Say “No” to the Wrong Idols (偶像)

It is natural for young people to worship (崇拜) cool and good-looking young “idols.” We always look forward to listening to their new songs and movies. We spend a lot of time caring about them—even more time than we spend on our studies or work. We often wonder:     1     What could I do to be cool like them?

Well, guess what? Many of your idols are only made to “look” cool. If you could see into their private lives, you would find these stars aren’t so bright. Their beauty is only skin-deep (肤浅的).     2    

When I was a teenager, I had worshiped pop idols, too.     3     They were ordinary-looking people who played the guitar. They wore no flashy (穿着奢华的) clothes, and they had no screaming (尖叫的) fans.

They didn’t need to be flashy because their songs were great and meaningful. They told the truth:     4       Most of all, they taught me that it was okay if I was not popular and cool all of the time. I still listen to them today.

Idols can serve as important role models in our lives, so it’s very important to choose the right ones. We should celebrate people who teach us important values that can help to guide us on the road ahead.

The next time you see some pretty, popular “stars,” ask yourself:     5    

【推荐2】When your pen is broken, the battery in your toy runs out, or you have some leftover food. What do you do with these things? You will probably throw them into one bin.

But actually, all of these pieces of trash need to be sorted (分类) separately.

Garbage sorting is a big issue worldwide. In recent years, some Chinese cities have been working hard on it.

Shanghai has worked with Alipay to create a “green account (账户)” service for its residents. Account holders get points by correctly sorting their garbage. Through the Alipay app, they can exchange the points for milk, phone cards and other products. The city is asking all of its residents to sort their garbage into four groups: wet, recyclable, harmful and dry.

Wet waste is also known as household waste. “They are things you don’t want, but that pigs can eat,” Guangzhou Daily explained.

Paper, metal (金属), glass and other things that can be reused are recyclable waste.

Harmful waste includes things like medicine, batteries and fluorescent bulbs (荧光灯泡).

Finally, any waste that’s not wet, recyclable or harmful will go in the “dry waste” bin.

Many other Chinese cities are also using this method to sort their garbage. For example, Shenzhen has been sorting its garbage into the same four groups since 2012. Students there also receive waste-sorting guidebooks that they must study.

China is improving its waste-sorting efforts. There is still a long way to go. But it’s never too late to learn how to sort your trash properly and protect the environment.

If you don’t sort your garbage, all of it will go to a landfill (垃圾填理场) and be buried together. These landfills can take up large areas of ground that could have been used for planting trees or crops. The electronic waste you throw away, such as batteries, can pollute the soil and groundwater (地下水). Other pieces of garbage, like the metal part of a pen, can be used to make other things if they are properly recycled.

【推荐3】Which part of the world has the most nearsighted students? Just look around you—it’s East Asia. Nine in ten school leavers in major East Asian cities are nearsighted, according to the BBC. Experts say books and video games are not to blame. East Asian students, they say, aren’t getting enough sunlight.

People become nearsighted because their eyeballs grow out of shape and light entering their eyes cannot focus correctly. The body can produce a chemical called dopamine (多巴胺) to stop eyeballs from changing shape. And guess what scientists have just discovered? Sunlight can help our bodies produce more dopamine, reported AFP.

According to the study, primary school students in Singapore spend only 30 minutes outdoors every day; in Australia, by contrast, kids spend about three hours a day outside. As a result, fewer children in Australia are nearsighted—only 10 percent, compared with 90 percent in Singapore. “Children in East Asia just go to school, go home and stay inside. They study and they watch television,” Ian Morgan of the Australian National University told AFP.

But being a bookworm or a couch potato does not directly harm the eyes, added Morgan. “As long as they get outside, it doesn’t seem to matter how much study they do,” he explained. “There are some kids who study hard and get outside and play hard and they are generally fine. The ones who are at major risk are the ones who study hard and don’t get outside. As a result of massive educational pressures and the construction of a child’s day, the amount of time they spend outside in bright light is minimized.”

Experts suggest children should stay outside for two to three hours every day. This can include time spent in the playground and walking to and from school.

【推荐1】Many parents make their children do chores around the house. But as for some families, getting children to do some housework can be a very big problem. Here is a survey(调查) about this problem, we asked 4 ,000 teenagers in China several questions. Half of them come from big cities like Beijing, Shanghai and Guangzhou. The others are from small villages. Let’s have a look at the result of our survey.

We find that teenagers from small villages do more chores than those from big cities. We think that parents should give their children some chores to do. Chores are good for children, even very young ones. Doing chores can teach children many important sills like working together. Chores also teach children what is fair. The skills and value(价值观) from doing chores will be good for children all their life. All family members must work together to make their house clean, and each person must do his or her share of the work.

Zhang Guimei is a teacher of Huaping High School for girls in Lijiang, Yunnan Province. Her dream is to get her students into the country’s best universities. The 63-year-old woman sleeps and eats with her students and supervises（监督）their studies.

“I decide to send my students to top universities like Tsinghua University and Peking University,” Zhang said. In 2019, 109 of the 118 graduates（毕业生）from the school could go to universities. “I believe they can do better in their future life,” Zhang said.

Zhang said when she was teaching at Huaping Minority Middle School, she found fewer girls in Lijiang went to school than in Dali. “Poor families think there is no need to send girls for further education. However, they send their boys to universities, which drives me crazy,” she said.

In 2003, Zhang began to raise（筹集）money to build a school for girls. In 2008, the school finished, but there was only one teaching building.

“No matter what difficulties I meet in my life, it is always my greatest comfort（安慰）to be able to help those girls through education,” Zhang said.

【推荐1】The Beijing 2022 Winter Olympic Games got a big success. On October 18, 2021, the Olympic flame (奥运圣火) for the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympic Games was started in Olympia (奥林匹亚) , Greece. Later, a few people took turns to carry the torch (火炬) ’first to Athens, and then to Beijing on October 20 by plane. It was called the torch relay (接力) . A car followed the torch relay at all times. Inside was a lamp (灯) with a back-up flame. If the torch went out, runners could use the lamp to light the torch again.

So how much do you know about the Olympic flame?

It comes from an old Greek story. In the story, Prometheus (普罗米修斯) got fire from the god and gave it to humans. So, humans see fire as a symbol of light and freedom.

________?

People don’t use a match to light the torch. They use a special mirror (镜子) and the sun’s light. If it is a cloudy or rainy day, people usually hold a rehearsal (彩排) a few days before. They keep the flame in a safety lamp for the poor weather.

Can the flame go underwater?

In the Sydney 2000 Olympic Games, the flame went underwater. The torch burnt (燃烧) at 2, 000 degrees. The high temperature stopped water from putting out the flame.

【推荐2】

Healthy impact of sunflower seeds         Sunflower seeds（葵花籽）are rich in vitamin E. The vitamin is an antioxidant（抗氧化剂）that helps prevent cancer, heart disease, eye problems and possibly aging（衰老）. The strength of seeds One serving of（一份）sunflower seeds gives you 14 milligrams（毫克）of vitamin E. Experts say people need 15 milligrams of vitamin E every day! 28g of sunflower seeds—14 mg of vitamin E Vitamin E needed each day—15 mg of vitamin E How to serve Eat alone as a snack, on top of salads, in bread, and in vegetable dishes. Sources: World’s Healthiest Foods. Discovery Health, TNS

【推荐3】Welcome to our new school, No. 15 Middle School. In the school, you can see some beautiful trees and flowers. There are some buildings in it. The teachers are in the office building, and the students are in the classroom building. The big playground is behind the office building. After class, the students can play on it. The library is behind the classroom building, and the students can borrow some books from it. The food of the dining hall is very good, and all of us like it.

How to Ask for Directions

Asking for directions is the first thing we do when we arrive in a new place, or even when we are just trying to find a strange place.     1     Here are some tips for you.

Use greetings and polite expressions. Starting the conversation with a greeting is necessary. If you want to get a nice answer, you’d better begin by saying “Hello” first. And some words like “may” “can” and “could” will help you express yourself better.

Build your vocabulary (词汇). You should know the basic words that can be used when asking for directions. Learn the most commonly used prepositions (介词) like “between” and adverbs (副词) like “near”.     2     It’s also useful for you to remember places like High Park, and words like “bank”, “block”... Then try to use the right words when asking for a direction.

    3     Sometimes, it can happen that you are still far from the place you look for and you have to use the public transport. Which kind of public transportation should you choose? You might ask like this, “Is it far? Do I need to take the bus or the subway there?” You also need to remember different kinds of transportation like the underground or the taxi when explaining your need.

Try to know some important landmarks (地标). Don’t be afraid of using symbols. Every city in the world has its own symbols. You can decrease (减少) search time if you know what the most important symbols are in the city. For example, in London, England, you may find that there are many symbols here.     4     Find it and mark it!

Don’t be too shy to ask. Learn to relax if you get lost somewhere. Every person may do that now and then, especially when visiting a new city.     5    

【推荐2】If you stayed up or had a bad night of sleep last night, it would be difficult for you to stay awake in class today. Your teacher's voice might begin to sound like a lullaby. If so, classrooms can be boring because you're tired.     1    

Sit in the front of the room. Why?     2     Besides, it'll be easier to pay attention and take part when you're in the front. You'll also be near the people who are more likely to take part, and the sound of their voices might keep you awake.

    3     Ask and answer questions and pay attention to the lesson. This will help if you're tired of the content of the lesson, because you can ask your teacher questions to get to the bottom of the problems. It might be helpful to make a goal for yourself to answer or ask at least 3 questions per class.     4    

Listen actively to the lesson.     5     It requires engagement of your mind as well as your body. Practicing active listening can help you keep your eyes open for the length of the lesson. To effectively listen to your teacher, you should try to maintain eye contact, face the speaker, pay close attention to what the speaker is saying and ask questions during a pause in the lecture.