The taste of champagne as we know it could change beyond recognition in the coming years. As global temperatures continue to rise, the climate crisis poses a threat to the production of wine.
The supply of Chardonnay, Pinot Noir and Pinot Meunier, among other popular wine-making grapes, are at risk. By 2050, about 85% of the lands that we grow good wine grapes on will no longer produce suitable wine grapes.
Grapes are susceptible to even the most subtle changes in weather. "Wine is kind of the canary (金丝雀) in the coal mine for climate change impacts on agriculture because so much of the character of wine is tied to the local climate. said Benjamin Cook, a climate scientist. He published a paper in 2020 examining the effects of climate change on agriculture and how the diversity of grapes can increase their resilience to such changes.
He adds that scientists are "seeing pretty much all plants, including wine grapevines, start their lifecycle in the growing season earlier, and often finish up earlier. You basically ripen your fruit earlier and typically you harvest earlier. In the Champagne region of France, these changes can alter the distinctive personalities of grapes grown there. "If it matures too quickly, the ratio of acidity and sugar might be different. "Cook said.
A grape's qualities are dependent on its environment. With a warming planet, it's harder to produce grapes that make champagne taste sweeter and boozier (酒精浓度高的). "For instance, in a chardonnay grape, what you're looking for in a cooler climate is generally an apple taste, whereas in a warmer climate the warmth can change the grapes qualities to be more like a tropical fruit, or even banana-like. "said Spiess.
One of the many ways farmers and winemakers are trying to alleviate the effects of climate change on grape production is site selection. "Places like Belgium and the Netherlands and Sweden, they're experiencing positive effects of climate change as the planet is warming. Spiess said. As different regions in the world experience the effects of climate change differently, they may start to have more ideal climate conditions for wine making.
The downside for those Swedish winemakers? If those champagne grapes aren't grown in the Champagne region of France, you can't call it champagne, which is a protected designation of origin.
So how do you say "bubbly" in Swedish?
4 STEM Competitions for High Schoolers
eCyberMission
You can participate(参加) in this competition without leaving the house. eCyberMission is a web-based contest in which participants—working in teams of two to four students—use science, math, and technology to solve problems facing their communities. First-place winners receive $1,
000.
Grades: 9th
Competition Type: Regional, state, and national
Toshiba/NSTA ExploraVision
Interested in what the future has to hold? Consider ExploraVision's STEM competition. Working in teams of two to four, students will research a particular technology and discuss the ways in which it may impact lives moving forward. Participants are required to write a paper and draw web pages communicating their vision.
Grades: 7th- 9th and 10th- 12th
Competition Type: Regional and national
Spellman Clean Tech Competition
The Spellman Clean Tech Competition tests students' ability to research and design—it requires participants to recognise a real-world issue, research the problem, and design a solution that uses clean technology. Participants gain a better understanding of STEM fields and may help make the earth a healthier place. In addition to the honor of winning a well-known STEM competition, there are some awards for top finishers—including a $7,000 first prize.
Grades: 9th- 12th
Competition Type: International
Regeneron Science Talent Search (STS)
The most promising young scientists in the nation compete in the Regeneron STS—one of the country's oldest and most famous STEM competitions. The competition is open to high school seniors and challenges them to carry out an independent research project and submit(提交) their findings along with a paper and up to four recommendations(推荐信). Winners can take home awards of up to $250,000!
Grades: 12th
Competition Type: National
Many Chinese people used to 1 each other with "Have you had your meal?" to show their friendliness. Recently, a new greeting has become 2 in many Chinese cities, namely "Have you 3 weight?"
Chen Xin, a manager of a media company in Hangzhou, has 4 his friends after successfully getting 5 "Following instructions from my nutritionist, I went on a 6 and lost 10kg," Chen said with a 7 smile.
In recent years, food-delivery services have been growing fast and entering every corner of Chinese cities. Also, Chinese people can 8 buy foods from all over the world. But people are paying more and more attention to their 9 . More people are becoming 10 with various terms, such as "low calories", "sugar cut-off" and "light food".
"I used to eat a lot of unhealthy food, which brought me much 11 ." Chen said. "Now my health indicators (指标) are becoming 12 , and I can feel that my body is in good 13 again."
Chen is not alone. Many Chinese are troubled with "diseases of richness", including obesity and high blood pressure, as the quality of life has greatly 14 over the past decades. Most people need to worry about whether they have a healthy diet, 15 whether they have enough food.
Healthcare professionals in four Canadian provinces can now prescribe (开处方) their patients passes to National Parks thanks to a new program, PaRX, which stresses the health benefits of spending time in nature in helping to manage physical and mental health.
PaRx was founded by the B. C. Parks Foundation in November 2020 and was officially supported by Parks Canada last month. Health professionals who register (注册) with the program can offer their patients a Parks Canada Discovery Pass, making it the country's "first national nature prescription program". The Parks Discovery Pass typically costs about $57 per adult per year.
"We're really asking doctors to prioritize patients who live close to Parks Canada sites so they'll have more access and can make it part of their everyday lives, and also those for whom the cost of a pass might be a barrier to nature access," said Melissa Lem, president-elect of the Canadian Association of Physicians for the Environment.
Studies have shown that spending time in nature has a range of health benefits—from lowering blood pressure and improving heart health to reducing stress and anxiety. PaRx recommends that patients spend at least two hours per week in the great outdoors, and at least 20 minutes each time, to get the most benefit.
The program is currently available in the Canadian provinces of British Columbia, Ontario, Saskatchewan, and Manitoba. It will eventually spread to every province.
PaRx also has benefits outside of the national parks, with many gardens offering free admission to visitors who show their prescriptions.
"There's almost no medical condition that nature doesn't make better. Rediscovering nature and then realizing how important it is to us has really shown that nature-health connection," Lem said.
Liu Ruying, grandfather is a huge fan of Beijing Opera, has been interested in Beijing Opera for much of her young life. Her grandfather is a great influence her. At the age of eight, she (begin) to practice the classical art. It wasn't easy for a little girl (experience) the difficult training, as performances combine martial arts, dancing and acrobatics(杂技).
"Sometimes I was tired," she said. "I had to balance my (course) I was interested in, such as studies and other dance. But the great charm(魅力) of Beijing Opera made me always practice it."
When Liu got the news that her region would have a cultural exchange with other countries, she had the idea of (introduce) Beijing Opera to the world in English. With help of her mother, she took part in the activity after several months of practice.
"I (extreme) love traditional Chinese culture," she said. "Beijing Opera has a long history and (consider) a treasure of our nation. We should let (we) make great efforts to carry forward our culture and protect the cultural diversity of the world."
It was thirty years ago, and I was twenty years old as a new teacher in an elementary school in Toronto, Canada. My class was made up of thirty-eight kids, one of them named Mike. Mike was a street kid. He never knew his parents and lived with an uncaring grandmother. His clothing was in need of repair. He was ten years old and looked in bad health. Like most new, young teachers, I was full of enthusiasm and wanted to make a difference. I decided to reach out to help the kid in need.
So it was that early in September that my special "foster father(养父)" relationship with Mike began with the permission of his grandmother. I became the only parent figure he ever had. Each day, I'd take him for meals. I showed him how to repair clothes. I taught him a lot of new skills like using a computer, taking photos and knowing about nature. Mike would then help me teach the rest of the class these skills. We all had a lot of fun, and a kind of un-spoken trust began to build up between us. Surprisingly, he appeared eager to join in this new father-son relationship.
Early in our special relationship, Mike told me his dream. Most of the kids in the class wanted to be doctors, musicians, teachers or some such things, but not Mike. "I want to be a gangster(土匪), Mr. Kowalchuk!" he said. This was no joke—this was his wish, and he was most serious about it.
I believe all children have a gift. Everyone has the same chance to be the best person they can be. I realized this boy was smart, and that with a little love, attention, understanding, guidance and encouragement, he could probably achieve whatever he put his mind to. I explained to him that a good gangster had to read a large number of books on law in the law library and know criminal law(刑法) well like an excellent lawyer(律师). His young mind was eager and interested.
注意:1. 续写词数应为150左右;2. 请按如下格式在答题卡的相应位置作答。
If he wanted to be a "gangster", I would do something to help him.
Years later, I got married and started a new life in another city.
Do you ever worry that you might waste food? During the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, many people around the world were going hungry, but people came up with unique ways to try and help. One of these was to put fridges filled with food outside for people who needed it. The movement was very popular in the US, but there have also been community fridges all around the world as well.
Back in 2016, before the COVID-19 pandemic, Pauline, a restaurant owner in Kochi, India, had the bright idea to put a fridge in the street to stop unused food from going to waste and to help the needy. The idea came to her late one night when she saw a lady searching in a rubbish can for food. Watching the woman, she had a sad thought.
"The woman had been sleeping and was woken up by her hunger, so she had to go in search of food instead of sleeping," said Pauline. She felt really sad that night because the restaurant had made lots of food that could have been given to her.
Over in the UK, the idea of communal (公共的) fridges was used in Sommerset to fight against food waste and hunger issues, encouraging people to donate and also take unwanted food. UK supermarkets and eateries like Marks & Spencer and Greggs have regularly helped the poor and hungry.
Now there is a large movement in the UK to provide communal fridges. One charity, Hubbub, now operates the Community Fridge Network. The network supports groups running communal fridges across the UK, which now number over 300 fridges. Hubbub has partnered with Co-op to provide 500 fridges so far.
"A fridge is so often much more than a fridge," said Hubbub's official website. "The fridges connect people together, address social isolation (隔绝) and provide people with the opportunity to access healthy food, try something new and save money."
Aron Ralston was a pretty normal guy, but he always had an extremely adventurous desire to travel and see the world. During his childhood, his family moved to Denver, Colorado, a place offering many opportunities to climb mountains, explore, and eventually become the adventurer he'd always wanted to be. Back in 2003, Ralston was climbing in the remote, mountainous area of Southwestern Utah, when the unthinkable happened: Aron got stuck in a crevice(裂缝) in the rocks and pinned by a big stone that weighed over 360 kilograms. The weight of the rock crushed his arm, and he was pinned by it. Aron took photos of his bad situation (which was going to get a lot worse) as he waited for rescue teams(救援队) to come to remove the rock so that he could get out and home safe.
But rescuers never came. Aron waited for them for days till he lost his hope. He knew he had to do something. He was 18 meters above the floor of the valley where he was pinned in, and he had a pocketknife. He made what must have been one of the most difficult decisions of his life: to cut his own arm in order to survive. Aron cut the lower part of his arm off, having to wrench(扭动) his forearm against the big stone to break the bones, and then got himself down to the bottom of the valley, where he would begin to walk and search for help. Luckily, help arrived in the form of a helicopter(直升机) that spotted him, covered in blood. Aron had tied off the wound to keep himself from bleeding to death pretty successfully and would eventually make it out alive.
Ralston went on to become an inspiring speaker and continued to travel and climb mountains—he didn't let an incident that forced him to cut his own arm off, stop him from doing what he really loved.
Three in five people in the UK hold a library card. For some, library is a shelter from the stresses of day-to-day life. If you're considering joining your local library, now is the time to do so. And if you need any more encouragement, here are several reasons why you should.
Most libraries in the UK allow members of the general public to come and go as they like. You can also take out a library card and borrow books for free, although you will inevitably face a fine for late returns.
Imagine just how many books you have at your fingertips with a library card? There are lots of modern ones, as well as originals, and you can continue to expand your learning and vocabulary all the time. It's a priceless experience, especially for kids, and also a great way to level the educational playing field.
Libraries develop with times. They have changed greatly since decades ago. Some libraries have apps so you can see when your books are due back and even reserve books in some cases. There are also libraries which let you access books in digital formats on your mobile device—pretty cool.
Libraries are one of very few spaces left in towns and cities where members of the general public can come together and actually be and feel like a community. They have noticeboards to offer services like exercise classes or learning centers.
A. Libraries help people learn.
B. Libraries help educate the kids.
C. They create a great sense of community.
D. You can go in, settle down and read a book without being charged a penny.
E. Most libraries now have computers and allow people to borrow CDs and DVDs.
F. Libraries help us save money as we're borrowing books rather than buying them.
G. For others, particularly the homeless and people in poverty, a lifeline to the world.
内容包括:1. 写信目的;2. 个人优势;3. 希望获准。
注意:写信词数应为80词左右。