1 . Tonga is an island nation in the South Pacific Ocean. On January 14th, 2022, an underwater volcano erupted near Tonga.

The volcano is located off the coast of Tonga. It first began to erupt on Friday. Even though the volcano was underwater, it sent a column of gas, ash, and stones 20 kilometers into the sky.

Saturday’s eruption was far larger. It’s believed to be the largest in over 20 years. The eruption caused a loud “sonic boom”, which could be heard even in Alaska, 10,000 kilometers away. The eruption caused a 5.8 magnitude earthquake, as well as tsunami (海啸) waves that traveled far and wide.

In Japan, Chile and Australia, people moved away from low-lying areas along the coast. The waves sunk boats in New Zealand and caused two deaths in Peru.

The event knocked out Internet services in the area. Like most island nations, Tonga gets its Internet through a cable that runs deep under the sea. The reports of injuries and deaths in Tonga related to the eruption couldn’t be known in time because of problems with communication.

In the following days, the smoke and ash from the volcano covered much of Tonga. ________ That was the biggest danger which might last for a long time.

New Zealand and Australia sent teams to Tonga to help out. Some of the teams used airplanes to get a better idea of the damage across the island nation. But at that time, the large cloud of ash high above Tonga was making it impossible to get a good picture of what was happening in the area from high in the air. The United States and the World Health Organization also sent help to Tonga.

3 . “For as long as I can remember, mom has been a middle-aged woman, but no one told me she used to be a young girl…This is a line from the film Hi, Mom, as well as the way director and star Jia Ling once felt about her own mother. Released on Feb 12, the film is the directorial debut (导演首秀) of 39-year-old comedian-turned-filmmaker Jia. It has gotten a high score of 8.1 on the movie rating website Douban. Many people said they were touched by its raw (质朴的) emotion.

The film is based on the real-life story of Jia and her mother, showing her missing and regret at failing to see her mother before she died. It reflects on how she misses her late mother Li Huanying, who encouraged Jia to pursue (追求) her artistic dreams. To make the film more appealing, Jia made it a time-travel story. She goes back to 1981 and becomes friends with her own mom, Li Huanying. She risks giving up her own life and disappearing to make sure that her mother has a better future.

The Spring Festival holiday box office (票房) seems to prefer the films “with great family love and a little hurt”, and Hi, Mom has “hit all the right notes”. The film has also been praised for its, sincere description of female (女性的) roles. In the movie, Li is more of a young girl rather than a mother. As Jia says in the movie, “She is not only my mom, but also herself…” The many women who helped make the film, including Jia herself, helped the movie’s female roles shine in ways that had nothing to do with their looks, according to Jiemian News.

4 . Eight years ago, Chinese skater Wu Dajing introduced himself to the skating world by winning a silver medal at the Sochi Olympic Winter Games. At the year of 2018’s Pyeong Chang Olympics, Wu not only returned, but also made history.

On Feb 22th, 2018, Wu won the gold medal in the man’s short-track 500-metre race. He set a new world record with a time of 39.584 seconds. He also became the first Chinese man to take home an Olympic short-track gold medal. BBC said Wu’s win was “flawless”, because he was much faster than all of the other skaters.

“I didn’t give them a chance and I kept my speed from the start,” he told the media after the match.

But China’s short-track teams didn’t do well in general at the Games. Chinese skaters in the woman’s 500 meters, 3000-meter relay and man’s 1500 meters all failed to take home the gold. Wu was China’s biggest hope, which put a lot of pressure on him. But he proved himself with his great performance.

Wu is now known as a highly talented skater. But things were not always that way. When Wu joined the national team in 2010, he was seen as almost “nothing” compared to gifted skaters like Zhou Yang and Fan Kexin, as his coaches said at the time. Their comments made him quite upset. But as the saying goes, “Winners never quit and quitters never win”, Wu didn’t want to give up and worked as hard as he could. He practiced skating all year round. He even didn’t return to his hometown for the holidays for 10 years. “I believe in myself,” he told the media after his match at the Olympics.

5 . This year, April 5 is Tomb Sweeping Day, a day when Chinese people remember family members and friends who have passed away. And this year will also include a national mourning (哀悼) period that offers people a chance to remember those who have lost their lives in the fight against the COVID-19.

Starting at 10 a.m. people across the country will observed (遵守) three minutes of mourning. Cars, trains and ships sound their horns (喇叭) and air defense warning sirens (防空警报) will go off. National flags will lower to half-mast (下半旗) across the country. Public recreational (娱乐) activities will be canceled across China.

“I will mourn in my heart,” said community worker Deng Linghao from Wuhan. “We who are alive must stay strong.”

National mourning periods are not commonly held. Only a few such mourning periods have been held since 2000, including one for the 2008 Wenchuan earthquake in Sichuan.

Besides being a time to remember the dead, many people also suggested that the national mourning period is a good time to teach students about the meaning of death.

It is believed that Chinese students don’t know much about the topic, as it is a taboo (禁忌) to discuss it in Chinese culture. According to a study from People’s Daily, about 90 percent of children who were born after 2010 said their parents had never discussed death with them.

But in Western countries, kids learn about death in a natural way. In the US, for example, if one of their older relatives has died, children will attend their funeral. Kids can also learn about death after one of their family pets dies. They might even learn about it from watching movies or TV shows.

“Facing the epidemic, each one of us feels that life is vulnerable (脆弱的),” Yuan Weixing, the headmaster of Shenzhen Xin’an Middle School, told The Paper. “The key is to respect and cherish (珍惜) life and keep living with a brave and positive attitude (态度).”

. It will start at 10 a.m. and lasted for 30 minutes.

. Air defense warning sirens will go off.

. National flags will be lowered to half-mast.

. Some activities will be canceled across China.

. National mourning periods are held very often.

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You may have heard the saying “The Yangtze River is China’s mother river.” The main route of the Yangtze is almost 6,400 km long. As the world’s third-longest river, its valley(流域)covers one-fifth of China’s land area. The Yangtze River Economic Zone covers 11 provinces and cities, making up about 40 percent of China’s total population and GDP.

On Dec 26, China’s top legislature(立法机关)passed the Yangtze River Protection Law, which will work on March 1, 2021. It is the first law to protect a waterway in China, CGTN noted.

The “mother river” is in great need of protection because something is wrong with it. For example, the river’s Chinese paddlefish(白鲟)has died out after surviving for 150 million years because of overfishing and water pollution. There’re also desertified(荒漠化的) land and soil pollution near the upstream part of the river in Qinghai province, Xinhua reported.

The Yangtze River Protection Law includes bans(禁止)on activities that could have terrible influence on the river. It also includes heavier punishments for those who don’t follow the law.

According to the law, fishing will be banned in all of the Yangtze’s natural waterways, including its major tributaries(支流)and lakes. Those who are caught fishing will be fined 50,000 to 500,000 yuan.

Sand mining(采沙)will be strictly limited in the river valley. Many companies are mining sand along the river, as sand is a rare resource. However, this has led to lower water levels on the river, which has caused the river’s water quality to become worse.

Companies operating along the river will turn to green development. Companies that produce dangerous chemicals will move out, the law says.

9 . On Feb 18, NASA’s Perseverance Rover (美国航天局“毅力”号火星车) made a historic landing on the surface of Mars. It planned to work on Mars for about two years.

This is the fifth rover NASA has sent to Mars and is full of firsts. It will be the first rover to search for signs of ancient life. A helicopter (直升飞机) will fly on the planet for the first time as well. The rover is also better at solving problems on its own than the rovers before.

Landing a spacecraft (宇宙飞船) on Mars isn’t easy. It had to go through the “seven minutes of terror (惊险七分钟)” all by itself, as NASA calls the landing process. Since it takes 11 minutes for a radio signal to travel from Earth to Mars, NASA couldn’t control the craft during the process.

The spacecraft hit the top of the Martian atmosphere (大气层) moving at 12,000 miles an hour (19,300 km an hour) and had to slow down to 1.7 miles an hour (2.7 km an hour) within seven minutes before landing. Drag (空气阻力) that was created by the atmosphere slowed it down.

At the same time, the surface of the craft heated up to about 1,300 ℃. This high temperature could melt (熔化) the rover! But since the craft’s heat shield (抗热涂层) was able to take in most of this heat, Perseverance itself only reached room temperature.

The craft then joined a parachute (降落伞) and a sky crane (空中吊车) together to slow itself down for its final close to Mars. A video of the landing was later shared online, allowing people all over the world to see the amazing moment for themselves. The rover even recorded audio on Mars for the first time just after landing, catching the sounds of Martian wind.

10 . In February, the Ministry of Education announced that mobile phones should, in principle, be banned ( 禁 止 ) in primary and secondary schools. This aims to protect students’ eyesight, make sure they focus on their work and prevent them from becoming addicted (上瘾的) to the Internet and online games.

Xu Xiaohe, a 13-year-old from Zhejiang, supports the policy. “In fact, my school has never allowed us to bring our mobile phones,” Xu said. “It’s a distraction (干扰) from our work. Even adults can’t control themselves, let alone kids like us.”

Li Zihan from Beijing, however, feels differently. The 13-year-old believes that a mobile phone ban is too simple for a generation that has grown up with mobile phones. “Students should be taught self-management skills, as well as learn how to use their phones effectively (有效地) to help with their studies,” Li said. “This might be the best way to deal with technology in modern times.”

For Ge Ziqi, the problem with banning phones has more to do with life outside of school. The 13-year-old Beijinger uses a bike-sharing app every day to travel between her home and school.

“Today, phones are used everywhere, from taking a bus to buying food,” she said. “If I can’t take my phone with me, I’ll have to buy my own bicycle.”

Some schools have come up with ideas to solve problems like Ge’s. At Shanghai Shatian School, for example, students are asked to put their phones in special lockers (储物柜) during school hours. The students call these lockers the “phone farm” (养机场) or “phone tarmac” (停机坪).