If you want to understand China but can't afford an expensive international flight, these four books can give you a complete overview of the country.
River Town
River Town: Two Years on the Yangtze by Peter Hessler—This book is a journal of the author's two years spent teaching English in a small town called Fuling, situated on the banks of the Yangtze River. Hessler writes about his experiences living in a foreign culture and observing the lives of the town's residents. The book was published in 2001 and has won several awards, including the Kiriyama Prize.
Deng Xiaoping and the Transformation of China
It is a book that tells the story of China's modernization. It was written by Ezra Vogel and published in 2011. The author describes how Deng Xiaoping's policies led to significant changes in China's economy and society. The book has received critical honors and won the Lionel Gelber Prize in 2012.
The Search for Modern China by Jonathan Spence
This book is a comprehensive history of China from the Ming dynasty to the present day. The author,a prominent scholar of Chinese history, provides a detailed analysis of the social, cultural, and political changes that have taken place in China over the past 500 years. The book was first put out in 1990 and has since been revised and updated several times. This book was the top bestseller for years.
Factory Girls: From Village to City in a Changing China
Written by Leslie T. Chang, this book, published in 2008, is a reportage on the lives of young women who leave their rural homes to work in factories in China's cities. Chang, a former New York Times journalist, interviewed hundreds of factory girls to provide insight into the social and economic changes in China.
It was a carefree summer day when a father, Steven Poust, was out boating on the St. John's River with his 4-year-old daughter Abigail and 4-year-old son Chase. The children were playfully swimming near their anchored boat while their father was fishing, smiling at his kids. Suddenly, Abigail got caught in the powerful current, forcing her to release the handle on the boat. Chase let go of the boat to take hold of his little sister, but he found himself caught in the current. When Steven jumped into the water to rescue his struggling children, he was also pulled in.
As they all drifted farther from the boat, the desperate father pushed his son to a safer place and tried to stick with his daughter as long as he could. However, he wore himself out later, and she drifted away from him. The father had to follow his daughter. So the responsibility to save the family was now on young Chase's shoulders.
Steven instructed his son to swim to the shore and find immediate help. Meanwhile, he would attempt to retrieve his little girl, who was continuously being pulled farther from his reach.
Chase did as he was told. The young boy was swimming against the current, which made it more difficult to swim toward the shore. However, the young boy continued to swim with one thought in mind: to save his family. Chase swam as fast as he could to reach the riverbank. When he grew tired, Chase cleverly floated on his back; at times, he paddled to conserve his energy. Once he reached the shore, he raced to the closest house he could find, knocked on the door and screamed for help. The owners answered and immediately dialed 911.
The Jacksonville Fire and Rescue Department responded quickly. They located the empty boat. In the water, they found kids' shoes, a cellphone and fishing poles floating near the boat. After a 90-minute search, the search crew located the father and the daughter in the water, who had been swept a mile and a half from their abandoned boat.
Sharing a bed with a pet at night is a common feature of nighttime routines in the United States. According to a 2021—2022 survey,43 percent of pet dogs in the United States and 49 percent of pet cats sleep on their owner's bed. When it comes to the perks of sharing your bed with your favourite furry friend, however, experts are divided.
First, it's worth noting that the majority of research on the topic of co-sleeping with pets has focused on dogs rather than cats. Mark Fierstein, an internal medicine specialist at NYUL angone Health in New York City, suggests this is because cats may want to play or even purposely wake up their owner. Rabbits or hamsters are also out of the question.
A benefit of sleeping with pets is that the practice may prevent loneliness, Fierstein says. "Often, people who co-sleep with pets report an increased sense of security, companionship, and relaxation," he notes. "For some people, the dog's warmth, steady heartbeat, and protective nature can make sleeping with them feel safe and cozy." This may be especially true of people who are managing trauma or post-traumatic stress disorder（PTSD）. Leslie Sinn, a psychologist, says according to a survey,60% of PTSD suffers feel calm down if they wake up to see the presence of the dog.
Some research suggests co-sleeping with pets may increase mid-night awakenings for people. "If the owner is a light sleeper, he or she may not do well with a dog or cat in the bedroom," notes Fierstein. For example, he points out that a dog who snores loudly is not an ideal sleeping mate.
Dogs may also show aggressive behaviour—such as biting. Allowing pets in the bedroom can also expose owners to potential allergens, like pet hair, as well as viruses that cause disease.
Now, a new trial finds antiviral medications, when given soon after a child is diagnosed with type 1 diabetes（糖尿病）, might help preserve those vital beta（β） cells.
Antiviral drugs could be "used alone, or as part of combination treatment, to rescue insulin（胰岛素）-producing beta cells at diagnosis of type 1 diabetes," said a team that presented their findings at the annual meeting of the European Association for the Study of Diabetes, in Hamburg. So-called beta cells in the pancreas（胰腺） can generate insulin. But in some cases, an uncontrolled auto-immune response causes the body to attack its own beta cells, ruining a child's capacity to produce insulin and cause type 1 diabetes. So people with type 1 diabetes rely on insulin injections to maintain healthy blood sugar levels the rest of their lives.
The researchers have been investigating the root causes of the autoimmune "malfunction" behind beta cell destruction for years, and they discovered that low-grade infections with common germs often occur in the pancreatic cells of people newly diagnosed with type l diabetes. So what if these people were given antivirals—in this case, pleconaril and ribavirin—to rid the pancreas of these infections?
The new trial, led by Dr. Mynarek, sought to answer that question. The team followed96 children aged 6 to 15 who were all diagnosed with type 1 diabetes in the study. The children were randomly selected to receive either the two antiviral medicines or a placebo （无效对照剂） for six months. Mynarek's group tracked C-peptides levels in the blood, which "mirror the insulin production in the pancreas," implying that the higher a child's C-peptide levels on tests, the better their pancreas was producing insulin. According to their findings, while C-peptide levels dropped a full 24% in children who received the placebo, it fell by just 11% in those who got the antivirals. That suggests the treatment helped protect the child's pancreatic beta cells from destruction.
The researchers concluded that "further studies should be done to evaluate whether antiviral treatment could delay the progression of beta-cell damage leading to clinical type l diabetes."
Have you ever wondered about the significance of emotions in our life? Emotions play a critical part in our lives. Let me give you an example here: When you are with your loved ones, your mood changes instantly right? If they feel happy then you feel happy, and if they feel angry/sad then so do you. Starting to get what I was talking about in the beginning? Should you be feeling like that? In certain situations, yes, but every time, no!
You may find it very hard to believe but it is not our responsibility to bear other people's feelings, this is something that they have to do themselves. Apart from this, we must never be controlled by our own feelings. Let me give you an example here. In the middle of a fight between your spouse or partner, they will say, "You really hurt my feelings". Sometimes, you might even say: "You are making me angry". What does this imply? Whenever this happens, you start blaming yourself, especially for the emotions that others are feeling. This is known as emotional reflection. You must learn to control this.
What should be your course of action here? It might seem rude when I say this but you really need to hear it. You are not responsible for how others feel! Al l in all, we must learn to be emotionally accountable and mature, doing so will result in a better and happier life.
A. Therfore embrace your emotions as a part of yourself. B. They are infectious unless you know how to control them. C. So, it's a must for us to learn to control our feelings. D. You have conveyed your feelings in a very understandable manner. E. This goes sideways, others are also not accountable for how you feel. F. It means that you have allowed the other person to emotionally control you. G. Otherwise, it will create co-dependency in relationships which is very harmful. |
China's star swimmer Wang Shun is no stranger to newspaper or magazine covers. Wang, an Olympic champion, has already 1 three gold medals, a silver and a bronze in Hangzhou Asian Games. His story reveals how years of 2 and setbacks turned him into a world-beater.
3 his childhood, Wang has fond memories of the moment that sparked his 4 curiosity about swimming. "The first time I got into the pool was with my father. I followed him and I didn't know how to swim. I remember I swallowed a lot of water, and then I saw an adult 5 out of the water, so I just 6 his head and climbed onto his shoulder."
As he began to train 7 , though, Wang often struggled with the long hours in the pool, and would sometimes sit in the locker room to 8 training. Now, with Olympic gold in his trophy cabinet, he is 9 he didn't give up.
"I've been through many 10 times in my career. In 2019, for instance, my performances were not ideal and I was really 11 at the time about this. I even thought about 12 . But my coach stuck with me and kept helping me improve, mentally and physically," Wang said. "Then in June I sprained my ankle, which 13 me to stop training for two weeks. The 14 process was pretty tough. I was just thinking these setbacks won't stop me from trying to win Olympic gold."
At 27, age is now a new challenge for Wang. However, with Team China increasingly 15 scientific methods of training and support, he is confident he can remain competitive into his thirties.
On Oct 4, Gong Linna and her musician friends gave a concert, performing （public） the new album at the Divine Music Administration, one of the five major structures at the Temple of Heaven.
her first qinge album, featuring classic songs played on the guqin, this new album, Song of the Barbarian Reed-Whistle in Eighteen Stanzas,（present）a guqin piece written by Cai Wenji, female poet and composer from the Han Dynasty. （divide） into 18 parts, the guqin piece expresses the composer's emotion on her way back home 12 years after she （take）prisoner by the Xiongnu nomads（游牧民族）, becoming a chieftain's wife and bearing two children.
On the album, was recorded in Beijing in February, Gong worked with Lin and Wang again. She also invited more friends, sheng player Nie Yunlei and percussionist Li Shang,（play） with her.
According to Lin, the new album is quite different from was presented on Gong's first qinge album, which sounded diverse and displayed the singer's ability to master different music styles. This recording is of an independent work of great （long）, consisting of 18 parts and it takes around 40 minutes to perform in its entirety.
It was the first day of our new grade. Everyone in the classroom was chatting happily, excited to see each other again after the long holidays. When the door slid open, all of us stopped talking and turned to look. In came our teacher Ms. Sullivan, followed by an ordinary-looking boy, "This boy's name is Rafael." Ms. Sullivan announced. "He's a transfer student（转校生）, and he's going to be in our class starting from today. Make sure all of you welcome him warmly." The class clapped. But I didn't want to have a second look at the newcomer, for he had no outstanding qualities considering his small figure and casual T-shirt.
"Oh, I forgot to mention one thing." Ms Sullivan spoke up. "Rafael actually has hearing problems. Normally he would have hearing aids on, but his old ones have just been broken. His doctor suggested that he stay at home until he got his new ones. However, Rafael insisted on attending his first day of school. So if you want to communicate with him, you have to write it on a piece of paper." This single speech sent the whole class up into an uproar（嘈杂）. Some students looked at each other with expressions of surprise. Others voiced cries of concern out of pity. Ms Sullivan calmed everyone down. "I'd like someone to personally help him out throughout the day. Do I have any volunteers?" "How can a disabled person be intelligent?" I thought to myself. I refused to raise my hand, expecting someone else would. But nobody did or said anything. Dead silence spread across the classroom. It was by total bad luck that my eyes happened to meet Ms. Sullivan's. "How about you, James?" She asked me. "Is it okay for you to take care of Rafael just for today?"
It is difficult to refuse a request by someone, especially if that person is a teacher. I sighed and nodded slightly. Ms. Sullivan gestured for Rafael to sit beside me and then asked us to share our holiday stories with the class.
注意：1．续写词数应为150左右；2．请按如下格式作答。
Paragraph 1:Immediately, the class became excited.
Paragraph 2:Then Rafael rose and walked onto the platform.
