【推荐2】You come home on a hot summer day, hoping to have a cool bath, but find there is no water. Then you see how important water is in your daily life. While sometimes you have the idea in many parts of the world, water is not just about one’s everyday needs.

In countries like Tanzania, water is hard to get, and the job of collecting water falls on women’s shoulders. Girls often have to leave school to collect water, while their brothers stay at school studying. The girls spend more time collecting water. That means they have less time for learning.

For these girls, “Knowledge is Power” is not just words; it’s a sad fact in real life. As they spend less time at school, they have fewer chances of getting good jobs, and they often have no choices on important matters, like who to marry. These girls are often married into poor families. They have little money or knowledge to take care of their children. For the baby girls who are lucky enough to survive(生存), their life may be still around “water”, just like their mothers’.

【推荐1】Clothing decorated with lucky animals such as Chinese dragons and phoenixes (凤凰), and designers devoted to making China's Olympians look good, all these reflect that the Chinese Olympic Team is not only focused on winning medals, but also showing the beauty of China to the world.

The first impressive moment for Chinese fashion started from the opening ceremony of the Olympics. The Chinese team's uniforms used red as a main color, which represents wishes for a good start for Team China. The Team's uniforms, combining red with white, were designed by a group of designers from the Beijing Institute of Fashion Technology. The uniforms are decorated with a peony (牡丹), which is China's national flower, and the style of the flower was inspired by an ancient Ming Dynasty bowl at the Palace Museum.

Some Chinese gymnastics' uniforms also use the traditional Chinese symbols such as the Chinese phoenix. China's trampoline (蹦床) gold medalist Zhu Xueying said she was pleased with her uniform that looked like a traditional qipao decorated with a phoenix. The bright red uniforms have traditional elements (元素) on the neckline—a qipao knot (结) and a Chinese phoenix. The pattern on the front of the chest represented the hope that the gymnasts would dance in the sky.

The uniform for Chen Meng, another gold medalist in the women's table tennis event, was designed especially for her. The uniform is pink because that is Chen's favorite color and the designers embroidered (刺绣) a Chinese dragon on her right shoulder to represent the hope that she can take off like a powerful dragon.

“I have been watching the Olympics. The uniforms for the Chinese team have added many fashionable elements,” Zhang Yan, a young Chinese designer told the reporter. The most impressive uniforms for him have been those that the Chinese athletes wore on the podiums (领奖台). The elements formed in the clothing designs, including the curving shapes, the colors and the Chinese standing collar, make them both beautiful and practical. “When the athletes stand on the podium, I think the Chinese design is not only attractive, but also a kind of new fashion. The confidence shown in the clothing is really strong.” Zhang Yan said.

【推荐2】As the coronavirus pandemic wears on, one thing is clear: Many of us are turning to pets to help us deal with this challenging time in history.

In fact, as people remain stuck at home, the demand for adopting or fostering pets, particularly dogs, has risen worldwide, from Canada to India. Between March and September 2020, the number of foster pets in U.S. homes increased by 8 percent, according to PetPoint, which collects industry data on pet adoption.

While the health benefits of having a pet are well known from lowering blood pressure to reducing stress the relationship is complex, and how pet owners and their pets are coping during lengthy lockdowns is an open question.

To find out, researchers in Spain, Israel, and the United Kingdom conducted online surveys of pet owners in their countries. Their studies, published in three separate scientific journals, found that overall our animal friends have provided additional comfort.

But the research also revealed some concerning developments: Pandemic restrictions are making pet owners concerned for their pets' well-being. Not only that, but some pets are exhibiting signs of stress, such as increased barking, fear of loud or sudden noises, and anxiety when at home alone.

In April 2020, Jon Bowen, a behavior consultant at the Royal Veterinary College in London, asked 1,297 dog and cat owners in Spain questions about their feelings toward their pets and their animals' recent behavior. Most owners said their pets had provided “substantial support” during the pandemic, yet 62 percent of respondents said they thought their pets' quality of life had decreased. About 41 percent also reported observing behavioral changes in their animals during the pandemic, particularly dogs that had experienced behavioral problems in the past.

Plenty of research shows that dogs have emotions and can absorb what their owners are feeling particularly if an owner is emotionally dependent on them, says Bowen, whose study appeared in the Journal of Veterinary Behavior in May 2020.