Life & English

In many countries, the winters are very cold, the trees are bare, the sap is deep in the roots of the trees in the ground and the animals also find shelters for the cold days. By the fireplace, fairy tales were telling when the snow was felling outdoor, the ground was white, the sky was also white... Everything was hidden in winter, waiting for spring to come to life again.

Spring knocks on the doors in March. March 17 is St Patrick's Day, a holiday that originated in Ireland. According to legends, St Patrick was a cheerful boy, dressed in green to signal the arrival of spring and the sprouting of trees. Following in the footsteps of immigrants from Ireland, Patrick has become familiar with American residents from many other countries.Through many years, Patrick has always been a cheerful young boy like the day he first arrived in this country. On this holiday, green is the main color in festivals, creating a fresh and lively atmosphere.

A new spring is coming, the rain is still mixed with a few small snowflakes, but the color of the sun has already turned pink. Everywhere, trees, plants, animals and people are enjoying moments of spring.

- Quy Minh -

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The American space agency NASA says it will keep supporting the International Space Station (ISS) through 2030. After that, it plans to retire the ISS and use privately developed stations.

NASA recently released a report on its plans for transitioning from the ISS to one or more space stations that would be developed by private companies. The ISS has been operating for more than 20 years. The first piece of the floating space laboratory was launched into space in 1998. The ISS has been widely praised as a scientific success. But NASA and its international partners have recognized that it cannot continue to operate forever. NASA notes in the report that the ISS is currently the busiest it has ever been, with the addition of private space companies now transporting astronauts and supplies.

In the future, NASA says its goal is to completely move to privately developed space laboratories for all its space lab needs. This way, NASA will be paying the space station operators “only for the goods and services the agency needs.” NASA has already chosen three private American companies to develop future space stations.

Edited by QM

Source: VoA

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In 2020 and 2021, camp ideas seemed unlikely due to the spread of COVID-19. That did not stop St. Louis libraries, though. They did not cancel their programs. They brought camp into kids' homes. Children who signed up for ukulele camp got a beginner's book, instructional video and a ukulele in the mail. It was all free. In addition, camp sessions still went on. Camp leaders met with kids over video calls. Joe Monahan runs the kids programs for the St. Louis libraries. He said 70 camps were scheduled at first. Some were dropped but 54 were still held online. "We had to scramble" to do the camps, Monahan said. However, he thinks it made a huge difference. "It made for a concrete, fun learning opportunity instead of just sitting in front of a screen," he said.

Staying Connected Through Facebook Librarians across the country are thinking creatively. They are trying to find ways to connect with kids when it is not possible for students to go to the library. The D.C. Public Library system has a page on Facebook. In many ways, its Facebook page has turned into a single library serving the whole city. Librarians across the city will host video story times on the page. The Facebook page has how-to crafts, and videos on science, technology, engineering and math. The page also has exercise classes. Something as simple as looking for a book is more difficult now because of COVID-19.

Books in a library

In Washington, libraries are required to quarantine returned books for four days. They have to wait before they can check them back in and put them on the shelves. When books are quarantined, no one handles them for a period of time. This prevents any germs on the books from spreading. For this reason, visitors are not allowed to touch books.

Book Bundles And Take-And-Makes In St. Louis and Washington, librarians have been putting together book bundles. The choices are based on genre. They might be mystery or adventure books. The bundles are available for pickup. Librarians created grab-and-go activity kits. The kits are also known as "take-and-makes." They come with instructions and craft supplies for fun at home.

Contents of Washington Post.

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Have you ever wondered how new foods get invented? Sometimes people discover a new food by accident. Other times, it was a perfect recipe after lots of experimenting. Here is the story of Pep-O-Mint Life Savers.

In 1911, Clarence Crane opened a chocolate company in Cleveland, Ohio. However, Crane didn't sell much chocolate in the summer. The candy melted too quickly in the heat. So Crane decided to make hard candies instead. Those would not melt.

One day, Crane went to the pharmacist. He noticed the machine the pharmacist used to make flat pills. Crane wondered if he could use the same machine to make peppermints. It worked! Crane decided to put a hole in the center of his mints. He thought the rings looked like life preservers. Those are the large floating rings you see on boats. They are thrown into the water to save people. So Crane called his candy Pep-O-Mint Life Savers.

Today, they are just called Life Savers, and they are still one of the top candies in America.

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Have you ever wondered how new foods get invented? Sometimes people discover a new food by accident. Here is the story of Popsicle.

Frank Epperson was the first person to put a frozen treat on a stick. In 1905, Epperson was 11 years old. He put a fruity drink in a glass and used a wooden stick to stir it. Later, he left the glass, with the stick still in it, outside by accident. When he went back for the glass the next morning, the drink was frozen. The cold weather at night had caused the drink to freeze around the stick. Epperson pulled the stick out of the glass. He licked the ice that was stuck around it. It was cold and sweet. He called it an Epsicle, short for Epperson's icicle.

Later, Epperson made these frozen treats for his children. His children called them "Pop's 'sicles." The treats were so popular that Epperson started selling them at events. Epperson's business continued to grow. Today, people buy billions of Popsicles every year.

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Have you ever tasted Coca-Cola? Did you know Coca-Cola was born in a pharmacy? Here is Coca-Cola birth story.

Dr. John S. Pemberton was a pharmacist in Atlanta, Georgia, in the 1800s. A pharmacist is a person who mixes medicines. In 1886, Pemberton started trying to make a new medicine. He wanted to make syrup to help people with headaches. He mixed together sugar, water, caffeine, oils and other ingredients. The syrup used the coca plant and a nut called the kola nut. Pemberton called the sticky brown syrup Coca-Cola. Pemberton wanted to sell Coca-Cola as a medicine. He asked a pharmacist in Atlanta to mix the syrup with water and sell it as a treatment for headaches. People liked the taste of the syrup. Once, bubbly water was added to the syrup by accident. This made it taste even better.

Pemperton died in 1888. Soon a man named Asa G. Candler took ownership of the Coca-Cola recipe. Candler had opened the Coca-Cola company. He started selling Coca-Cola all over the United States. Today people drink it all around the world.

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Have you ever wondered how new foods get invented? Sometimes people discover a new food by accident. Other times, they get the perfect recipe after lots of experimenting. Here is the story of Chocolate Chip Cookies.

Chocolate chip cookies seem like they've been around forever. Really, they are just a little less than 100 years old. A woman named Ruth Wakefield invented chocolate chip cookies. Wakefield and her husband Kenneth owned a restaurant in Massachusetts. It was called the Toll House Inn. The inn was famous for its desserts. Wakefield's butterscotch cookies were a big favorite. One day, Wakefield tried something new. She cut a chocolate bar into small pieces and added it to the butterscotch cookie dough. The chocolate melted into gooey chunks in the cookies. Guests loved the new cookies. Wakefield called them "Toll House Chocolate Crunch Cookies." Soon, Wakefield's cookie recipe ran in a Boston newspaper. Wakefield also added the recipe to her cookbook.

The ingredients included two Nestlé semi-sweet chocolate bars cut into tiny pieces. Nestlé is a food company. It sells chocolate and other foods and drinks. The recipe became very popular. People started buying up Nestlé chocolate bars to make Wakefield's cookies. Nestlé even added lines to the chocolate bars to make them easier to break apart. Later, Nestlé began making chocolate chips. You may have seen bags of these chocolate chips at the grocery store, or made cookies with them yourself. Wakefield's chocolate chip cookie recipe is on the back of every bag.

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YBM TOEIC là bộ sách ôn luyện phần thi Nghe và Đọc trong bài thi TOEIC được biên soạn bởi YBM – đơn vị được tổ chức Khảo thí Hoa Kì - ETS - “cha đẻ” của bài thi TOEIC ủy quyền cho tổ chức thi và cấp chứng chỉ tại Hàn Quốc.

YBM là đơn vị ôn luyện và tổ chức kỳ thi TOEIC hàng đầu tại Hàn Quốc, đồng thời cũng là một trong những đơn vị đầu tiên đặt nền móng cho nền giáo dục tiếng Anh ở quốc gia này. Với hơn 50 năm hoạt động trong lĩnh vực, YBM đã xuất bản khoảng 400 đầu sách TOEIC bán chạy trên tổng số 12.000 đầu sách nghiên cứu ngôn ngữ, một số trong số đó đã bán được hàng triệu bản.

Dựa trên kinh nghiệm giảng dạy và tổ chức các kỳ thi TOEIC cùng những phân tích kỹ lưỡng về xu hướng ra đề qua từng năm, YBM đã biên soạn bộ giáo trình ôn luyện kỹ năng Nghe và Đọc YBM TOEIC với nội dung cập nhật nhất theo đề thi TOEIC định dạng mới.

Mỗi cuốn cung cấp 1000 câu hỏi bám sát ý đồ của người ra đề, nội dung tương đương đề thi thật từ độ dài đến độ khó, kèm theo phần đáp án giải thích kỹ lưỡng các điểm mấu chốt trong việc ra đề giúp người học có chương trình ôn luyện bám sát kì thi thực tế hơn.

Bộ sách gồm 4 cuốn, được phân loại theo hai trình độ khác nhau của người học. Trong đó, YBM TOEIC Reading 1000 Vol.1 và YBM TOEIC Listening 1000 Vol.1 được thiết kế dành cho người học nhắm tới mục tiêu đạt 500+ điểm TOEIC.

Còn YBM TOEIC Reading 1000 Vol.2 và YBM TOEIC Listening 1000 Vol.2 dành cho người học có mục tiêu đạt 700+. (Mức 450 điểm là yêu cầu đối với sinh viên tốt nghiệp cao đẳng; mức 650 điểm là yêu cầu chung đối với sinh viên tốt nghiệp đại học hệ đào tạo 4-5 năm, nhân viên, trưởng nhóm tại các doanh nghiệp có yếu tố nước ngoài).

Với kỹ năng Đọc, hai cuốn YBM TOEIC Reading 1000 (Vol.1 và Vol.2) sẽ gói gọn nội dung chính trong 10 bài kiểm tra (test) bám sát cấu trúc của bài thi TOEIC định dạng mới và kịp thời cập nhật những thay đổi như: tỷ lệ câu hỏi về ngữ pháp tăng, bổ sung dạng bài ba đoạn văn và hình thức chuỗi tin nhắn, cùng nhiều câu hỏi theo hình thức mới…

Những trang đầu cuốn sách sẽ cung cấp các thông tin chắt lọc giúp người học nắm rõ hơn tiêu chí quan trong về TOEIC như giải đáp thắc mắc liên quan đến kỳ thi TOEIC, phân tích xu hướng ra đề theo định dạng mới hay cung cấp bảng quy đổi điểm… phía sau cuốn sách đưa ra lời giải thích đáp án chi tiết, cho thấy điểm vượt trội của tài liệu này so với các cuốn sách luyện đề khô khan khác.

Với những hướng dẫn cụ thể và rõ ràng, người học chắc chắn sẽ không còn bỡ ngỡ trước những đổi mới của bài thi TOEIC, tự tin bước vào phòng thi và chinh phục điểm số cao như kỳ vọng.

Trong khi đó, YBM TOEIC Listening 1000 (Vol.1 và Vol.2) lại đưa ra những phân tích chi tiết về bài thi Nghe TOEIC, từ bố cục, dạng bài tới những lưu ý cần thiết để thí sinh có thể có những chuẩn bị đầy đủ nhất khi ôn luyện.

Sách cung cấp 10 đề thi sát nhất với bài thi TOEIC thật theo định dạng mới (từ giọng đọc, tốc độ, độ dài đến độ khó của từng phần thi); đi kèm các đề thi là đáp án chi tiết được giải thích cụ thể nhằm giúp người học có thể tự kiểm tra, đánh giá năng lực trong quá trình ôn luyện cho bài thi TOEIC.

Phát triển dựa trên kinh nghiệm xuất bản giáo trình của tổ chức khảo thí ETS, bộ sách được đánh giá là niềm tự hào của YBM nhờ bố cục rõ ràng, khoa học cùng nội dung chọn lọc và phần giải thích đáp án dễ hiểu, giúp quá trình tự ôn luyện trở nên dễ dàng hơn với người học TOEIC.

 ND

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In 2020, camp ideas seemed unlikely due to the spread of COVID-19 but librarians did not cancel their programs.

In 2020, camp ideas seemed unlikely due to the spread of COVID-19. That did not stop St. Louis libraries, though. They did not cancel their programs. They brought camp into kids' homes. Children who signed up for ukulele camp got a beginner's book, instructional video and a ukulele in the mail. It was all free. In addition, camp sessions still went on.

Camp leaders met with kids over video calls. Joe Monahan runs the kids programs for the St. Louis libraries. He said 70 camps were scheduled at first. Some were dropped but 54 were still held online. "We had to scramble" to do the camps, Monahan said. However, he thinks it made a huge difference. "It made for a concrete, fun learning opportunity instead of just sitting in front of a screen," he said.

Staying Connected Through Facebook Librarians across the country are thinking creatively. They are trying to find ways to connect with kids when it is not possible for students to go to the library. The D.C. Public Library system has a page on Facebook. In many ways, its Facebook page has turned into a single library serving the whole city. Librarians across the city will host video story times on the page. The Facebook page has how-to crafts, and videos on science, technology, engineering and math. The page also has exercise classes. Something as simple as looking for a book is more difficult now because of COVID-19.

In Washington, libraries are required to quarantine returned books for four days. They have to wait before they can check them back in and put them on the shelves. When books are quarantined, no one handles them for a period of time. This prevents any germs on the books from spreading. For this reason, visitors are not allowed to touch books. Book Bundles And Take-And-Makes In St. Louis and Washington, librarians have been putting together book bundles. The choices are based on genre. They might be mystery or adventure books. The bundles are available for pickup. Librarians created grab-and-go activity kits. The kits are also known as "take-and-makes." They come with instructions and craft supplies for fun at home.

Collected & edited by QM

Ảnh: 

Eating outdoors is not new. People were out hunting ate roasted meat since hundreds of years ago. Rich people loved picnics in the 1800s. They had tables and dishes hauled outside by servants. The meal might include meat pies, several kinds of cake and strawberries. Picnics got simpler when people had cars. A drive and a picnic lunch were considered fun for a Saturday.

Now, picnics are as popular as ever. Worries about the corona virus, or COVID-19, have made outdoor meals a common choice. Eating outdoors is believed to reduce the risk of spreading the illness.

The United Kingdom

Britain Tom Shingler is editor of the website Great British Chefs. In the United Kingdom, a picnic has foods that can be enjoyed cold, he said. "Think sandwiches, Scotch eggs, quiches, pies, and bean or potato salads." A Scotch egg is a hardboiled egg. It is wrapped in sausage and fried.

France

France has many farmers' markets and grocery stores. They make picnicking easy. Shaheen Peerbhai wrote the cookbook Paris Picnic Club. "Picnic traditions in Paris are simple," she said. "Grab a baguette sandwich and a pastry from the bakery" and go to a riverbank with friends, she said. Picnic sandwiches include ham and butter on bread. It is hard-boiled eggs, vegetables, tuna and oil on bread.

A picnic picture

Australia

Australia's Northern Territory has a Picnic Day holiday in August. It is celebrated with a picnic along the Adelaide River. To picnic like an Aussie, get your sky, or cooler. Put in some tucker, or food. For dessert, bake a tray of chocolate or caramel slice. Slices are what Americans might call "bars." They are tray-baked desserts that are cut into squares.

Turkey

Finding a place to picnic in Turkey is easy. There are many picnic grounds. A Turkish picnic is an all-day event. Rugs are spread on the ground to hold a feast of salads, dips, meatballs and more. You eat, you play games and you make some tea. Then you do it all over again until dark.

Japan

In Japan, cherry blossom season is celebrated. People go for cherry blossom viewing at parks. These trips are a time to eat and drink late into the night. Stores sell picnic boxes for the park visits. They are filled with rice, fish, pickles and other treats.

Hong Kong In Hong Kong, groups go to beaches or parks to use grills. They visit seaside shops that sell fish balls, chicken wings, corn, mushrooms and more. The rest Of the day is spent grilling and eating. Dessert is a piece of toast with honey. They take a break to swim or go for a walk. Then, they eat again.

India

Evenings are cooler for picnics in India, said Peerbhai. A picnic could be "corn on the cob and coconut water" at the beach, she said. Chowpatty Beach is famous for its snack sellers. Snacks include vada pav, which is a fried potato patty on a bun.

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