There is an old saying in China that goes, "The days of the Sanjiu period are the coldest days. ""Sanjiu period", which is in Minor Cold, refers to the third nineday period (the 19th to the 27th day) after the day of the Winter Solstice(冬至). There are many different customs related to Minor Cold in China.
Eating hotpot
During Minor Cold people should eat some hot food to benefit the body and defend against the cold weather. Winter is the best time to have hotpot and braised mutton with soy sauce. But it is important to notice that too much spicy food may cause health problems.
Eating huangyacai
In Tianjin, there is a custom to have huangyacai, a kind of Chinese cabbage, during Minor Cold. There are large amounts of vitamins A and B in huangyacai. As huangyacai is fresh and tender, it is fit for frying, roasting and braising.
Eating glutinous rice(糯米饭)
According to tradition, the Cantonese eat glutinous rice in the morning during Minor Cold. Cantonese people add some fried preserved(腌制的) pork, sausage and peanuts and mix them into the rice.
Eating vegetable rice
In ancient times, people in Nanjing took Minor Cold quite seriously, but as time went by, the celebration of Minor Cold gradually disappeared. However, the custom of eating vegetable rice is still followed today. The rice is steamed and is unspeakably delicious. Among the ingredients(原 料), aijiaohuang (a kind of green vegetable), sausage and salted duck are the specialties in Nanjing.
If you're reading this, you were probably born in the 2000s. The ohohs. The 21st century.
That would make you young, creative, connected, global, and no doubt smart. Maybe goodlooking, too. Right? But what do other people think about your generation?
Some adults worry that you're more interested in the screen in front of you than the world around you. They think of you as the "facedown generation" because you use your phone so much and they wonder how you will deal with school, friends, and family. Are today's teenagers too busy texting and taking selfies to become successful in real life — or "IRL", as you would say?
Other adults worry that today's youth are spoilt (宠坏的) and don't want to face the challenges of adult life. Many children born in the 1990s and 2000s were raised by "helicopter parents". They were always there to guide and help them with a busy schedule filled with homework and extracurricular activities such as dancing, drawing, or sports. With parents who do everything for them, today's youth seem to prefer to live like teenagers even when they are in their 20s or 30s.
Does the facedown generation need a headsup? Well, probably not. The fact is that many of today's teenagers are better educated and more creative than past generations. They also seem to be enthusiastic (热情的) and willing to become leaders. More young people than ever volunteer to help their communities. There are also brave young people such as Malala Yousafzai, the teenager who won the 2014 Nobel Peace Prize for pushing girls'rights to go to school.
So if you're one of the ohohs, there's reason to be hopeful about the future. Things are looking up for the facedown generation. Chances are that you will do GR8 (great) and LOL (laugh out loud).
In 1916, two girls of wealthy families, best friends from Auburn, N. Y. —Dorothy Woodruff and Rosamond Underwood—traveled to a settlement in the Rocky Mountains to teach in a oneroom schoolhouse. The girls had gone to Smith College. They wore expensive clothes. So for them to move to Elkhead, Colo. to instruct the children whose shoes were held together with string was a surprise. Their stay in Elkhead is the subject of Nothing Daunted: The Unexpected Education of Two Society Girls in the West by Dorothy Wickenden, who is a magazine editor and Dorothy Woodruff's granddaughter.
Why did they go then? Well, they wanted to do something useful. Soon, however, they realized what they had undertaken.
They moved in with a local family, the Harrisons, and, like them, had little privacy, rare baths, and a blanket of snow on their quilt when they woke up in the morning. Some mornings, Rosamond and Dorothy would arrive at the schoolhouse to find the children weeping from the cold. In spring, the snow was replaced by mud over ice.
In Wickenden's book, she expanded on the history of the West and also on feminism, which of course influenced the girls' decision to go to Elkhead. A hairraising section concerns the building of the railroads, which entailed ( 牵 涉 ) drilling through the Rockies, often in blinding snowstorms. The book ends with Rosamond and Dorothy's return to Auburn.
Wickenden is a very good storyteller. The sweep of the land and the stoicism (坚忍) of the people move her to some beautiful writing. Here is a picture of Dorothy Woodruff, on her horse, looking down from a hill top:" When the sun slipped behind the mountains, it shed a rosy glow all around them. Then a full moon rose. The snow was marked only by small animals: foxes, coyotes, mice, and varying hares, which turned white in the winter. "
Many people think that hippos (河马) are cute and funnylooking. They are really fat and they have short, thick legs. They also have little round ears that wiggle (摆动) sometimes.
Hippos look funny, but you shouldn't judge a book by its cover. Hippos are extremely violent and dangerous. In fact, they kill more people than any other animal in Africa. Think of how many dangerous animals that Africa has. It has got crocodiles, snakes, lions, elephants and many more. Hippos are more dangerous than all of them.
Hippos are naturally very dangerous animals, but there are some situations that make them even more dangerous than normal. They are very territorial. That means that they stay in one area which they consider to be their private area. If a person or animal enter a hippo's area, the hippo will attack. Hippos also often attack when they are returning to the water. Hippos eat on land and return to water at dusk. If a hippo sees an animal when it's returning to the water, it will become violent.
Hippos are so strong that they often kill crocodiles. There are two reasons that explain why hippos and crocodiles often fight. First of all, hippos and crocodiles live in the same areas. Since hippos are territorial, they don't like having crocodiles nearby. Also, crocodiles often eat young hippos. For that reason, adult hippos frequently kill crocodiles.
Mother and daughter hippos have close relationships. However, hippos don't have any other close relationship with each other. Hippos often live together in large groups, but scientists don't know why. It's hard to study the behaviour of male and female hippos, because males and females look the same.
Hippos are violent, but they are herbivores. A herbivore is an animal that eat only plants. An adult hippo eats about 50 kilograms of plants every day. Hippos are much more comfortable in the water, but they can run fast on land. Their top speed is about 19 kilometers per hour. That's much faster than humans can run.
Wildlife faces threats from habitat destruction, pollution, and some human activities. Although protecting wildlife may seem too hard at times, even small actions in your own neighborhood can help protect many different animals. Here are some tips on how to protect wildlife through small actions. Create wildlifefriendly areas in your backyard.
When trying to make your garden more beautiful, you can choose plants that can provide food and shelter for the native wildlife. This will also help cut down on pollution. Besides, bird or bat houses in your yard or garden can attract and shelter more species.
Avoid harming the natural ecosystem (生态系统) in your backyard.
Some plants from other places can kill or harm the native plants that provide food and shelter for wildlife.
Have a greener lifestyle.
By using less water and fewer fuels, you will do good to help protect the wildlife around you. Take buses or the subway if you can, turn off the electric devices when you're not using them, take showers for a shorter time, and keep the temperature in your room at or below 68 Fahrenheit degrees in winter.
Buy products that are friendly to wildlife.
Don't buy products that are made from endangered animals. Keep in mind that some endangered animals are killed by traps, or hunters who are eager to earn money with them.
Donate money to organizations that protect wildlife and their habitats.
You can give money to organizations or groups that protect wildlife in your neighborhood, thus promoting their work.
Health and fitness help a person live a good and healthy life. Often due to various pressures, we tend to ignore our health. It is the fitness level of our body that helps us fight these diseases.
We need to be fit to have a healthy body. Similarly, if we are healthy we shall naturally be attracted towards maintaining the fitness of our body. Health is the state of our body at a given time. We may not have any disease but still have a weak body, which is ready to be targeted by viruses. This does not definitely mean that we are not healthy. It means the fitness level is not in accordance with our age and the climatic conditions we live in.
It is important for everyone to devote some time to health and fitness. For instance, we must exercise daily regardless of our age and working style. There are different levels of exercises for different age groups and we must do them according to our own health and age.
Additionally, it is important to relax our body. We should have at least six to eight hours of sleep every day. It helps in improving our immune (免疫) system and protects us against diseases. This, in turn, gives us new goals of health and fitness.
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A. Fitness levels decide the quality of life. B. Health and fitness are interrelated to each other. C. It also helps in keeping us calm and relaxes our mind. D. For instance, we may have a tendency to catch a cold easily. E. If we keep our body fit, we can enjoy life in a better manner. F. There are some activities which everyone should do in our life. G. This makes our body suffer and we catch lifestyle and other diseases. |
You can tell a lot about a man by how he treats his dogs.
For many years, I enjoyed living with my dogs, Tilly and Chance. Their1 was nearly enough to keep my loneliness at bay. Nearly. Last year, I started dating, but with reservations. When I first dated Steve, I2he had a dog, Molly, and a cat, Flora. While I was3that he was an animal lover, I4that three dogs were perhaps too many, and my dogs might attack5, the cat.
The next week we6our dogs together. It was a hot day. When we paused to catch our7, Steve got down on one knee. Was he proposing(求婚)?I liked him too, but so soon? He poured water from a bottle into his hand and offered it to my dogs.8, I began to fall for him.
We9to date, though neither of us brought up the future. And then in late
November, Tilly had an operation on her10. I took the dogs out four times a day, and I worried that Tilly11climbing the stairs could reopen the wound. Then Steve suggested his house. All worked12. The three dogs formed a pack that, with coaching, respected
Flora's space; Steve and I formed a good team13for Tilly. We made good housemates.
A year later, much to my delight, this man produced a little box with a ring and proposed to me. He did not kneel(跪) down, nor did I14him to. That's only for giving15to the dogs that brought us together.
