1 . How COVID-19 Affects Your Body

Doctors continue to learn about the short-term and long-term effects of COVID-19 on your body. For some people, It starts with basic flu symptoms. But it could eventually affect your lungs, liver, kidneys, and even your brain.

Usually the virus makes contact with you when a nearby infected person sends droplets(微滴) into the air by coughing, sneezing, or talking. It spreads easily between people within about 6 feet of each other. An infected person can spread these droplets, even if they don’t feel sick. The virus may infect you after you touch an object, like a doorknob(门把手), that has the virus on it. But that's not as common.

Once the virus enters the body, it usually settles in the cells that line your nose, sinus cavity(鼻窦腔), and throat. For most people, this is where it stays. Symptoms often follow, but you may not feel anything for up to 2 weeks, as the virus starts to invade(侵略) healthy cells and reproduce. You can transmit (传播) it to others even if you don't show any symptoms.

The first symptoms that typically appear include a fever, headache, sore throat, and dry cough. But what you'll feel can vary widely in this early stage. You may also have:

Some studies show that up to 40% of people with COVID-19 are “asymptomatic(无症状的).” That means they don’t feel sick or have symptoms. But the virus can still affect your body. X-rays and CT scans of some people without symptoms show lung damage including “ground-glass opacities,”a typical lung lesion(损害) in people with COVID-19.

A．

B．

C．

D．

2 . A few weeks ago, my teenage daughter failed a test. She was embarrassed, angry, anxious and there were tears in her eyes. This grade might prevent her from qualifying for the next key class she wanted to take.

She took some time to complain to me. Then I saw something interesting. She calmed herself down by making a joke. She expressed thankfulness that she didn’t have bigger problems. Then she made a plan to talk to her teacher to improve her skills. This was a great change from the kid I was watching deal with disappointment a few years ago, the one who once was unwilling to take responsibility and blamed others, which shows she has grown up and understood the good in the bad.

We expect our kids to learn and grow, but many of them will also grow through adversity (逆境), and even thrive (茁壮成长) after trauma (创伤). Psychologists call it post-traumatic growth. Trauma, defined as an emotional response to a terrible event like an accident, attack, natural disaster, or other life-changing happenings, is painful and even can be harmful. Trauma does leave its mark, but the mark may not be all bad and there can also be growth.

In one study, researchers surveyed nearly 385 people who experienced financial adversity during the pandemic lockdown (疫情封锁), even while working full-time. These people are also the parents or primary caregivers or young children who were being homeschooled. And those surveyed had either been sick with COVID-19 or had a loved one with the disease. Despite all of this adversity, 88 percent of the people surveyed said they now have stronger family relationships and a greater appreciation for life. Some said they experienced spiritual growth and 11 percent reported they discovered new opportunities.

Hardship makes us adapt, respond, and find other ways to solve it. When we do, we become not only able to heal the trauma associated with it but also thrive again. We build up confidence and experience that will help us the next time we face adversity.

Yang Xiaomeng lives 11 km away from her company in Beijing. The 26-year-old has been cycling to work for three months. “I used to take the subway before the COVID-19 outbreak. But now riding a bike seems to be a safer choice.”

Finding it relaxing and healthy, Yang said she would keep cycling in the future. In fact, many people have turned from public transportation to riding bikes these days. On Beijing’s bike-only lane (自行车专用道), from Huilongguan to Shangdi, the number of cyclists has increased by 17.6 percent due to the outbreak, Xinhua reported.

In fact, biking has been booming globally since the COVID-19 outbreak. In Spain, bike sales increased 22-fold (倍) in May compared with last year. In London, large parts of the city are being closed off to cars so that people can walk and cycle safely. Cities like Berlin and Montreal have also added new, wider bike lanes.

How will this change influence life in the city? The environmental advantages are clear. According to studies, cycling can clearly reduce the pollution of the environment. Since most gyms are still not open, cycling can also give people a chance to exercise and enjoy fresh air.

Increased biking can also bring economic benefits (经济效益) to the society. Compared with drivers, cyclists tend to spend more money in stores, bars and restaurants, according to Huff post. “When you make an area become attractive to people on foot or on a bike—when you slow down the pace (节奏) of life in that neighborhood just a little—suddenly visitors are staying longer and stopping in more stores,” Rachel Quednau wrote for Strong Towns.

5 . Nearly one year after the arrival of the COVID-19 pandemic, students across Chicago and the suburbs in the US say when it comes to high school, the thrill is gone. Simple pleasures such as getting together with friends in the hallways and catching up over lunch in the cafeteria are displaced by a dystopian (反乌托邦的) landscape of remote learning and virtual extracurricular.

After 11 months of remote learning, and what many teens describe as the soul-crushing disappointment of canceled after school activities, experts say a growing number of teens are now struggling with anxiety and depression due to heightened levels of stress and social isolation.

Still, the following stories shared by high school students from Chicago and the suburbs provide a glimmer of hope that for some, the pandemic-era heartbreak might develop a generation of resilient (有韧性的) young adults who will be better equipped to deal with life’s twists and turns.

Students who participate in speech, an activity that combines drama and public speaking, have been able to continue this school year, albeit (尽管) over the internet. Instead of delivering emotional monologues (独白) and duets (二重唱) to a live panel of judges, they must summon their best performances while looking into a webcam.

“Dueting is so frustrating when it comes to online,” said Jaylah Hogg, 17, a junior at Thornton Township High School in Harvey. “Wi-Fi at my house is pretty good but my partner’s isn’t. So it’s like I’m trying to time her lines in my head because she’s blanking out when she’s talking. Sometimes the judges do hold that against us.”

But it hasn’t been all bad. After nearly a year of remote learning, Deerfield High School freshman Ben Segall, 15, said he was excited that the school was expected to finally welcome students back into the building for a hybrid program later this month.

The pandemic has also crushed the athletic seasons for sports at many high schools including Senn High School in the Edgewater neighborhood. There, Davion Holmes is staying focused on applying to Wilberforce, Ohio-based Central State University.

And with some of the recent updates to the Illinois High School Association’s COVID-19 guidelines, Holmes said he remained hopeful, albeit realistic, about finally resuming his high school athletic career in the months ahead.

“I didn’t want to have to live through a pandemic, but I worked through it, and that’s something I’ll be able to tell my kids and grandkids someday,” he added.

Like many children across the United States, Emerson Weber, 11, is sheltering at home, which makes it hard to connect with people the way she'd like. So the fifth-grader decided to ramp up her letter writing.

Emerson, who already wrote an average of five to ten letters per week, decided to drop an extra note to her own mailman. "In return, she's gotten dozens of letters, a sign of how important human connection is during the pandemic," said her dad, who shared the story on the Internet.

In her note to mailman Doug Scott, Emerson wrote, "The reason why you are very important in my life is that I don't have a phone so how else am I supposed to stay in touch with my friends? You make it possible!" She put the letter in the mailbox and the next day received a package with two notes and stamps inside. One letter was from Scott and the other from his supervisor(主管)at the US Postal Service(USPS), who wanted to share how touched they were by her message.

Emerson's note eventually landed in the corporate newsletter(时事通讯)of the USPS. Then, the unexpected happened. Letters poured in from postal workers from across the country. "The power of connection is what we are delivering, as we bring medicines, letters and goods to people staying at home," USPS spokesman David Rupert said. Because we are hard at work, we are helping keep them safe and connected."

Now, Emerson is writing up to 25 letters each week to respond to her new postal pen pals. "I just think now we need to be thankful for them because we need them during this time," she said.

Emerson's dad admitted he was shocked by the response at first but believed there was a message in this. He explained, "At present, any sort of human contact has more meaning."

The COVID-19 pandemic is bringing out the creativity in people like never before. It also inspires people to do more for their community.

A 3-year-old girl called Mia Villa from New York with a passion for baking is using it to bless frontline workers in a wonderful way. She has been baking almost every day and her mother, Amanda Villa, says she has turned the hobby into an exciting adventure. “Mia absolutely loves it,” she said. “She can’t wait to learn about where we are going next.”

The mommy-daughter team from Stillwater, NY has baked more than 1.000 cookies since the COVTD-19 pandemic started and has delivered them to healthcare workers, grocery clerks, police officers, and firefighters. Mia and her mother even created a Facebook account “Mia’s Cookie Jar” where they regularly update people on their cookie deliveries. “We started out locally, going to places around home and then started getting suggestions from Mia’s cookie followers,” Amanda said.

The recipients (接受者) are always excited and thankful when Mia shows up with a box of cookies and a hand-made drawing. Mia is proud of herart and thinks the presentation is the best part. “She went right up to these people who she’d never met, and walked them through the picture’s drawing process,” Amanda said. “One police officer said he was going to hang the picture in his office and she was really excited.”

Mia’s great-grandfather, Doug Greth, is beyond proud of the caring girl Mia has become. He and Mia’s great-grandmother, Dolores, have been following her journey since its first days and are deeply touched by the appreciation lavished (慷慨给与) on the little girl. “We have such a great family and Mia shows how we value goodness in our family,” Greth said. “The cookies and the picture show such a great effort. And it is evident that Mia’s cookies are making a wonderful difference.”