Simone
对于很多英语学习者来说，听说读写四项基本技能中最重要的就是阅读，尤其是在英语作为第二语言或者外语学习中尤其如此。下面是小编带来的，欢迎阅读!
1
旅行的意义：无论走到哪里，都是独特的经历
Everyone has a list of destinations they promise themselves to visit during their lifetime. People travel for endless reasons, whether its to experience different cultures, see natural wonders of the world, or learn about heritage. All these ideas are exciting options, because in every situation, you will be exposed to something unfamiliar and life-changing.
每个人都有一堆承诺自己此生要去的地方。人们旅行的原因有很多，有的是要体验不同的文化、看看世界上的自然奇观，或者了解别处的传统。所有这些想法都令人激动，因为无论是哪种情况，你都会体验到从未体验过的、改变人生的东西。
I recently had a discussion with someone about my study abroad experience. They listened as I recounted my explorations around Italy and my additional travels. "I would love to do something like that," they said, "but I feel like everyone goes to Europe now. Its not really that unique anymore".
我最近和几个人谈论了我在国外的求学经历，他们听我描述在意大利的经历和其他旅行时说：【我也想那样做，但我感觉现在大家都去欧洲，没什么特别的了。】
I was pretty shocked by such a statement. Since when was traveling anywhere not cool enough? Naturally, the older you get, youre going to know more people who have traveled to various parts of the world, but does standing underneath the Eiffel Tower have less value to me because so many travelers have done the exact same thing? Or climbing and taking a picture up at the top of the Florence Duomo?
听到这样的话我很震惊，从什么时候开始出去旅行没意思了?当然，随着你年龄的增长，你会认识越多在世界不同地方旅行过的人，但是难道就因为很多人都曾站在埃菲尔铁塔下，所以这样做对我来说就没有意义了吗?或者说爬上圣母百花圣殿照张照片就没意思了?
My answer: absolutely not. Reading travel blogs and staring at photographs is helpful and enjoyable, but nothing close to actually experiencing that place. The truth is, every new destination is unique, and its nearly impossible to make a "wrong" decision.
我的答案是：大错特错。读旅行博客、看照片都很有帮助，也很有乐趣，但跟亲身经历绝对不一样。其实每个新目的地都很独特，选择任何目的地都不会错。
It is important to focus on your own personal journey, not the experience of others. Every city, state, and country, has thousands of different things to offer. The places you will visit all have fascinating people, delicious different kinds of food youve never tried before, and unbelievable history that will blow your mind. Traveling will nevertheless change you and leave an imprint on the way you see the world - no matter where you go.
重点是要关注自己的亲身经历，而不是别人的经历。每个城市、州和国家都有数不胜数的新鲜事物。你要去参观的地方都有有意思的人、你从未品尝过的美味食物和令你痴迷的难以置信的历史。旅行仍然会改变你，在你周游世界之路上留下印记——无论你去哪儿。
Whether the destinations we desire are seemingly simple or seemingly obscure in the eyes of others, every experience has its own unique value. Keep your adventures authentic while also utilizing the opinions and advice of others. In every new destination, you will find a new part of yourself. Truly, no destination is the wrong place to go.
无论我们想去的地方在别人眼中看似简单还是无聊，每次经历都有它独特的意义。坚持自己想去的地方，同时也要听取别人的想法和建议。在每个新地方你都会发现一个新的自己。真的，没有一个地方是不该去的。
2
科学家告诉你：这样学才记得牢
The older we get, the harder it seems to remember names, dates, facts of all kinds. It takes longer to retrieve the information we want, and it often pops right up a few minutes or hours later when we are thinking about something else. The experts say that keeping your mind sharp with games like Sudoku and crossword puzzles slows the aging process, and that may be true, but we found three other things you can do to sharpen your memory.
随着年龄的增长，我们似乎越来越记不住人名、日期、还有各种事情。我们要花更多的时间搜寻脑内的信息，而这些信息往往在我们开始想别的事情的时候突然涌出脑海。专家认为经常玩数独游戏和填字游戏可以减缓脑部衰老的过程。这也许可行，但是我们还发现了另外三种方式来提升记忆力。
1. Vary Your Study Space
更换学习场所
A study shows students who studied a list of words in a windowless room and again in a room with a view did far better on a test than students who studied only in the room without a view.
研究表明，先在一间无窗教室里学习单词后搬到有窗教室的学生要比一直在无窗教室里学习并且欣赏不到风景的学生掌握得更好。
Dr. Robert A. Bjork, psychologist at the University of California, L.A. and senior author of the research, states, 【What we think is happening here is that, when the outside context is varied, the information is enriched, and this slows down forgetting.】
加利福尼亚大学洛杉矶分校的心理学家罗伯特·A·比约克博士称，【我们认为之所以会产生这种结果，是因为外部环境改变时，学生获得的信息变丰富了，这就减缓了遗忘的过程。】
2. Vary What You Study
更换学习内容
The same principal may apply to what you study. Musicians and athletes have known this for years. They practice cross-training.
相同的原理可以用在学习内容上，多年前音乐家和运动员就已经知道这个道理了。他们采用交叉培训的方式来练习。
【Varying the type of material studied in a single sitting — alternating, for example, among vocabulary, reading and speaking in a new language — seems to leave a deeper impression on the brain than does concentrating on just one skill at a time,】 Carey writes.
凯利在其研究中写道，【在同一段时间里学习不同类别的内容，比如，学习一门新语言时可以在词汇、阅读、口语等不同技能间转换，这样比单单学习一种技能在大脑里留下的印象更深。】
It might also be helpful, and this is my advice, to vary your learning style. Most of us use more than one style anyway, but if you find yourself relying primarily on visual learning, try auditory or kinesthetic techniques. You might be surprised.
我给出的另一个也许有用的建议是，改变学习方式。大多数人都会采用不止一种的学习方式，但是，如果你发现自己主要采用视觉学习，可以试着加上听觉或者肌肉运动知觉，效果也许很惊艳。
3. Test Yourself Often
经常检测自己
It also turns out that when a student is required to retrieve information, say for a test, that information is re-stored in the brain in a more accessible way for future use.
事实证明，当一个学生被要求在脑内搜寻一个信息，比如考试，那么这些信息就会被储存在大脑里，供其今后更方便地使用。
Carey reports that researchers don’t know why this is true, just that it is.【It may be that the brain, when it revisits material at a later time, has to relearn some of what it has absorbed before adding new stuff — and that that process is itself self-reinforcing,】 he writes.
凯利表示，研究者们不理解为什么会这样，但事实确实如此。他写道，【也许是大脑在后来重新回忆这些内容的时候，在新加上一些内容前，需要重新回顾之前吸收的内容，这样的过程就相当于大脑的自我强化。】
【The idea is that forgetting is the friend of learning,】 Carey quotes Dr. Nate Kornell, a psychologist at Williams College, as saying. 【When you forget something, it allows you to relearn, and do so effectively.】Practice tests, then, are powerful learning tools.
凯利引用威廉姆斯学院心理学家奈特·科内尔博士的一段话，称【遗忘伴随着学习。遗忘使你重新学习某件事，并能更高效地学习。】那么，不断测试自己就成了有用的学习工具。
3
这是真的：这只汪星人当选市长还连任了……
It was a landslide victory.
这是一次压倒性的胜利。
Duke, the mayor of Cormorant, Minnesota, just won re-election to a third consecutive term.
明尼苏达州科莫伦特市市长杜克刚刚在改选中获胜，赢得第三次连任。
Duke may be the most popular politician in America, winning re-election for a landmark third time in a landslide.
杜克也许是美国最受欢迎的政客了，他在改选中以压倒性的优势获得了具有里程碑意义的第三次连任。
Whats his secret? Probably the fact that hes a dog, and everyone loves dogs.
他的秘诀是什么呢?可能因为他是一只狗，而所有的人都喜欢狗。
In a vote held over the weekend, the 9-year-old Great Pyrenees won his third consecutive term as mayor of Cormorant, Minnesota. Voters paid $1 each to cast ballots in the election.
在为期一周的投票中，这只9岁的大白熊犬第三次当选明尼苏达州科莫伦特市市长。在选举的过程中，每个投票人在投票的时候都要付1美元。
"Everybody voted for Duke, except for one vote for his girlfriend, Lassie," David Rick, Dukes owner.
【除了投给他女朋友蕾西的那一票以外，每个人都把票投给了杜克，】杜克的主人大卫·里克说道。
As mayor, Duke appears on three highway billboards promoting the community.
作为市长，杜克会出现在3条公路的广告牌上来为社区做宣传。
While Dukes role is somewhat unusual, hes not the first animal to be elected to office in the U.S. Roadtrippers has collected some of the nations non-human mayors, including two other dogs, a cat, a cow and a goat named Mayor Clay Henry III.
虽然杜克的社会角色有点不寻常，但是他并不是美国第一只当选政客的动物了。Roadtrippers(地面交通计划网)搜集了一下这个国家的那些非人类市长，其中包括另外两只狗狗、一只猫咪、一头牛以及一只名叫克莱·亨利三世的山羊。
