Zhang Guimei, who has dedicated her 40 years to education at China's southwestern border, is a principal motivating young girls from impoverished families in mountainous areas.
Zhang was born in Mudanjiang, Heilongjiang province in 1957. At 17, she came to Yunnan province to support the development of border areas. There, she stumbled into teaching and started a career as an educator.
After her husband's death in 1996, she went to teach in Huaping county, Yunnan's Lijiang. Five years later, she established a children's home and worked as a part-time president of it. The organization adopted a total of over 170 children, who call Zhang mom though she has never given birth to a child.
While teaching there, she saw many girls drop out of school due to poverty. To change the destiny of the girls in the mountain, Zhang started her preparation to build a free all-girls high school in 2002. In 2007, Zhang went to Beijing for the 17th CPC National Congress. Her report titled "I have a dream" delivered at the meeting made her dream known to all. Later, both the Lijiang and Huaping governments sponsored her with a million yuan. A year later, Zhang's school was completed, becoming the first free all-girls high school in China. During the past 13 years, the school has nurtured over 1,800 students who have made it to universities.
With no offspring and property, Zhang lives in a dormitory building with her students. She has donated all her cash awards, donations from others, and most of her salaries, more than a million yuan, to the children and other people in need. She suffers from 23 diseases, including heart disease and emphysema, but she is still working selflessly.
On June 29 this year, Zhang was awarded CPC's top honor July 1 Medal at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing, where she said she did all this out of her gratefulness and love for the country, as well as the original aspiration and mission of a CPC member.
"Who loves pizza?" is a question you almost never have to ask an American. A better question might be "Who doesn't love pizza?" Now, there is a place for all pizza lovers to gather: the newly-opened Museum of Pizza. It can be found in America's pizza capital — New York City.
A company called Nameless Network came up with the idea for the museum, known as "MoPi" for short. "It's often that the simplest ideas are the best. The company used the popularity o fpizza as a way to get people "looking at art and hearing about history in a different way," said Alexandra Serio, who is with Nameless Network. Many kinds of artists were asked to create art works about pizza. They, in turn, provided large photographs, sculptures and huge installations. So far, the museum has had lots of visitors. More than 6,000 people came through the door when it opened this month.
Visitors seem to love MoPi's bright colors, which makes it perfect for taking selfies and other photographs for social media.
Nene Raye, from New Jersey, was a recent visitor. Raye did not expect to see what she saw – and she was happy about that. "Honestly, I thought it would be, like, more of a traditional museum," she said. But instead, Raye got some of everything. "So you get a little bit of education and then some fun, which I love," she said.
Lydia Melendez made plans to visit the pizza museum in April. For her, the experience was worth the wait. "I thought it was going to be kind of boring," she said. She had imagined walking in and finding books on how to make pizza. But she was very pleased when her actual experience was different than what she had imagined.
While pizza may be what has captured the interest of crowds, the point of the Museum has been to help people exposed to fine arts world.
Walking in the countryside is believed to be the best tonic to lift our spirits. Being exposed to nature has been linked to both emotional and physical well-being improvement. For some, the first choice is to stroll through a forest. However, when we are admiring the lush green trees surrounding us, it's noteworthy that they are doing more than just being pleasing things to look at.
We're already aware that trees are a natural healer. They produce oxygen, remove dust and clean the air we breathe by taking in harmful human-caused carbon dioxide emissions. Deforestation does no good to this, which is why so many people want to save them. But there's more to trees than we thought. A study has discovered that trees are actually an intelligent plant.
It's considered that trees do communicate and share resources among themselves. But how do they actually "talk" to each other? Below the surface of the earth are tree roots, and they are connected via an underground web of fungi(菌丝) that resembles the nervous networks in the brain. And research has shown that they are all interconnected. This network allows trees to share information which is important to the whole forest. They transfer carbon, nutrients and water to one another, and even warn each other of approaching threats.
Suzanne Simard, a researcher from the University of British Columbia, has named this network the Wood Wide Web. She discovered that mother trees help smaller trees to survive via this network. She said to the BBC," We discovered that the mother trees would prefer those seedlings of their own kin (同族) to those of the strangers" by passing them more nutrients. She also said that to survive in a changing environment, trees are clever enough to make changes and adapt themselves to the surroundings.
So it appears that trees really are the social stars in nature, and with approximately three trillion trees on our planet, it's high time to show them our respect if we expect them to thrive.
Research by De Montfort University recently found that negative emotions have something to do with bad living habits. Here are five of them that you should try to stay away from.
Constantly checking your phone
A hurtful habit is being glued to our phones and checking them without even thinking about it. This can make you more distracted and forgetful. To overcome this, monitor your screen time and focus on the positive posts rather than the negative ones.
Being inside all day
Spending the majority of your day indoors can significantly increase your risk for depression due to lack of sunlight and vitamin D. The natural light, change of scenery and exercise can boost your mental health, improve your mood, and increase your ability to concentrate.
A lack of sleep can leave us feeling a little ropey (状态不佳). That is because sleep deprivation leads to low mood, difficulty concentrating, and getting more easily angry, which can negatively impact your mental health. Using techniques to relax before bed will develop a good sleep routine, making you energized and positive during your waking hours.
Bad diet
High-sugar, processed foods like cakes, bread, and biscuits, as well as red meat can substantially raise the risk for depression. Topositivelvimpact your mental health, please choose a diet full of fruits, vegetables, and whole grains.
Lack of exercise
Lack of exercise can lead to feelings of depression and exhaustion while regular exercise can help improve your energy levels and motivation, increasing feelings of happiness. Then, how often?
A. The best way to stay away from your phone is to power it off.
B. Even worse, this habit can injure self-esteem and cause negative thoughts.
C. Therefore, set aside a period of time each day to be exposed to nature.
D. Getting enough sleep.
E. For maximum benefit, do at least 30 minutes of exercise 3 to 5 times a week.
F. Sleeping too little.
G. Eating these foods on a regular basis could be one reason your mental health is suffering.
"What a curvy figure she has! God, I hate my1tire!" "Look at their life! Beaches, sunshine…And I'm living a2life. " "Do I like this picture? Does he/she really need a3?" These are4 inner monologues of social media users. We5these monologues every day, but we never notice or even are completely6of them. In fact, today's social media, like Facebook, Twitter, Wechat, etc, which7a significant portion of our daily lives, can have a lasting8on our mental health.
Years ago, a study was carried out, finding that social media can do harm to a person's9if used in improper ways. The study suggested that Wechat users who10a great deal of time only11 information without communicating with others felt worse afterward while those who had12 experiences reported having better feelings.
Another survey by the University of California San Diego suggested that social media users who13at least three times as many links as average ones or who"14" twice as many posts reported worse mental feelings. They become upset and even depressed15viewing others' online profiles and posts and making comparisons16to themselves. On the other hand, social media has become a (an)17to people, which made them stay online day and night to receive "likes" or comments from others to bring them good feelings. 18, this can affect an individual's concentration, thus reducing the possibility of education and career success.
19there is no easy solutions to these harmful influences of social media, the author still believes that social media is not a bad thing. As long as we use them20, they are sure to bring positive effects to ourselves.
Not long ago, an article, entitled One Day In Space by China's first taikonaut Yang Liwei, was included in the Chinese textbook. Reading article, many people are (true) astonished at Yang's courage. Yang was 38 when he made the trip to space on Oct 15, 2003, (make) China the third country after the US and Russia (master) manned space capabilities.
In his article, Yang recalled several breathtaking momentshe thought he would not make it back alive. When an incident happened, the pain grew (bear). The near-deadly moment lasted for 26 seconds it was finally over. Yang also described what the earth, his country, and his city looked like from space.
Since Yang's first trip to space, a number of technologies(apply) to the spacecraft, including space Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, smart home applications, and (variety) of space foods. Just as Yang put, he "envied" a lot that his fellow spacemen have such comfortable space accommodations, which shows how China's space program has grown.
Zahra was only a girl of 8 when she heard Mom andDad talking about her little brother, Ali. All she knew was that he was very sick and they were completely out of money. Only a very costly surgery could save him now but they couldn't afford the operation. Their faith in his survival was fading away. One day, Zahra heard Daddy say to her tearful Mother with desperation, "Only a miracle (奇迹)can save him now. "
Zahra went to her bedroom and pulled a glass jar from the closet. She poured all the change out on the floor and counted it carefully. One dollar and eleven cents! Carefully placing the coins back in the jar, she slipped out and made her way six blocks to a Drug Store. She waited patiently for the pharmacist (药剂师) to give her some attention but he was too busy at this moment. Zahra twisted her feet to make a noise. Nothing. She cleared her throat with the most disgusting sound. No good. Finally she took a quarter from her jar and banged it on the glass counter. That did it!Paragraph 1:
At that time, the pharmacist's brother, a well-educated man, bent down and asked the little girl,
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Hearing this, Zahra's eyes lit up with joy. "Sure! Follow me, please!" she answered excitedly and eagerly.
