【推荐2】The world’s glaciers are melting. Each year, they become smaller in size as ice breaks off and floats away. These giant pieces of ice also hold very old viruses and bacteria and as the ice melts, some of them may be waking up.

In 2015, scientists took ice from a 15,000-year-old glacier in Tibet, hoping to learn more about the history of life in the area. What was the result? The scientists found 28 new viruses frozen in the ice. Experts think they can learn a lot from these ancient viruses. They hope to find out how viruses and bacteria survive and this may help future people as new viruses turn up in the Earth’s changing climate. However, others worry whether these viruses and bacteria could cause sickness in humans. As yet, the viruses found in the Tibetan glacier seem to only infect amoebas, a very small living animal, they may not be a threat to people. But melting ice elsewhere in the world might be a different story.

In 2016, parts of Siberia saw a heat wave. The higher temperatures caused melting of soil that normally stays frozen year-round. As the ground warmed, bacteria escaped, which caused a sudden start of a serious disease in the area. In 2017, a teacher in Alaska came home from a trip with a skin infection. He visited his doctor. That’s when he learned that the infection was caused by bacteria from melted sea animal bodies. The bacteria had been frozen with the animals for many years before infecting him.

How worried should people be about the viruses and bacteria escaping from melting ice? Most experts aren’t ringing the alarm bells, yet. Instead, scientists worry that many viruses and bacteria will be lost as the ice melts, and so do the learning chances. Is there any hope of saving the world’s glaciers? Most experts say no — the planet has already warmed too much.

【推荐3】During the COP27 climate conference (会议) in Sharm el-Sheikh, Egypt, an important deal on “loss and damage” was reached. This was a big step forward because at COP26 conference in Glasgow, Scotland, there were no talks on loss and damage at all. The plan is that richer countries will pay money into a special fund that will be used to help poor countries.

Loss and damage means the damaging impact of climate change on developing countries. For nearly 30 years, poorer countries have been asking richer countries for money to help to protect communities from the effects of climate change. Richer countries have produced the most greenhouse gases, but poorer countries are often the worst affected by extreme weather conditions because they are less well equipped to face extreme climate events.

Brazil’s newly elected President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva made a speech about preserving the largest rainforest on Earth, the Amazon. During the last 50 years, more than 17% of the Amazon rainforest has been destroyed to make way for farms and towns. However, in his speech, Lula promised that there would be zero deforestation (伐树) in the Amazon by 2030. The conference didn’t just focus on world leaders. It brought together more than 45,000 people to discuss how climate change is affecting their lives. Climate refugees (难民) also had their voices heard. Tshilombo from the Kakuma refugee camp in Kenya said, “Refugees don’t only flee because of war or conflict. It’s also about drought, the effects of climate change.”

Some countries weren’t happy with the overall outcome of COP27 because decisions weren’t made on cutting the use of fossil fuels, such as coal, gas and oil, etc. The UK Government’s Alok Sharma said, “I’m incredibly disappointed.”

However, this deal was a great achievement for developing countries. Sherry Rehman, the climate minister for Pakistan, said, “I am confident we have tuned a comer in how we work together to achieve climate goals.”

【推荐1】At the beginning of the 21st century China had no high-speed railways. Slow and often uncomfortable trains plodded across this vast country, making journeys a test of travel endurance.

Today, it’s a completely different picture. The world’s most populous nation has — by some distance — the world’s largest network of high-speed railways. Half of that total has been completed in the last five years alone. By 2020, 75% of Chinese cities with a population of 500,000 or more had a high-speed rail ink. With maximum speeds of 350 kph (217 mph) on many lines, intercity travel has been transformed.

In contrast, the UK currently has just 107 kilometers while the United States has only one rail route that (just about) qualifies for high-speed status with top speed at 240 kph.

The size of China and its tremendous variations in terrain (地形), geology and climate have presented the country’s railway engineers with incredible challenges. From sometimes frozen Harbin in the far north to the near-tropical humidity of the Pearl River Delta megalopolis (特大都市), to the 1,776-km Lanzhou-Urumqi line crossing the Gobi Desert, China’s engineers have quickly developed extensive expertise in driving railways over, under and through whatever terrain lies in their path using overpasses, tunnels and bridges.

Chinese companies are among the first in the world to introduce new technology. The driverless “bullet trains” connecting Beijing and Zhangjiakou in northern Hebei province are capable of hitting speeds up to 350 kph, making them the world’s fastest autonomous trains. These trains are equipped with seats with 5G touchscreen control panels, intelligent lighting, thousands of safety sensors and removable seats for passengers in wheelchairs. Facial-recognition technology and robots are used in stations to assist travelers with navigation, luggage and check-in.

These new railways are a symbol of the country’s economic power, rapid modernization, growing technological prowess (高超造诣) and increasing prosperity. Moreover, they are also a powerful tool for social cohesion, political influence and the integration of disparate regions with distinct cultures into the mainstream.

【推荐3】Food miles are the total distance food travels before being sold. Our food tends to be less tasty and less healthy after traveling long distances. What’s more, the farther food travels, the more it contributes to emitting greenhouse gases. Cape Eleuthera Island School in the Bahamas shows us a delicious way to cut food miles.

Food on campus travels just steps from the gardens to the plates. The school uses an aquaponic system on campus for growing vegetables, which are served in its dining hall. Under this system, the plants get their nutrition from recycled fish waste, while fish swim around in big tanks of water and dirty water gets pumped to the vegetable. Fish waste feeds the plants and the plants purify the water, returning clean H₂O to the tank. The aquaponic system uses much less water than traditional farming and is less dependent on good weather.

Students from around the world spend a semester learning hands-on experiences here. Digging in the dirt, doing fieldwork on the farm, students are taught at the aquaponic garden to harvest the lettuce and put it in buckets ready for delivery. No trucks or cars needed for transport. It’s only a bicycle ride or a short walk along the bridge made from recycled rubber and plastics to the dining hall kitchen. All the fruits, vegetables, and fish grown, harvested on campus stay on campus.

The students will leave the Island School as confident teens to lead an eco-aware life at home. “When I returned home, I threw myself into sustainability-related projects.” says Anna, a spring 2020 student. Anna and her friends use cloth napkins and reusable straws. “We usually walk and bike,” she adds. “When the weather is terrible, we carpool.”

Students at the Island School are helping to change the planet by living what they’ve learned and reducing their food miles, one meal at a time.

The Picture of Dorian Gray

This book by Oscar Wilde tells the story of Dorian Gray, a very handsome young man who spends his life only concerned with his own pleasure, regardless of the suffering he brings to others.

The story starts with young Dorian having his portrait painted. His friend Lord Wotton talks about beauty and pleasure being the only important things in life. Fascinated by his words, Dorian wishes he could remain young and good-looking always, with his portrait growing old instead of him.

Soon afterwards, Dorian is surprised to find his wish has come true, after he meets Sybil, an innocent actress who falls in love with him. Dorian heartlessly abandons her just because she performs poorly one night. When he learns that Sybil has killed herself, Dorian finds his face in the painting has taken on a cruel look.

He hides the painting away so that no one else may see it. For the next 18 years, Dorian engages in various evil deeds, even murdering the painter of the portrait. But he never feels guilty about the harm he is doing. His portrait ages and reveals his inner ugliness. One day, he suddenly comes to be fearful of his past crimes and wants to start a new life. But his portrait remains the same and reminds him of everything he has done. Feeling desperate, he tries to destroy the portrait with a knife, but it is he who is killed. His body is discovered, old and awful, while his portrait is young and handsome once again.

In the story, what matters most to Dorian Gray is that he is good-looking, not that he has a good heart. He sacrifices his true self in pursuit of physical beauty and pleasure, which leads to his destruction in the end.