1 . Statistics from the China Film Administration, China’s box office revenue during the Spring Festival holiday hit a record high of 8 billion yuan, or more than 1.1 billion U. S. dollars, the milestone being achieved in the shortest time span in the history of the Chinese film industry.

Seizing a lot of attention due to actress-director Jia Ling’s weight loss of up to 50 kilograms in one year, YOLO—a comedy recounting Jia’s portrayal of an oversized woman striving to become her better self —earned 2.72 billion yuan, topping the festival box-office charts. Many people wanted to watch the comedy film with their families during this ‘festival of reunions’, because the film went far beyond expectation whose story in Yolo was so inspiring. So, it was a good thing to watch it with children.

Pegasus 2, the sequel to a 2019 blockbuster racing film by writer-director Han Han, ranked second at the box office with 2.4 billion yuan. Boonie Bears: Time Twist, the latest installment in the Boonie Bears animated film series, took the third spot with 1.39 billion yuan, and Zhang Yimou’s Article 20 ranked fourth with 1.33 billion yuan.

A report from Maoyan, one of the country’s largest ticketing services, revealed that 39.2 percent of the audiences purchased movie tickets while returning to their hometowns or traveling, which was the highest in the past four years. Industry analysts say family-friendly comedies align perfectly with the cultural atmosphere surrounding New Year celebrations. The films of this festive season focus on diverse and relevant topics that resonate with the viewers — such as family values and inspirational stories.

So, they attract people from all walks of life.

2 . At The Rachael Ray Foundation^TM (RRF), we’re pretty big animal lovers. As a part of our work, we support a wide variety of organizations that do good for animals, from rescue to care and more. Get to know a few of them and the work we do together.

RRF helped enable Pittsburgh Aviation Animal Rescue Team (PAART) to purchase a new and bigger plane for its rescue missions which bring animals from danger to safety. Whether it be flying dogs in overcrowded shelters to new homes, saving animals caught in the path of natural disasters, or bringing supplies to shelters in need, the brave PAART pilots are always ready to help.

National Disaster Search Dog Foundation (SDF) works to find and train shelter dogs who have the talent and drive to become search and rescue animals. RRF supports SDF’s efforts to identify and transform rescued dogs into rescuers, to provide lifetime care for these dogs and to find homes for all dogs who enter the SDF training program.

This is a program administered by Best Friends Animal Society (BFAS) to support Best Friends’ network partners in their lifesaving efforts. The money has been awarded to organizations across the country to fund initiatives such as adoption drives and shelter intake prevention efforts.

This program, administered by North Shore Animal League America (NSALA), provides money for animal welfare organizations impacted by disasters. RRF is proud to help NSALA in its efforts to identify needs in disaster situations and provide targeted, effective relief.

3 . Dorothea Dix was born in 1802 in Massachusetts. When she was 12 years old, she left her unhappy home to live with her grandmother in Boston. There Dorothea went to school and was so quick at her lessons that two years later she went back to Worcester, Massachusetts and taught in a school for little children. She was only fourteen and rather small for her age. Anyway, she proved herself a good teacher, and the children loved her and respected her. In 1821, she opened a school for girls in Boston.

Gradually, her health broke down, and she began to think that she could never work any more, but after a long rest in England, she came back to America and did something far greater than teaching. She went through the whole country where she first observed the inhumane treatment of the mentally ill. During Dorothea’s traveling for nearly two years throughout the state, and meeting similar conditions, she always spoke kindly to the ill-treated, but she spoke wrathfully to the men who ill-treated them. In January 1843, she submitted to the Massachusetts legislature (立法机关) a detailed report of her fully documented findings.

In the next 40 years Dorothea inspired legislators in 15 US states and in Canada to establish state hospitals for the mentally ill. Her continuous efforts directly affected the building of 32 institutions in the United States. When the Civil War broke out, she went straight to Washington and offered to nurse the soldiers without pay. She hired houses to keep supplies in and bought an ambulance. She gave her time, strength and money to her country.

Dorothea Dix has been called the most useful woman of America. She is an, American educator, social reformer and humanitarian whose devotion to the welfare of the mentally ill led to widespread reforms in the United States and abroad.

8 . Like flavors of ice cream, people have different tastes and preferences for music. You need to map out your playlist based on the theme of your essay. Here are a few film scores for different themes, you can decide which is the best music for writing:

Nutmeg by Alexandre Desplat

Fear Will Find You by Hans Zimmer

The Station Inspector by Howard Shore

If you are a student writing a reflection paper about a movie your teacher asked you to watch, listening to its film score would get your creative juices flowing. Besides, you can even add what you feel about the music and its impact on the movie. So less work for you and more additional points on your paper.

Some would be happy to listen to anything while others are more specific. For example, there are people who would happily listen to any music while some are more particular and prefer classical music to jazz. If you are one of them, here are a few classical pieces you can listen to while writing:

Tambourin chinois, Op. 3 by Fritz Kreisler

The Gadfly Suite, Op. 97a: VIII. Romance by Dmitri Shostakovich

The Lark Ascending by Ralph Vaughan Williams

The number one problem that writers complain about is writer’s block. Even if you are not a professional and just writing a 2000-word research paper, you can still experience writer’s block and not know how to get started. With that, here are a few songs to get you all pumped up to write:

Iron Maiden’s by The Trooper

Run Boy Run by Woodkid

Knights of Cydonia by Muse

If popular songs are not your thing, then you can just listen to famous scores from movies.

9 . My Father, the Family Man

This year, my seasonal depression took me deeperssion the past, and a new portrait of my father came into my mind. He was a sometimes difficult, always determined man.

In my early memories, I was sitting at the kitchen table listening to my father yelling (叫嚷) about his challenges as an Italian immigrant. Back then, I couldn’t have known his pain as he struggled to find his footing in this new land.

“We left Italy to give you three girls more opportunities for a better life,” he said. “But we’d had a shaky start. The apartment your aunt had secured for us fell through at the last minute. It went to someone without children. So the five of us moved into your aunt’s living room.”

Bills mounted up. “And then I saw your mother’s face was as white as a sheet.” He said bitterly but soon stared down at the table to compose himself. “And the baby was crying. I worried that the houseowner would come knocking on the door.”

Dad jumped to the end of his story, “What more can I say? I went looking for a job. I found one.”

Armed with a few English phrases and determination, he’d walked for miles in a city he didn’t know, stopping at every hair salon, asking for a chance to show his skills as a hair stylist, his profession and passion. That’s what he’d been doing all day, supporting for his family.

Forty years later in Toronto, he sat at the table, asking if I thought he’d provided well for his family. I answered. His eyes watered. Mine did, too.