There are at least 80,000 registered charities in Canada, ranging from churches to nursing homes to community centres. The latest report from the Canadian Philanthropy Survey (CIC) listed the top 10 charities in the country, and the following are among them.
Fresh Start Recovery Centre
freshstartrecovery.ca
Aimed at people in Alberta struggling against addiction and homelessness, Fresh Start Recovery Centre provides a four-month live-in program that includes fitness training and nutritional support. The group also provides short-term housing and employment information for those who are recovering from alcoholism. Other programs include a food truck that's fully staffed by people in recovery; in 2020, it centered on bringing necessary supplies to those in need.
CUPS
www.cupscalgary.com
CUPS is the combination of a Calgary community center, health-care system and social-service agency. Many programs are specially aimed at families, including several parenting workshops. In 2020 alone, CUPS saw 2, 336 people use its services for the first time. During the COVID-19, it created "assisted self-isolation(隔离) sites" at a hotel for people with no fixed address who had been exposed to COVID-19.
Educational Program Innovations Charity (EPIC)
epiccharity.com
Youth living in poverty or in at-risk situations, as well as members of Black communities, get support from this Sydney, N.S. organization, including one-on-one mentoring(辅导), and scholarships for high-school graduates for higher education. The program also helps kids from poor families who struggle to get access to tech devices and Internet services.
Elimin8Hate
elimin8hate.org
This Vancouver group aims to fight anti-Asian racism using creative methods that range from interactive social-media activities to designs for educational campaigns. The organization also serves as a key platform: members of Asian communities who experience racial violence can report what happened, contributing to a database that's sadly ever-expanding.
If you're interested in learning more about which charities are most in need, check out canadahelps. org and charityintelligence.ca.
After figure skaters finish their programs, adoring fans often throw gifts onto the ice. There have definitely been some strange ones over the years. Sasha Cohen was once given sweaters and Debi Thomas even got a box of pizza after her performance at the 1987 world championships.
Apart from cards and clothing, the gifts are mostly stuffed animals(毛绒玩具). Though it's not clear exactly how or when this custom began, there are a couple of factors that help explain why they're so popular rather than flowers. One factor is that flowers, once the go-to item to throw at skaters, are messy. The "sweepers"—the kids who skate around collecting all the gifts between each program—have a much easier time picking up stuffed animals than clear up every petal(花瓣) and leaf falling off its flower.
There's no global ban on throwing bunches of flowers, but organizations made attempts to discourage the practice in the past. In 1989, US Figure Skating banned arenas(竞技场) hosting national championships from selling flowers. And at the 2002 national championships, the association publicly prevented fans from bringing flowers to the arena at all.
"Flowers have always been a problem. Even when they're wrapped, some parts stick out and become a headache." Larry Kriwanek, chairman of the event's organizing committee, told us. "Flowers were going to be eliminated. It was just a question of when." Instead, fans could buy stuffed animals inside the arena and shower their favorite skaters with those.
Stuffed animals also give supporters an opportunity to choose presents that seem more personal. "We sometimes will get stuffed animals in custom-made costumes to match what we're wearing." American ice dancer Meryl Davis, who won gold with partner Charlie White in 2014, told us. It turns out that skaters often do take especially meaningful gifts home with them.
No business would welcome being compared to gambling(赌博). Yet that is what is happening to makers of video games. For years parents have complained that their children are "addicted" to their video games and smartphones. Today, however, even more doctors are using the term. On January 1 this year, "gaming disorder"—in which games are played uncontrollably, despite causing harm—gained recognition from the World Health Organization (WHO).
Are games really addictive? Psychologists have different opinions. Those who don't think so say that this is just another moral panic. Similar warnings have been given about television, rock'n'roll, jazz, comic books, novels and even crossword puzzles, but it turns out that they are not as harmful as expected.
However, supporters argue that games developers have the motivation and the means to design their products to make them extremely attractive. For one thing, the business-model has changed. In the old days games were bought once and for all. But these days, games are free and money is earned from purchases of in-game goods, which ties playtime directly to revenue (收益). For another, games-makers combine psychological theory and data, which helps them maximize the playtime. Smartphones and modern video game machines use their permanent Internet connections to send gameplay data back to developers. In this way products are constantly adjusted to encourage players' spending. The biggest spenders are known as "whales", a term that originated in casinos(赌场).
The gaming industry should realize that, in the real world, it has a problem, and that problem is growing. Now that gaming addiction comes with an official WHO recognition, diagnoses will become more common. Anyway, being put together with gambling in the public mind, whether it is fairly or not, will not do the industry any good.
According to Jim Coan, a psychologist from the University of Virginia, holding hands with someone you trust can have a positive effect on your health. Why? Researchers have shown in their studies that the simple act of touch can reduce stress and even lower heart rate.
In a study, Jim and his colleagues brought couples into the lab, and then put one of them in an fMRI machine to scan the activity in their brains. While scanning them, the participants looked at a screen, and on a series of tests, they either saw a green circle or a red "X". A green circle meant that the test would end shortly and nothing else would happen. A red "X" meant that in a few seconds, there was a chance that they would receive a mild electric shock on their leg. The shock wasn't painful, but it wasn't exactly comfortable either.
During some of these tests, participants were in the fMRI scanner alone; during others, a researcher came in and held their hand; and on a final set of tests, their romantic partner came in and held their hand. Jim and colleagues found that when participants thought they might be getting a shock, they had a lower stress response in their brains when holding their romantic partner's hand than in the other two conditions. And the happier the couples said they were in their relationships, the more the romantic partner's hand lessened (减弱) the brain's response to the shock. This study suggests that when we're stressed, holding a loved one's hand can reduce that stress.
The research also suggests that touch has immediate and positive effects on babies. Skin-to-skin contact can reduce crying, stress, and improve sleep. These effects can be long-lasting: adults, held a lot when they were babies, are the most likely to be healthy and well-adjusted — in fact, the more they were carried in babyhood, the better they adjust in adulthood.
Ever wonder why you get along better with some people over others? Or who might become your lifelong friends or romantic partners? .
The sunny person
Ever heard of the saying that you are a mix of your five closest friends? When you surround yourself with sweet and caring people, you also catch their positive energy.
. Just as research shows, positive thinking can increase your lifespan, strengthen your immune system and reduce your risk of developing heart diseases.
The adventure seeker
What's life without a little adventure? ; together you can start journeys that change your life forever. Not only does being adventurous reduce your levels of anxiety and depression, but it can also make you more intelligent. In addition, the new cultures, environments and experiences can cause your brains to think differently.
The natural psychologist
When you're having a bad day, it's good to have someone who understands you. Good listeners make the best friends because they have high emotional intelligence, read you well and provide authenticity(真诚). Often these natural psychologists would like to ask you some questions that help you think about your problems. .
When you surround yourself with people who value logic and problem-solving, they can encourage you to use critical thinking instead of just trapping yourself in conflicts. If you're especially the type of person to depend on others to make you feel better, being around logicians can help you become more independent and practical. They will remind you that working through challenges is more rewarding than passively daydreaming.
A. The enthusiastic logician
B. The man of action
C. Instead of telling you what to do, they would rather guide you to potential solutions
D. Befriend someone who is ready to step out of his comfort zone and travel around
E. People who are positive and optimistic can actually benefit your health
F. Anyhow at least here are four types of people worth keeping in your life
G. Just like rare precious stones, good partners can be hard to find
Sitting on the sofa in Xiao Jia's apartment, I learned how difficult it was to apply makeup(化妆品)to a face you cannot see.
I visited Xiao on a winter day. She greeted me with a big smile and then1 me her multi-layered makeup box. With the help of friends, she has2 everything with special tape and braille (盲文).
As we sat next to each other, she touched my face to3 its shape and suggested
I get bangs (刘海). After4 my cheeks, nose, and forehead, she found bottles of makeup that5 well with my skin, and6 patted them onto my face and neck. That finished, she went on to pencil my eyebrows, line my eyes..., slow but with amazing accuracy!
"Though many people don't think it's7 for blind people to put on makeup, since it's difficult and we wouldn't even ‘see' the8 , I consider the whole process a way for me to enjoy the moment," Xiao told me.
Xiao studied painting for six years before being diagnosed with an eye disease, which left her without9 after just two years. Xiao has never seen her own makeup. All her10 comes from her teacher Ji Chunli's feedback over the years. They met at a beauty event in 2015 after Xiao11 a makeup tutorial video featuring a blind British girl, which gave her12 to master the skill. Ji had no experience13 the blind, but was touched by Xiao's resolve. Every week for a year, Xiao took a one-hour bus ride to14 classes at Ji's beauty studio.
Finally Xiao chose from different shades of lipsticks to match my skin color, which I15 to her. Considering the shape of my lips too, she16 the "flame red" to my lips.
When she finished all, I was17 anticipation(期待) and had my face nearly pressed against the mirror to see the result. I didn't see much difference with the makeup I wore18 I sat down, but that was probably the19 . In any case, it is the process that really20 .
Recently Australia has listed the koala as an endangered species across most of (it) east coast, after a dramatic decline in numbers because land clearing, bushfires, drought, disease and other threats. The federal government has been urged to do more (protect) koalas from rapidly decreasing habitats and climate change.
"This listing adds priority when it comes to the (conserve) of the koala," Environment Minister said on Friday. She said officials were designing a recovery plan, and land development application would now be assessed for impacts on the species.
Last year, a New South Wales survey found koalas would be extinct there by 2050 there was urgent action. It estimated that the Black Summer bushfires of 2019-2020 had killed 5,000 koalas and affected 24% of habitats in New South Wales alone.
"Koalas have gone from no-listing to vulnerable (易危物种) to endangered within a decade. That is a (shocking) fast decline," said a scientist. "Today's decision is welcome, but it won't stop koalas (slide) towards extinction unless it (accompany) by stronger laws."
Scientists warn that climate change will also (worse) bushfires and drought, and reduce quality of koalas' eucalyptus(桉树) leaf diet. Koalas are also found in South Australia and Victoria but their numbers are on the decrease nationally, according to protection groups.
增加：在缺词处加一个漏字符号(∧)，并在其下面写出该加的词。
删除：把多余的词用斜线(\)划掉。
修改：在错的词下划一横线, 并在该词下面写出修改后的词。
注意： 1．每处错误及其修改均仅限一词；
2．只允许修改10处, 多者(从第11处起)不计分。
Zhang Jie, a 45-year-old volunteer, had picked up rubbish on the Great Wall since 2014. It is his eight year protecting the historic wall. For Zhang, born and was raised in a village near the Great Wall, the Wall is not just a treasure left by the ancestors, and a childhood paradise(乐园). However, with more tourists coming, more rubbish needs collected. Sometimes, rubbish bags are piled up to one meter higher. Zhang came up with an idea and formed a group 20 volunteers. Zhang's story has inspired million of Weibo users, many of who express their appreciation to him. Today, Zhang is still protecting the Great Wall in her own way.
