【推荐1】There is a school in my Manhattan neighbourhood that has been giving out free meals during the Covid-19 pandemic-and every time I walk past it the line seems longer. A community fridge recently showed up a couple of blocks away; it’s one of many that activists have fixed across the city to fight against growing food insecurity. Just around the corner there’s a young woman who has become a regular among the beggars I usually see in the area. She lost her job because of Covid-19.

It’s not all doom and gloom. While the poor are getting poorer, the 1% are making out like robbers. America’s 600-plus billionaires saw their wealth grow by more than $700bn in the first few months of the pandemic. During the same period, more than 50 million American workers lost their jobs. The US government has printed trillions of dollars in economic relief but many of the forgivable emergency loans for small businesses seem to have been taken by the super-rich. My local independent coffee shop has closed down, but Kanye West received a partially forgivable loan worth at least $2m. It is becoming increasingly clear that the US is experiencing one of the biggest wealth transfers in history.

Bernie Sanders has a plan to help. Last week, Sanders introduced a bill, Make Billionaires Pay Act, that would establish a one-time 60% tax on billionaires’ pandemic gains and use the money to guarantee Americans free health care for a year. There is very little chance the bill will get passed.

Billionaires shouldn’t exist in the first place-the idea that they should be taxed at a higher rate during a pandemic to help pay health care shouldn’t be remotely controversial. However, there are some who think such a move would be extremely unfair to “poor unfortunate” billionaires who, as we all know, are one of the most unfairly hurt groups in the world.

【推荐2】Private vehicles have greatly changed people’s way of travel, but they have also introduced many ills, from air pollution to traffic accidents. And today a small but growing number of cities are trying to design the car out of the city centres altogether.

Oslo in Norway has made headlines in recent years for their plans to ban (禁止) cars from their centres — although it hasn’t completely got rid of them yet. To do this, Oslo has closed off certain streets in the centre to cars altogether. They have also removed almost all parking spots and replaced them with cycling paths, benches and small parks.

A city without cars sounds like a nice idea but is it possible — or even desirable? What about emergency services? Or people who have mobility problems? And what about the increasingly spreading suburbs (市郊)? Is the idea of going car free only supported by young professionals who wish to live in city centres?

“The quickest way to make a city centre die is to stop people getting in there,” says Hugh Bladen of the Association for British Drivers. Britain’s fading high streets won’t be helped by bans on driving, he argues. He acknowledges that “some towns and cities get blocked up but that’s just because of poor planning; they should have better parking options”.

Ransford Acheampong, a city planning researcher at the University of Manchester, says that removing cars would be helpful to reduce pollution and could improve public health, but if you take cars away from people, you need to be able to provide other options.

This is the concept of the last mile, which is the connection between public transport and the final part of a person’s journey. Until public transport can make this gap smaller, people will still want to drive cars.

【推荐3】The Noted Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., challenged our Nation to recognize that our individual liberty relies upon our common equality. In communities ruined by division and injustice, the movements he built from the ground up forced open doors to negotiation. The strength of his leadership was matched only by the power of his words, which still call on us to perfect those scared ideals enshrined in our founding documents.

“We have an opportunity to make America a better nation,” Dr. King said on the eve of his death. “I may not get there with you. But I want you to know tonight that we, as a people, will get to the promised land.” Though we have made great progress since the turbulent era of Dr. King’s movement, his work and our journey remain unfinished. Only when our children are free to pursue their full measure of success — unaffected by the color of their skin, their gender, the faith in their heart, the people they love, or the fortune of their birth — will we have reached our destination.

Today, we are closer to fulfilling America’s promise of economic and social justice because we stand on the shoulders of giants like Dr. King, yet our future progress will depend on how we prepare our next generation of leaders. We must fortify their ladders of opportunity by correcting social injustice, breaking the cycle of poverty in struggling communities, and reinvesting in our schools. Education can unlock a child’s potential and remains our strongest weapon against injustice and inequality.

Recognizing that our Nation has yet to reach Dr. King’s promised land is not an admission of defeat, but a call to nation. In these challenging times, too many Americans face limited opportunities, but our ability to support each other remains limitless. Today, let us ask ourselves what Dt. King believed to be life’s most urgent and persistent question: “What are you doing for others?”…

【推荐2】Discovering Great barrier Island

There are several famous surf beaches. Inland, there are hot springs, Bring plenty of sun screen because the UV rays are highly dangerous. Burn times in mid-summer are as low as ten minutes, and you still burn in the water.

Eating seafood is a must. Eat fish caught by locals, or try your luck at some popular fishing areas. January sees the Mussel Festival. Shellfish is cooked up in every way imaginable, and you can also enjoy great music.

Recent track development by the Department of Conservation makes biking exciting on Great Barrier. It is New Zealand law to wear a helmet (头盔) when riding. Watch out for walkers as they share tracks.

There are two companies doing business on great Barrier for all you need for diving. diving is popular everywhere. Don’t forget your diver’s certificate card. If you’re new to diving and would like to experience the wonders of the undersea world, lessons in diving are provided as well as organized diving tours to show you the good places for your first dive.

The hardwood forests on Great Barrier Island were cut down by people for different uses for over 100 years. Walking around, you will see ruins from this industry. Most trees are protected these days. There are some old wooden houses from the 19th century that make for excellent photographs.

【推荐3】Planning your Shanghai tour? If you happen to visit Shanghai during late March and early April, you have the chance to participate in the annual cherry blossom festival in Shanghai. The main venue(举办地) for the 2019 Shanghai Cherry Blossom Festival is Gucun Park(顾村公园), Gucun Town, Baoshan District, about 20km north of People’s Square in Shanghai.

Spring has quietly landed on Shanghai with green colors and spring flowers appearing in the gardens and parks around Shanghai. The green spaces in Shanghai are larger than many people expect. Gucun Park is one of the suburban parks favored by Shanghai residents.

Gucun Park has a total area of 434 hectares, the core of Shanghai’s green ecology and the largest suburban park in Shanghai. Gucun Park is mainly composed of 7 gardens Exotic Garden, Forest Barbecue Garden, Suburban Forest Garden, Forest Stroll Garden, Children Carnival, Forest Sports Garden and Botanical Sightseeing Garden.

The park also promotes 4 themed seasonal events Viewing Cherry Blossoms in Spring, Seeing Lotus Flowers in Summer, Appreciating Osmanthus in Autumn and Viewing Plum Blossoms in Winter.

Shanghai Cherry Blossom Festival is the biggest event ever held in Gucun Park annually. The 2019 Shanghai Blossom Festival is also co-sponsored by other 7 parks in Shanghai Gongqing Forest Park, Fengxian Haiwan National Forest Park, Pudong Century Park, Pudong Huaxia Park, Minxing Sports Park, Hongkou Luxun Park and Yangpu Park.

So if you are pressed for time, you may choose to visit any of the 7 parks near your hotel or residence.

Time: March 15—April 15

Entrance Fee: Gucun Park (20 yuan) Gongqing Forest Park (15 yuan) Fengxian Haiwan National Forest Park (80 yuan), Pudong Century Park (10 yuan), Pudong Huaxia Park (free), Minxing Sports Park(free), Hongkou Luxun Park (free) and Yangpu Park (free).

【推荐3】There has been an obvious drop nationwide in the rate of high school graduates enrolling (注册) in college in the fall after they finish high school—from a high of 70 percent in 2016 to 63 percent in 2020, the most recent year for which the figure is available, according to the National Center for Education Statistics.

Many observers have suggested three main explanations for the fall: COVID-19, the smaller number of Americans under 18 and a strong labor market attracting young people straight into the workforce. But while COVID-19 made things worse, the enrollment downturn took hold well before it started. Demographics (人口结构) alone cannot explain the size of this drop. And data show that workforce participation for 16- to 24-year olds is actually lower than it was before COVID-19 hit.

Many surveys point to other reasons for the downward trend (趋势). These include widespread and fast-growing doubt about the value of a degree, impatience with the time it takes to get one and costs that have finally gone beyond many people’s ability or willingness to pay. Fewer than one in three adults now say a degree is worth the cost.

On top of all that is growing dissatisfaction among recent university and college graduates with the value of the education they received. More than four in ten bachelor’s degree (学士学位) holders under 45 did not agree that the benefits of their educations are more than the costs, according to a survey by the Federal Reserve. Meanwhile, months of discussion about whether the Biden administration will forgive all or some student loan debt(助学贷款) has had an unintended result: It has reminded potential learners just how much people before them had to borrow to pay for college and many of their parents are still paying back their student loans.

In fact, workers with bachelor’s degrees earn 67 percent more than people who have only finished high school. More than half of “good jobs”—meaning those with pay of at least $35,000 for workers under age 45 and $45,000 for people between 45 and 64—call for bachelor’s degrees.