2022-I

1

The Chinese government recently finalized a plan to set up a Giant Panda National Park.

Covering  an area about three times the  size of Yellowstone National Park, the GPNP will be one of the first national parks in the country.

The plan will extend protection to a significant number of areas that were  previously unprotected, bringing many of the existing protected areas for giant pandas under one authority to increase  effectiveness and reduce inconsistencies in management.

After a three-year pilot period, the GPNP will be officially set up next year.

The GPNP is designed  to reflect the guiding principle of “protecting the authenticity and integrityof natural ecosystems, preserving biological diversity, protecting ecological buffer zones, and  leaving behind precious natural assetsfor future generations”.

The GPNP’s main goal is to improve connectivity between separate populations  and homes of giant pandas, and eventually  achieve a desired level of population in the wild.

Giant pandas also serve as  an umbrella species, bringing protection to a host of plants and animals in the southwestern and northwestern parts of China.

The GPNP is intended to provide stronger protection for all the species that  live within the Giant Panda Range and significantly improve the health of the ecosystem in the area.

2-

My husband, our children and I have had wonderful camping experiences over the past ten years.

Some of our memories  are funny, especially from the early years when our children were little.

Once, we camped  along Chalk Creek.

I was worried  that our 15-month-old boy would fall into the creek .

I tied a rope around his waist to keep him near to our spot.

That lasted about ten minutes.

He was uncomfortable , and his crying let the whole campground know it.

So instead of  tying him up, I just kept a close eye on him.

It worked  — he didn’t end up in the creek.

My three-year-old, however, did.

Another time, we rented a boat in Vallecito Lake.

The sky was clear when we headed off , but storms move in fast in the mountains, and this one quickly interrupted  our peaceful morning trip.

The wind  picked up and thunder rolled.

My husband stopped fishing to start  the motor.

Nothing.

We were stuck in the middle of the lake with a dead motor.

As we all sat there helplessly , a fisherman pulled up, threw us a rope and towed  us back.

We were safe .

Now, every year when my husband pulls our camper out of the garage, we are filled with a sense of excitement , wondering what camping fun and adventure  we will experience next.

3-

Fitness Magazine recently ran an article titled “Five Reasons to Thank Your Workout Partner.”

One reason was: “You’ll actually show up if you know someone is waiting for you at the gym.”

while another read: “You’ll work harder if you train with someone else.” 

With a workout partner, you will increase your training effort as there is a subtle  competition.

So, how do you find a workout partner?

First of all, decide what you want from that person.

Do you want to be a better athlete in your favorite sport?

Or do you just want to be physically fit, able to move with strength and flexibility?

Think about the exercises you would like to do with your workout partner.

You might think about posting what you are looking for on social media, but it probably won’t result in a useful response.

A workout partner usually needs to live close by.

If you plan on working out in a gym, that person must belong to the same gym.

My partner posted her request on the notice board of a local park.

Her notice included what kind of training she wanted to do, how many days a week and how many hours she wanted to spend on each session, and her age.

It also listed her favorite sports and activities, and provided her phone number.

Any notice for a training partner should include such information.

You and your partner will probably have different skills.

Just accept your differences and learn to work with each other.

Over time, both of you will benefit—your partner will be able to lift more weights and you will become more physically fit.

The core  of your relationship is that you will always be there to help each other.

4-

Human speech contains more than 2,000 different sounds, from the common “m” and “a” to the rare clicks of some southern African languages.

But why are certain sounds more common than others?

A ground-breaking, five-year study shows that diet-related changes in human bite led to new speech sounds that are now found in half the world’s languages.

More than 30 years ago, the scholar Charles Hockett noted that speech sounds called labiodentals, such as “f” and “v”, were more common in the languages of societies that ate softer foods.

Now a team of researchers led by Damián Blasi at the University of Zurich, Switzerland, has found how and why this trend arose.

They discovered that the upper and lower front teeth of ancient human adults were aligned , making it hard to produce labiodentals, which are formed by touching the lower lip to the upper teeth.

Later, our jaws changed to an overbite structure , making it easier to produce such sounds.

The team showed that this change in bite was connected with the development of agriculture in the Neolithic period.

Food became easier to chew at this point.

The jawbone didn’t have to do as much work and so didn’t grow to be so large.

Analyses of a language database also confirmed that there was a global change in the sound of world languages after the Neolithic age, with the use of “f” and “v” increasing remarkably during the last few thousand years.

These sounds are still not found in the languages of many hunter-gatherer people today.

This research overturns the popular view that all human speech sounds were present when human beings evolved around 300,000 years ago.

“The set of speech sounds we use has not necessarily remained stable since the appearance of human beings, but rather the huge variety of speech sounds that we find today is the product of a complex interplay of things like biological change and cultural evolution,” said Steven Moran, a member of the research team.

5--

The elderly residents in care homes in London are being given hens to look after to stop them feeling lonely.

The project was dreamed up by a local charity  to reduce loneliness and improve elderly people’s wellbeing.

It is also being used to help patients suffering dementia, a serious illness of the mind.

Staff in care homes have reported a reduction in the use of medicine where hens are in use.

Among those taking part in the project is 80-year-old Ruth Xavier.

She said: “I used to keep hens when I was younger and had to prepare their breakfast each morning before I went to school.”

I like the project a lot.

I am down there in my wheelchair in the morning letting the hens out and down there again at night to see they’ve gone to bed.

It’s good to have a different focus.

People have been bringing their children in to see the hens and residents come and sit outside to watch them.

I’m enjoying the creative activities, and it feels great to have done something useful.

There are now 700 elderly people looking after hens in 20 care homes in the North East, and the charity has been given financial support to roll it out countrywide.

Wendy Wilson, extra care manager at 60 Penfold Street, one of the first to embark on the project, said: Residents really welcome the idea of the project and the creative sessions.

We are looking forward to the benefits and fun the project can bring to people here.

Lynn Lewis, director of Notting Hill Pathways, said: “We are happy to be taking part in the project.”

It will really help connect our residents through a shared interest and creative activities.

6--

Like most of us, I try to be mindful of food that goes to waste.

The arugula was to make a nice green salad, rounding out a roast chicken dinner.

But I ended up working late.

Then friends called with a dinner invitation.

I stuck the chicken in the freezer.

But as days passed, the arugula went bad.

Even worse, I had unthinkingly bought way too much; I could have made six salads with what I threw out.

In a world where nearly 800 million people a year go hungry, “food waste goes against the moral grain,” as Elizabeth Royte writes in this month’s cover story.

It’s jaw-dropping how much perfectly good food is thrown away — from “ugly”  vegetables rejected by grocers to large amounts of uneaten dishes thrown into restaurant garbage cans.

Producing food that no one eats wastes the water, fuel, and other resources used to grow it.

That makes food waste an environmental problem.

In fact, Royte writes, “if food waste were a country, it would be the third largest producer of greenhouse gases in the world.”

If that’s hard to understand, let’s keep it as simple as the arugula at the back of my refrigerator.

Mike Curtin sees my arugula story all the time — but for him, it's more like 12 bones of donated strawberries nearing their last days.

Curtin is CEO of DC Central Kitchen in Washington, D.C., which recovers food and turns it into healthy meals.

Last year it recovered more than 807,500 pounds of food by taking donations and collecting blemished  produce that otherwise would have rotted in fields.

And the strawberries?

Volunteers will wash, cut, and freeze or dry them for use in meals down the road.

Such methods seem obvious, yet so often we just don’t think.

“Everyone can play a part in reducing waste, whether by not purchasing more food than necessary in your weekly shopping or by asking restaurants to not include the side dish you won’t eat,” Curtin says.

7--

Students will work in groups to complete four assignments during the course.

All the assignments will be submitted by the assigned date through Blackboard, our online learning and course management system.

Additionally, from time to time I will assign group work to be completed in class or short assignments to be completed at home, both of which will be graded.

An essay not submitted in class on the due date will lose a letter grade for each class period it is late.

If it is not turned in by the 4th day after the due date, it will earn a zero.

Daily assignments not completed during class will get a zero.

Short writings missed as a result of an excused absence will be accepted.

2022-II

11

Henry Tyler made the catch of the year on the weekend.

When he saw a young child hanging from a sixth-floor apartment balcony , Henry ran one hundred metres, jumped over a 1.2-metre fence, and held out his arms to catch the falling  child.

Eric Brown, only three years old, knocked Henry down when he fell.

The boy is in the hospital and doctors say he'll be OK.

The Brown family live in an apartment building outside Toronto.

On the day of the accident, Mrs.

Brown was at work and Eric was at home with his father.

They both fell asleep  while watching TV.

Eric woke up a little later when he heard children playing outside.

He pushed a chair onto the balcony, and climbed up to see  them.

When he looked down, he accidentally  slipped and fell over the edge.

He hung on for a few minutes and screamed for his father, but his father didn't hear him.

Henry was fixing  his car when he heard the screams.

He looked up and saw Eric hanging from the balcony.

He quickly threw  his tools aside, and started running, arms out.

He saved my son's  life," said Mrs.Brown.

I don't know how to thank him.

I just didn't want the boy to be hurt.

2-

Like many young people, Jessica wants to travel the globe.

Unlike most of them, this 25-year-old is doing it full-time  .

She and her husband have spent the last two years traveling the world, stopping everywhere from Paris to Singapore.

It might sound like one long, expensive vacation  , but the couple has an unusual way to make their travel affordable.

They’re part of a new form of the sharing  economy: an online group of house sitters.

Throughout their no-cost stays in strangers’ homes, they feed pets and water plants in the homeowner’s absence .

It’s not all sightseeing.

The two travelers carefully plan their trips, scheduling their days around the pets that are sometimes difficult to please .

But house sitting also offers a level of comfort they can’t find in a hotel.

“It’s like staying at a friend’s house,” Jessica says.

The couple has a high success rate in getting accepted as house sitters and they always go beyond the homeowner’s expectations .

For Jessica, that means sending plenty of pictures of happy pets, keeping the house clean and leaving a nice small gift before heading to the next house.

“You want to make the homeowner feel that they made the right decision ,” she says.

3-

Writing an essay is a difficult process for most people.

However, the process can be made easier if you learn to practice three simple techniques.

First of all, learn the technique of nonstop writing.

When you are first trying to think of ideas for an essay, put your pen to your paper and write nonstop for ten or fifteen minutes without letting your pen leave the paper.

Stay loose and free.

Let your pen follow the waves of thought.

Don’t worry about grammar or spelling.

Even though this technique won’t work for everyone, it helps many people get a good store of ideas to draw on.

The next technique is to write your draft rapidly without worrying about being perfect.

Too many writers try to get their drafts right the first time.

Yet, by learning to live with imperfection, you will save yourself headaches and a wastepaper basket full of crumpled  paper.

Think of your first draft as a path cut out of the jungle—as part of an exploration, not as a complete highway.

The third technique is to try printing out a triple—spaced  copy to allow space for revision.

Many beginning writers don’t leave enough space to revise.

As a result, these writers never get in the habit of crossing out chunks  of their draft and writing revisions in the blank space.

After you have revised your draft until it is too messy to work from anymore, you can enter your changes into your word processor.

Then you can print out a fresh draft, again setting your text on triple-space.

The resulting blank space invites you to revise.

4--

As we age, even if we’re healthy, the heart just isn’t as efficient in processing oxygen as it used to be.

In most people the first signs show up in their 50s or early 60s.

And among people who don’t exercise, the changes can start even sooner.

Ben Levine, a heart specialist at the University of Texas.

That’s what happens to the heart.

Fortunately for those in midlife, Levine is finding that even if you haven’t been an enthusiastic exerciser, getting in shape now may help improve your aging heart.

Levine and his research team selected volunteers aged between 45 and 64 who did not exercise much but were otherwise healthy.

Participants were randomly divided into two groups.

The first group participated in a program of nonaerobic exercise—balance training and weight training—three times a week.

The second group did high-intensity aerobic exercise under the guidance of a trainer for four or more days a week.

After two years, the second group saw remarkable improvements in heart health.

“We took these 50-year-old hearts and turned the clock back to 30-or 35-year-old hearts,” says Levine.

“And the reason they got so much stronger and fitter was that their hearts could now fill a lot better and pump  a lot more blood during exercise.”

But the hearts of those who participated in less intense exercise didn’t change, he says.

“The sweet spot in life to start exercising, if you haven’t already, is in late middle age when the heart still has flexibility,” Levine says.

We put healthy 70-year-olds through a yearlong exercise training program, and nothing happened to them at all.

Nieca Goldberg, a spokeswoman for the American Heart Association, says Levine’s findings are a great start.

But the study was small and needs to be repeated with far larger groups of people to determine exactly which aspects of an exercise routine make the biggest difference.

5--

Over the last seven years, most states have banned texting by drivers, and public service campaigns have tried a wide range of methods to persuade people to put down their phones when they are behind the wheel.

Yet the problem, by just about any measure, appears to be getting worse.

Americans are still texting while driving, as well as using social networks and taking photos.

Road accidents, which had fallen for years, are now rising sharply.

That is partly because people are driving more, but Mark Rosekind, the chief of the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, said distracted driving was "only increasing, unfortunately."

"Big change requires big ideas." he said in a speech last month, referring broadly to the need to improve road safety.

So to try to change a distinctly modern behavior, lawmakers and public health experts are reaching back to an old approach: They want to treat distracted driving like drunk driving.

An idea from lawmakers in New York is to give police officers a new device called the Textalyzer.

It would work like this: An officer arriving at the scene of a crash could ask for the phones of the drivers and use the Textalyzer to check in the operating system for recent activity.

The technology could determine whether a driver had just texted, emailed or done anything else that is not allowed under New York's hands-free driving laws.

We need something on the books that can change people's behavior.

If the Textalyzer bill becomes law, he said, "people are going to be more afraid to put their hands on the cell phone."

6-

We journalists live in a new age of storytelling, with many new multimedia tools.

Many young people don’t even realize it’s new.

For them, it’s just normal.

This hit home for me as I was sitting with my 2-year-old grandson on a sofa over the Spring Festival holiday.

I had brought a children’s book to read.

It had simple words and colorful pictures — a perfect match for his age.

Picture this: my grandson sitting on my lap as I hold the book in front so he can see the pictures.

As I read, he reaches out and pokes  the page with his finger.

What’s up with that?

He just likes the pictures, I thought.

Then I turned the page and continued.

He poked the page even harder.

I nearly dropped the book.

I was confused: Is there something wrong with this kid?

Then I realized what was happening.

He was actually a stranger to books.

His father frequently amused the boy with a tablet computer which was loaded with colorful pictures that come alive when you poke them.

He thought my storybook was like that.

Sorry, kid.

This book is not part of your high-tech world.

It’s an outdated, lifeless thing.

An antique, like your grandfather.

Well, I may be old, but I’m not hopelessly challenged, digitally speaking.

I edit video and produce audio.

I use mobile payment.

I’ve even built websites.

There’s one notable gap in my new-media experience, however: I’ve spent little time in front of a camera, since I have a face made for radio.

But that didn’t stop China Daily from asking me last week to share a personal story for a video project about the integration of Beijing, Tianjin and Hebei province.

Anyway, grandpa is now an internet star — two minutes of fame! I promise not to let it go to my head.

But I will make sure my 2-year-old grandson sees it on his tablet.

7-

We offer scholarships to low-income schools and youth organizations, subject to availability.

Participation in a post-visit survey is required.

Transportation invoices  must be received within 60 days of your visit to guarantee the scholarship.

We require one chaperone per ten children.

Failure to provide enough chaperones will result in an extra charge of $50 per absent adult.

Group Play is for groups of 10 or more with a limit of 35 people.

For groups of 35 or more, please call to discuss options.

The Museum is open daily from 9:30 am to 4:30 pm.

Group Play may be scheduled during any day or time the Museum is open.

Registration must be made at least two weeks in advance.

Register online or fill out a Group Play Registration Form with multiple date and start time options.

Once the registration form is received and processed, we will send a confirmation email within two business days.

Teachers and chaperones should model good behavior for the group and remain with students at all times.

Children are not allowed unaccompanied in all areas of the Museum.

Children should play nicely with each other and exhibits.

Use your indoor voice when at the Museum.

2022-甲

1-

A visually-challenged man from Beijing recently hiked 40 days to Xi’an, as a first step to journey the Belt and Road route by foot.

Kilometer journey, the man Cao Shengkang, who lost his eyesight at the age of eight in a car accident, crossed 40 cities and counties in three province.

Inspired by the Belt and Road Forum for International Cooperation held  in Beijing, Cao decided to cover the route by hiking as a tribute  to the ancient Silk Road.

A friend of his, Wu Fan, volunteered to be his companion during the trip.

Cao and Wu also collected garbage along the road, in order to promote environmental protection .

Cao believes this will make the hiking trip even more meaningful .

The two of them collected more than 1,000 plastic bottles along the 40-day journey.

In the last five cars.

Cao has walked  through 34 countries in six continents, and in 2016, he reached the top of Kilimanjaro, Africa’s highest  mountain.

Now, Cao has started the second part of his dream to walk along the Belt and Road route.

He flew 4, 700 kilometers from Xi’an to Kashgar on seat.

20, planning  to hike back to Xi’an in five months.

2--

You can tell a lot about a man by how he treats his dogs.

For many years, I enjoyed living with my dogs, Tilly and Chance.

Their companionship was nearly enough to keep my loneliness at bay.

Nearly.

Last year, I started dating, but with reservations .

When I first dated Steve, I learned he had a dog, Molly, and a cat, Flora.

While I was amused that he was an animal lover, I worried that three dogs were perhaps too many, and my dogs might attack Flora , the cat.

The next week we walked our dogs together.

It was a hot day.

When we paused to catch our breath , Steve got down on one knee.

I liked him too, but so soon ?

He poured water from a bottle into his hand and offered it to my dogs.

In that moment , I began to fall for him.

We continued to date, though neither of us brought up the future.

And then in late November, Tilly had an operation on her leg .

I took the dogs out four times a day, and I worried that Tilly constantly climbing the stairs could reopen the wound.

Then Steve left his house.

The three dogs formed a pack that, with coaching, respected Flora  s space; Steve and I formed a good team caring for Tilly.

We made good housemates.

A year later, much to my delight , this man produced a little box with a ring and proposed to me.

He did not kneel  down, nor did I need him to.

That  s only for giving water to the dogs that brought us together.

3-

Cultural dining etiquette might surprise you with some of its important rules.

Don’t get caught making an embarrassing mistake at a restaurant.

Knowing some tips will help ensure that you have an enjoyable meal with friends or family — no matter where you are in the world.

The way you handle chopsticks is important to avoid annoying your companions.

When you put them down between bites, always put them down together so they are parallel with the edge of the table in front of you.

Never stick them upright in your food or cross them as you use them .

In India and the Middle East, it’s considered very rude to eat with your left hand.

People in France expect you to eat with a utensil in each hand.

Mexicans consider it inappropriate to eat with utensils, instead preferring to use their hands.

In Chile, you may never touch any food with your fingers.

People in Thailand generally use their forks only to push food onto their spoons.

It may seem like a simple request to ask for salt and pepper at a meal .

In Portugal, this would be a serious mistake, because it shows the chef that you don’t like their seasoning skills.

Similarly, in Italy, never ask for extra cheese to add to your food.

Some of these cultural dining etiquette rules may seem random and strange, but they are important in various countries.

The more time you spend in any given country , the more comfortable you’ll begin to feel with its foreign cultural practices.

4-

4-

Sometime in the early 1960s, a significant thing happened in Sydney, Australia.

The city discovered its harbor.

Then, one after another, Sydney discovered lots of things that were just sort of there — broad parks, superb beaches, and a culturally diverse population.

But it is the harbor that makes the city.

Andrew Reynolds, a cheerful fellow in his early 30s, pilots Sydney ferryboats for a living.

I spent the whole morning shuttling back and forth across the harbor.

After our third run Andrew shut down the engine, and we went our separate ways — he for a lunch break, I to explore the city.

“I’ll miss these old boats,” he said as we parted.

“How do you mean?” I asked.

they’re replacing them with catamarans.

Catamarans are faster, but they’re not so elegant, and they’re not fun to pilot.

But that’s progress, I guess.

Everywhere in Sydney these days, change and progress are the watchwords , and traditions are increasingly rare.

Shirley Fitzgerald, the city’s official historian, told me that in its rush to modernity in the 1970s, Sydney swept aside much of its past, including many of its finest buildings.

Sydney is confused about itself.

We can’t seem to make up our minds whether we want a modern city or a traditional one.

It’s a conflict that we aren’t getting any better at resolving .

On the other hand, being young and old at the same time has its attractions.

I considered this when I met a thoughtful young businessman named Anthony.

“Many people say that we lack culture in this country,” he told me.

What people forget is that the Italians, when they came to Australia, brought 2000 years of their culture, the Greeks some 3000 years, and the Chinese more still.

We’ve got a foundation built on ancient cultures but with a drive and dynamism of a young country.

It’s a pretty hard combination to beat.

He is right, but I can’t help wishing they would keep those old ferries.

5-

As Ginni Bazlinton reached Antarctica, she found herself greeted by a group of little Gentoo penguins longing to say hello.

These gentle, lovely gatekeepers welcomed her and kick-started what was to be a trip Ginni would never forget.

Ever since her childhood, Ginni, now 71, has had a deep love for travel.

Throughout her career as a professional dancer, she toured in the UK, but always longed to explore further When she retired from dancing and her sons eventually flew the nest, she decided it was time to take the plunge.

After taking a degree at Chichester University in Related Arts, Ginni began to travel the world, eventually getting work teaching English in Japan and Chile.

And it was in Chile she discovered she could get last-minute cheap deals on ships going to Antarctica from the islands off Tierra del Fuego, the southernmost tip of the South American mainland.

“I just decided wanted to go,” she says.

And I wanted to do it alone as I always prefer it that way.

In March 2008, Ginni boarded a ship with 48 passengers she’d never met before, to begin the journey towards Antarctica.

From seeing the wildlife to witnessing sunrises, the whole experience was amazing.

I remember the first time I saw a humpback whale;

it just rose out of the water like some prehistoric creature and I thought it was smiling at us.

You could still hear the operatic sounds it was making underwater.

The realization that this is a precious land, to be respected by humans, was one of the biggest things that hit home to Ginni.

6-

Goffin’s cockatoos, a kind of small parrot native to Australasia, have been shown to have similar shape-recognition abilities to a human two-year-old.

Though not known to use tools in the wild, the birds have proved skilful at tool use while kept in the cage.

In a recent experiment, cockatoos were presented with a box with a nut inside it.

The clear front of the box had a “keyhole” in a geometric shape, and the birds were given five differently shaped “keys” to choose from.

Inserting the correct “key” would let out the nut.

In humans, babies can put a round shape in a round hole from around one year of age, but it will be another year before they are able to do the same with less symmetrical shapes.

This ability to recognize that a shape will need to be turned in a specific direction before it will fit is called an “allocentric frame of reference”.

In the experiment, Goffin’s cockatoos were able to select the right tool for the job, in most cases, by visual recognition alone.

Where trial-and-error was used, the cockatoos did better than monkeys in similar tests.

This indicates that Goffin’s cockatoos do indeed possess an allocentric frame of reference when moving objects in space, similar to two-year-old babies.

The next step, according to the researchers, is to try and work out whether the cockatoos rely entirely on visual clues , or also use a sense of touch in making their shape selections.

7-

David’s Hall is the award winning National Concert Hall of Wales standing at the very heart of Cardiff’s entertainment centre.

With an impressive 2,000-seat concert hall, St David’s Hall is home to the annual Welsh Proms Cardiff.

It presents live entertainment, including pop, rock, folk, jazz, musicals, dance, world music, films and classical music.

Every weekend this is “Wales” premier comedy club where having a great time is the order for both audiences and comedy stars alike.

It is hard to name a comedy star who hasn’t been on the stage here.

If you are looking for the best comedies on tour and brilliant live music, you should start here.

Mermaid Quay, Cardiff Bay, Cardiff CF 10 5 BZ

Sherman Cymru’s theatre in the Cathays area of Cardiff reopened in February 2012.

This special building is a place in which theatre is made and where children, artists, writers and anyone else have the opportunity  to do creative things.

Sherman Cymru is excited to present a packed programme of the very best theatre, dance, family shows and music from Wales and the rest of the world.

The New Theatre has been the home of quality drama, musicals, dance and children’s shows for more than 100 years.

Presenting the best of the West End along with the pick of the UK’s touring shows, the New Theatre is Cardiff’s oldest surviving traditional theatre.

Be sure to pay a visit as part of your stay in the city.

乙卷

1--

May 21st this year marks the first International Tea Day, which was named officially by the United Nations on November 27th, 2019.

To celebrate the festival, a number of events took place at the Chinese Businessman Museum in Beijing on Thursday.

The chairman of the China Culture Promotion Society addressed  the opening ceremony.

“As a main promoter of the International Tea Day, the birthplace of tea and the largest  tea-producing country, China has a responsibility to work with other countries to promote the healthy development of the tea industry.

It can help to build a community with a shared  future for mankind,” he said.

The “First International Tea Day Tea Road Cooperative Initiative” issued  at the ceremony calls for people working in the tea industry to come together to promote international cooperation and cultural exchanges.

A four-year tea promotion —Tea Road Cooperative Plan—was also issued in accordance with the initiative.

To strengthen the connection with young people, the event included a number of public promotional activities on social media, inviting  twenty-nine tea professionals from around the world to have thirty-six hours of uninterrupted live broadcasts.

The Chinese Ancient Tea Museum was officially unveiled  at the ceremony, opening its first exhibition: The Avenue of Truth—A Special Exhibition of Pu’er Tea.

2-

Young children across the globe enjoy playing games of hide and seek.

For them, there’s something highly exciting about escaping someone else’s glance and making oneself unable to be seen.

However, we all witness that preschool children are remarkably bad at hiding.

They often cover only their eyes with their hands, leaving the rest of their bodies exposed .

For a long time, this ineffective hiding method was interpreted as evidence that children are hopelessly “egocentric”  creatures.

But our surprising research results in child developmental psychology contradicted that idea.

We brought young children aged 2-4 into our Minds in Development Lab at USC.

Each child sat down with an adult who covered her own eyes or ears .

We then asked the child if she could see or hear the adult.

Surprisingly, children replied that they couldn’t.

The same thing happened when the adult covered her own mouth: Now children said that they couldn’t speak to her.

A number of experiments ruled out that the children misunderstood what they were being asked.

The results were clear: Our young subjects comprehended the questions and knew exactly what was asked of them.

Their responses to the questions reflected their true belief that “I can see you only if you can see me, too.”

They simply insist on mutual  recognition and regard.

Our findings suggest when a child “hides” by putting a blanket over her head, it is not a result of egocentrism.

In fact, children consider this method effective when others use it.

3-

Friendship needs care and attention to keep it in good health.

Here are five ways to sustain  long-distance friendships.

Long-lasting friendships share the characteristic that both sides equally contact  and share with one another.

With busy schedules, squeezing in phone calls can be a challenge.

Try to find a time that works for both of you and stick to it.

Make sure you have communicated with your friend about how frequently each of you wants to be contacted and what method works best for you both.

Compensate by writing letters.

There are alternatives to constant written communication, such as leaving voice messages or having a group chat.

You may be the friend who left or the one who was left behind.

The friend who is remaining needs to be sensitive to all the additional time demands placed on the friend who has moved.

The one in the new environment should be sympathetic to the fact that your friend may feel abandoned.

Anniversaries and birthdays carry even more weight in long-distance friendships.

Although technology might make day-to-day communication possible, extra effort goes a long way on special days.

Simply keeping a diary that keeps track of friends  birthdays and other important dates will make sure nothing slips by you.

It is easy to have a sense of connectedness through social media, but long-distance friendships    even close ones    may require more conscious effort to sustain.

Try to seek out chances to renew friendships.

How to do it?

Just spend face-to-face time together whenever possible.

4-

The Government's sugar tax on soft drinks has brought in half as much money as Ministers first predicted it would generate, the first official data on the policy has shown.

First announced in April, 2016, the tax which applies to soft drinks containing more than 5g of sugar per 100ml, was introduced to help reduce childhood obesity.

It is believed that today's children and teenagers are consuming three times the recommended level of sugar, putting them at a higher risk of the disease.

Initially the sugar tax was expected to make ￡520m a year for the Treasury.

However, data of the first six months showed it would make less than half this amount.

At present it is expected to generate ￡240m for the year ending in April 2019, which will go to school sports.

It comes after more than half of soft drinks sold in shops have had their sugar levels cut by manufacturers so they can avoid paying the tax.

Drinks now contain 45 million fewer kilos of sugar as a result of manufacturers' efforts to avoid the charge, according to Treasury figures.

Since April drinks companies have been forced to pay between 18p and 24p for every litre of sugary drink they produce or import, depending on the sugar content.

However, some high sugar brands, like Classic Coca Cola, have accepted the sugar tax and are refusing to change for fear of upsetting consumers.

Fruit juices, milk-based drinks and most alcoholic drinks are free of the tax, as are small companies manufacturing fewer than 1m litres per year.

Today's figures, according to one government official, show the positive influence the sugar tax is having by raising millions of pounds for sports facilities and healthier eating in schools.

Helping the next generation to have a healthy and active childhood is of great importance, and the industry is playing its part.

5-

Can a small group of drones guarantee the safety and reliability of railways and, at the same time, help railway operators save billions of euros each year?

That is the very likely future of applying today’s “eyes in the sky” technology to making sure that the millions of kilometres of rail tracks and infrastructure worldwide are safe for trains on a 24/7 basis.

Drones are already being used to examine high-tension electrical lines.

They could do precisely the same thing to inspect railway lines and other vital aspects of rail infrastructure such as the correct position of railway tracks and switching points.

The more regularly they can be inspected, the more railway safety, reliability and on-time performance will be improved.

Costs would be cut and operations would be more efficient across the board.

That includes huge savings in maintenance costs and better protection of railway personnel safety.

It is calculated that European railways alone spend approximately 20 billion euros a year on maintenance, including sending maintenance staff, often at night, to inspect and repair the rail infrastructure.

That can be dangerous work that could be avoided with drones assisting the crews’ efforts.

By using the latest technologies, drones could also start providing higher-value services for railways, detecting faults in the rail or switches, before they can cause any safety problems.

To perform these tasks, drones for rail don’t need to be flying overhead.

Engineers are now working on a new concept: the rail drones of the future.

They will be moving on the track ahead of the train, and programmed to run autonomously.

Very small drones with advanced sensors and AI and travelling ahead of the train could guide it like a co-pilot.

With their ability to see ahead, they could signal any problem, so that fast-moving trains would be able to react in time.

6-

The girls had gone to Smith College.

They wore expensive clothes.

So for them to move to Elkhead, Colo.

Their stay in Elkhead is the subject of Nothing Daunted: The Unexpected Education of Two Society Girls in the West by Dorothy Wickenden, who is a magazine editor and Dorothy Woodruff’s granddaughter.

Why did they go then?

Well, they wanted to do something useful.

Soon, however, they realized what they had undertaken.

They moved in with a local family, the Harrisons, and, like them, had little privacy, rare baths, and a blanket of snow on their quilt when they woke up in the morning.

Some mornings, Rosamond and Dorothy would arrive at the schoolhouse to find the children weeping from the cold.

In spring, the snow was replaced by mud over ice.

In Wickenden’s book, she expanded on the history of the West and also on feminism, which of course influenced the girls’ decision to go to Elkhead.

A hair-raising section concerns the building of the railroads, which entailed  drilling through the Rockies, often in blinding snowstorms.

The book ends with Rosamond and Dorothy’s return to Auburn.

Wickenden is a very good storyteller.

The sweep of the land and the stoicism  of the people move her to some beautiful writing.

Here is a picture of Dorothy Woodruff, on her horse, looking down from a hill top: “When the sun slipped behind the mountains, it shed a rosy glow all around them.

Then a full moon rose.

The snow was marked only by small animals: foxes, coyotes, mice, and varying hares, which turned white in the winter.

7-

This exhibition of some sixty masterpieces celebrating the life and work of Scotland’s best loved painter, Sir Henry Raeburn, comes to London.

Selected from collections throughout the world, it is the first major exhibition of his work to be held in over forty years.

Scottish National Portrait  Gallery presents a series of lectures for the general public.

They are held in the Lecture Room.

Admission to lectures is free.

A special low entrance charge of ￡2 per person is available to all in full-time education, up to and including those at first degree level, in organised groups with teachers.