was late at night and we were in our tents reading comic books with our flashlights and just talking suddenly we heard this strange noise outside our tent it sounded like an animal maybe a bear or something it was big i know that for sure it was growling it was making sounds like it was moving all around our tent and pushing against the sides we had all our food in the tent so we thought it was hungry we didn't know what to do we were pretty frightened to be honest my friend wanted to feed it he wanted to open the tent door and throw our food out i didn't want to open the door i just wanted to make a lot of noise and try to frighten the animal away well we started making noises shouting playing our radio loudly banging on things whatever we could do to scare it and make it go away it seemed to work because we didn't hear anything for a while then suddenly we heard a voice say i'm as hungry as a bear it was my older brother listen and practice how colors make us think and feel what does the color pink make you think of how does the color blue make you feel why do hospital doctors wear white coats what color room makes you feel relaxed colors affect everyone each person may have a different answer to these questions but we can agree that colors affect everyone we think carefully about color when we choose our clothes or select paint for a room but we are often unaware of how color affects us for example the color of a room may affect our emotions advertisers use color to influence our choices at the supermarket in addition we may not realize that colors have many different meanings colors in nature have universal meaning for example trees and plants are green so the color green often represents life and nature blue the color of the sky oceans and lakes makes us think of air water and peace colors in the red spectrum yellow orange and red are warm colors those colors may give us a feeling of warmth and comfort or feelings of anger colors in the blue spectrum colors such as blue green and purple are cool colors they often give a feeling of calmness or sadness these ideas about color are similar around the world humans have known about the power of color for a long time ancient cultures in china egypt and india used colors to heal sicknesses people believed that each color had a healing power for example people used blue to decrease pain even today some people say that colors can help people feel better however research shows that although colors may change the way a person feels they cannot heal an illness colors also have different meanings in different cultures a color may represent good feelings in one culture but bad feelings in another for example in the united states white represents goodness it is usually the color of a bride's wedding dress however in india china and japan white can mean death green is the color of dollar bills in the u.s so green may make americans think of money but in china green can represent a loss of respect different colors sometimes represent the same idea in different cultures in european cultures purple is the color of royalty for kings and queens in asia yellow is the color of royalty in addition one color will have many different meanings within one culture for example in north america red often means stop or danger but it also can represent love color psychology is the study of how colors affect our emotions researchers are finding that colors can change our behavior in specific ways for example one research study showed that people could lift heavy weights more easily in blue rooms other studies have looked at how colors influence decisions soccer referees made more decisions against teams that wore black uniforms taekwondo referees gave competitors in blue clothing higher scores than competitors in red in another study students who saw the color red before a test did much more poorly of course these test results might vary from culture to culture most people do not realize how much color affects them it can affect how people think feel and act some colors such as those in nature can have the same meaning for everyone other colors meanings may be different in different cultures we can increase our understanding of ourselves and the world around us by learning about what colors can mean or represent listen and practice my birthday is july 14th and i always celebrate my birthday with my friends and family i'm 16 years old now and on my last birthday my parents gave me a sweet 16 party that's a party a lot of girls have when they turn 16. i made a guest list and my parents sent the invitations my mom and i decorated the room and planned a special menu of pizza ice cream and of course cake my mom baked a big chocolate cake with happy birthday amanda on it everybody's saying happy birthday to me we had the party at my house and 14 of my friends came my mom and dad gave me a cool gift it was a new camera it was great i took photos of my friends and then posted them online for my friends to see i'm not going to have a party for my next birthday my 17th but i am going to have one for my 18th birthday listen and practice what is a desert a desert is a dry place that has less than 25 centimeters of rain every year some deserts have no rain for months or years some deserts have sand but others have stones or rocks some deserts are in the mountains in the day temperatures in hot deserts are usually from 20 to 35 degrees centigrade but temperatures can be more than 50 degrees at night the air gets very cold sometimes it's less than zero degrees most cold deserts are warm in summer but they are very cold in winter in summer temperatures are usually from 21 to 26 degrees centigrade in winter they are usually from two to four degrees most of the water in cold deserts comes from snow or fog it doesn't come from rain listen and practice living in the desert living in the desert is very different from living in a city but people still cook travel and go to school most desert people eat bread porridge milk cheese and food from desert plants they cook their food on a fire outside their home dates grow well in deserts dates with cheese is traditional tuareg food today many desert people drive suvs but camels are better for traveling across sand camels can travel more than 40 kilometers in a day they are strong animals desert people can use camels to carry food tents and other things from their homes a long time ago only a few desert children went to school but this is changing in the deserts in australia aborigines are building new schools students speak their own language and they also learn english listen and practice being polite from culture to culture most people want to be polite and behave well around others being polite means knowing how to greet and talk to people it means using good manners when eating it means knowing how to give and receive gifts appropriately polite behavior in one country however may be impolite in another part of the world travelers need to understand the cultural differences in politeness so that they don't cause embarrassment for instance when people meet they often shake hands how long should a handshake be should you hold the other person's hand gently or firmly in the united states people prefer to shake hands firmly for a few seconds in some middle eastern countries people hold the person's hand gently for a longer time handshaking varies around the world what about eye contact in some countries you show respect when you look someone directly in the eye in other parts of the world to look at someone directly is rude to be respectful a person looks down at the ground there are also cultural differences in the way people use personal space when two people are talking should they stand close together or far apart exactly how close should they stand in north america for instance people usually stand about an arm's length apart during a conversation however in some countries in the middle east and latin america people stand closer it can be awkward if one person likes to stand close and the other person likes to stand farther apart three authors wrote a book kiss bow or shake hands about cultural differences in their book they discuss greetings gift giving and time around the world cultures have different ideas about giving gifts in the united states if someone gives you a gift you should open it while they are with you that way they can see how happy you are to receive it in china you should open a gift after the person is gone another cultural difference is time if someone invites you to dinner at their house at 6 pm what time should you get there should you arrive early late or exactly on time in germany it is important to arrive on time in argentina polite dinner guests usually come 30 to 60 minutes after the time of the invitation when traveling remember that each country has a different definition of being on time a final area to be careful about is body language including gestures is it acceptable to touch a person on the shoulder how do you wave goodbye or hello how do you gesture to someone to come here all of these can be different from one culture to another in thailand it is rude to touch someone on the head with the palm of the hand the gesture for come here in the u.s is only used for calling animals in some other countries if you are going to live work or study in another country it is important to learn the language but it is also important to learn about cultural differences this way you can be polite and make a good impression people around you will feel comfortable and respected politeness and good manners can be good for making friends good for traveling and good for business too listen and practice excellent exercise being active is very important but do you know why there are many benefits to exercise it is good for your mind and body in many ways exercise makes your body stronger you need a strong body so you don't get sick easily exercise is good for your heart your heart pumps blood around your body the more you exercise the stronger your heart is exercise helps you keep a healthy weight a healthy weight is important so you don't get sick exercise helps your brain work better when you exercise more blood goes through your brain the more blood that goes through your brain the better your memory gets exercise makes you happier exercise is a great way to reduce stress it gives you more energy to do things that make you happy the more things you do the better you sleep exercise makes you strong healthy and happy and it's fun to exercise so don't forget to exercise listen and practice a world of friends is a world of peace and now a message from the friendship force the friendship force says a world of friends is a world of peace the friendship force is an international friendship organization friendship force groups travel to foreign countries in the new country the friendship force visitors stay with host families they learn about their host family's life and culture the visitors and their host families spend a lot of time together and they become good friends every year friendship force visitors make forty thousand new friends in fifty six different countries this is important because when people make international friends they help to make peace in the world are you interested in the friendship force please go to our website for more information if you want to travel with the friendship force send us an application so we can learn more about you and remember a world of friends is a world of peace

Channel: English Language Academy

Views: 495,270

Rating: 4.9401326 out of 5

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Id: LOGzpbW2sUE

Length: 25min 14sec (1514 seconds)

Published: Mon Oct 12 2020