Every Cloud Has a Silver Lining

When Emma woke up, she knew it was going to be one of those days. She felt under the weather — a cold had taken hold of her. _________, she needed to brave the storm to work. Emma _________ herself out of bed and got ready for work. Then she put on her raincoat and rushed out into the _________ rain.

As she walked, she fought _________ the terrible weather. Emma’s umbrella was almost useless as it was raining cats and dogs._________, the wind blew it inside out. She was immediately _________ from head to foot. She said to herself, “What a day to forget my rain boots!”

At the office, the day was as _________ as the weather. She had a large number of tasks._________ endless emails and phone calls should have been easy. But before long, she felt so tired and had to take a _________ so she could continue her work.

Then, just at the right time, her coworker (同事) Alex came to __________ her. Alex was always ready to lend a hand. With a warm smile, he __________ to help Emma. Having Alex help her was like a ray of sunshine on a rainy day. Their laughter as they worked made the hours pass __________ .

On her way home, Emma reflected (反思) on the day. She __________ that every cloud did indeed have a silver lining. Today, that silver lining had been her wonderful coworker, Alex.

__________ Emma arrived home, she decided to send Alex a heartfelt message of thankfulness. She wrote, “Thanks for being my ray of sunshine on this rainy day!” It was a simple __________, but it carried a lot of meaning.

Pakistani (巴基斯坦人) Hidayat Ullah, 29, is studying for his PhD degree in biochemistry at Dalian Medical University in Dalian, Liaoning province, and has found studying and living in China to be pleasant. “China is like our second homeland. People here are quite friendly and supportive,” he said.

In the first year working in a lab in Dalian, Ullah published a research paper in the famous international biochemistry magazine Molecules. His article has been cited (引用) many times, which makes him well known in his field. His second research paper will come out soon.

Ullah attributes (归因于)   his achievements to the highly-developed skills he got at the lab and great support from the teachers, his Chinese partners, and international classmates he has ever met.

“Dalian Medical University is famous in my country for medical studies. I am very thankful that the China government scholarship helped me to realize my dream of studying here,” he said.

The university began receiving international students in English medical education in 2004. Now over 1,200 international students from 81 countries are studying here, including 97 from Pakistan. With a growing number of graduates from 119 countries, the university continues to receive students who are trying to achieve a high-quality medical education in English.

Ullah arrived in Dalian in 2019. During a connecting flight through Urumqi, Xinjiang, he felt the hospitality of the Chinese people. “I couldn’t imagine that a stranger at the airport would buy water for me, even invite me for lunch, when he knew I couldn’t pay by mobile phone,” he recalled. “My first feeling of China was really great.”

Ullah plans to continue his academic journey as a postdoctoral (博士后) in China to get more research experience. He also encourages international students to consider coming to China for their studies, citing the support he has received throughout his time there.

Whenever I travel to western countries, the same problem always presents itself to slurp (出声地吃) or not to slurp when I eat with Westerners.

When you travel abroad, it is reasonable to consider the need to respect and follow certain table manners. For example, you should not talk with your mouth full. It will make people feel quite uncomfortable in most countries.

In addition, every culture has their own rules at the dining table. For example, eating with your left hand isn’t allowed in India. In Chinese culture, you’re not supposed to stick chopsticks into the food.

Having stayed in France for several weeks, I was very careful about my table manners. However, I got back to my own ways slowly as time went by. I made myself a bowl of noodles and ate it in the traditional Chinese way, which meant I slurped through it till my bowl was totally empty.

When planning and serving a great Chinese meal, the cook often tries to make sure the dishes look, smell and taste great. This means the diner often slurps to show how much they have enjoyed their meal. I do agree that eating loudly like a cow is without doubt the most unwelcome dining behavior, no matter how delicious the food is. But there is one habit which I would be unwilling to break: slurping soup and noodles. To most Chinese people there’s no better expression of enjoying well-cooked food. And we should try to make people understand that while some of these traditions might appear strange, they are special and have their own values, and that people sometimes do it out of habit and without any purpose of offending (冒犯) others.

Nowadays, different cultures are making a great difference to one another. We work, live, study and even marry people from different backgrounds. There is totally no need to feel embarrassed about your cultural behavior, as long as they are harmless and acceptable.

You are out and about, and you’re thirsty. So, you go into a store to get a drink. You’re not alone. Customers worldwide buy more than 1.4 trillion drink containers (容器) a year. But the big question is: What do you do with that container when you drink up? If it’s not recycled properly, it will become one of billions spread across rivers, oceans and rubbish bins.

Rather than dropping that container in a rubbish bin, save it for a reverse vending machine (RVM). They’re showing up in parks, schools, airports and supermarkets, so they are easy to find.

RVMs take used, empty bottles or cans and the user can get a reward (奖励). These rewards could be subway tickets, phone cards and more. RVMs in some stores, such as 7-Eleven in Taiwan Province, offer shopping credits (积分) that can be used in that store. Another kind of RVM, the ECOCO machine, can be found in Taiwan. It gives credit for use in partner stores.

The first RVM, which only accepted plastic bottles, was made in Sweden in the 1950s. It was improved in the 60s to accept other recyclable materials. It was also changed to accept more than one bottle at a time.

The machine works by reading the Universal Product Code (UPC) on a received object. It then adds the UPC to a database that records the number of objects someone is recycling. Next, the containers are broken into pieces. Once the machine can’t hold more containers, the containers are returned to the correct recycling companies.

RVMs reduce (减少) the need for materials to make new containers. Besides, the objects are separated by machine rather than by hand. And although the machines are not huge, they hold a lot before needing to be emptied.

So, enjoy your drink, recycle and get something back at an RVM!