Sugar has been linked to serious diseases like heart disease, diabetes and even cancer, which is why it's vital to cut down on foods and drinks that are high in sugar. Take a look at the drinks that contain a surprising amount of hidden sugars and what you should be eating instead.

Fruit juices

While fruit juices can contain some important vitamins and minerals, they are typically full of sugar. Unfortunately, the fiber that fruit naturally contains and that helps the body keep blood sugar stable has also been removed. To keep blood sugar levels from rising sharply, choose to eat whole fruits whenever a juice desire comes along.

Sports drinks

Sports drinks might seem like the perfect choice for hydration while exercising, but they contain a high amount of added sugars as they were designed for athletes during fierce and long periods of activity. The only people who actually benefit from sports drinks are professional athletes or marathoners. Unless that's you, just stick to plain water.

Flavored coffees

Flavored coffees are delicious, but they contain hidden sugars as they often rely on artificial syrups (糖浆) for flavoring. A large flavored coffee at some coffee chains has up to 25 teaspoons of sugar. You can still enjoy your morning cup of coffee. Just stick to unflavored and unsweetened versions and avoid creamers high in sugar.

Iced teas

Iced teas can be extremely refreshing on a hot day, but they're typically over-sweetened with sugar or syrups. Some brands of iced tea actually contain a surprising 33 grams of sugar in a 355-milliliter serving. So, look for iced teas without any added sugar or make your own at home so you can save money and control what goes into it.

I'd never heard of the yangqin - an 18^th century Chinese stringed instrument — until this past Sunday, when I had the pleasure of hearing Eastman graduate and music performer Zhang Wenzhuo perform on it in a virtual concert.

Wenzhuo, a Chinese native, began her training on the yangqin at age five. When she was only 13, Wenzhuo was awarded a scholarship to the Arts School of Hebei Province; the highly competitive program only accepted a single yangqin student every two years. After graduation, she placed first in nationwide competitions and was admitted into the National Academy of Chinese Theatre Arts in Beijing, where she was awarded her bachelor's in yangqin performance in 2005. She obtained her doctorate from Boston University in music education in 2015 and studied ethnomusicology at Eastman from 2017 to 2019. Wenzhuo has performed with countless orchestras and groups of musicians and won countless awards for her performances.

Before Wenzhuo performed on her yangqin, she presented a brief historical background of the instrument's origin, and discussed its continued usage up to the present day. Determined by musicologists to be based on the similarly-structured English hammered dulcimer (大扬琴), the yangqin was first used in Chinese folk music performance and operas. As time went on, performances began to be sponsored by the country, and yangqin performers were given a path to higher levels of social mobility.

Wenzhuo performed four pieces, three tracing their origins to centuries' old Chinese composers, and one from the modern era. Needless to say, Wenzhuo's performances sounded fantastic. The yangqin is a unique and beautiful instrument and its sound, coupled with Wenzhuo's musical ability, allowed the four greatly differing pieces to stand together as a wonderful introduction to the instrument.

It was fascinating to learn about the yangqin and a joy to watch Wenzhuo perform on it.

Bangladesh's floating gardens, built to grow food during flood seasons, could offer a continuous solution for parts of the world which are likely to suffer from flooding because of climate change, a new study has found.

Bangladesh's floating gardens began hundreds of years ago. The gardens are made from native plants that float in the rivers and operate almost like rafts (筏), rising and filling with the waters. Historically, they were used to continue growing food during rainy seasons when rivers were filled with water.

The farmers layer the plants about three feet deep, creating a version of raised-bed gardens that float in the water. Then, they plant vegetables inside those rafts. As the raft-plants rot away, they release nutrients, which help feed the vegetable plants.

But as climate change affected the volume of water in those rivers, the researchers wanted to understand whether Bangladesh's floating gardens could be a continuous farming practice. They interviewed farming families and found strong evidence that floating gardens provide stability, both in the amount of food available to feed rural populations and in a farming family's income.

They found that farmers typically use hybrid (杂交) seeds, which must be repurchased each year, to grow a diverse range of vegetables in the floating gardens. The gardens are also sensitive to pests, so farmers end up spending some money on both pesticides and fertilizers. But even with those expenses, they found, benefits outweighed costs. One farmer told the research team that he earns up to four times as much money from the gardens as from traditional rice fields.

However, before gaining profits, farmers often take out high-interest loans (贷款) to cover the investment costs of filling the beds and stocking them with plants. Luckily; there are also lower-interest loans from responsible government or non-governmental organizations, which could ease that burden.

China has just officially opened its FAST radio telescope to international scientists. Scientists across the world can submit proposals for astronomical observations using the telescope.

FAST is short for Five-hundred-meter Aperture Spherical Telescope (球面射电望远镜) and it is also believed to be the world's largest radio telescope and the most sensitive single-dish radio telescope. The receiving surface area of FAST is 250,000 square meters, about the size of 30 standard football fields. Its construction was completed in September 2016 and it officially began operating in January 2020.

The major scientific task of the telescope is the observation of pulsars (脉冲星) – the rotating neutron stars. The study of pulsars can help to confirm the existence of gravitational radiation and black holes, and help solve many other major questions in physics. Another scientific goal of FAST is to search for outer space civilization.

The telescope is located in a naturally deep and round karst depression in southwest China's Guizhou Province. The first advantage of the selected site is the altitude. The average altitude of Guizhou is about 1,100 meters, which maximizes the effectiveness of the observation equipment. Secondly, the radio telescope needs to have a “big pan” to receive better signal. The huge natural depression could reduce the amount of excavation (挖掘) and difficulty of construction. Moreover, the selected site in Guizhou is far away from cities, and has a small population, which reduces the interference (干扰) caused by wireless devices such as TVs, mobile phones and radios from human activities.

FAST has identified over 300 pulsars. Experts predict that the number could reach 1,000 in five years and that the telescope could locate and identify the first pulsar outside the galaxy. With the opening-up to international scientists, China's FAST is expected to make more contribution to astronomical research in the future.

How to Show Maturity

Sometimes it's fun to be a kid, but other times you want to show that you can be mature. Maturity can be a signpost of moving from childhood to adulthood.     16     Maturity is not a set of rules or expectations, but it is a concept. Here are some ways to help you become mature.

●Live by your values. Maturity includes making decisions based on your values and morals, instead of what feels good at the moment.     17     Let your character master your desires. Show people that you are willing to live out your values, even if it presents minor inconveniences to you.

●     18     When you were younger, your schedule was made for you: you went to school or sports or dance. Now, you may have more ability to make your own schedule. When you say you will do something, do it. Even if it isn't your idea of fun, show people that they can count on you and that you are reliable.

●Treat people with respect. Respect builds trust and support in a relationship. Make sure you treat others with the same respect, whether it is your parents, friends or romantic partner.     19    

●Admit your disadvantages.     20     Don't blame other people for the problems in your life. All relationships are interactional, meaning that you both contribute to how you feel and what happens. It's much easier to blame people for how bad you feel, but recognize your role, and take responsibility for your actions.

Over 48,000 orange trees spread all corners of Seville, Spain. They not only fill the city's air with the _________ smell of orange flowers in spring, but also _________ over 16,500 tons of fruit every winter. Though that gives Seville the _________ of being Europe's top orange-producing city, the fruit is too sour to be _________ fresh. While some oranges are used to make jam and alcohol, most of them _________ landfills (垃圾填埋场). Oranges are a _________ for the city. However, that may change soon thanks to an idea of using the oranges to produce clean energy _________ .

The program is _________ by the city's council and parks department. Juice _________ from oranges will be left to ferment (发酵) in an existing biogas equipment. The gas released from the fermented liquid will be used to ____________ a machine to produce clean energy. The officials think it's not just about ____________ money and they say oranges are ____________ producing extra value from waste.

In the first period of a(n) ____________ , 1000 kilos oranges produced 50 kWh of clean energy — enough to ____________   the daily electricity needs of five homes. If it's ____________, by 2023, the city hopes to recycle all the oranges. If all the fruit is ____________, it will produce enough energy to power as many as 73,000 people.

This project will help to reach the ____________ for reducing pollution and the fight against climate change. The latest   ____________ is among the many plans across Spain to ____________ the country's goal of switching its electricity system to ____________ sources by 2050.

The Nobel Prize is the most famous honor in the world. The prizes were first awarded on December 10, 1901. That was five years after the death of Alfred Nobel, the     41     (create) of the prizes. For many years, prizes were awarded in physics, chemistry, medicine, literature, and peace. A     42     (six) award for economics was created in 1968.

Marie Curie was the first woman     43     (receive) the award, in 1903 in physics. She     44     (share) the award with her husband and another scientist. In 1911, she was awarded the prize in chemistry. Curie is one of the only two people ever to win Nobel Prizes in different areas.     45     (surprising), her daughter Irene also won the Nobel Prize in chemistry. They were the only mother-daughter pair to have won the prize.

The prize committees are made up     46     famous scholars and scientists. Nobel prize winners     47     (choose) very carefully. The voting is top secret. Prizes are presented to the winners every year on December 10. The prize winners are some of the most important people in the world.     48     (win) the award helps them continue their work. The Nobel Foundation awards cash, a diploma     49     a gold medal to each prize winner. The cash amount changes based on     50     it is given to one individual or shared among a group of people.