【推荐3】There was a time when the word “surgery” used to scare people, and they would try their best to avoid a surgical procedure. The feeling is understandable, as the idea of a large cut on your body is discomforting in many ways. However, thanks to the advances in medical science, surgical techniques have improved considerably.

Compared with the traditional open surgery, minimally invasive surgery (微创手术)has several benefits to offer. Not only is the procedure quick and less painful, but also ensures rapid recovery. Now, surgical procedures, either big or small, are done within a few minutes to a few hours. The best part about the minimally invasive surgery is the painless procedure. The advanced techniques are helping with quality treatments to patients who have to undergo (进行) surgical procedures.

Unlike the traditional open surgery that requires a large cut, a surgeon makes multiple tiny cuts of less than an inch. For the process, the surgeon uses small surgical instruments, such as a tiny tube with a mini camera at one end. Once the surgeon marks the cuts, he then passes the tiny tube through one of the cuts. The doctor monitors the images taken by the mini camera on the screen and uses them as a reference. These images give the surgeon a clear picture of the area undergoing the surgery. After the surgery, the surgeon cleans the cuts and sometimes places a bandage for additional support.

Minimally invasive surgery has become the first choice of patients with multiple medical conditions. In fact, it would not be wrong to say that these surgeries are now the standard surgical procedures for many routine operations. Whether you have a minor issue or want a surgical intervention for a major health condition, it is the best option.

【推荐2】Do you follow fashion? If so, you know how quickly trends can change.     1     How can anyone expect to keep up?

Fashion trends changed at a slower pace in the past. Designers produced new styles and clothing lines four times a year — once for each season.     2    

Fast fashion refers to low-cost, quickly-made clothing that copies the latest high-end fashions. Fast fashion companies may produce new clothing weekly — 52 times per year instead of the traditional four.

Fast fashion has both advantages and disadvantages. For example, these companies seek to produce clothing as cheaply as possible, which makes it possible to sell items at much lower prices.     3    

However, fast fashion has its downsides. The use of cheap materials means the clothing produced doesn’t last long.     4     Consumers then often abandon the items, which end up in landfills. Additionally, companies use many further resources to replace clothing as quickly as it sells. This increases the impact on the environment. In fact, experts estimate that fast fashion contributes up to 10 percent of all carbon emissions per year.

    5     Think about your family’s fashion practices. Do you buy fast fashion? How about second hand? Do you repair clothes or throw them away? Talk with a family member today about what you can do to slow down the effects of fast fashion.

【推荐1】While some people might view breakfast as optional, most Shanghainese, despite living in arguably the most fast-paced city in China, won’t be caught skipping this meal no matter how busy they are.

In fact, Shanghai was even named by the Ministry of Commerce as a pilot city for the National Breakfast Demonstration Project in 2011. According to the authorities, the project is aimed at improving the quality of life and making high-quality breakfast options more accessible to the masses. Since the beginning of the project, the city has built 24 industrialized and standardized central kitchens which supply food to 7,800 stores selling breakfast items. By August 2020, there were more than 20,000 shops in the city offering breakfast food.

In the current stage of the ongoing project, the focus has shifted from increasing options to improving the convenience of purchasing this meal. To do so, the local government issued a guideline last August to promote digital breakfast services in convenience stores, mobile food trucks, retailers, and Internet platforms. Companies have also been encouraged to come up with new nutritious meals and adopt the use of eco-friendly packaging materials.

For office workers like Qian Li, buying breakfast no longer involves having to brave long queues. Rather, all she has to do now is place an order using the app for the Ego convenience store near her work place before picking up her freshly made meal from a smart locker.

The guideline has also resulted in developments like cooperative deals between e-commerce giant Alibaba and three major food truck enterprises. According to this agreement, mobile breakfast trucks, including those operated by local food company LiangFood, can establish a digital presence on Alibaba’s take-out and delivery platform Eleme, allowing customers to order their meals online without having to queue.

The introduction of more healthy breakfast options is also in preparation. To date, 12 enterprises have developed 208 nutritious breakfast sets catering to specific groups of people—patients with diabetes, the elderly, children and teenagers.

【推荐2】Istanbul has been around for centuries. Sure, it’s changed its name a few times over the years, but the location has always been the same. And in those years, there was no need at all for wide lanes. The term “rush hour” wasn’t even invented yet. The only traffic was an occasional horse-drawn carriage. The result is that the city center consists of very narrow streets.

All the action (night­life, tourist attractions, etc.) is located in the city center, making people travel daily between their homes in the suburbs and their offices in downtown Istanbul. Besides, Istanbul is not only surrounded (环绕) by water, it’s also twice divided by it. The only way to get from one shore to the other is through bridges. And it is true of all bridges. They’ll get stuck easily.

On a normal dry day, morning rush hour starts as early as 7 a.m. and lasts until around 10 a.m.. After a short cool ­ off period, traffic again starts peaking (达到高峰) from 4 p.m. to 9:30 p.m..

As soon as traffic jams start building up, drivers try to find alternative roads. And once found, they race through them trying to catch up on time already lost. But it doesn’t work. So they immediately turned to plan B. Make the most use of the road at hand. Lanes painted on the surface must be for decorative purposes, since you would be surprised how easily they can change a three-lane road into a five-lane one. On highways, the emergency lanes are taken, too. And of course, horns are blown as much as possible.

Of course the city’s government is making great efforts now to deal with these problems. Extra tunnels, subways, tramways and bus ­ only lanes have been made available or are under construction. Also Electronic Detection Systems are used to detect and fine drivers who abuse the emergency lanes or drive through red traffic lights.

And although Turkish drivers are certainly not among the worst in the world, paying little attention to basic traffic rule, scrowding into the smallest space available, turning across the roads and blocking emergency lanes make traffic jams unable to be dealt with timely. They’re also part of the problem.

【推荐3】Chinese fancy knots (中国结), also called Chinese knots, are very important in Chinese culture. They began as a form of traditional art in the Tang and Song Dynasties (朝代) in China, and became popular in the Ming Dynasty. Long ago, they found their way to Japan and other Southeast Asian countries, and were well received there. Now they are regarded as one of the symbols of Chinese culture.

As for the name itself, it is surely meaningful. The Chinese word for “knot”, jie, means “connection”. And the pronunciation of the Chinese word jie is very close to that of ji, “good luck”. As a result, Chinese knots are used as a way to express people’s strong wishes for marvellous things like happiness, love and good luck.

The knots are used widely in everyday life. They come in different sizes. Small ones are connected to jewellery (珠宝), clothes and gifts in order to draw people’s attention, while large ones are used to make a living room or study more beautiful. Whether large or small, they are named after their shapes and usages. For example, Double Coin Knots are called Shuangqian Jie because they are in the shape of two ancient Chinese coins, meaning “good things come in pairs”. Besides, Chinese knots are famous for their bright colors. Different colors have different traditional cultural meanings. Red means good luck and happiness, green means health, and yellow means wealth.

All in all, the famous Chinese fancy knots fully show the Chinese culture. These brightly colored knots with their endless chains (链条) of knots mean that life on earth will continue forever.