An explosion from a factory in Kunshan killed at least 69 people and more than 120 people got hurt. China suffered its worst industrial accident in a year on Saturday.

The accident happened in Kunshan city, Jiangsu Province in China. And the blast was from Zhongrong Metal Products Company, who makes car wheels for the U.S. The Kunshan government told us 264 workers were there when the explosion happened and 44 died immediately. “We heard a really loud blast at about 7 a.m. this morning so we rushed out of our rooms,” said Zhou Xu, a 26-year-old worker at that company. Another worker said, “First the ambulance came and then many wives rushed to the factory to see if their husbands were okay.”

Now, Shanghai government is sending doctors to Kunshan to save the injured. And the doctor said the number of the dead may increase.

Chinese government is looking into the cause of the disaster. And President Xi attaches great importance to it. He said, “Those found responsible must be punished”.

4 . “This is not the way to deal with Chinese people,” said Chinese interpreter (口译员) Zhang Jing calmly.

ln 2021, China and the US held an important meeting. Zhang’s translation impressed (印象深刻) the US side. One US leader even joked that she should have a raise (加薪), Zhang’s translation work also won her lots of fans on social media.

Providing translation at important events like this is very difficult. It tests not just a person’s English skills. He or she must take quick notes and think fast, too. For Zhang, however, it all seems to be a piece of cake.

But Rome wasn’t built in a day. When she was in middle school, Zhang wanted to be a diplomat (外交官). She was always working hard. Every morning, Zhang got up early to listen to the news in English. She spent lots of time doing translation exercises. She would always ask herself, “Could I have done better?” The girl kept making progress. Finally, her dream came true.

Do you want to be as good at speaking English as Zhang? Work hard towards your goals and never give up. That’s the key to success.

7 . Everyone knows that climate change is a serious problem these days. We have a lot of work to do in order to prevent it. One of the best ways is to plant more trees. Trees can take in CO₂ in the air and prevent global warming.

According to a new report, China and India are doing a great job of   “greening” the world.

Chi Chen, a doctoral student at Boston University, has been working with NASA to monitor (检测) Earth’s green vegetation (植被). He found that China and India have greatly expanded (增加) their forest area. “China and India cover one-third of the Earth’s expanded greening.” Chi said in a statement.

The data they collected from 2000 to 2017 showed that China was responsible for 25 percent of the global increase in green vegetation during the period. That’s about one-quarter of the size of the whole Amazon rainforest.

The growth mainly resulted from (源于) forest protection and expansion programs that China worked out to fight soil erosion (水土流失) and air pollution, NASA said.

For example, since 1962, China has been planting trees in Saihanba in Hebei province. Covering an area of 92, 000 hectares, it was once a barren area. After overcoming many difficulties, foresters have turned the area into China’s largest man-made forest. Another example is the Mu Us Desert, once known for its sandstorms. But now, one-quarter of the desert has been turned into forest, Guangming Daily reported.

8 . Chinese Opera Cartoon Festival Kicks off Thursday

http//www. Chinadaily. com. cn   2021-02-02

An art festival that calls attention to Chinese opera cartoons will kick off in Beijing on Thursday, Feb. 4 and run until Feb. 26. The festival is prepared by the Chaoyang Cultural Center and the Culture and Travel Office of Chaoyang, Beijing. The staff members are hoping the festival will get more foreigners and young people to learn more about traditional Chinese culture.

Classical Chinese operas, chosen from 360 kinds of operas in China, are made into cartoons, and will be shown to the public. The cartoon characters look lively and cute, which can quickly be loved by the public. Activities will also be held during the festival, such as showing the primary posters and writings, and opera costurmes.

Since the festival is mainly held online, people can take part in the activities by watching videos on online short-video platforms (平台) like Douyin and Huoshan Video, known as Tik Tok and Vigo Video outside China.

People can also enjoy a 360-degree wide view of the activities online. By clicking a mouse of a computer or using a mobile phone, people can choose wherever they like to view the activities at home.

9 . From November 1st to December 10th in 2020, China started its seventh national population census(普查). 7 million census takers have asked each family about their name, gender(性别), age, education, employment(职业) and so on.

China has a national population census every 10 years. The first one was done in 1953. At that time, there were about 600 million people in China. But China’s population has boomed. It was about 1.37 billion in 2010.

For the 2020’s national population census, all residents(居民) of China were included in the census. But Chinese citizens who had settled(定居) abroad and foreign citizens who were staying in China on either business or tourist visas(签证) were not counted.

“The census is very important for every citizen,” said Ning Jizhe, director of the NBS. “It will help improve infrastructure(基础建设) and public services.” For example, if census results show that there are many children living in a particular area, the government will know that it should build more schools there.

Scientists can also learn more about population growth from the census. In some years, the population grows faster than in others. Even in the same year, population growth is different in different places. Scientists can use the information to find out what causes growth in certain years and places.

2020’s census was different from past ones in one important way. For the first time, citizens were encouraged to use smartphones and other digital tools to record their information, Xinhua reported. When census takers knocked on the door, they offered you an account(账号) number and a QR code(二维码) that you used to record your information.