Disney has picked Chinese actor Liu Yifei to play Mulan in an upcoming film, following accusations against Hollywood of ‘whitewashing'.

    Several Hollywood films have faced criticism in recent months for featuring white actors in Asian roles. Recent films accused of whitewashing include the Hollywood remake of Japanese anime Ghost in the Shell, which had Scarlett Johansson in the main role which was originally Japanese, and Chinese epic The Great Wall which starred Matt Damon as its lead character. Earlier this year, British actor Ed Skrein who was cast as an Asian character in the upcoming Hellboy remake pulled out of the film so that the role could be “cast appropriately”. It then went to Korean-American actor Daniel Dae Kim.

    The live-action adaptation of the 1998 cartoon movie will tell the tale of the well-known Chinese heroine Hua Mulan. Mulan pretended to be a man to fight in the army to spare her weak father from being forced into the army.

    The film has been under careful examination since it was announced that Disney intended to remake Mulan. An online campaign calling for an Asian actress in the role attracted more than 100,000 signatures before it was shut on Thursday.

    Liu, nicknamed “Fairy Sister” for her delicate looks and previous roles in fantasy dramas, is well-known as an actress, model and singer in China. The 30-year-old is said to be fluent in English, having grown up partly in New York. The Hollywood Reporter said she was picked out of nearly 1,000 candidates for the film.

Disney's announcement on its blog about Liu's casting was met with delight on Twitter as well as on Sina Weibo, China's microblogging network. Many online celebrated it as a win for diversity in Disney films. Chinese-American actress Ming-Na Wen, who voiced Mulan in the original animated movie, also gave her stamp of approval. Chinese netizens congratulated Liu, with many praising Disney's choice. One commenter said, “Needs to know martial arts, can also speak English, has star quality - it definitely should be Liu Yifei.”

    It's been a hard time for rhinos (犀牛) lately. Recently the International Union for Conservation announced the western black rhinos had died out in the wild. It was last seen in western Africa in 2006. Now, those who work to protect the animals are trying to make sure that won't happen to other rhinos.

    19 south-central black rhinos in South Africa were driven to an area nearly 1,000 miles away, which was said to be the gentlest and quickest way to transport the animals. They were taken to a new home that would keep them safe from hunters.

    Though it is not allowed to hunt rhinos, many are still killed for their horns, which can sell for as much as $ 30,000 each. Most of them are used to make drugs as traditional medicines in Asian countries. Some people believe that the horns work well in treating pain, fever and even cancer. However, there is no medical evidence yet.

    Black rhino population began falling rapidly in the second half of the 1900s because of poaching. In fact, some people still hunt the animals at the risk of being put into prison. And many of the places where the animals used to live in were destroyed when people started building farms on the grasslands. Until the 1960s, about 65,000 black rhinos lived throughout most of Africa. Today, fewer than 5,000 are left—most of them in zoos and wildlife reserves.

    South Africa has the largest population of rhinos in the world. Poaching is an especially big problem in that country. So far, more than 340 rhinos have been killed there. Since 2003, the Black Rhino Expansion Project has been helping the south-central black rhinos in South Africa. The group works with landowners to find areas where rhinos can live safely away from hunters.

    So far, the group has successfully saved about 120 rhinos. Leaders of the project say the south-central black rhinos have seen a rise in numbers. It is hoped that, with continued support, these rhinos can escape the unfortunate result of the western black rhinos.

    In today's Internet age, the demand for online games continues to grow. Online computer game centers exist in many cities and towns throughout Asia. Facing the pressures of school and life, people tend to the virtual（虚拟的）world, expecting a diversion from these problems. Too often, however, they can lead to problems and unhealthy addictions.

    This is most clearly seen in the example of South Korea. The country has the world's highest percentage of high-speed Internet services. It also has a high number of online game players and related problems. In 2002, a young man collapsed(突然晕倒) and died while playing online games. He had been playing almost non-stop for 86 hours at an Internet café. Another young man killed his sister after becoming confused between the online world and real life. A 12-year-old boy stole US $ 16,000 from his father and ran away from home. He did this to continue his obsession(着迷) with an online game. Such problems, however, don't just happen in South Korea. They are spreading to other parts of Asia as well.

    What kinds of people develop online game addiction? What does the problem look like? Dr. SueHuei Chen, a clinical psychologist, researches Internet addiction. She discovered some signs of at-risk individuals such as lack friendships and good social skills. Those problem individuals feel it so compulsive（强迫的）to play online games that they could sacrifice things such as school or family. They feel the need to spend more and more time online. And they become upset if anyone tries to limit their online game playing.

    How many problem game players are there? In mainland China, the potential number of problem online gamers is alarming. In 2004, the China daily reported that China had 13.8 million online game players. Besides, it stated that 80 percent of these were under 25 and had signs of addiction. Such numbers point toward a growing problem among Chinese youth.

    Make sure to keep control over your online game playing. If you don't control it, it can get control of you.

    Did you know that Albert Einstein could not speak until he was four years old, and could not read until he was seven? His parents and teachers worried about his mental ability.

    Beethoven's music teacher said about him, "As a composer (作曲家) he is hopeless." What if this young boy had believed it?

    When Thomas Edison was a young boy, his teachers said he was so stupid that he could never learn anything. He once said, "I remember I used to never be able to get along at school. I was always at the foot of my class ... My father thought I was stupid, and I almost decided that I was a stupid person." What if young Thomas had believed what they said about him?

    When the sculptor (雕刻家) Auguste Rodin was young, he had difficulty learning to read and write. Today, we may say he had a learning disability. His father said of him, "I have an idiot (白痴) for a son." His uncle agreed. "He's uneducable," he said. What if Rodin had doubted his ability?

    Walt Disney was once fired by a newspaper editor because he was thought to have no "good ideas". Enrico Caruso was told by one music teacher, "You can't sing. You have no voice at all." And an editor told Louisa May Alcott that she was unable to write anything that would have popular appeal.

    What if these people had listened and become discouraged? Where would our world be without the music of Beethoven, the art of Rodin or the ideas of Albert Einstein and Walt Disney? As Oscar Levant once said, "It's not what you are but what you don't become that hurts."

    You have great potential. When you believe in all you can be, rather than all you cannot become, you will find your place on earth.

    Idioms are one of the hardest parts of learning a language. For those of you who don't know, an idiom is a phrase which has a meaning, but the meaning is not clear from the words themselves. If you translate an idiom word for word, it sometimes makes no sense at all. They are like puzzles and even native speakers can get confused when someone uses a phrase that they've never heard of.

With that in mind, here are five common English idioms that you can use in a variety of Situations.

⒈Get your act together (Meaning: you need to improve your behaviour/work)

    This might be something your teacher says to you if you score badly in an exam or if you misbehave in class. You can also use it to talk about people in general. For example, if your friend is being mean or nasty for no reason, then you can tell them that they need to get their act together.

⒉Pull yourself together (Meaning: calm down)

    This is a somewhat impolite way of telling someone that they are overreacting and that they need to relax. Only use this if you think the person you are speaking to is getting upset over something insignificant. If your friend tells you that their close relative has died, it is NOT the time to tell them to pull themselves together.

⒊I'm feeling under the weather (Meaning: I'm sick)

    Yes, it's longer and more difficult to say than 'I'm sick', but if your English teacher asks you why you haven't done your homework, he or she is more likely to forgive you if you say that you were feeling under the weather. You may not have done your English homework, but your teacher might be impressed that you know how to make eloquent excuses in a foreign language.

⒋It's a piece of cake (Meaning: it's easy)

    I don't know why this means what it does, but sometimes you just have to accept that English people use weird phrases.

⒌Break a leg (Meaning: good luck!)

    This is perhaps one of the most confusing yet well-known English idioms. If someone says this to you, do not take offence or think they are threatening you; they are just wishing you luck. It is most often used for people wishing success to actors and actresses before they perform on the stage, but it can be said in other situations, too.

    All in all, learning a new language can be challenging. It's definitely not a piece of cake, especially when there are so many confusing idioms. However, with enough hard work and interest, you will succeed in no time. Break a leg!

Hummingbirds (蜂鸟) are a very important part of Mexico's ecosystem, but because of the ever-spreading city landscape, they face all sorts of serious dangers. That's where 73-year-old Catia Lattouf de Arida comes in. As a self-taught hummingbird care-taker, she devotes most of her free time and resources to nursing the tiny birds back to health. Her home in Mexico City has become known as a hummingbird hospital.

Catia's story as a hummingbird nurse began in 2011, at a very difficult moment in her life. At that time, she focused on her battle with cancer and fell into a depression (抑郁) . She was walking on the street one day when she noticed a hummingbird that had suffered a serious eye injury. The kindhearted woman took it home and named it Gucci. She managed to nurse Gucci back to health, but she said it was Gucci that saved her. Why? Because the hummingbird managed to pull her out of the sadness and loneliness that had taken over her life. 

Word of her success spread among Catia's friends, and before long some of them began bringing her injured hummingbirds. She didn't repulse them at all. She began to study the bird and their habits in order to better take care of them, and after 11 years of experience, the 73-year-old woman is considered an expert on hummingbirds. 

In order to raise awareness of the difficult situation of hummingbirds in Mexico, Catia Lattouf de Arida started posting videos of the patients in her Mexico City apartment on social media, and many of them became popular. That's when the need for her nursing services really blew up. She has cared for hundreds of hummingbirds in her 11-year career, when she has had as many as 50 of them in her apartment at any one time. She spends pretty much all her time looking after the tiny birds.