Fan Shenghua, 59, is one of the inheritors(传承人) of the Longjing tea roasting technique. His palms(手掌) tell you everything-they're thick, rough, and full of calluses(手茧); a reminder of more than 40 years of hard work.
"You have to touch the leaves with your hands to see how much water should be removed, " Fan said. "If too much is removed, the leaves will break into pieces; if not enough is removed, the tea will taste bitter(苦涩的). "
This traditional technique dates back to the Ming and Qing dynasties. It not only ensures(保证）the quality of the tea, but is also an important part of Chinese tea culture. "Longjing tea leaves are famous for their color, taste and shape. Only by hand can we make the best of them. It's like making a work of art, " Fan said.
These days, however, ▲ . "It's easier, but the quality is not as good, " Fan said. "Machine-made tea floats(漂浮)longer in water and tastes bitter. "
In March this year, when President Xi Jinping visited Hangzhou, he watched Fan roast tea leaves. Fan changed the strength and movement of his hands as he felt the tea leaves roast. Xi later said, "The things made by two palms cannot be replaced by modern technology. "
Fan is now taking apprentices(学徒). His son, a 27-year-old college graduate, is one of them. "It's a tradition. We need to pass it down, " said the father.
It's not easy to make an award-winning film. It's even harder for a filmmaker to win a lifetime achievement award. Chinese director Ang Lee was recently given this honor by the British Academy of Film and Television Arts.
The academy called him"one of the world's most pioneering and revered contemporary (当代) filmmakers". He has made many classic films in different genres. More importantly, whether it's an Eastern or Western story, he is able to bring out its "original flavor", Sohu News said.
Lee came to fame in the 1990s with a comedy trilogy (三部曲) that he calls Father Knows Best. In these three films, he told stories about Chinese families. The success of the trilogy paved his way to Hollywood. He then was hired to direct an adaptation of the British novel Sense and Sensibility (《理智与情感》), as well as the American drama The Ice Storm and superhero movie Hulk. His career reached a peak with Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon (《卧虎藏龙》). The film is an exciting combination of different genres — historical romance, martial arts and the classic American Western.
Lee's deep understanding of both East and West comes from his life experience. Born in Taiwan, Lee later studied filmmaking in the US. After graduation, he stayed in Hollywood to look for opportunities. He experienced six years of "development hell" in which he had nearly no income and no chance to direct.
But Lee says the "movie gods" have been very good to him, so he values every chance. In recent years, he has been trying new filmmaking technology, including high-frame rate (高帧率) filming, 3D and other innovations (创新) that he believes are the future of film. "A part of you has to keep honest and fresh. I just hope my whole career is like a never-ending film school," Lee said.
①At 15, Gitanjali Rao is a scientist and an inventor. This week, Time magazine picked her as its first Kid of the Year.
②Gitanjali is a teenager from Colorado. When she was 10, she watched the news about Flint, Michigan. People had a hard time finding clean water. The water in their homes had lead in it. Lead is a chemical that can make people sick.
③She began working on a device to test water. It connects to an app on a phone. It tells people it water is safe to drink. Gitanjali won an award for the invention when she was 11.
④Gitanjali also created an app called Kindly. She made it to help stop bullying online. Kindly uses artificial intelligence(AD). This is an approach that uses code. It teaches a machine to spot patterns and make decisions. Kindly can spot words that are mean(刻薄的).
⑤Over time, Gitanjali's goal changed. _________. She wants to connect with other students, too. "It's not easy when you don't see anyone else like you," she said.
⑥She partners with schools and museums around the world. Her workshops help students create their own inventions. She's guided more than 30,000 students so far.
⑦Along with Gitanjali, there are four other talented kids of the year. Tyler Gordon, 14, is an artist. Jordan Reeves, 14, is a designer and activist. Bellen Woodard, 10, is the world's first crayon activist. And lan McKenna, 16, is a youth hunger activist. Each of them will receive a prize. They will also be able to write for the magazine.
⑧Andrea Delbanco is the Time for Kids editor. She says these everyday kids are helping their communities in an important way. "Small steps can lead to big change," she said.
Last year, Time chose 15-year-old scientist Gitanjali Rao as its Kid of the Year for 2020. Gitanjali was chosen from over 5,000 young kids.
Time has long been famous for its "Person of the Year". In 2020, it decided to honor young people in the US with its first ever Kid of the Year. Time worked with the TV channel Nickelodeon to look at kids between the ages of 8 and 16 who were really making a difference, no matter how small.
Gitanjali is one of them. When she was 11, she invented a system to test drinking water for lead (铅). It earned her the title of America's "Top Young Scientist" in the 2017 Discovery Education 3M Young Scientist Challenge. She also made an app called Kindly. She hopes the app can help cut down on online bullying (霸凌). "It gives you a chance to rethink what you're saying so that you know what to do next time," Gitanjali said.
Gitanjali worked with schools, museums and other groups around the world to teach young people how to come up with their own solutions to problems. "If I can do it," she told them, "you can do it, and anybody can do it."
①Person of the Year ②Kid of the Year
③Top Young Scientist ④Young Scientist Challenge
Elon Musk is a lifelong fan of science fiction. In early 2002, Musk set up the company called SpaceX. His goal was to make spaceflight cheaper and its long-term goal is to make Mars affordable.
①In 2004, Musk spent $70 million on Tesla, an electric car company. Musk took an active product role at Tesla, helping develop its first car, the Roadster. As if that wasnt enough, Musk came up with the idea for SolarCity, a solar energy company. Musk gave his cousins Peter and Lyndon Rive the working capital to get SolarCity off the ground in 2006.
②But between SpaceX, Tesla, and SolarCity, Musk very nearly went broke. He describes 2008 as "the worst year of my life." Tesla kept losing money, and SpaceX was having trouble sending its Falcon 1 rocket into space. By 2009, Musk was living off personal loans(贷款).
③Around Christmas 2008, things started looking up again. Musk got two pieces of good news: SpaceX landed a $1.5 billion contract(合同) with NASA to send materials into space, and Tesla finally raised more money. By 2010, things had seriously turned around, with Tesla holding a successful initial public offering(首次公开募股).
④Among his latest is the Hyperloop, a super-high speed train that travels in a vacuum tube( 真空管). Its said the Hyperloop could transport passengers from Los Angeles to San Francisco in 30 minutes.
Musk also recently started another company - The Boring Company, which is more interesting than its name suggests. Started last year, the Boring Company's goal is to dig a network of tunnels(隧道) under and around cities for high-speed, no-traffic driving.
And in late 2015, Musk co-founded Open AI to research artifciall intelligence and make sure it doesn't destroy humanity. Musk has expressed that the race for better AI could end up causing a third world war. At the same time Musk is promoting(促进) Tesla's self-driving car capabiltie. This "autopilot"(自动驾驶) system is available on all three of its models, including the new Model 3.
lron Musk is like a real life lron Man in what he's doing. There's a lot more that will happen before his story is over. So, just get to watch, be excited, and see what comes next.
"You're going to do WHAT?"I asked my best friend, Julie, in surprise.
" I'm going to try out for the cheer-leading squad (啦啦队)," she said, eyes fixed on the ground. We had been best friends since second grade and we did everything together, but now she was going off on her own. I was sure that if she joined the cheer-leading squad, she would become best friends with someone else and I couldn't stand the thought.
"Why are you doing this? Do you really want to hang around with those girls instead of me?" I cried angrily.
"It's not about the girls," Julie said." It's about the sport. I want to be on the squad at the high school level because they win scholarships (奖学金) at state competitions, and I have a better chance if I'm on the squad here," she explained." Besides," she added," it's not like I'm leaving the country or something."
"Goodbye," I ran away, leaving Julie standing with a sad look on her face.
The rest of that week I was unhappy, and I avoided Julie in the hall. I planned to watch the first game and take no notice of Julie. Instead, I was amazed by the enthusiasm (热情) and skill of Julie's cheering. Although she was the youngest member of the team, Julie enthusiastically led cheer after cheer. I saw how her face lit up with joy. I was stunned (目瞪口呆) as I realized that she loved the sport. Trying out for the team had nothing to do with me—maybe it was just something she wanted to do.
I walked to her, feeling ashamed (羞愧的), but Julie smiled immediately. " Hey, you were really great." I began, and then added quickly," I'm so sorry I've been rude to you about your joining the squad."
Julie smiled and replied," A group of us are going for ice cream. Why don't you come along?"
▲ , but I smiled in return. As I walked toward the cheerleaders, I realized there was room in Julie's life for all of us.
A video clip of a blind musician has caught the attention of many in China. Xiong Linghao, 18, played a Beethoven sonata in the national finals of the 13th Shanghai International Youth Piano Competition in August. The video, published on China Daily's Sina Weibo account, has been viewed more than 7 million times. Many internet users said they were touched by Xiong's bravery and optimism. "This is the song to show the beauty of life," one comment (评论) on the post read.
Xiong lost her eyesight in her childhood because of a medical accident. Her mother discovered Xiong had a talent for music early in her childhood. At age 3, she could play children's songs on a small electric piano. At age 6, she started learning the piano. "The piano is my best friend," said Xiong, a high school student at the Chengdu Special Education School. "It brings so much pleasure into my life and empowers me with perseverance."
Unlike most pianists, who play by reading music, Xiong depended entirely on the sound of the music to guide her. "I listened to the melody repeatedly and then put what I heard to my fingers. I first practiced with my two hands separately before I could play with both hands together," said Xiong.
"Repeated practice is key because I need muscle memory to find the right keys," she explained. "I pay attention to each step in each phrase and need to be fairly precise with the angle of how I control my hands, wrists and fingers."
Xiong was honored with the Special Jury Prize in the competition. "Through her piano playing viewers could feel the vitality of life and a truly strong will," said Ding Quan, a judge in the competition. "I never cared about prizes or fame while learning music," explained Xiong. "Like Beethoven, I wanted to express hope, feelings and passion for life through the piano."
①Socrates(苏格拉底) is the famous ancient Greek thinkers, philosophers(哲学家), educators. On the first day of school, Socrates told his students, "Today, we'll only learn one thing, that is, to stretch(前伸) for your arms, then try to swing(甩动) them back. "He showed them and as a result, all the students laughed. "Sir, is it also learned?" one of the students laughed.
②"Of course! You think this is an easy thing, but in fact, it is very difficult. "Socrates answered seriously(严肃地). Hearing this, all the students laughed even harder.
③Without being a little angry, Socrates said, "In this class I'll teach you how to learn this action well. After that, start today, and you will do it 100 times a day. " 10 days later, Socrates asked, "Who still insists(坚持) on swinging his arms?" About 80% of the students raised their hands. 20days later, Socrates asked again, "Who still insists on swinging his arms?" About 50% of them raised their hands. 3 months later, Socrates asked again, "Who still insists on the simplest action of swinging?" This time, only one student raised his hand. He was Plato.
④From this example, we can see that perseverance is the easiest but the most difficult thing in the world, because everyone can do it, but not everyone will do it. Only the one who can insists on an easy thing may make it!
B . 
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Jenny Lewis had bad hearing when she was four. At the age of five, she got a special illness. Her heels(脚后跟) could not stand anything heavy, or they would be broken, so she had to walk on the front part of her feet. When the pain came, she had to took her medicine. That was the only way to make her feel better.
Although everything seemed terrible, Jenny always wore a big smile on her face. She had fun at school and she also joined the school soccer team! How could she do that? She took a pillow(枕头)everywhere to make her feel better when she sat down to watch a soccer game. She carried water for every player in the team and shouted loudly for her team in every game. That was one of the best years in the team's twenty-five-year history. When people asked why the team was winning all their games, one player answered," Well, when you fall over and can't move, you look up and see Jenny trying to do everything she can. It makes you finish anything!"
It was the last climb on his try to reach the highest summit(峰顶) on all seven continents. When Christopher Kulish finally got to Mount Everest's 29,035-foot peak, he joined a group known as the"Seven Summits Club". But the 62-year-old Colorado attorney passed away suddenly Monday after returning to the first camp below the mountain's summit. He's the second American to die in the past week after reaching Everest's highest point. At least 11 people have died on Mount Everest this year.
The deaths come among reports of overcrowding on the popular mountain. The Nepali government gave a total of 381 permits to climb Everest this year. For some climbers, that traffic has meant longer wait times — some told the Himalayan Times the wait has been over two hours between the last camp and the peak. Mountaineer Vanessa O'Brien said when there's a crowd, being a more experienced climber won't help you. "It doesn't matter if you're the best race car driver in the world. If you're stuck in traffic, you're stuck in traffic," she said in an interview.
Still, Christopher's family said he'd been mountain climbing for five decades. He arrived at the base camp nearly two months before his climb, so he could give himself time to adapt to the conditions. When he made his journey, his family said he was climbing with a small group in almost ideal conditions after some of the overcrowding had cleared.
