Children's books bring back joyful memories, providing kids with that much-needed escapism, entertainment and education from a young age. But sometimes it can be difficult to know which to choose. Here, experts share a selection of their favourites.
Germany: Konstantin, by Gerda Wagener Vlasta Barankova
This book follows a shy crocodile named Konstantin who finds a French horn in the jungle. The lonely reptile learns to play the instrument in secret but later with the confidence given by other animals, the nervous and lonely Konstantin finally comes out of his shell and finds friendship through his music. This heartwarming story encourages taking pride in what you do and having the courage to share it with others.
Sweden: Pippi Longstocking, by Astrid Lindgren
Pippi, a nine-year-old girl, is always ready to challenge the authority of grown-ups and has a love of animals, especially for her pet horse and monkey. Pippi also provides a strong female presence in the story, which is often lacking in traditional children's literature and fairy tales. This is a great book for any children looking for an exciting and courageous figure that they can relate or look up to, teaching them not only to take the lead but to question the rules of the world.
Sweden: Pettson and Findus by Sven Nordqvist
It is a series about the adventures of an old man, Pettson, and his cat, Findus, living in their farmhouse in the countryside. Beginning usually with ordinary events, such as a camping or fishing trip, they contain lots of fantastical details of the small creatures that play tricks on Pettson. These tales encourage finding joy in the little things in life, whether it is cooking or just enjoying the great outdoors.
France: The Little Prince, by Antoine de Saint-Exupery
As one of the most translated books ever, The Little Prince is a classic in many nations beyond its native France. The plot revolves around a young prince who travels from planet to planet through space. He learns lessons about love, loneliness and friendship along the ensuing journey. The book may have been written for children, but The Little Prince includes enough reflection on complex themes to keep grown-ups entertained as well, making it a great choice for parents and children to read together.
Louise Gluck has been no stranger to awards over her long and storied career since her first publication in 1968. In 1993, she won the Pulitzer Prize for her collection of poems, The Wild Iris. And on Oct 8 (2020) she became the 16th woman to win the Nobel Prize in literature with the Nobel prizes first awarded in 1901.
Gluck was honored “for her unmistakable poetic voice that, with plain and simple beauty, makes individual existence universal”. Often said to be an autobiographical poet, drawing from the inner parts of her life, "Gluck seeks the universal, Nobel Committee Chair Anders Olsson said in a statement.
Gluck, 77, the author of 12 poetry collections, has been able to turn her life experiences into universal themes covering life, loss, and isolation. Because of this, readers have often found her poetry to be "dark". However, there is much more than darkness in her voice, as noted by Olsson. "It is candid and also a voice full of humor and biting wit." he said.
For example, in her poem Snowdrops, she uses the coming of spring after winter to show rebirth of life after death. She leads readers down a depressing path only to reconnect with the light at the near end. At the conclusion of the poem, readers are left to feel the "raw wind of the new world" as they watch a new spring. This is often the case in Gluck's poetry, being able to feel joy even after not having done so for a long time.
When her work Faithful Virtuous Night received a National Book Award for Poetry in 2014, a judge for the award went on to say, the collection comes from "a world where darkness blurs (模糊) ordinarily sharp edges around the oppositions of our lives - loss and renewal, male and female, the living and the dead".
Talking of prizes, she acknowledged that they can make "existence in the world easier" but did not amount to the immortality (永生) of a true artist. "I want to live after I die, in that ancient way." she said. "And there's no way of knowing whether that will happen, and there will be no knowing, no matter how many blue ribbons have been used to cover my body." The remark is in line with Olsson's description of Gluck's poetic voice as "candid and uncompromising” but frequently witty.
Could looking through trees be the view to a greener future? Trees replacing the clear glass in your windows is not a work of science fiction. It's happening now.
Forest Products Laboratory researcher Junyong Zhu together with colleagues from the University of Maryland and University of Colorado has developed a transparent wood material that may be the window of tomorrow. Researchers found that transparent wood has the potential to outperform glass currently used in construction in nearly every way.
While glass is the most common material used in window construction, it comes with quite a few bad consequences. Heat easily transfers through glass and amounts to higher energy bills when it escapes during cold weather and pours in when it's warm. Glass production used for construction also comes with a heavy carbon footprint. Manufacturing emissions alone are approximately 25,000 metric tons per year, without considering the heavy footprint of transporting the glass.
The innovation was developed using wood from the balsa tree, which is native to South and Central America. The team treated balsa wood to an oxidizing bath, where the wood is kept in a bleach solution at room temperature to remove the light-absorbing substance from the structure. The wood is then penetrated (注入) with a synthetic polymer called polyvinyl alcohol (PVA), creating a product that is virtually transparent. So the transparent wood is created, which is far more durable and lighter than glass.
Switching to transparent wood could prove to be cost efficient as well. It is approximately five times more thermally efficient than glass, cutting energy costs. It is made from a sustainable, renewable resource with low carbon emissions.
With all of these potential benefits for consumers, manufacturing and the environment, the case for transparent wood couldn't be clearer.
Half of all work tasks will be handled by machines by 2025 in a shift likely to worsen inequality, a World Economic Forum report has forecast.
The think tank said a "robot revolution" would create 97 million jobs worldwide but destroy almost as many, leaving some communities at risk. Routine or manual jobs in administration and data processing were most at threat of automation, WEF said. But it said there would be a need for new jobs in care, big data and the green economy.
The WEF surveyed 300 of the world's biggest companies, with more than 8 million employees globally. More than 50% of employers surveyed said they expected to speed up the automation of some roles in their companies, while 43% felt they were likely to cut jobs due to technology.
WEF said the pandemic (疫情) had sped up the adoption of new technologies as firms looked to cut costs and adopt new ways of working. But it warned workers now faced a double threat from "accelerating automation and the economic impact from the Covid-19".
"These things have deepened existing inequalities across labor markets and removed gains in employment made since the global financial crisis in 2007-2008," said Saadia Zahidi, managing director at WEF. "The window of opportunity for active management of this change is closing fast."
WEF said currently around a third of all work tasks were handled by machines, with humans doing the rest, but by 2025 the balance would shift. Roles that relied on human skills such as advising, decision-making, reasoning, communicating and interacting would rise in demand. There would also be a sudden large increase in demand for workers to fill green economy jobs, and new roles in areas like engineering and cloud computing.
But it said millions of routine or manual jobs would be displaced by technology, affecting the lowest paid, lowest skilled workers the most. It said millions would need to be re-skilled to cope with the change, while governments would have to provide "stronger safety nets" for displaced workers.
Do you waste food?
How much food do you buy each week? Are you someone who fills your fridge and cupboards with treats so that you'll always have something to eat and so that you'll never go hungry?
Throwing away unwanted food has become a big issue in the developed world. While some of us throw away unwanted items, people in other parts of world face food shortages and are starving. The actual figure is 1.3 billion tons of food, which is enough to feed a billion hungry people.
You may think supermarkets are mainly to blame for this mountain of food. After all, they do cast stuff that's past its sell — by — date. They've also been criticized for encouraging customers to buy more than they need. In Europe an incredible 53% of food waste comes from households, which results in 88 million tons of food waste a year. So instead of filling our bellies, our food is filling up landfill sites. Unfortunately, this causes greenhouse gases which eventually leads to global warming and climate change.
In Denmark, a woman called Selina Juul has been working hard to tackle this problem. She convinced some supermarkets to stop selling their items in quantity so that people bought only what they needed. She's set up an education program in schools.
And when we're at home we should make the most of the food we have — using recipes that use up our leftovers or even sharing our extra food with our friends and neighbours.
A. People buy more than they need and throw too much away.
B. Or maybe, you're efficient with your shopping, only buying what you need.
C. But the biggest contributor to food waste is us.
D. Clearly, we need to think twice when shopping.
E. We simply need to stop throwing away food and enjoy it instead.
F. This has helped create a 25% reduction in food waste.
G. It's shocking that a third of the world's food is wasted each year.
We have a problem that is deeply rooted in our world today. When it comes to the holidays, people tend to forget that it's the season of giving, 1the season of receiving. We tend to be more 2 about what we'll receive on Christmas morning as opposed to looking at the holidays as 3 to help out those who don't have it as good as we do.
So, how can we 4 the culture around the holidays and make sure that people are emphasizing the opportunity to 5 as much as they are looking forward to opening up their stockings? During this holiday season, many people receive countless 6 from organizations seeking gifts to help them fulfill their mission: helping the old, providing food for the poor, 7for the homeless, care for 8 animals and more.
Giving 9 is the right thing to do, though many of us are 10 by the task. Whether or not we have much money to 11, it isn't always easy to 12what we have worked so hard for, especially when we have set 13 goals—saving for retirement, a vacation or a rainy day.
Even with so many reasons to be unwilling, the advantages of giving outweigh them all. When we give to those in need, either 14to persons or through 15 , we make a positive 16 to the lives of others and to our own.
As we are reminded, giving ensures that we are not17 by material things, but free through the abundance of18 . That we have all things is not because we have a good 19of money in the bank, not because we have skill and intelligence with which to 20bread, but because we are fortunate enough. May we be good at giving from what we have received from our fortune.
The Terracotta Army figures' excavation (发掘)is regarded as one of the greatest discoveries of the 20th century. They (lie) underground for more than 2000 years before farmers (dig) a well in 1974 uncovered what is now considered one of the greatest archaeological sites in the world. So the Terracotta Army Museum in Xi'an is a must-see. The dramatic exhibition (reveal) the secrets behind the 2,000-year-old army of clay statues that guarded the tomb of Qin Shi Huang, the first emperor of China and founder of the Qin dynasty.
They are the incredible, mysterious tomb guardians, discovery in 1974 made global headlines. To date, archeologists still haven't uncovered all of their secrets. The vast stone army numbers some 8.000 (individual) crafted figures. Designed with an impressive level of detail, each figure is one-of-a-kind work of art. The life-sized sculptures vary height according to military ranking, with their uniforms, hairstyles, and even(face) shapes and expressions following suit. The Terracotta Army, (select) as one of Top 10 Things to Do in China, was regarded as the (eight) wonder of the world and awarded as a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1987 even if the inner tomb itself has yet to be excavated.
Anyway, if you are interested in Chinese history, the Terracotta Army Museum is an ideal choice that should be included in your schedule in China.
增加：在缺词处加一个漏词符号（∧），并在其下面写出该加的词。
删除：把多余的词用斜线（\）划掉。
修改：在错的词下划一横线，并在该词下面写出修改后的词。
注意：1．每处错误及其修改均仅限一词；
2．只允许修改10处，多者（从第11处起）不计分。
Recently I have moved by an advertisement which encourage people to go home more often. I don't think it costs too many to show love for our parents. First, do not just visit them during holidays or at weekends and try to accompany them as much as possible. Second, if time permits, it does them well to take them to travel. Traveling is a good way for us to get relaxed and enjoyed the beautiful scenery outdoors. Finally, we'd better have a chat with them, so they can exchange ideas for us and know that what is going on in our life. Anyway, better later than never.
