【推荐2】Music is universal. Take a moment to think about what music you like as you read our beginner’s guide to the history of music.

Middle Ages

The Middle Ages, which ranges from the 6th century to the 16th century, featured medieval (中世纪的) music. During this time, there were two general types of music styles­-the monophonic and the polyphonic. The main forms of music included Gregorian chanting and plainchant.

Classical Period

The music forms and styles of the Classical period, which ranges from 1750 to 1820, are characterized by simpler melodies (旋律) and forms like the sonatas. During this time, the middle class had more access to music. So composers began to create music that was easier to understand. Most especially, Mozart wrote his first symphony and Beethoven was born during this period.

Romantic Period

Historiographers define the Romantic music period to be from 1800 to 1900. Music forms of the Romantic period used music to tell a story or express an idea. Various instruments including wind instruments were used. Instruments that were invented or improved during this time included the flute and the saxophone.

The 20th Century

Music during the 20th century brought about many innovations on how music was performed and appreciated. Artists were more willing to experiment with new music forms and used technology to improve their compositions. The 20th century music has various styles.

【推荐3】Up to one quarter of the world’s population use chopsticks as their main eating tool. Called kuaizi in Chinese, chopsticks were developed in China about 5,000 years ago. Often made of wood, chopsticks allow users to pickup pieces of food by holding together and releasing (松开) the sticks with the thumb (拇指) and first three fingers.

Before the invention of chopsticks, the Chinese used only their hands to eat. One reason why chopsticks were invented is that eating with one’s hands allowed some people to take more food than others. This was considered rude, so using chopsticks, which limited the amount of food that could be taken at one time, was thought to be a more polite practice. Another one was about the great Chinese philosopher Confucius, who was a vegetarian. He objected to the use of knives at the table, feeling that they reminded eaters of the slaughterhouse (屠宰场), so he preferred chopsticks.

At first, chopsticks were used only by nobles (贵族). Later on, during the Western Han Dynasty, which began in 202 BC, commoners (平民) began to use chopsticks as well. At that time, people used chopsticks only to eat side dishes; spoons were used for rice and for soups. During the Northern Song Dynasty, which lasted from AD 960 to 1127, noodles became a popular dish. It is very diffcult to eat noodles with a spoon, so chopsticks were used more often. Today, chopsticks are the main eating tool in China, Japan, and Vietnam; and people from countries all over the world commonly use this tool while eating Asian dishes.

【推荐3】Surely one of the world’s most attractive rivers as well as being its longest, the mighty Nile River runs constantly ever northwards 6,650 kilometre (4,132 miles) from its origins in Africa to its mouth on the Uat-Ur, the Egyptian word for the Mediterranean Sea. Along its passage, it gave life to the ancient Egyptians, nourishing (滋养) them with its annual deep layers of rich black earth providing the basis for the agriculture, which supported the flowering of their culture.

Seneca, the Roman philosopher and statesman, described the Nile as a “remarkable sight” and an amazing wonder. The surviving records indicate this is an opinion widely shared by ancient writers who visited Egypt’s “mother of all men”.

The river gains its name from the Greek “Neilos”, meaning valley, although the ancient Egyptians called their river Ar, or “black” after its rich earth. However, the story of the Nile River doesn’t begin in the expansive delta (三角洲) of marshes (沼泽) and lakes of its Mediterranean exit, but in two distinct sources, the Blue Nile, which falls down from the Abyssinian highlands and the White Nile, which springs from equatorial Africa.

The Nile’s broad fan-shaped Delta is flat and green. At its farthest reaches, Alexander the Great built Alexandria, a busy port city and home to the Library of Alexandria and the famed Pharos Lighthouse, one of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World. Beyond the expanse of the Nile Delta lies the Mediterranean and Europe. At the far end of the Nile, sat Aswan, the gateway city to Egypt, a small, hot, garrison town for Egypt’s armies as they hotly contested the territory with Nubia over the centuries.

【推荐1】Looking back, I spent many unhappy days. In middle school I didn’t think I was as smart as everyone else; I didn’t have cool enough clothes. Junior high was the same. I wasn’t as tall and thin as all the other girls; my baby teeth hadn’t fallen out yet. Fast forward to high school. Still everyone was smarter; still everyone dressed better. Eventually, in my first job out of college I wasn’t making as much money as my friends did.

I come from a long line of people who’ve suffered from depression. When I was single, I thought that was just who I was — it was the genes (基因) I was born with. When I was twenty-six, I got married, and three years later I had my first child.

Once we had kids, my excuse of “it’s-in-the-genes” didn’t work so well for me anymore because that meant my kids would be depressed. Although I realized that still might be the case, I began looking at my unhappiness in new ways.

Over the years many things helped me fight depression: healthy eating, exercise, fresh air, friends and medicine. They all helped. But I had a little secret, too. It’s an exercise I did every night before bed. By the side of my bed, I had a small datebook — every day I only had enough space to write one line.

Every night I asked myself: “What made me the happiest today?” Because I didn’t have space to write a lot, it only took me a few seconds. But in those seconds I replayed my day and decided on its happiest moment.

Some days it was “reading before bed with the kids” or “laughing with a friend on the phone”. And other days it was “finally getting to get into bed” or “not having to cook dinner again”. Anyway, I actively sought the positive every day. Today, when I have a difficult day, I look back through the datebook, read and remember those happy moments in the past.

【推荐2】The founder of KiwiHarvest has won an award for her efforts and impacts in aiding the environment and communities.

Deborah Manning, who lives in Dunedin, started KiwiHarvest from the boot(行李箱) of   her car 10 years ago. Originally a lawyer, Manning changed careers when she realized that she wanted to focus on “significance“ rather than success.

Manning said, “I was driven to make a difference for delicate people in Aotearoa and for our fragile environment.”She said that if she used food that was still good to eat but was going to be thrown out to feed those in need, she could be “solving two problems with one solution”. She spent four months researching “food rescue” and speaking to businesses and groups who might donate extra food or need food for their food support programs (foodbanks, community meals, shelters etc. ).“Once I understood what was needed to collect,’ store and transport perishable(易变质的), frozen and fresh food, I simply started doing it in my own ear,”, she said.

Since then, KiwiHarvest has grown from a single person operation to a national organization with branches across the country.“ We provide food to organizations in the community working in the face of hunger and poverty ,”Manning said, “which in turn reduces their food budget so they can spend their precious funds on the other programs they offer. ”

Her efforts towards reducing food waste and aiding in food insecurity was recognized in the 2022 Kiwibank New Zealand Local Hero, of the Year Award, given to those “taking extraordinary action to better our communities and nation.”

KiwiHarvest has now provided 20 million meals from rescued food for people across Aolearoa. The next focus for it is on education, Manning said, “We want to get out into the community to tell our story and encourage people to reduce food waste and eat healthily.”

【推荐3】Unlike most of her peers who left their rural hometowns, 34-year-old Ning Fenfang left her job in Hangzhou, Zhejiang province in 2017 and worked as a village official in her hometown— a mountainous village in Cili county in Zhangjiajie, Hunan province. Now she farms over 66.7 hectares of land.

Seeing much of the farmland had been deserted, Ning resigned from her post in 2020 and became a full-time farmer, renting the farmland and hiring villagers to work it. She founded a centre for housewives in the village to work her farmland during busy hours.

“It’s never easy,” said Ning. It is very rare for young people to become farmers in rural areas, as farming is labor-intensive and requires constant work in the mud. What’s more, farming is often seen as a job “unsuitable” for both the post-90s generation and women in general. Her decision to become a farmer confused many of her fellow villagers and farming was much more difficult than she had imagined. She experienced tremendous pain due to the intensive labour. At first, she didn’t farm much through lack of farming knowledge, so she didn’t feel pressured to succeed. Later, she decided to expand the scale and spent millions of yuan. “Most of the money is borrowed from banks, families and relatives, so there is no turning back,” she said. Weighing up the pros and cons, her husband ultimately gave up his business to work with her.

She has tried to turn farming into a “trendy” job. Instead of traditional farming methods which rely on human labor, Ning promotes mechanized farming, such as using harvesters, cultivators and drones. She also plans to explore the agricultural tourism resources in Zhangjiajie for children living in urban areas to experience farming.

Being elected to the 14th National People’s Congress has motivated Ning to feel responsible for fellow farmers. “NPC deputies from the grassroots need to consider rural farmers’ needs and bring their voices to the two sessions,” Ning said.