3 . Ancient hutongs of Beijing are always popular with visitors to the capital city. But time has not been kind to these old neighborhoods. In the middle of the 20th century, over 3,000 hutongs could be found in Beijing. But owing to a program of rapid modernization, the vast majority of these have been torn down. Today, unfortunately, just 500 remain. Although efforts have been taken to protect the surviving hutongs, many of the homes in these areas have fallen into disrepair and are in alarming condition.

But Beijing architecture firm People’s Architecture Office (PAO) has designed a solution for repairing hutong homes while keeping their traditional character. PAO is putting prefabricated modules (预制模块) in and around the houses, consisting of panels (嵌板) made of steel and glass. The panels fit together to create bright, comfortable space for residents (居民). The modules cost $500 per square meter--one-tenth of the Beijing average of $5, 000 per square meter--and can be installed in a day.

“The units are small,” says James Shen, co-founder of PAO. “It means that we are able to bring them piece by piece into these very narrow hutongs. It also means that we can do building repairs without tearing any of the old buildings down.”

The group recently performed its first installation for a resident, in the Guangcai Hutong. Resident Fan Ke says the module has been transformative, particularly for the additional light it provides. “At first when I lived here, it was always dark,” says Fan. “Now after the repairs, I’m bathed in sunlight throughout the day. I no longer feel caged in.”

She hopes the first installation will be followed by thousands more. The architect says such a program would breathe new life into the hutongs, which, particularly those in central areas, are already seeing more interest from house purchasers. One couple recently spent over $800, 000 on an 11-square-meter home in Wenchang Hutong.

“This kind of solution can help make these older areas livelier,” says Shen. “It can show younger people that you don’t have to move to a brand new modern apartment complex.”

4 . The latest USC (University of Southern California) research on the impact of music education shows that for teenagers, the benefits appear to extend beyond a sharp increase in neural (神经系统的) connections in their brains. It actually boosts their wellbeing (健康).

The study published Wednesday by the journal Frontiers in Psychology led to increased funding for arts and music education in California public schools.

“The many descriptions of learning loss that have appeared since the start of the pandemic (大流行病) paint a serious picture of what some call a lost generation. It is obvious that the pandemic has taken a toll on student mental health,” said Beatriz Ilari, an associate professor of music education at the USC Thornton School of Music and corresponding author of the study.

For the study, researchers examined the impact of music on positive youth development. The researchers did online surveys to 120 students from 52 Los Angeles Unified School District middle schools. The survey questions covered the key domains of positive youth development including competence and confidence. They found that students who started music education before age 8 were more hopeful about the future.

The research team also found that younger students scored higher in key development measures than their older students. Sixth-grade students, for example, scored higher for overall positive youth development than eighth graders, and scored higher in the confidence domain than both seventh and eighth graders. Seventh-grade students also scored higher in overall positive youth development than eighth graders.

In addition, the study explored students’ engagement in different music programs, including the Virtual Middle School Music Enrichment (VMSME), a tuition-free, extracurricular (课外的) program that focuses on popular music education and virtual learning. Researchers found that students participating in multiple forms of music education and for longer periods of time scored higher in measures for competence and hopeful future expectations.

5 . Worried about your tuition? Take a look at some of the big names offering tuition assistance.

McDonald’s

Hourly employees can receive up to $2,500 in tuition assistance, and salaried workers can take up to $3,000. Both on-campus and online degree programs at schools are eligible (有资格的). You only have to be an employee for 90 days to benefit from this educational program.

Chipotle

Chipotle allows employees to use up to $5,250 in tuition assistance, regardless of part-or full-time employment status. They can use these funds at two-year, four-year or vocational/ technical schools. Additionally, Chipotle is offering to pay full tuition for students studying business or technology at some colleges.

Walmart

Under its tuition assistance plan, full time employees only have to pay $1 a day towards their college tuition, and Walmart will cover the rest. This policy does not apply to part-time employees.

Publix

For college and university enrollment (注册), employees can take up to $3,200 per calendar year and a lifetime limit of $12,800. For other types of study, employees can receive up to $1,700 per calendar year and $3,400 over a lifetime.

Home Depot

Employees are eligible on day one of employment for a variety of tuition assistance benefits. Salaried employees can receive up to $5,000, full-time hourly employees $3,000 and par-time hourly up to $1,500 per calendar year.

UPS

On the day employees are hired, UPS will provide up to $5,250 per calendar year and up to a lifetime maximum of $25,000.

Su Yiming was born in Jilin province, which has produced a number of Chinese winter athletes.     1     his parents already fans of snowboarding, Su had his first try when he was three years old and quickly became hooked (着迷).

At seven, he obtained his first sponsorship deal and his extraordinary skill attracted the attention of film     2    (direct) to open up further opportunities.

In 2014, the film ‘The Taking of Tiger Mountain’ needed     3     young boy who could ski for several scenes. Su fitted the bill and he quickly became a child star appearing in several movies.

When Beijing was awarded right     4    (host) the 2022 Olympic Winter Games in 2015, Su decided to     5    (temporary) put his acting career on hold. At the time he published a post on his Weibo account saying: “    6     determines our life is not our ability, but our choice.”

In 2018, he     7    (select) for the Chinese Snowboard slopestyle and Big Air team and improved further under the     8    (instruct) of famous Japanese coach Sato Yasuhiro.

As the pioneer of the new generation of Chinese snowboarding, Su holds multiple    9    (nation) records and even achieved a world first in 2021.

At the Beijing Winter Olympics, Su Yiming made history by winning men’s snowboard slopestyle silver. Three days before     10    (turn) 18, Su received his first Olympic gold medal in the men’s snowboard big air final.

9 . Queen Elizabeth II in her Christmas Day message shared the pain she felt after the death of her husband as she encouraged people everywhere to celebrate with friends and family, despite the grief caused by a pandemic(流行病) now stretching into its second year.

Saying she understood the difficulty of spending the holiday season “with one familiar laugh missing,” the queen delivered her address beside a photograph of Prince Philip, who died in April at age 99. “Although it’s a time of great happiness and good cheer for many, Christmas can be hard for those who have lost loved ones,” the queen said in the prerecorded message broadcast when many British families were enjoying their traditional Christmas dinner. “This year, especially, I understand why.” She added the country still has the great future.

Despite her own loss, the queen said her family was a “source of great happiness”, noting that she had welcomed four great-grandchildren this year. “While COVID again means we can’t celebrate quite as we may have wished, we can still enjoy the many happy things, be it the singing of carols—as long as the tune is well known—decorating the tree, giving and receiving presents or watching a favorite film where we already know the ending,” she said. “It’s no surprise that families so often treasure their Christmas routines.”

As the highly transmissible Omicron coronavirus variant(新冠病毒变种奥密克戎) spreads rapidly across the U.K., the 95-year-old queen has decided not to spend Christmas at Sandringham, the royal estate in eastern England where she traditionally spends the festive season with family. The palace said Monday that the queen would spend the holidays at Windsor Castle, west of London, where she has remained throughout most of the pandemic.

10 . For those who are keen to explore natural wonders and cultural heritage sites and to pursue (追求) the passion of local people for ice and snow in Jilin province, now it is the time to go there.

Rime observation

Compared with rime (雾凇)in other regions of China, rime in Jilin city is unique (独特的) because it is thick and crystal clear. A toothpick-thick tree branch can be covered in frost as thick as an adult's thumb. The best time to observe is at 6-10am between November and February.

Winter fishing

Chagan Lake is one of the top 10 largest freshwater lakes in China. It covers more than500 square kilometers. Winter fishing on Chagan Lake is an ancient tradition that dates back to the Liao Dynasty and Jin Dynasty. It was listed as a national-level intangible (无形的) cultural heritage item in 2008.

Hot springs

For those who want to feel warm in winter in Jilin province, Changbai Mountains area could be the best place to visit. The region, formed after a volcanic eruption in ancient times, holds hundreds of hot springs with an average temperature above 60℃.The hot springs are said to be good for health because of their stable flow, constant temperature and mineral-rich water.