China started to carry out its one-child policy in the 1980s. Only several years ago it began to loosen the strict one-child policy. From 2016, Chinese couples were allowed to have up to two children, while parents from only-child families have been able to have two children since 2013.
On July 20, 2021, to promote the long-term and balanced development of the population, the Communist Party of China Central Committee and the State Council announced the Decision on using best of the family planning policy. According to the document, China will revise the law on population and family planning to make the country's three-child policy legal, which was introduced on May 31, 2021 to allow all Chinese couples to have a third child.
The Decision contains supporting measures covering the aspects of giving birth, parenting, education, taxation, housing, and women's rights in employment — to encourage births. While specific measures have yet to be worked out, potential future measures could affect human resources and wage policies of companies in China. They are also likely to unlock market opportunities in areas of day care services, elder care, healthcare, and related issues.
Currently, China does not have a national rule on childcare leave. However, female employees are entitled for 98 days of basic maternity leave (产假) by law as well as extra days granted by the local region. Meanwhile, male employees may enjoy paternity leave (陪产假) at the same time, ranging from seven days to one month, depending on the local rules. Thus, maternity leave and paternity leave policies vary from region to region. The Decision mentions that China will also explore an elderly care leave rule, allowing only-child employees to spend more time to take care of their parents.
The latest relaxing measures can still impact the personal lives of millions of families in China and will have long-term implication on the country's demographics (人口结构).
Jonas loved to play video games. He liked all kinds of games, but he especially enjoyed games that let him pretend he was a race car diver. He loved to watch all the scenery fly by while he turned the wheel to get by the other players.
More than anything, Jonas wanted the newest driving video game. It was called Race to the Top of Speed Mountain. It looked like so much fun in the commercials. But when Jonas asked for the game, his mother only sighed. "Your birthday isn't until July," she said. "If you want the game sooner than that, you will have to buy it yourself."
Jonas thought hard. He was too young to drive to work like Dad, and he couldn't turn his bedroom into an office to work at home like Mom. He went to his favorite thinking spot to look at the bird feeder in his back yard.
As Jonas was thinking about getting a job, it began to snow. At first there were only a few flakes, but soon the ground turned white.
"I know!" cried Jonas. "I'll shovel (铲) the sidewalks on snow days. If I'm fast, I can do a lot of houses and make a lot of money. "
So Jonas put on his warmest sweater and bundled up in his winter coat. He added gloves and a hat. Then he went into the garage to grab a shovel.
Jonas started next door. He rang the bell and asked Mr. Travers if he would like his sidewalks shoveled. "Yes," said Mr. Travers. "But you should wait until it stops snowing before you start or you will have to do it twice."
"I'll be back!" said Jonas. He went around the block to see who would like their walks shoveled after the storm. He had eight customers by the time he got back to his own house.
When it stopped snowing, Jonas grabbed his shovel and got to work. He started at Mr. Travers' house and shoveled the sidewalks in the same order he talked to his neighbors. When he was finished, he was very, very tired. Jonas was also happy. He had earned forty dollars for his work, and now he would be able to buy his video game.
And he did — right after a warm cup of cocoa.
Identifying the chemical makeup of pigment (色素) used in ancient documents, paintings, and watercolors is critical to restoring and conserving the precious artworks. However, despite numerous efforts, scientists had been unable to determine the source of folium, a popular blue dye used to color manuscripts (手稿) in Europe during the middle ages — from the 5th to the 15th century. Now, a team of researchers from Portugal has finally uncovered the mysterious ingredient responsible for the gorgeous blueish-purple color that helped bring ancient illustrations and texts to life.
The research team began by poring over instructions penned by European dye makers from the 12th, 14th, and 15A centuries. They found what they were seeking in a 15th-century text entitled The Book on How to Make All the Color Paints for Illuminating Books. However, translating the instructions was no easy task. It was written in the now extinct Judaeo-Porluguese language, and though the source of the dye was traced back to a plant, no name was mentioned.
However, by piecing together suggestions from the text the scientists were able to determine that the dye was made from the bluish-green berries of the chrozophora tinctoria plant. After an extensive search, the team found a few varieties of the plant growing along the roadside near the town of Monsaraz in south Portugal.
The detailed instructions gave the researchers critical clues — including the best time to pick the berries. "You need to squeeze the fruits, being careful not to break the seeds, and then to put them on linen. The scientist says the detail was important since broken seeds polluted the pigment producing an inferior quality ink. The dyed linen, which was left to dry, was an efficient way to store and transport the pigment during ancient times. When needed, the artist would simply cut off a piece of the cloth and dip it with water to squeeze out the blue color.
Once the key ingredient had been identified, the researchers began to determine the dye's molecular structure. To their surprise, they found that folium was not like any other known permanent blue dyes — it was an entirely new class of color, one they named chrozophoridin. "Chrozophoridin was used in ancient times to make a beautiful blue dye for painting. " the team wrote in the study. "Thus, we believe that this will not be our final word on this amazing plant and its story and that further discoveries will follow soon."
Shakespeare once wrote: "Neither a borrower nor a lender be; For loan oft loses both itself and friend". It's often paraphrased and used as a warming about the dangers of lending, and how you could risk a friendship through it.
If our friend or family member comes to us for hard cash, it can be very difficult to turn them away. You feel under pressure to help. So how can we, as the lender, avoid these complications (纠纷)? According to Bradley T. Klontz, an expert in financial psychology, there are some steps you can take.
Understanding why there is an unavoidable risk to lending anything to a friend is the first thing. This is because, psychologically speaking, the action of lending has changed the balance of power. The lender becomes superior, while the borrower may feel awkward with the new arrangement. Likewise, if you try to advise them on what to do with the money, it might make things difficult between you two.
Saying ‘no' is hard when a friend comes asking, but if you need that money, denying them is probably the safest course of action. If you still feel the need to lend, making a legally binding (具有法律约束力的) agreement and putting things down in writing could guarantee deadlines.
Finally, for some, it's best to just see the money as a gift and be pleasantly surprised if something comes back. And if you do want to preserve your friendship, perhaps a bank is a better option.
A. And if you can't afford to lend something, don't.
B. But why can lending money be so harmful to our friendships?
C. If you do decide you want to lend money, be sure to write up an agreement.
D. And if that money doesn't come back, it can lead to fights or even legal battles.
E. It's not just the risk of losing the money, but the friendship could also be in danger.
F. Even if you're sure that the borrower will pay you back, it's hard to know if you should continue.
G. But, some friends may not like the idea of being asked to make it official-seeing it as a lack of trust.
A major earthquake struck Haiti in 2010. Shortly after that, my wife and I decided to 1 a struggling orphanage (孤儿院) in Port-au-Prince. The children there became like 2 to us, especially one little girl named Chika. But at the age of five, Chika was diagnosed with a rare brain tumor. Though we never 3 adopted Chika, we decided to bring her home with us to Detroit to make sure she got the 4 medical care—just as any parent would.
Occasionally, our friends would say，"It's 5 what you're doing for a child that's not yours." It 6 me to think there would be any difference in our efforts if 7 Chika had our DNA.
The paperwork at the orphanage was 8 by me. It obligated (使负责任) us to feed, educate，and 9 the children—all things parents are supposed to do. But 10, it is a document of 11, not parenthood.
We 12 with the "Yours or not yours" question for many times until Chika once asked, "How did you find me?" From then on，I 13 myself she would never feel 14 again.
We did not bring any of these little souls into the world. That 15 can never be overstated. But I have witnessed the 16 connection between an adoptive mother and her child, and I have also witnessed helpless babies 17 by those who birthed them. The opposite also happens. Now, I've 18 the truth: Love determines our 19. It always comes down to that. We were—we are—a place of love and 20 for Haitian children.
Snakes are just about the most frightening thing in the world, according to Dr. Henry Walton Jones Jr. The only thing (bad) than a snake you can see is a snake you can't see, however. And thanks the photos Sunshine Coast Snake Catchers offer, you can experience the latter horror from the comfort of almost anywhere else besides the placethat snake is.
The snake-like animals' removal(移动) and relocation(serve) from Queensland, Australia posted a challenge to its 51,000 some-odd fans(find) the snake in the photo.
Any luck? The photo shows that this particular backyard seems likeregular ＂I Spy＂ book for snakes, so it's understandable if they are still looking hard. The snake is actually in the top right corner, (hide) in the crook(藤条) between the two fences.
Fear of snakes (call) ＂Ophidiophobia＂(蛇恐怖症) or ＂being a rational person＂. People are afraid of a lot of odd things, though.
This fun little puzzle proves to just be further evidence that Australia is a(terrible) dangerous place where everything (try) to eat you. We'll just stick to trying to find turtles in flowers, thank you very much.
1）参加人员；2）活动内容；3）活动意义。
注意：1）词数80左右；2）可以适当增加细节，以使行文连贯。
At a medical clinic in Waterloo, Ontario, an elderly woman sat on the edge of a waiting room chair singing the Celine Dion tune "My Heart Will Go On. " Other than a slight rhythmic rocking of her body to the Titanic theme song, she kept still, with her arms crossed elegantly over her chest. With little effort, she was able to send her sweet，high-pitched (尖声的) voice exploding into every comer of the clinic.
I had fun watching how people reacted. There was a lot of changing in seats, but mainly they awkwardly looked away and tried to pretend there was nothing out of the ordinary going on.
I was there with my father, who was getting a routine blood test, when the woman arrived. She settled into the seat directly across from my dad. Because she was so tiny, she was forced to sit on the edge of the chair so her feet could touch the floor. The position made it seem as though she were sitting forward to engage in conversation with him. She smiled at him, and he smiled back.
I was concerned about how my dad would react to the possible invasion of his space. He was 77 at the time and had been living with Alzheimer's (老年痴呆症) for several years. He was a brilliant and shy military man. When he was healthy，he tolerated people's eccentricities (古怪) dutifully but with silent disapproval. He considered it wholly bad mannered to bring too much unnecessary attention to oneself. Since Alzheimer's has a tendency to cause damage to a person's patience and self-control. Dad had got into a few challenging and unpleasant situations in the past. I couldn't help but think that this little woman was playing with fire.
Her singing began gently, like a quiet hum. I glanced over at Dad. His smile was gone, and he was staring right at her. She was staring back. I couldn't read his expression, but it seemed to be something like confusion. This wasn't an unusual state for him.
注意：1）所续写短文的词数应为150左右；
2）至少使用5个短文中标有下划线的关键词语；
3）续写部分分为两段，每段的开头语己为你写好；
4）续写完成后，请用下划线标出你所使用的关键词语。
Paragraph 1:
This didn't stop the tiny woman one bit, and her singing slowly got louder.
Paragraph 2:
To my surprise, my dad's face softened.
