5 . Food brings us together and connects us to our families, friends, nature and to foreign cultures. Food is universal. Food waste, on the other hand, has become a universal problem, as it significantly contributes to climate change. Luckily, there are countries that have laws to require supermarkets or other businesses to donate unsold food.

About one third of all food grown for human consumption is thrown out or wasted according to the Food and Agriculture Organization(FAO). This creates both environmental and financial problems, since traditional agriculture requires large amounts of resources including land and water. Food production is also a major cause of greenhouse gases and climate change.

Food waste occurs at every step of food production from the field to the store. In fact, fruits, vegetables, and roots have the highest waste. Donating food that is unusually wasted does not mean giving away damaged food. Sometimes it is simply a case of food being mislabeled, a can that has a torn label, or slightly bruised fruit.

To reduce both the financial and environmental pressure, Italy passed a law to encourage businesses and farmers to donate unsold food to charities. Companies that donate their leftovers will pay lower taxes on waste removal.

Waste management is also a very costly thing for governments. In fact, according to Global Citizen, in 2016, Italy spent over $13.3 billion on waste management. The idea behind the law is that when it is economic and convenient, companies will happily follow the law.

France was the first country to pass a food donation law in 2016. It required supermarkets that are at least 4,300 square feet to donate unsold food to charity. Since then, 90 percent of supermarkets began donating food, the number of which was 66 percent before the law.

To increase food donations, Israel passed a law in 2018 to ensure that unused food from restaurants, hotels and other places goes to the people that need it most.

6 . A teenager of 17 walks into a corner store and grabs a Coca-Cola, but the cashier refuses to sell it to him because he is underage. That rule is expected to soon become reality in parts of Mexico, as lawmakers in several states push legislation (立法)to keep junk food away from children. know it can sound a bit difficult but we have to take action now," says Lopez, a lawmaker in Oaxaca's Congress.

More than 70,000 Mexicans have died from COVID-19, the world's fourth-highest recorded death toll, tracked by Johns Hopkins University. 89% of those who died in Mexico had an underlying medical condition such as obesity, diabetes (糖尿病)，high blood pressure and heart problems. That has led to a new urgency to change diets so that the younger generation doesn't suffer those illnesses.

The critics, however, say the leaders are using preexisting health conditions in COVID-19 patients to distract from a weak government response to the virus outbreak. Yet few people would deny that the country consumes large amounts of sugar-sweetened drinks and processed snacks with little nutrition --- or that Mexico has a major weight problem.

Oaxaca's governor approved the state's junk food prohibition last week. Legislators still have to complete the legal systems, and punishment could include fines and even jail. Lopez says legislators from all over the country have called her for advice. Many other states are debating a junk food ban. However, a nationwide law would not be easy. "There are powerful commercial interests that least want it to happen, but we must prioritize the well-being of our children,"   Lopez says.

7 . California will be the first state to ban the sale and manufacture of new fur products.    1    It will go into effect on January 1, 2023.

California’s fur law was one of several bills designed to prevent cruelty to animals. “California is a leader when it comes to animal protection and today that leadership includes banning the sale of fur, ” said Governor Newsom in a news report. “    2    We are making a statement to the world that beautiful wild animals like bears and tigers have no place on trapeze (高空秋千) wires or jumping through flames.”    3    More than a dozen European countries, including the United Kingdom, Austria, Norway and the Netherlands have also passed laws to limit the fur trade.

    4    “The signing of the ban shows the point that today’s customers simply don’t want wild animals to suffer extreme pain and fear while keeping up with the fashion,” said Kitty Block, president and CEO of The Humane Society of the United States and president of Humane Society International. Not everyone, however, was pleased with the ban. Banning the killing of animals for their fur means killing the fur business, says Hyatt, an owner of a fur store.    5    

Many retailers are also ending fur sales. In mid-October, Macy’s (American’s department store) announced it will stop fur from all its stores by the end of 2020. The stores will also close all fur vaults and salons. Other fashion brands such as Prada, Gucci, Michael Kors and Burberry have taken similar steps in recent years.

8 . How often are students absent from school? Are they ready for college? Is their school a welcoming place? States are beginning to plan new ways to grade their schools. Under the new law, states are paying more attention to whether students are getting better at school. They will not only look at whether students have achieved a certain level of understanding in reading and maths, but also see whether students have improved over time.

Mike Petrilli, the president of an organization that supports education, said the new law was different from the No Child Left Behind Act, the earlier education law. “It will be a fairer way to measure school quality,” he said. With the No Child Left Behind Act, schools were measured(评价)by how well students did on tests. If students did not do well, their schools would often get less money from the government. The new law gave states more choice about how their schools should be measured.

So far, nine states have given their plans to the National Education Department, while seven other states are completing them. When checking school quality, states are experimenting with new measures. Almost all of the early states have considered absences as a key measure, which counts how many students are absent from school more than one-tenth of the school year.

Connie and Delaware will track college preparation. They will see whether high school students are taking advanced classes. At the same time, they will also see how well students do on tests to get into college. Tennessee wants to give every public school a grade from A to F, and the grade will consider how well English learners are doing. It also will look at whether disabled students are being served. In addition, the schools will also be graded by whether students are ready for college, as well as how many students graduate.

Marc.Magee, an official of an education group, said, “there are so many differences in how states want to examine their schools. Then comparing states to each other could be difficult.”

China’s two sessions( 两 会 ), a key event on the country’s political calendar,     1    (begin) on May 21th after being put off for more than two     2    (month) due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Apart     3     the delayed opening, this year’s two sessions are     4    (usual) in many aspects, as China Daily noted.

First and the foremost, the world will keep an eye on how China builds a prosperous society and achieve     5    (it) development goals, while     6    (effective) preventing coronavirus（冠状病毒） risks, reported Xinhua.

In 2019, China achieved a GDP     7    (grow) of 6.1%, and with     8    (strong) measures, China could develop faster than that of all other major economies.

In the two sessions, national lawmakers and political advisers will be discussing how to make advances in economic development while implementing regular epidemic prevention,     9     is extremely significant this year.

Meanwhile,     10    (make) sure of public health safety, some changes for the session have been made. According to Xinhua, the session has been shortened from two weeks to about one. There are also fewer reporters covering the event, according to Global Times.

10 . A video of a three-year-old girl being kicked by her own mother during a photo shot went viral on Thursday, indicating China’s underperformance in regulating the emerging child modeling industry.

The girl, known as Niu Niu, was physically abused (虐待) by her mother in several videos. The videos have annoyed Chinese media and Internet users alike. Many netizens and scholars call for local authorities to carry out further investigations into possible child abuse.

In response to the public outcry (强烈抗议), Niu Niu’s mother issued an apology via Sina Weibo on Thursday, condemning accusations of abuse. She noted that she was merely guiding her daughter for better shots and the girl is well looked after.

Despite her apology, many E-shops which used Niu Niu’s images for brand promotion have canceled their cooperation with the mother, while over 110 well-known child garment shops on Taobao have signed up for a campaign to provide better protection for child models.

“It is necessary to adopt comprehensive laws and regulations to further protect the kids, preventing their parents and companies from exploiting them,” Fang Zhiqing, a lawyer and child protection expert, said.

Niu Niu is not alone. In Zhili, a small town in Zhejiang province, thousands of children from across China are taken here by their parents to seize the chance of fame. With a population of 450,000, Zhili has over 13,000 manufacturers of child clothing. In 2017.the town earned over 7 billion yuan by selling clothing for children online, thus providing opportunities for child models.

“China’s current advertisement law isn’t workable with respect to the industry of child modeling, as it lacks clear regulatory measures and clear legal punishment.” Fang added, “It is important to issue new laws which regulate child modeling.”