Best Wine Club Gifts

    Here are the best wine club gifts that you can give to yourself or your beloved ones this month.

    Vinebox Club: for the person that's scared of commitment

    To get started with Vinebox, you'll just take a quiz on your favorite flavors and tastes. Then Vinebox will select 3 or 6 different brands of wines and send them straight to your door. Enjoy their surprise!

    Cost: $ 27 a box

    Winc Choice: for the new wine drinker

    Just note that when you're gifting a Winc subscription, the gift receiver isn't going to get a box. Instead, it will be a Winc gift card that offers him a variety of choices.

    Cost: You choose the amount that you want to gift.

    Cellars Wine Club: for the picky wine drinker

    From international to local wines, and all the way from sweets to 90+ point offerings, there's an amazing wine club out there. For lovers of sweet wines, its Sweet Club series, which offers sweeter wines, like moscato d'asti and rieslings, is perfect.

    Cost: $29-$79 a month.

    Blend (混酿酒) Club: for the on-the-go wine drinker

    You can choose between a red blend, a white blend, a rosé blend, or all three in their variety pack subscription.

    Cost: Get the first 3 blends at only $27 for subscription, or $12 per blend.

    It is a well accepted assumption that students come to colleges to get good grades and that they are usually too busy to do anything else.

    But Connie Snyder Mick, an academic director of the Center for Social Concerns at the

University of Notre Dame, says it is just half of the truth. There are many volunteering centers like hers at the colleges and universities in the United States. Mick says these centers help students seek an experience that may not be directly related to a student's academic progress, but that is still important.

    Volunteering is not uncommon in higher education. Many college groups organize volunteer events for different causes. Officials in charge of student housing often organize such events to help build a sense of community. Participation in these kinds of activities is good for students, Mick says. For example, the busy nature of college life can create a lot of stress for students. Doing something completely unrelated to a student's studies can help calm them by putting their mind on other things.

    For a more meaningful addition to their college experience. Mick urges students to visit centers like the one she heads. She says these centers exist to create volunteer opportunities that are more complex and meaningful than just a day spent cleaning a local park or raising money, for example.

    Such volunteering centers often partner with local organizations that serve the people of the nearby communities. Even for students with little interest in building a connection with the local communities, there is still value in what volunteer centers have to offer, Mick says. She notes some opportunities can push students to use what they are learning in the classroom out in the real world and having that kind of experience can make a student appealing to employers in the years to come.

    A research paper recently reported that the Chinese paddlefish (中华鲟) — one of the world's largest freshwater fish — has been declared extinct.

    Scientists say the Chinese paddlefish and its close relatives have been around for at least 200 million years. The species, reaching up to seven meters in length, survived unimaginable changes, such as the mass extinction that killed the dinosaurs. But there's one phenomenon this ancient species, sometimes called the "panda of the Yangtze", could not survive humans.

    Their huge size and plentiful flesh made them a popular target for fishermen and a welcome addition to inner tables in China. In the 1970s, 25 tons of paddlefish were harvested per year on average.

    But the construction of the Gezhouba Dam on the Yangtze forever changed the Yangtze River habitat of paddlefish, because it was constructed without a fish ladder or sideway and cut off the paddlefish from their only breeding (繁殖) grounds upstream. Populations of the fish continued to decrease after the completion of the dam in 1981, but nobody had yet figured out how terrible the situation was. As is often the case, there can be a significant delay between major disturbances and their consequence. The researchers say the fish had become functionally extinct by 1993, meaning there were not enough fish to meaningfully reproduce.

    Pan Wenjing is an ocean expert with Greenpeace East Asia. She told The Associated Press the extinction of the Chinese paddlefish was "a huge loss" for nature. She said the development confirms that the Yangtze River is experiencing major environmental damage.

    "The ecosystem of the Yangtze River is close to its breaking point due to human activity in

past decades." Pan said. "The paddlefish's extinction should serve as a wake-up call to protect other freshwater species. Moving forward, we need to balance the needs of humans with the needs of life in rivers and seas. Humans should not live alone on this planet."

    Thousands of teenagers face rising lack of sleep and the number of admissions to hospitals has been increasing over the past six years. Rating it just behind obesity (肥胖症), anxiety and mental health, experts have described it the fourth hidden health disaster for teenagers.

    Data from NHS Digital show that admissions with sleep disorders among those aged 19 and under have risen from 605,200 in 2013 to 940,290 in 2019, although sleep disorders in the other age groups have fallen noticeably at the same period of time. Mandy Gurney from Millpond Sleep Clinic, a private children's sleep clinic in London, said that there was a 30% rise in sleep-related disorders among teenagers last year.

    "It is a very worrying increase, especially if this rate keeps going up," Gurney said. She added that prescriptions for melatonin, a hormone (荷尔蒙) the body produces naturally in reaction to darkness and helps prepare us for sleep, had also risen. "We feel that the rise in sleep problems is very much based on anxiety — school pressure, peer pressure and, in particular, social media addiction."

    Vicki Dawson, founder of the Children's Sleep Charity, said her organization was flooded by families' calls seeking help. She said the rise in sleep disorders was partly due to the blue light from screens that suppresses the production of melatonin. "We are increasingly seeing families where both parents are out working, which means that traditional bedtime routines may be rushed or abandoned all together," she said. "More often than not, children are left to the company of screens."

New Virus Details Show Challenge for Outbreak Control

    At first, scientists were relieved that the new virus, COVID-19, wasn't as dangerous as those that caused SARS. Ebola or some other recent infectious diseases.. Here are some of the challenges.

    Multiplying infections

    According to the existing data, the infection rate for SARS is 3 while the ordinary flu's infection rate is about 1.1. Now, based on the first 425 confirmed COVID-19 cases, each infection led to 2.2 more infections on average.. Yet we don't know whether the new virus is weakening or is still learning what it can do.

    Varying incubation periods (潜伏期)

    Scientists estimated the average incubation period was roughly five days but said it could last up to two weeks. . People can move away from where they got it and not even remember places where they may have been exposed.

    Spreading in stealth

    Another big worry is that one person with no symptoms can also infect others. On Thursday, scientists reported that a woman who was not ill at the time spread the virus to a man in Germany during a business trip there. .

    Testing gaps

    . At present, a few types of test kits (工具包) have been developed. But they are not accurate enough. Scientists are not sure how many false alarms or missed cases each might give at any point in time. That leaves a key gap.

    Although scientists are still faced with so many challenges, they are confident that the new virus will be put under control soon.

A. More testing equipment should be provided at once

B. It's still a struggle to determine who is or is not infected

C. Such a long potential incubation period can be a problem

D. The rate is a bit lower than SARS but much higher than ordinary flu

E. That is a very low infection rate compared with that of SARS and Ebola

F. Then he infected several other coworkers before showing any symptoms

G. However, new details show how challenging it could be to control this outbreak

    Vanessa Bryant made her first public comment Wednesday since the helicopter crash that killed her husband Kobe Bryant and one of their daughters.

    "We are completely devastated (摧毁) by the1loss of my adoring husband, Kobe-the amazing father of our children; and my beautiful, sweet Gianna — a loving, thoughtful and wonderful daughter, and amazing2to Natalia, Bianka and Capri," Vanessa Bryant wrote.

    The Bryants would have3their 19th wedding anniversary this April. They had four daughters including Natalia, Bianka, Capri and the 13-year-old Gianna who died in the crash.

    "There aren't4words to describe our pain right now," Vanessa Bryant wrote. "I take5in knowing that Kobe and Gigi both knew that they were so deeply loved. We were so fortunate to have them in our6. I wish they were here with us7. They were our beautiful blessings8rom us too soon."

    "I'm not sure what our lives hold9today, and it's impossible to10life without them," Vanessa Bryant continued, "But we wake up each day,11to go ahead because Kobe, and our baby girl, Gigi, are shining on us to12the way. Our love for them is13. I just wish I could hug them, kiss them and have them here with us right now."

    There has been no14on funeral or memorial plans yet for Kobe and Gianna Bryant. Vanessa Bryant asked for continued15of her family's privacy as it is "going through this new reality".

    Bullying (霸 凌) among elementary, middle and high school students has become increasingly talked-about subject in Japan, with many parents and educators(struggle) to find the best way to deal with the problem.

    (deal) with the bullying in schools, a bully insurance company, Yell, was set up in Tokyo. Japan. Parents want to buy bully insurance can consult with its lawyers, free charge, if they feel (they) children are faced with the threat of being bullied. Bully insurance (cost) 2,640 yen a month. Medical fees (cover), both for injuries the child have suffered at the hands of a bully, and for injuries caused by the child's fighting back. While still others may hold that the best way to deal with bullying is a swift fist in the face, the Japanese

    (general) don't go for violent problem-solving methods, and it is likely that Yell's service is going to be a very (attract) solution to the Japanese parents.

    What do you think? Please send your comments to us.

1）简要介绍近况,如受到新型冠状病毒(COVID-19)影响,如何做好居家防疫或“宅”家上网 课的情形等

2）谈谈真实的感受。

注意：

1）字数不得少于90词(否则扣2分);

2）可以适当增加细节，以使行文连贯；

3）开头和结束语已为你写好。

Dear Eric,

    ……

    Best wishes!

Yours,

Li Hua

    Growing up, we didn't have much money. Actually, we had very little. We lived in a small house with holes in the floor. We wore old clothes and had little food. With three little mouths to feed, my daddy worked as a gatekeeper in a middle school and then farmed our own small field until dark. Daddy provided the best he could for us and mama made our clothes on her old sewing machine. We could have easily applied for welfare, but my parents wouldn't think of it. Our family was full of love and proud of hard work

    Then I was in the third grade, in Mrs. Harper's class. One day, Mrs. Harper brought a huge box of toys to school to give to "poor" children. Everyone was invited to bring some of his or her own toys from home to put in the box. Needless to say. I had hardly any toys of my own to offer.

    My eyes got big the next day when I looked into that box. It was like a dream world to me — so many colorful toys! Clearly, Mrs. Harper saw the curious look on my face, and although I never asked with a smile, she let me pick out two toys for myself from the box. I was so thankful and thought that I was the luckiest girl in the whole world!

    When I got home. I couldn't wait to show mama what I brought from the school. She admired the toys and asked where I got them. I told her about the box for the poor children and that Mrs. Harper had let me pick two toys from the box！Mama thought for a few seconds and said in a very sweet way, "No…no, You can't keep these two toys."

Paragraph 1:

    Mama explained to me that those toys were for "poor" children.

Paragraph 2:

    Mrs. Harper said she understood what mama meant.