3 . A community canteen at the Zhanongkou Community in Shangcheng, Hangzhou recently launched “happiness blind boxes”, which cost just 6 yuan per box. Sales start at 7 p. m. each evening.

The dishes are packaged in transparent (透明的) containers, but to maintain an element of surprise, stickers are placed over the lid (盖子) of the “main dish” section of each box. The “blind boxes” have become popular since being introduced, and on some nights they sell out by about 8 p. m.

A meal assistance program introduced in Zhanongkou subdistrict ensures the elderly can access meals within a 10-minute walk of their homes or have them delivered within five minutes. The service has also been welcomed by younger people living and working in the area.

Yan Xuyang, a professor at Beijing Union University’s Tourism College, predicts that by 2035, those born from the 1970s to the 2000s will comprise the main group of customers for such canteens. “This generation has a reasonable level of disposable (可自由支配的) income, and many of its members may also lack the willingness to prepare meals for themselves,” Yan said.

The successful operation of community canteens depends on their ability to integrate into the daily lives and culture of local residents. In addition to serving dishes to suit local tastes and fostering a welcoming environment for diners, it is important to widen the functions of these canteens. They have been used for cultural activities and other events, which helps raise awareness and foster a positive perspective on these canteens among local communities.

In the latter part of last year, the Weikang community canteen in Ziyang subdistrict, Hangzhou, experienced a significant transformation from being a canteen for seniors to catering for the whole community. Its services have been broadened beyond regular operations to include services for hospitals and businesses, complete with home delivery options. Some other community canteens have also made efforts to appeal to more residents.

4 . When I first met Nao Junior, he was in his 40s and one of only nine members of his Indigenous(土著的) group, Great Andamanese, who still spoke the idiom of his ancestors. As a language specialist, I had researched more than 80 Indian languages. I was on the islands to document their Indigenous voices before they faded into whispers.

Words in this language consisted of two classes: free and bound. The free words were all nouns that referred to the environment and its inhabitants, such as ra for “pig”. They could occur alone. The bound words were nouns, verbs, adjectives and adverbs that always existed with markers indicating a relation to other objects, events or states. The markers came from seven zones of the body and were attached to a root word to describe concepts such as “inside”, “outside”, “upper” and “lower”. For example, the morpheme(词素) er-, which qualified most anything having to do with an outer body part, could be stuck to -cho to yield ercho, meaning “head”.

Just as a head, a bound word, could not conceptually exist on its own, the mode and effect of an action could not be divided from the verb describing the action. Great Andamanese had no words for agriculture but a great many for hunting and fishing, mainly with a bow and arrow. Thus, the root word shile, meaning “to aim”, had several versions: utshile, to aim from above; arashile, to aim from a distance; and eshile, aiming to make a hole with a sharp object.

The studies established that the language seems to be truly old in origin. In a multistage process of development, words describing diverse body parts had changed into morphemes referring to different zones and combined with content words to yield meaning. The structure alone provides an insight into an ancient worldview in which the macrocosm(宏观世界) reflects the microcosm, and everything that is or that happens inseparably connects to everything else.

5 . Adaptations are the currency of the movie industry. It’s common to see that the latest hit movie or thrilling drama is inspired by a novel, video game, or perhaps even a comic book. The journey of the page being adapted to the screen has been covered a lot. But little is the process spoken about in reverse.

“No matter how hard we try, some things are just not meant to be,” Andrew thought bitterly. He looked down at the hospital bills in his hands and tears filled his eyes. His poor mom had been so ill, and here he was complaining and feeling sorry for himself! He should be praying for her recovery, not crying over a lost, childish dream.

Andrew was nineteen, and as far back as he could remember, he’d wanted to become a software engineer. That dream had become harder to reach after his dad died when Andrew was twelve. His mom had been left to raise him on her own, and it was hard to make ends meet. So Andrew started doing part-time jobs.

Every cent he earned he put away for college. When he was sixteen, he got himself a summer job at a local IT company, where his insight and intelligence caught the owner’s eye. Mr. Lewis, the CEO, made Andrew the assistant of his best and most innovative developer, and the boy thrived (不断成长) on the challenge. He couldn’t wait to go to college!

Unfortunately, when Andrew was in his senior year in high school, his mother became very ill. The usually energetic woman was constantly tired and in pain. She went from doctor to doctor, but no one knew exactly what was wrong with her. They sent her off to do dozens of expensive tests, then shook their heads over the results. Andrew’s mom started getting weaker and weaker, and thinner and thinner until she could barely walk.

Andrew added up the medical bills and was shocked. They owed over $23,000! Andrew pulled out his bank book. He had close to $30,000 in his savings account. He’d painstakingly (艰苦地) saved up for YEARS, so he’d be able to go to college, but his mom’s health was more important.

Tom was a skilled teenage surfer. He had always been attracted by the ocean and the challenge of riding its waves. He had trained tirelessly for years, sharpening his skills and perfecting his technique. He had participated in many competitions and won several titles. But one day, his world was turned upside down.

It was a routine training day. While Tom was concentrating on his training in the sea, a shark came in through the broken shark-proof net and approached him. The animal knocked over Tom’s surfboard and bit his right leg, tearing through his flesh (肉体) and causing massive damage. Despite the seriousness of his injuries, Tom was lucky to survive the attack. He was rushed to the hospital, where he received an emergency operation. With the efforts of doctors, his leg was saved.

Tom’s recovery was long and painful, but he refused to give up on his dream of surfing. At first, his progress was slow. He had to learn to walk again, and then to run, and then to jump. Every movement was a struggle. But with the help of his family and friends, as well as his own fierce determination, Tom gradually began to make progress.   He spent hours every day in the gym, doing strength and balance exercises to rebuild his body.

Finally, after months of hard work, Tom was ready to get back into the water. His first training was incredibly difficult, as he struggled to overcome his fear of the ocean and the memory of the shark attack. But gradually, he began to regain his confidence and his love for surfing. As his strength and skills returned, Tom set his sights on competing once again. He trained tirelessly, working with a coach to perfect his technique and improve his performance.   And finally, the day of the competition arrived.

Standing in front of the starting line again, Tom felt nervous．

Tom fell into the sea．

Freddie Forbes stared in awe (敬畏) at the platform in the packed school hall. The headmaster marched onto the stage, followed by the captains of the school soccer team and rugby side. Freddie watched enviously (羡慕地) as each was presented with an honors jacket for their contribution to the school’s sporting success over the previous year. When the next presentation of honors jacket would come around, Freddie knew there was little hope that he would be the receiver of one of these treasured items of clothing.

“I wish you all a happy summer holiday,” the headmaster announced. “Although most of you will be going away to sunnier parts, there are others who will be staying near their home. The local council has asked the school to undertake a project over the next six weeks to help clear up litter around the area and separate it for recycling. If anyone is interested, come to my office and you will be supplied with a litter picker, bags and heavy-duty gloves.”

Freddie knew he would be at a loose end over the holiday, so he went to the office along with four other boys to pick up the equipment needed to gather up the rubbish which littered the streets around the school. When he arrived home, his mother looked at him curiously as he placed the equipment on the kitchen table.

“What is this all about?” she asked with a smile on her face. “Mum, I’m an average pupil and I’m not very good at sports,” he replied. “This waste recycling is one way I can contribute to the good name of the school.”

“Just as long as you don’t get fed up and stop half way through,” said Mum.

“I have made up my mind to stick this out through thick and thin,” Freddie said confidently.

Over the next few weeks, the other boys dropped out of the project.

Hearing his name called by the headmaster, Freddie nervously made his way to the platform.

10 . Recently, economist Francisca Antman makes a convincing case that the explosion of tea as an everyman’s drink in late 1700s England saved many lives. This would not have been because of any beneficial substances of the leaf. Instead, the simple practice of boiling water for tea, in an era before people understood that illness could be caused by water-borne pathogens (病原体), may have been enough to keep many from an early grave.

Between 1761 and 1834, the annual death rate decreased considerably, but wages didn’t seem to have risen much and standards of living arguably didn’t increase. Actually, with the rise of the industrial revolution, many people crowded into towns whose sanitation (卫生条件) left much to be desired. Some historians suggested that boiling water for tea might have played a role in this decrease.

“With people coming into cities to work, given the level of sanitation they have, the big killer is water.” says Antman. Using data from over 400 English districts, relating water sources and quality with death rates, she found the key date is 1785 when tea suddenly became affordable for the majority of Britons. There were many things to recommend tea as a drink of the common people: you could make a satisfying drink with just a few leaves, which could be reused for multiple pots, and tea was potentially cheaper than beer, which became expensive both by the complex making process and by a tax on malt (麦芽). She found that deaths dropped in all districts, but those with bad water saw death rates drop 18% more than those with good water.

Interestingly,while there wasn’t a noticeable decrease in deaths among children aged two to five — who typically didn’t consume much tea — there was a slight fall in infant deaths, perhaps reflecting the fact that if tea-drinking parents had less diarrheal (腹泻) disease, their very young children might have been protected a bit as well.