Let’s learn something about the 2022 Men’s World Cup

What is the World Cup? The World Cup is an international football competition that takes place every four years. It is one of the most popular competitions in the world.

The first World Cup event was held (举办) in 1930 and it has only been canceled (取消) twice in the history of the competition—in 1942 and 1946, because of the Second World War (战争). The World Cup can take place anywhere in the world . In 2018 the host country was Russia, in 2014 it was Brazil, in 2010 it was South Africa, and this year, in 2022, the host country was the State of Qatar. There were 32 national teams participating (参与). It was the first time that a country in the Middle East was hosting the World Cup and only the second time that a country in Asia was hosting the competition.

4 . On March 17th, 2023, Beijing made changes to the P.E. test in the 2023 high school entrance exam, or zhongkao: All students will get full scores as long as they take part in the exam.

Earlier this year, some cities such as Taiyuan canceled the 1,000-meter and 800-meter runs. Other cities let students choose if they wanted to do them in the exam. This is to make sure it’s safe for students after recovering from COVID-19.

At the same time, P.E. classes across China have also made some changes. Students are having easier activities such as dancing, fun games and sit-ups. This way they can improve their health slowly.

“We used to run two laps around the playground every day during the morning break. But after many students got the illness, we didn’t do this activity and started doing Kungfu,” said Liu Jiawei, a student from Changchun, Jilin. “As a ninth-grader, I’m also happy that I don’t need to take the 1,000-meter run test for zhongkao. Most students welcome this new change. But some who are really good at running are not happy because they won’t have advantages any more,” Liu added.

However, we have to understand that such a big decision like this won’t make everyone happy. What’s more important is students’ safety during exercises and tests. Life comes first before everything else.

6 . Type in “A cat wants to go to space” and ask the robot to write a bedtime story. Just one second later, you’ll get the story of the cat, who was on his way past many difficulties to sing among the stars.

This robot writer is real. It’s called ChatGPT. From writing Shakespeare-style poetry to making music, ChatGPT has amazed the world since it came out in later 2022 by the US company OpenAI. It can translate languages, talk with people and write songs, poems and even jokes. It’s one of the most powerful AI of its kind, with the complete writing abilities of a real person!

People around the world have tried ChatGPT and posted their results on social media. Some used it to write history reports, some asked it to take notes of speech, and some even made suggestions on how to communicate with people at a party.

The power of ChatGPT lies in its speed and understanding of complicated (复杂的) matters. We may spend hours researching, understanding and writing an article on the theory of evolution (进化论). But ChatGPT can produce a well-written one in seconds. Another good thing about it is that if you ask dark, harmful questions, such as how to make weapons (武器), it will not give you an answer.

There is no doubt that ChatGPT is a powerful tool because it can do many creative tasks. However, some schools in the US, Australia and France have stopped the use of ChatGPT, because they think it may make it easier for students to cheat on homework. Some also worry that ChatGPT could be used to spread improper information.

7 . Nowadays, many people are looking for fun online. Watching live-streaming (直播) shows has become part of their lives. At the same time, traditional culture has found a bigger stage online. Many traditional artists are starting to live-stream like Douyin and Bilibili. Some of them sing Peking Opera, some make paper cutting, while others perform Chinese classical music. A growing number of young people are starting to become more interested in traditional culture because of live-streaming.

Li Jun is a Peking Opera performer from the Shanghai Jingju Theater Company. The 59-year-old took up his smart phone and started to live-stream. Unlike performing on a real stage, Li uses common places as his stage, including his office and study room. Except singing, Li also teaches viewers about Peking Opera. People can ask him questions and get answers directly.

“Live-streaming has brought this traditional art down to earth.” One viewer said, “it gives young people an easier way to learn more about the traditional art,” Li has more than 70,000 fans on Douyin, while one of his videos got 42,000 views on Bilibili.

March third in the lunar calendar is China Huafu Day. On April 22nd this year, Bilibili live-streamed a huafu show on the fifth China Huafu Day. Performers showed clothes in traditional Chinese styles, including those from Wei, Tang and Ming dynasties. During the show, viewers not only enjoyed looking at the clothes, but also watched how performers used ancient styles of make-up.

As Guangming Daily said, live-streaming has come to a new stage through which traditional culture can be kept alive.

You may find it easy and fun to use smartphones. But for many old people, it’s a hard thing, Liu Siyuan from Beijing 101 Middle School saw the problem. He tried to teach the old how to use smartphones with a guidebook.

The 16-year-old set up a volunteer group called Silver Hair. It took its seven members around half a year to write a 300-page book called May I Show You How to Use Smartphones?

The group made a survey of more than 1, 000 old people and talked with many in old people’s homes. They found out what the old people cared most about with smartphones. “How to use WeChat” topped the list. This became one part of the book. The other nine parts include online shopping, using online maps and more. “The old people can look up the information in the book anytime they need, just like using a dictionary,” said Liu.

The group printed out 500 copies and handed them out. They’ll soon work on the second book that will have more instructions about hospital registration(挂号) and photo editing.

Thanks to the volunteers of Silver Hair, the old people’s life has become easier and more convenient.