3 . I was cutting up lettuce (生菜) in the kitchen when I suddenly remembered watching a video about putting the lettuce stub (残余部分) in water to grow a whole new vegetable. So I took out a wide-mouthed mug (大杯) and placed the stub into it, gave it a little water, and placed it by the window.

On a snowy morning, I noticed the first sign. A first small leaf from its heart spread out. A tiny green flag of hope. Beaten, but not defeated. Within days, it was impossible to see the cuts where I had removed the leaves. The growth was explosive. And when I lifted the blossoming head out of the mug, tiny root threads fell down, seeking for the earth. What is growing here? Lettuce or hope?

If I were a lettuce in a similar condition, I’d want to doubtfully assess where I found myself before being devoted to full growth. Yet for this lettuce, my inadequate offering of water and a place by a window was enough for it to decide to reclaim itself again. It grew in a mug of water, in faith. This is the heart of this lettuce: alive, strong and fearless. It deserved a name. I decided to call it Monty.

Monty wanted to grow, as we all do. I think I gave him a little love and freedom. Those two ingredients were all he needed to return to himself. I see joy in this lettuce. The return to self is always an expression of joy, which is life itself. With the right ingredients, this is the tendency of all living things.

Monty still lives in a mug, but I’m going to transplant him outside. He deserves to become his full self. The only problem I see now is my capacity to support Monty. I hope I have enough of a green finger.

I’m surprised to find myself where I am. Maybe Monty is, too. I have the same choice as he does: give in, or start again. The prospect of starting again is discouraging. But my lettuce-friend, Monty, leads the way. I can only hope to be as brave.

5 . The last attempt of Ken Campbell to run could date back to high school. When his wife, Susan, injured her foot, she needed support to rejoin her running group, so Campbell went along to keep her company in the recovery.” We were just walking at the beginning,” he says, “I was heavy, and weighed over 90kg.” But as the weeks and months passed, the weight fell away, Susan recovered and Campbell’s abilities grew. At the age of 63, he ran 50km, and at 70, he completed a 100km ultramarathon.

So how does someone with no experience of running become an ultradistance runner in his 60s and 70s? Susan had run marathons before her injury, but for Campbell, the turning point came when Susan’s Fleet Feet running group started training near their home.

Campbell went out to visit Susan’s group, and “the paths were a terrible mess. It had been raining, and I was slipping, sliding and falling. But I thought, well, I like this a lot.” What he liked above all was the feeling of “being wrapped by the path, being hugged by the closeness of the plants and the nearness of the river”.

Running the 100km ultramarathon took Campbell 16 hours. When Campbell crossed the finish line, Susan handed hima100km sticker to display on the back of his truck. “It is a public statement that you are part of this community,” he says. “Wherever we park, I see a line of vehicles with their various stickers and I feel that we area community.”

Campbell suffered from arthritis before he started running, and was “waiting for knee replacement”, but for now, he no longer needs an operation. It can put an end to the running—but the “sense of wellbeing and achievement will carry me on forever”, he says, “If I can’t run, I will walk.”

6 . When Millet was a boy he worked on his needy father’s farm. At the rest hour in the fields the other workers would all take naps, but young Millet would spend time drawing. Finally, the village where he lived gave him a little money to Paris to study art.

When Millet reached Paris, he had a tough time. Fortunately, when he was almost starving, someone bought one of his peasant paintings, which enabled his family to leave for Barbizon.

Millet’s pictures of peasants at work were painted in a unique way. The painter would go out on the farms and watch them carefully — digging, hoeing, spreading manure, sawing wood, or sowing grain. Then he would come home and paint what he had seen. So astonishingly accurate was his memory that he could paint at home without models and get all the movements of his figures right. When he did need a figure to go by, he would ask his wife to pose for him.

One of his noted artworks is called “The Sower”, which shows a man seeding. He reaches into his bag for seed and then swings backward to scatter the seed, and with each swing of his hand the sower strides forward. In Millet’s picture the sower has been working hard, but his swinging step and arm still move smoothly, like a machine. Only the man’s head reveals his great tiredness.

Another masterpiece is called “The Gleaners”. A gleaner is someone picking up the leftover in the field after the wheat harvest. When farmers near Barbizon are extremely badly-off, even the little the gleaners can find is a help. You can see from Millet’s picture what back-breaking work gleaning must be.

7 . Have you ever dreamed of having a fashionable watch of great value?

A small watchmaker in Switzerland in 1922 designed the first automatic watch to show day, month, and date. Only seven of these splendid watches were ever made and these watches were almost lost to history. Today, it is so hard to get an original watch that some watch historians are even willing to offer $ 200,000 for one.

These watches attracted a lot of people for their splendid color, fashionable style, and uses in the 1920s.The owners of the watches were admired and set apart from the crowd. Because the number of the original watches is very limited, owning such a watch will make you feel very special.

Today, you are offered the same kind of watch with improvement. It has a 24-jet mechanical movement, the kind desired by watch collectors. The watchmaker has made movement of the watch much more modern with an automatic rotor (上弦装置) so that the watch never needs to be wound by hand. The watch comes in a very beautiful case with a crocodile design on it. To get a watch in such a perfect design means to get a chance to know a piece watch-making history and to wear such a watch will show your personal taste and social position.

You can get the watch either in person or by mail at an affordable price. You will also receive good service from the watch seller. If you are not satisfied with the watch after you get it, you simply return it within 30 days. Don’t miss the chance to realize your dream.

8 . Do Lobsters (龙虾) Feel Pain?

The traditional method for cooking a lobster— boiling it alive— raises the question of whether or not lobsters feel pain.     1     Lobsters go bad very quickly after they die, and eating a dead lobster increases the risk of illness and reduces the quality of its flavor. However, if lobsters are capable of feeling pain, the method and others, such as storing the live lobster on ice, raise moral questions for chefs and lobster eaters alike.

    2     Lobsters have a peripheral system like humans, but instead of a single brain, they possess nerve cluster (神经簇). Because of this difference, some researchers argue lobsters are too dissimilar to vertebrates (脊椎动物) to feel pain. Nonetheless, lobsters do satisfy all of the standard for a pain response. Lobsters guard their injuries, learn to avoid dangerous situations, respond to anesthetics, and are believed to possess some level of consciousness.     3    

There is growing evidence that lobsters may feel pain.     4     Currently, boiling lobsters alive is illegal in Switzerland, New Zealand, and the Italian city Reggio Emilia.

The most human e tool for cooking a lobster is the CrustaStun. This device electrocutes a lobster, making it unconscious in less than half a second or killing it in 5 to 10 seconds. And then, it can be cut apart or boiled.

Unfortunately, the CrustaStun is too expensive for most restaurants and people to afford. Some restaurants place a lobster in a plastic bag and place it in the freezer for a couple of hours, during which time it loses consciousness and dies.     5     But it is probably the most human e option for killing a lobster before cooking and eating it.

9 . As a result of trade, travel and migration, different cuisines have spread across the world. Many recipes, chefs and restaurants try to announce that their food of a country or region is the most authentic (正宗的). But is this a good thing?

People care about authenticity because food traditions are closely linked to identity, particularly for migrant communities. Sociologist and professor of food studies, Krishnendu Ray, explains that home cooking is often the last way that communities can show their identity. British celebrity chef Jamie Oliver was accused of trying to take advantage of positive feelings about Jamaica. His ready meal product had a Jamaican name, but was unlike real Jamaican cooking.

However, food consultant Sara Kay asks whether there are problems with the idea of authenticity. She stresses that these ideas often come from the expectations that majority cultures have about minority cultures and their food. These can be restricting—restauranteurs have complained that people expect Asian food to be cheaper than that from European cultures. Expectations can also give people a false idea of what is authentic. While large cities are full of eateries representing different countries—China, India, Italy, Mexico and more—these labels can oversimplify the reality of food from these countries. Stephanie Elizondo Greist is surprised by the recognition that foods in Mexico are more authentic than what she ate growing up as a Mexican-American in Texas, because she feels that both are authentic examples of Mexican food.

A more controversial view of authenticity was stated by American Chef Andrew Zimmern, who claimed that he could bring in Chinese dishes in a more authentic way than existing restaurants—many of which are owned by Chinese-Americans. Writer and food podcaster Ruth Tam points out that while these restaurants altered their menus to suit local tastes, so does Zimmern. So, while food and identity are closely linked, and failure to respect authenticity can cause offence, could there be problems with the whole idea of authenticity?

10 . While the remaining 8 teams of the FIFA World Cup 2022 in Qatar compete in the quarter-finals, it is worth noting that it is not only soccer that has captured the world’s attention, but also the video assistant referee (VAR) technology.

Like it or hate it, the VAR is a part of football games today.

Many football fans question whether the system made the game better or if it added unnecessary some complication to the beautiful game, especially this time in Qatar, as a number of controversial (引起争议的) decisions were made involving VAR – it slows down the game, offside law (越位规则) is sometimes not flexible.

The introduction of the VAR means at the top-level football now tends to pause and delay with the on-field referee often waiting for decisions to be made by those located in offices often far away from the stadiums themselves.

Actually, the use of video match officials (VMOs) in football was included in the 2018/2019 edition of the Laws of the Game and was already used at the 2018 FIFA World Cup. Since then, the system has been used in over 100 competitions worldwide.

Despite criticisms, FIFA thought VAR’s first show to be a success, with referee committee head Pierluigi Collina claiming that 99.3 percent of “match-changing” decisions were called correctly at the World Cup – “very, very close to perfection”. Without VAR, referees called 95% of incidents correctly.

We should admit that sports tech is still far from perfect in the field of sports events. People’s emotions are not towards those technologies themselves, but the current shortcomings of the application of the technology.

The controversies in the football field are not caused by VAR alone as there are too many uncertain factors on the court, which is a part of the game drama. For example, the penalty kick (点球) in the penalty area is judged in a variety of situations.