1 . I always considered myself a good friend and I’m always there when my friends need me. I truly believed I was a(n) _________ friend — until the pandemic (流行病) hit and I _________ I hadn’t been doing enough.

I basically put my _________ in a couple of different buckets (桶): those I talk to daily or almost daily, those who are local and _________ frequently, those I catch up with every so often, and those who I know are still my close friends _________ we barely (几乎不) talk. For years this has been my _________, and for years it’s _________ for all of us, I assumed.

As soon as we started going into lockdown over COVID-19, one of my friends in the last category (类 别) texted me and suggested we Wechat to _________. I realized we hadn’t spoken in nearly a year! A global health crisis made me realize I should have been keeping in touch with her better.

What really _________ me the most was the realization that I had too many friends who didn’t __________ me either during the pandemic. We were so __________ letting days go by without talking that even this unusual event didn’t __________ that. And that didn’t sit right with me.

I __________ the fact that it took the threat of losing my friends for me to be a better friend. My friends are so __________ to me, and I absolutely know I can carve out more time to be more __________ in their lives.

In view of the importance of the control and     1     (prevent) of the COVID-19, 100 restaurants across Shanghai advocated the use of serving utensils (器具).

Chinese people often eat together and share their     2    (dish) with others. The new system suggests     3    (add) separate chopsticks and spoons for serving when people dine together. Such a change of etiquette (礼仪) allows diners     4     (avoid) using their own chopsticks to pick food from the plates, and therefore     5     (great) reduces the chances of spread of many diseases.

Many restaurants     6    (adopt) the policy after the Municipal Office for Civilized Society published the suggestion,    7    also encourages the public to use separate utensils for shared food at home.

According to Qu Qi, a person in charge     8     a restaurant in Xuhui district, a sign     9    (put) up on the tables to inform people of the importance of using serving utensils, since the start of business on February 21. The waiters and waitresses are also trained to supply a separate spoon or pair of chopsticks for the diners. So far,     10     service has been well accepted by the majority of the public.

This will be a long-term measure. In the future, each diner on the table will have their own serving chopsticks and spoons so as to prevent sharing of any manner of viruses and bacteria.

4 . Dynamic clearing

Dynamic clearing policy means stamping out an outbreak whenever it occurs and doing so in a relatively short time frame so it won’t lead to community spread.     1    . Here are some reasons to stick to dynamic clearing policy.

Putting people first

China’s dynamic clearing approach is characterized by its adherence to the principle of “people and life first”. The number of deaths attributable to the Omicron variant of the virus is more than those caused by the Delta variant. The WHO has rightly called the death toll “beyond tragic”.

With the largest senior population in the world, China has a sizable number of people with chronic underlying diseases such as hypertension and diabetes.     2    .

A scientific approach

The dynamic clearing policy China has adopted is a scientific approach to fighting the novel coronavirus in line with its national conditions. It is wrong to consider the Omicron variant of the virus as no worse than the virus that causes the common flu.

It is irresponsible for some politicians to compare infections of the Omicron variant to a “flu”. It is not supported by any scientific evidence.     3    .

A timely strategy

Dynamic clearance measures change in accordance with the situation. If an outbreak is detected early, health workers only need to quarantine and treat patients while keeping an eye on quarantined close contacts.

Under the policy, so long as there is no community spread, it is acceptable for cases to exist in quarantine because they are temporarily isolated.

    4    

The dynamic clearing policy has so far proved successful in striking a delicate balance between maintaining economic and social development and controlling the spread of the virus.

    5    , enabling it to resume its economic activities and keep transmission of the virus localized whenever a cluster of infections appears.

5 . The coronavirus pandemic has brought with it the rise of a new kind of single use plastic in the form of personal protective equipment (PPE), like face masks and gloves. Experts warned that these sharply increasing single-use items could cause a new wave of plastic pollution and kill wildlife.

The charity Ocean Conservancy reported that volunteers had collected more than 100,000 PPE items from coasts and waterways during the last six months of 2020. They sent out a survey to more than 2020 International Coastal Cleanup (ICC) coordinators and volunteers asking about their experience with PPE. The results show that it is a real problem. Volunteers collected 107,219 pieces of PPE in 70 of 115 participating countries. Of those surveyed, 94% reported seeing PPE at a cleanup, and 40% found five items or more. Further, 37% found the items had already sunk into the water.

“During one of our clean-ups in the canals of Leiden, our volunteers found a latex glove with a dead fish trapped in the thumb,” said Auke-Florian Hiemstra, a study coauthor Iron Leiden University. “Also, in the Dutch canals, we observed that a water bird was using face masks and gloves in its nests.” Other animals that have gotten tangled up in face masks include a fox in the UK, a pufferfish in Florida, and two crabs in France. Numerous dogs and cats have been observed eating PPE as well.

The danger posed by PPE goes deeper than what the eye can see. Luckily, there are ways that all of us can be part of the solution to the problem of PPE pollution. Hiemstra recommended using reusable PPE instead of single-use products. In that case, we should deal with them properly by cutting the ear loops to prevent animal entanglements (缠绕物) and throwing them away in a bin that is not overstuffed. “We definitely think it is important for citizens to understand how much PPE is ending up in the environment and impacting animals,” Hiemstra said.

7 . Have you ever thought about what happens to people’s property when they die? That’s where wills come in. Traditionally, wills were only made by the elderly. Many young people think they don’t need wills if they don’t have kids or houses yet. But in recent years, this perception has started to change.

A white paper released by the China Will Registration Center in March revealed that more people in their 20s and 30s are now writing wills in China, reported China Daily. The Daily Mail also reported that more young people are writing wills thanks to the CoVID-19 pandemic. In the UK, only 18 percent of 18-to 34-уеаr-olds had wills in 2019, compared to 27 percent in 2021. In a recent interview with The Telegraph, Emily James, 22, said the main reason she wrote a will was the pandemic. “In the current climate, you can’t really get away from death - it’s something my generation has never been faced with so distinctly before. The death count is broadcast every day, and most people know someone who has been affected by the virus, which starts to make you think and want to plan for your future.”

Apart from the pandemic, public knowledge of celebrities’ health conditions, like the British royal family, has led to more people writing wills. The highest number of wills written on a single day in 2021 was on Feb 18, following the late Prince Philip’s admission to hospital, according to data from Farewill, one of the UK’s biggest death planning companies.

Farewill’s data also show that the legacies young people leave in their wills are reflections of current society. Music and pop culture collections were among the top things included in wills. The most common pop culture collections mentioned were Disney, Star Wars and Harry Potter memorabilia(纪念品).

The pandemic increased people’s likelihood of including a gift to a charity in their will. Furry friends are also not forgotten. Farewill’s data show nearly one-fifth of the people were making wills to ensure their pets were well looked after, with a total of 37 percent of will writers including plans for their pets.