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The past two years has witnessed the wide spread of COVID-19 which has triggered conspicuous changes in business around the world. As an important marketing communication between the sellers and the buyers, advertising has also been affected by the pandemic. Multimodal metaphor in advertising has attracted interest of many researchers as more modes of expressions appear in advertising. In this study, the author attempts to investigate multimodal metaphor in English video advertising during the COVID-19 pandemic, endeavoring to explore the functions of multimodal metaphor in constructing brand image of food corporates within the framework of Conceptual Metaphor and Multimodal Metaphor. By examining the construction process of multimodal metaphors, the interactions of multimodal metaphor and metonymy, the image schema and the intended massage in these advertisements, several findings are suggested. Firstly, multimodal metaphor is used to promote product or service by highlighting their attributes of evading potential risks of the pandemic. Secondly, the mainly used modes in these advertisings to construct meaning are visual and aural. The referring process of product/service is realized by multimodal metonymies; the transferring process of information from the advertiser to the audience is realized by image schemas. Thirdly, the brand images are constructed mainly by soft attributes. The company image and user image are built explicitly, while the product/service image is built implicitly .

Over the past few decades, the world has seen the dispute between the modern rule of law and traditional rule of morality, and the conflict of these two models of social governance sharpens during COVID-19. The rule of both morality and law in China, which has been criticized by the western world, was proved to be efficient during the campaign against COVID-19. China’s quarantine measures constitute an important part of China’s anti-pandemic combat. At present, such countries like the USA, the UK, and France, which have failed to respond adequately to the pandemic, are trying to condemn China by doubting the legitimacy of China’s quarantine measures to transfer the domestic public sight and cover up their failure. This paper first presents the legal basis of China’s quarantine measures in established laws. It is found that quarantine measures in China have a valid basis in the Chinese legal system. Employing the theory of Five Regulations of Using Public Power, the author then analyses the legitimacy of the operation of China’s quarantine measures. Based on Confucian theories of sacrificial structure and governance, the author finally reviews and evaluates both the practice and the effect of the rule by morality in China’s public administration.

Laminated ceramics with weak interface layers have been proven to be effective in toughening ceramics. The energy absorption ability of laminated ceramics may also benefit their ballistic performance. However, the effect of the layer structure on the ballistic performance of laminated ceramics has not been studied. Focusing on the application for body armor, this paper studied the effect of the different layer structures on the ballistic performance of laminated SiC ceramics. The laminated SiC ceramics with different layered structures were designed and prepared by tape-casting and hot-pressing. When used for the ‘in conjunction with’ armor system, the laminated SiC ceramics with a gradual-layered structure had the backface signature depth of 30% less than the laminated SiC with no interface structure and 50% less than the commercial solid-state sintered SiC. However, when used stand-alone, the laminated SiC had a similar ballistic performance regardless of the layer structure, which was likely due to the weak back support. In conclusion, the ballistic performance of the laminated ceramics was related to the back support of the armor system. When used for the ‘in conjunction with’ armor system, the laminated SiC had a better ballistic performance than that of the solid-state sintered SiC.