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The term "killjoy parents" has been trending on Chinese social media platforms as many young people complain that their parents would rather criticize than (praise) them for their accomplishments. One poster, for example, remarked that his parents said his high score in math wasn't good enough because several other students had scored higher. Another complained that, after getting accepted into a "second-tier (二流的)" university, the response he got from his father was "Congratulations. You got admitted to a garbage university."
It's a terrible feeling to have someone "burst your bubble" when you think they should be sharing your Joy. And your parents, after all, are probably the people you most want to share the best moments in your life. But why do some parents seem to be so hard to please?
I think a lot of it has to do with Chinese society. Parents know that life can be full of hardship and difficulties, and they want their children to be hardened" to these realities. Another reason probably be found deep in Chinese culture.
When I asked a Chinese friend Chinese parents don't praise their children, he said it's because they don't want to bring their children bad luck. He told me the story of two women sitting in a park and watching their children play. One of the mothers said to the other, "Your boy is so handsome and healthy." That other mother replied, "No, he's very ugly and he's a very sickly child." The mother, my friend explained, didn't want her son praised the "gods" heard and punished him. It's an old superstition (迷信), but it does have some basis in fact.
American parents, at the other extreme, (teach) to never criticize their children because it may hurt their feelings their self-esteem (自尊). Instead, they are told to always praise their children, even for failure. Psychologists (心理学家) now believe this is a bad idea. According to one study, too much praise can result in negative effects. kids with low self-esteem felt even worse about themselves, kids with high self-esteem became narcissistic (自恋的) or self-centered. Moreover, children who got too much praise were (likely) to take risks, were unable to deal with failure, and tended to give up when (face) with challenges.
Having "killjoy parents " may not be enjoyable, it' s important to recognize that their seemingly critical nature doesn't negate (否定) the love they have for you. In their hearts, they genuinely (真诚地) share in your joy.
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Live Shows are back, and so are street stalls
With the revival of live music gigs in China this year, stalls outside of concert venues have become increasingly popular again across the country.
Vendors offer goods from essentials like water and raincoats to fan merchandise such as bracelets（手镯）and tattoo stickers. They aim to attract the large groups of fans going to the concerts.
The China Association of Performing Arts （CAPA，中国演出行业协会）reported that in the first half of 2023， the country hosted over 190,000 performances. The number in-creased by 400.86% with the previous year. These performances have attracted over 60 million music enthusiasts. Another report that China's performance market would reach 90.3 billion yuan by the end of this year.
"Where there are business opportunities, there is potential for stalls," said Hu Xiaowu, an expert on urban science. "As more concerts are organized in different cities, many young people have found the chance to sell goods related to the events."
Zeng Dexiong, a professor of social sciences, believed more people would take of this new wave. This, he said, would probably bring about fierce competition, which in turn would lead to more creativity and .
Sun Ximin,25, set up a stall as a side hustle when a large venue near her home in Guangzhou hosted its first concert in April. There weren't many stalls back then, and she sold simple hair accessories（配饰）.When more vendors gathered outside, Sun had to offer more services, like braiding（编发），to stand out. To attract more customers，she styled her own hair in complex braids., she offered free Polaroid photos.
For Li Zhenzhen, a 23-year-old citizen of Xi'an in Shaanxi province, success lies in seeking the best location. She found it was more beneficial to locate her stall near a subway station rather than the concert venue's entrance. She explained that concertgoers are likely to buy the goods on impulse（一时冲动）as they get out of the station. However, as they walk past stalls on the way to the entrance, their desire to purchase wanes.
The rapid development of the street stall economy offers young people flexible opportunities to earn money, Hu noted.
Recognizing this, local governments are now easing to encourage the entrepreneurial spirit. Cities like Beijing and Shenzhen have alreadypolicies to support stall operations, setting aside specific areas for vendors.
The last thing Jack wanted to do was wake up early and go to work on Monday morning. Getting out of the bus, Jack found there was still 30 minutes before his 1 began, so he2 to take a walk around the block to adjust(调整) himself to another busy working day.
While walking, he3 a young couple talking to each other in a foreign language. "Excuse me! Could you help us please?" the woman called to him in strange English. "We are tourist, lost. Need ‘Dolphin' hotel. You know where is?" She was courageous as she spoke a (an)4 language.
"I'm sorry, I don't know. I'm in a hurry," Jack said, and moved off. He was so upset about his problems that he5 without thinking. Having walked about 100 feet, he felt he was wrong and6 back. Luckily, the couple were 7 there. He walked up to them. "I remembered where the ‘Dolphin' hotel is. I'm sorry, I just got 8 : there are hundreds of hotels in New York. It's not far from here. you may9 there. Just go straight to that crossroad, then turn to the left, and you will see a white-blue building. That will be the10 you're looking for."
The couple thanked him, and Jack11 lightly this time. But when he turned his back, he saw that the couple didn't move, and the look on their faces was the12 . "Maybe I was talking too 13 , and they couldn't understand me well enough", he thought. All of a sudden, he felt that he could do something more important than sit in his office all day long. He knew that he couldn't leave these young people behind: they couldn't14 get to the hotel by themselves. He walked up to them once again. They looked at him in surprise. "I could15 you to the hotel, if you still need my help," Jack said. For the first time since the beginning of this month, he felt relaxed.
Computer programmer David Jones earns $35,000 a year designing new computer games, yet he cannot find a bank ready to let him have a credit card. Instead he has been told to wait another two years until he is 18. The 16-year-old works for a small firm in Liverpool where the problem of most young people of his age is finding a job. David's firm releases two new games for the fast growing computer market each month.
But David's biggest headache is what to do with his money. Even though he earns a lot, he cannot drive a car, take out a mortgage, or get credit cards. David got his job with the Liverpool-based company four months ago, a year after leaving school with six O-levels and working for a time in a computer shop. "I got the job because the people who run the firm knew I had already written some programs" he said. David spends some of his money on records and clothes and gives his mother 50 pounds a week. But most of his spare time is spent working.
"Unfortunately, computing was not part of our studies at school", he said. "But I had been studying it in books and magazines for four years in my spare time. I knew what I wanted to do and never considered staying on at school. Most people in this business are fairly young, anyway" David added, "I would like to earn a million and I suppose early retirement is a possibility. You never know when the market might disappear."
Caves in the Sahara Desert
In today's lecture we will center on the people who lived five thousand years ago in the Sahara Desert. Most of these desert people moved across the countryside throughout the year. But if the journey was long, extra food and tools were sometimes stored in caves. One of these caves is now an exciting historic site. Even though the cave is very large, it was certainly too dark and dusty for people to live in, but it was a great place to hide things. And huge amounts of food supplies and daily tools have been found there. The food includes dried fish and nuts. Some decorations were also found in the caves. There are necklaces, earrings, and so on. Most of them are made of bone. From the above talk, we can see that there are really a lot of differences between ancient people's lives and our lives today.
The Houston Museum of Natural Science
Welcomes all school groups to explore technology and the natural environment on a field trip designed to meet the learning needs of the students.
You can visit the museum from Monday to Saturday from 9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. Groups must have at least one teacher for every ten students. Students must be supervised at all times, and teachers are responsible for their behavior inside the museum. Unsafe behavior is not permitted and will result in the entire group being asked to leave.
No backpacks, headphones, candy, gum, or lunches are allowed inside the museum. Lunches may be eaten outside in the park. We regret that the museum is unable to provide a place to have lunch indoors. In the event of bad weather, please plan to eat in your vehicle.
Nobel Prize winner Tu Youyou helped by ancient Chinese remedy
Tu Youyou, in China, is being called the "three noes" winner: no medical degree, no doctorate(博士头衔), and she's never worked overseas. However, it was she that was the first female Chinese scientist who had won the Nobel Prize. When it comes to her work, she is totally devoted.
In 1967, malaria(疟疾) spread by mosquitoes was killing Chinese soldiers fighting Americans in the jungles of northern Vietnam. A secret research unit was formed to find a cure for the illness and Tu was instructed to become the new head of Mission 523. She went to the southern Chinese island of Hainan to study how malaria threatened human health. For six months, she stayed there, leaving her four-year-old daughter at a local nursery. Her husband had been sent away to work at the countryside at the height of China's Cultural Revolution, a time of extreme political disorder.
Despite much failure, finally, she with her team members found a brief reference to one substance, sweet wormwood (in Chinese Qinhao), which had been used to treat malaria in China around 400 AD.
The team tested the drug but they didn't succeed until Tu Youyou returned to the original ancient text. After another careful reading, she heated the extract without allowing it to reach boiling point.
Without any hesitation, Tu Youyou volunteered to be the first human recipient of the new drug." As the head of the research group, I had the responsibility," she explained to the Chinese media. Tu Youyou is typically described in China as a "modest" woman. Her work was published anonymously(匿名地)in 1977, and for decades she received little recognition for her research.
In any case, Tu Youyou is consistently praised for her drive and passion. One former colleague says Ms Tu is "unsociable and quite straightforward", adding that "if she disagrees with something, she will say it".
Another colleague who has worked with Tu Youyou for more than 40 years, describes her as a "tough and stubborn woman".
She is actually stubborn enough to spend decades piecing together ancient texts and apply them to modern scientific practices. The result has saved millions of lives.
A. Living on plants also saves energy. B. Growing all the crops needed to feed animals requires massive amounts of water and land. C. This means that they are less likely to be affected by everyday illnesses like the flu. D. Vegetarian diets are the only diets that work for long-term weight loss. E. It's never too late to turn over a new page. F. Healthy vegetarian diets support a lifetime of good health. |
Nowadays a vegetarian lifestyle is becoming more and more popular. Leading health experts agree that maintaining a vegetarian diet is one of the best things we can do for ourselves and our families.
. A well planned vegetarian diet provides us with all the nutrients we need and avoids fat, cholesterol and the pollutants found in animal flesh, eggs, and dairy products. And it can provide protection against various kinds of diseases, including the three biggest killers: heart disease, cancer, and strokes. The American Dietetic Association states that vegetarians have lower rates of death from heart disease, lower blood cholesterol levels, lower blood pressure and lower rates of hypertension. All of these diseases are more likely to happen to meat eaters.
Scientists have also found that vegetarians have stronger immune systems than their meat eating friends. Vegetarians live, on average, 6 to 10 years longer than meat eaters.
. Animals raised for food consume the vast majority of their calories simply in order to live, just as we do. We feed more than 70 percent of the grains and cereals we grow to farm animals, and almost all of those calories go into simply keeping them alive, not making them grow. Only a small amount of the calories consumed by farm animals are actually turned into the meat that people eat .So it's really a huge waste, isn't it? Try your best to find tips for maximizing the health benefits of a vegetarian diet. .
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