4 . Rahul Aggarwal was in medical school when he got the surprising news that his mother-a fit woman in her 40s-had been diagnosed with type2 diabetes (糖尿病). “I always thought of diabetes as a disease of people at higher weights and with certain lifestyle practices.” he recalls, “but my mom was an Indian American woman with a healthy weight and good diet and exercise practices.”

Aggarwal, now a clinical fellow at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center in Boston began thinking about how diabetes seems to affect certain ethnic and racial groups. It quantified diabetes risk in minority groups to determine if current screening recommendations are correct and equal.

The current standard was released in 2021 by the U. S. Preventive Services Task Force (USPSTF), which issues evidence-based guidance on disease prevention. The recommendation is to test adults aged 35 to 70 for diabetes if they are overweight or obese, defined as having a body mass index (BMI)of 25 kg/m2 or more. Aggarwal and his cooperators looked at the lowest-risk individuals qualified to screen under that rubric(评价量规). The researchers were shocked to find that the rate was about double for Hispanics and even higher among Black and Asian Americans. They concluded that to detect diabetes equally across all these groups, you would need to test Asian Americans with a BMI of 20 and Black and Hispanic individuals with a BMI of just 18. 5-measures considered to be in the healthy range.

Ngo-Metzger, who was the USPSTFs scientific director from 2012 to 2019, notes that “most studies of diabetes were done in middle-aged white individuals,” She argues that they ‘should be revised. “The study found that you would miss so many Blacks, Hispanics and Asians when you use these guidelines. I think it’s a kind of harm.”

Located in the comfortable tropical setting of Xishuangbanna,     1     the rainfall is abundant, plants are plentiful, and animals are diverse, the Dai people breathe     2     a place where the atmosphere is filled with greenery and ecological force. This background gives rise to the Dai people’s unique cuisine, which effortlessly combines elements of nature with     3     (they) daily lives.

For the Dai people of Xishuangbanna, many plants that seem nontraditional to outsiders are cooking treasures.     4     casual chat with a restaurant owner might     5     (unexpected) lead to the generous offering of a homely delicacy (美味).

In the Dai cooking recipes, fried moss stands out as a traditional delight.     6     (harvest) from riverbanks, cleaned, and then pan-fried to a golden color, this crispy (脆的) delicacy gives out sweet flavour.     7     (transform) the crispy moss into a dish that shows the Dai identity requires a delicate touch. But if natural preparations and     8     (ingredient) can be compared to the initial sketch (草图) of a sculpture, the various spice-infused sauces can     9     (see) serving as the cover of the sculpture, lending a matchless realism to the masterpiece.

Take the Dai-style eggplant dip as another example of a combination of authenticity and health, after roasting an eggplant, peeling it, and mixing it with salt, green chillies, garlic, and cilantro (香菜叶), pounding them quick produces a seasoning (调味品) that     10     (match) perfectly with any dish in an entertainment.

7 . In 2050, one in four people will be over 60 in the Asia-Pacific region. Are countries there prepared to fully address the needs of older persons so that they age with dignity?

In the past, senior citizens might have been supported by their families and communities. Yet times are changing.

    1     Meanwhile, more and more governments are wrestling with increasing healthcare costs and a decreasing workforce.

More than ever, there is an urgent need for policy reform in addressing population aging. This must be driven by a shift in mindset to turn the challenges into a demographic opportunity.

    2     More and more people are living longer due to the advancements in health, nutrition, economic and social well-being.     3     This is due to a variety of reasons such as challenges in striking a work-life balance to not being able to afford having more children. However, low fertility and longer life expectancy are not the problem. The real problem is not being ready to face this rapidly changing demographic shift.

It is noteworthy that, in the Asia-Pacific, with more than half of the older population being women, it is crucial to adopt a life-cycle approach to population aging, grounded in gender equality and human rights. Investing in each stage of life determines the path of a woman’s life course. When a girl has access to quality education, it helps her make informed decisions about life-changing matters.     4    

While there is no single comprehensive policy that can address population aging, we need to take action now.     5     In so doing, countries in the Asia-Pacific region can hope for, and achieve, a better future for all, where no one is left behind.

8 . Six months ago, 28-year-old Danny Wallace, who earns his living as a TV comic and “ideas” man, had a great idea. What if he started his own country and invited anyone who wanted to join him to become a citizen? So, naming himself King Danny I and declaring his one-bedroom flat in East London an independent state, he set about taking the necessary steps to make his dream come true. He even documented his progress in his BBC2 series How To Start Your Own Country, which comes to the end of its six-week run on Wednesday.

Over the six weeks, Danny explored the possibilities of forming his own country. The first thing on his agenda was to hand in his Declaration of Independence to the prime minister. With this out of the way, he was free to start thinking about writing a constitution and setting up a government. Then he was off to design his own flag and record his own national anthem and even got someone to design possible postage stamps of his country, with his face on them!

The final thing Danny had to do was to find a name for his country. At his request, citizens sent in thousands of suggestions as to what this new country could be called. Ideas ranged from Flatland to Wallaceland! But, in the end, the final selection came down to just two: Home or Lovely. Aiming to become the most democratic democracy in the world where its citizens have the opportunity to enjoy equality, King Danny achieved a world first and let the people decide. Lovely finally stood out.

Whether the country will continue to grow will very much depend on how busy its creator is. And, as Danny Wallace is much in demand for several other TV projects, it might fall to other members of his government to keep things running. But with elections promised every six months, the creation of the University of Lovely and several sporting events planned over the coming weeks, there are plenty of activities to keep the citizens of Lovely occupied for quite a while yet.

9 .     1    

During the wartime, military technologies developed quickly. Air raids (空袭) had an extremely destructive impact on wildlife populations as they contributed to the destruction of habitats. Apart from the bombs dropped during air raids, aircraft were also a significant source of air pollution. The most devastating environmental impact of the war was caused by the atomic bombs used by the US on Hiroshima and Nagasaki. The atomic bombs destroyed the natural wildlife in the area in seconds. A significant number of fish and land animals died.

·The Vietnam War

    2    . During the war, the Vietnamese hid in the forests which led to the Americans using chemical agents to clear them. The chemical agents quickly destroyed the trees’ leaves. One of the main chemicals was Agent Orange. Apart from affecting the environment it caused congenital (先天性的) disabilities among the Vietnamese.     3    . Years after the trees were sprayed, many animals and plants were unable to regenerate.

·The Rwandan Genocide

One of the major impacts of the Rwandan Genocide was the massive loss of life. It has been estimated that more than 800,000 people died.     4    . Large numbers of trees were cut down to provide wood used by the refugees (难民) as they fled from their homes. The war also reduced the population of wildlife within Rwanda’s borders.

·The Gulf War

During the Gulf War, one of the main participants, the Iraqi military, used the scorched earth policy that dramatically affected the land in Kuwait.     5    . This brought great disasters to sea animals.

10 . Hundreds of years before the founding of Rome, the Maori people had sailed across seas in small boats. Their rich knowledge of the starry dark sky helped them _______ the seas without the help of compasses (指南针).

“Our ancestors sailed across the seas for different _______,” says Rangi Matamua, one of the Maori experts who are leading the way to raise awareness of the cultural _______ of dark sky in New Zealand. “They were on the seas to fish or ______ new continents for settlements.” The dark sky was more than just a sailing ______ for the Maori people. They formed a sense of familiarity with the stars.

“They didn’t feel ______ on the oceans since they had all the ______ accompanying them in the sky,” adds Rangi Matamua. “To some degree, our beliefs come out of their ______ of the starry dark sky.”

The dark sky is not just important for the Maori people. Looking at the sky and ______ to it sits at the heart of humanity. It’s one of the earliest activities every ______ on the planet did, and the dark sky is ______ connected to who we are as humans.

When we start to ______ that bond because of light pollution, we change who we are as apeople. We’re changing the way we ______ our world and the things that are important to us. ______, we need to try and put together better ways of using lights and ______ our starry dark sky.