China Daily—Last week, the Beijing municipal government released a list of 192 areas in the capital where spring blooms, including peach, magnolia, apricot and winter jasmine, can be enjoyed from March to May. The recommended spots cover an area of 22 square kilometers. Apart from admiring blooms, folklore performances, botany exhibitions and other activities will be put on. 20 travel routes for tourists looking to appreciate floral beauty in the countryside are issued in Hubei, too.

    South Korean drama Descendants of the Sun《太阳的后裔》 has collected more than 200 million views on iQiyi, the Chinese streaming website said Tuesday.

    "Descendants of the Sun", the first Korean show to premiere simultaneously in South Korea and China (中韩同步首播), is a love story between an Army captain (Song Joong-ki) and a doctor (Song Hye-kyo) who find themselves in a fictional war-torn country called Uruk, where both try to save lives.

    "The show has become the talk of the town everywhere. Some shows even had live phone conversations with viewers to discuss its popularity," a Chinese entertainment official said.

    To put things into perspective, a f ifth of South Korea's population is 10 million people. Just a little over that number tuned in to watch Descendants of the Sun.

    Enthusiastic customers snapped up(抢光) the first batch of tickets in just five minutes on Monday for the opening day of the Shanghai Disneyland park on June 16, temporarily crashing the official website.

"Within half an hour, clicks on the website (www.shanghaidisneyresort.com) reached more than 5 million. The massive volume resulted in our ticketing system temporarily malfunctioning."

    You may not know a lot of people when you start high school. Maybe your friends from middle school are going to a different high school. Even if you know other freshmen(新生), you still feel nervous that you don't know any upper-classmen. How are you going to make friends among this sea of unknown faces?

    Most high schools hold a freshman orientation(训练) before school actually starts. These are helpful not only because you learn your way around the building and get to meet some of your teachers, but you also get to meet fellow freshmen. That way, when you show up on your first day of school, you may already recognize a few familiar faces.

    When you talk to people at orientation, you'll probably find that a lot of them are feeling just like you are. They're all new to the school and don't know what to expect. Talking about a common concern with your classmates can help you develop friendships.

    The work in high school is something freshmen are probably worried about. The work in high school builds on what you learned in middle school, giving you a more advanced knowledge of many subjects. So you may find you have more work to do or that it's a bit more challenging. If you ever find your work too difficult, teachers can give you extra help.

    High school also has more after-school activities than middle school did, such as clubs, music and theater groups and sports teams. This is a good time to explore your interests and try new things.

    Middle school taught you the basics of academics, time management, and social skills while providing you with a little extra support and guidance. High school gives you the chance to learn how to be more independent and responsible.

    Since Brandon was a kid, he has loved playing baseball. For him, baseball, was and still is his life and his impetus and drive for staying in school.

    But as Brandon got older, he started making bad choices. He cut classes, hung out with the wrong friends and got suspended(被停学)often. His grandmother took care of the family and his mom worked 12-hour shifts at a car lot, doing everything she could to provide for the family.

    Dr. Decmona Warren, a teacher of a Communities In Schools(CIS), saw the signs but when she tried to help, Brandon wouldn't take it. “When I heard her call my name, I would nearly run away. ”Brandon said later.

    His GPA(平均成绩)fell to a 1. 4 and Brandon was kicked out of the baseball team. He knew if he wanted to play baseball, he had to stop acting like that. Determined to become successful both on the field and in the classroom, Brandon decided to embrace the support from Communities In Schools. He turned to Dr. Warren, who welcomed him as a CIS student with open arms. From tutoring to parent-teacher conferences, he allowed Dr. Warren to become his“school mom”, and slowly, things started to turn around.

    “CIS of Atlanta has made a big difference in my life. This program has taught me to think before I act and make better choices in choosing friends. Before CIS it seemed like every week I was either out of school or in school suspension. Once when I was an honor student in middle school, I found myself failing miserably in almost all of my classes as a freshman in high school. But with the help of CIS I am now back on track, more focused and determined to do better in my academics and behavior. ”

    He's back on the team now playing in the Catcher position, with a 2. 8 GPA. He is already looking at colleges for baseball scholarships.

    My color television has given me nothing but a headache. I was able to buy it a little over a year ago because I had my relatives give me money for my birthday instead of a lot of clothes that wouldn't fit. I let a salesclerk fool me into buying a discontinued model (型号). I realized this a day later, when I saw newspaper advertisements for the set at seventy-five dollars less than I had paid. The set worked so beautifully when I first got it home that I would keep it on until stations signed off for the night. Fortunately, I didn't get any channels (频道) showing all-night movies or I would never have gotten to bed.

    Then I started developing a problem with the set that involved static (静电) noise. For some reason, when certain shows switched (转换) into a commercial (商业广告), a loud noise would sound for a few seconds. Gradually, this noise began to appear during a show, and to get rid of it, I had to change to another channel and then change it back. Sometimes this technique (技巧) would not work, and I had to pick up the set and shake it to remove the sound. I actually began to build up my arm muscles (肌肉) shaking my set.

    When neither of these methods removed the static noise, I would sit helplessly and wait for the noise to go away. At last I ended up hitting the set with my fist, and it stopped working altogether. My trip to the repair shop cost me $62, and the set is working well now, but I keep expecting more trouble.

High-Wire Act

    Mickey Wilson had been on the mountain only a few seconds when he heard the scream. Wilson, 28 years old, had just gotten off the cable car (索道缆车) at the Arapahoe Basin Ski Area in Keystone, Colorado, along with his friends Billy Simmons and Hans Mueller. Their friend Richard had been on the cable car ahead of them, but when the men reached the top of the lift, he had disappeared. The men walked toward the source of the scream and found skiers stopped on the slope, pointing to the cable car. And then the friends screamed too.

    "Oh, Richard!" yelled Mueller.

    When Richard had tried to jump off the cable car, his backpack had been caught in the chair, which then dragged him back down the hill. In the process, the backpack belt twisted around his neck, making him breathless. Now Richard's body was swinging four feet above the snow. The cable car operator had quickly stopped it, and the friends kicked off their skis and ran toward the scene. They made a human pyramid to try to reach Richard, but the unconscious man was too far off the ground. With the clock ticking, Wilson ran to the ladder of a nearby lift tower. Scared skiers watched as he struggled the 25 feet. After he reached the top, Wilson's first challenge was to climb onto the two-inch steel cable that held the chairs. He handled the balance and height bravely, but he knew he could not walk on the cable. Therefore, he calmed down and sat over it and then used his hands to pull himself to Richard quickly. Wilson's greatest fear wasn't that he'd fall, but that he wouldn't reach Richard. "This was life or death," he said.

    When he reached Richard's chair, Wilson swung a leg over the cable and attempted to drop down onto it. But as he did that, his jacket caught on the movable footrest, which was in the up position. The footrest began to slide down, with Wilson attached. But before that could happen, he managed to free himself and reached Richard.

    Fortunately, the ski patrol (巡查) had gathered below and performed emergency treatment on Richard, who had been hanging for about five minutes, then skied him down to an ambulance.

    That night, Richard called from the hospital to express his thanks to Wilson, his other friends and the workers at the Arapahoe Basin Ski Area.

    A video of a three-year-old girl being kicked by her own mother during a photo shot went viral (疯狂传播) on Thursday, indicating China's under per forma nee in regulating the emerging child modeling industry.

    The girl, known as Niu Niu, was physically abused by her mother in several videos. The videos have annoyed Chinese media and Internet users alike. Many netizens and scholars call for local authorities to carry out further investigations into possible child abuse.

    In response to the public outcry (强烈抗议), Niu Niu's mother issued an apology via Sina Wei bo on Thursday, condemning accusations of abuse. She noted that she was merely guiding her daughter for better shots and the girl is well looked after.

    Despite her apology, many E-shops which used Niu Niu's images for brand promotion have canceled their cooperation with the mother, while over 110 well-known child garment shops on Taobao have signed up for a campaign to provide better protection for child models.

    "It is necessary to adopt comprehensive laws and regulations to further protect the kids, preventing their parents and companies from exploiting (利用) them," Fang Zhiqing, a lawyer and child protection expert, said.

    Niu Niu is not alone. In Zhili, a small town in Zhejiang province, thousands of children from across China are taken here by their parents to seize the chance of fame. With a population of 450,000. Zhili has over 13,000 manufacturers of child clothing. In 2017, the town earned over 7 billion yuan by selling do thing for children online, thus providing opportunities for child models.

    "China's current advertisement law isn't workable when it comes to the industry of child modeling, as it lacks clear supervision measures and clear legal punishment." Fang added. "It is important to issue new laws which regulate child modeling."