As if 2016 hadn't been hard enough for China's workforce, a yearly survey has revealed that more than half of the country's white-collar employees got no year-end bonus ahead of the upcoming and costly lunar(农历的) New Year holiday. The survey of 11,500 workers by Chinese employment agency Zhaopin found that 50.9 per cent did not get an annual bonus at the end of 2016. Another 9.6 percent were told their bonuses had been delayed until after the New Year holiday.

    Before the slowdown that began in 2014, employers in China had been less ungenerous with cash bonuses, which can total well over a full month's pay and send employees back home for the holiday with plenty of cash for gifts to elders and other family members or to put away as savings. The impact of weak growth on year-end bonuses may have reached the highest point in 2015, however, when 66 per cent of white-collar workers received no year-end bonuses. And the 2016 level actually represents an improvement from 2014, when 61 per cent had to go without.

    But that recovery has also seen the size of bonuses drop: last year the average bonus was Rmb 12,821（$1,861）, about Rmb 2,000 more than that in 2015 but still about Rmb800 below the 2014 average. More than a quarter of those surveyed who saw their bonuses drop last year blamed the drop on poor company performance.

    Differences among the 34 cities surveyed were still greater, as the average bonus of over Rmb 15,800 in Beijing was more than three times than that in the lowest-paying city of Shenyang. Employees of state-owned firms also expressed more satisfaction with their bonuses than those at private companies — and little wonder, as the average bonus at the former was Rmb 17,318, or about Rmb 6,000 more than what private companies' employees could expect.

    But the impact of companies' stinginess(吝啬) can go beyond simply ruining employees' New Year holiday, possibly coming back to affect employers: 39 percent of respondents said they would look for work elsewhere if their year-end bonus was not returned to normal, an increase of 2.3 Percentage points from 2015.

    As most people know, in the last few years, sandstorms have swept across many cities and areas of North China, polluting the air and disturbing daily lives of human beings. People look dirty and suffer many kinds of illnesses, such as breath difficulty. The sandstorm is such a serious problem that it has not only weakened the industrial and agricultural development of our country but also caused a lot of trouble to the living conditions of the Chinese people.

    Therefore, effective measures should be taken as soon as possible to stop its happening. So how should we deal with the frightening sandstorms?

    Some experts offer practical advice as follows: For one thing, more money ought to be put into tree planting and forest protection in order to keep more water on the Earth. For another, government of all countries should make laws on environment protection. For example, banning the use of throw-away chopsticks and punishing illegal tree cutting. Scientists should also study and find ways to lower the grade of its destruction and to improve the environment. As for some schools, education about sandstorms should be spread properly and timely to make more and more people attach great importance to this problem.

    How people look forward to sunny days with soft wind touching their faces now and forever! The golden days can come back so long as we try our best to protect the natural environment from today on. And the fact is that what I expect is not just a dream. There are some sweet fruits from the early efforts.

    Antaretica's ice-white environment is going green and facing other unexpected threats. Scientists say that as temperatures go up in the polar region, invading (入侵) plants and insects, including the flies, cause a major conservation threat.

    More and more of these invaders, in the form of larvae (幼虫) or seeds, are surviving in coastal areas around the South Pole, where the temperature has risen by more than 3℃ over the past three decades. Glaciers have retreated, exposing more land which has been occupied by mosses that have been found to be growing more quickly and thickly than ever before-providing potential green homes for invaders.

    “The common house flies are a perfect example of the problem the Antarctic now faces from invading species,” said Dominic Hodgson of the British Antarctic Survey. “It comes in on ships, where it exists in kitchens and then at bases on the continent. It now has an increasing chance of surviving in the Antarctic as it warms up, and that is a worry. Insects like the house flies carry bacteria that could have a deadly effect on native lifeforms.”

    The Antarctic has several native species of insects. Together with its native mosses, these are now coming under increased threat from three major sources: visiting scientists, increasing numbers of tourists and global warming. However, it is global warming that is the main driver of the greening of Antarctica.

    In 2015, more than 38,000 tourists visited Antarctica. “These tourists are often very careful about not leaving waste or having mud. But they could carry seeds or larvae on their boots when they set foot on the Antarctic,” said Hodgson.

    More and more invasive insects and plants have been found on the Antarctic and have required removal. “the insects and plants that are native to Antarctica have survived these for thousands of years,” said Hodgson. “We have got to act now if we want to save the environment.”

    A name is more than just a word. It carries the weight of a person's whole identity. A name can represent a person's ethnicity (种族身份) and culture, or show respect for their ancestral roots. A self-given name may represent a person's beliefs or chosen identity.

    Everyone has the right to have their name pronounced correctly. It is a sign of respect for a person's individuality. "A person's name is to him or her the sweetest and most important sound in any language," Dale Carnegie writes in his book How to Win Friends and Influence People. Behind each name is a story, and when a name is anglicized (英语化), mispronounced, or ignored, that story is dismissed.

    A name mispronounced for a long time can negatively impact a person's attitude toward their own identity. It can create feelings of shame or embarrassment because they are made to feel like a burden. In the long term, this might cause someone to distance themselves from their roots. They may begin shying away from their native language, culture, and family for the sake of fitting in.

    In order to avoid this, many international students living in the U.S. choose English names. People shouldn't have to ignore their identities for the sake of someone else's convenience.

    Everyone makes mistakes, and not everyone can get a name right on the first try. Mispronouncing a name repeatedly, however, shows a lack of effort. It is not okay to be comfortable with mispronouncing names, and being unfamiliar with a language is no excuse.

    If you're unsure whether you're pronouncing a name correctly, just ask. Think of it as a way to expand and strengthen understanding, both personally and culturally. When meeting someone for the first time, make sure that you heard the name correctly. It doesn't take a lot to simply repeat the name back. Spell it out. Write it down. Do whatever you have to do to get the name right. Making the effort to correctly pronounce someone's name is an essential part of cultural competency (文化素养). Without this, we cannot expect to show respect and tolerance for our diverse community.

    Food is necessary for offering energy to our bodies, but sometimes we buy too much of it at the store. When your food starts to go bad, there are many other ways you can still make use of it instead of throwing it away.

    Before throwing away old bananas, you can use the peels (皮) to shine up metals and leathers. Press the peel against the surface, move it backwards and forwards and then polish clean it with an old cloth. Banana meat is also good for reducing wrinkles. Put a bit on those trouble spots, let it sit for a while, and then wash it off, and your wrinkles will go away. Lemons are great for lightening skin and hair. If you have trouble with some skin diseases, like red spots on your face, put a bit of fresh lemon juice on them and leave it overnight. You'll notice a difference in the morning. Apples will help ripen (使成熟) tomatoes quickly when they are placed together in a paper bag, and orange peels are great fire starters for your next backyard campfire party.

    If your dog or cat brings home fleas, using salt is a great way to get rid of them around the house. Just pour salt into the vacuum cleaner (真空吸尘器). Let it sit, then vacuum up the fleas. The salt can kill the fleas. Be sure to throw away the vacuum bag or empty the vacuum bin immediately, or some of the fleas can climb out.

    Beer is a great hair lightener. If you are out of lemons, try dipping your hair in beer before going outside. Just don't forget to wash it out afterwards. Milk is great for removing dirty marks, especially if it is some type of ink.

    As you can see, there are many other uses for everyday foods around the house. So next time, before throwing food away thinking it is of no use, stop for a moment and think about all their uses talked about here.