Papa, as a son of a dirt-poor farmer, left school early and went to work in a factory, for education was for the rich then. So, the world became his school. With great interest, he read everything he could lay his hands on, listened to the town elders and learned about the world beyond his tiny hometown.“There's so much to learn,” he'd say. “Though we're born stupid, only the stupid remain that way.” He was determined that none of his children would be denied (拒绝) an education.

    Thus, Papa insisted that we learn at least one new thing each day. Though, as children, we thought this was crazy, it would never have occurred to us to deny Papa a request. And dinner time seemed perfect for sharing what we had learned. We would talk about the news of the day; no matter how insignificant, it was never taken lightly. Papa would listen carefully and was ready with some comment, always to the point.

    Then came the moment—the time to share the day's new learning. Papa, at the head of the table, would push back his chair and pour a glass of red wine, ready to listen.

     “Felice,” he'd say, “tell me what you learned today.”

     “I learned that the population of Nepal is ....”

    Silence.

    Papa was thinking about what was said, as if the salvation of the world would depend upon it. “The population of Nepal. Hmm. Well….” he'd say. “Get the map; let's see where Nepal is.” And the whole family went on a search for Nepal.

    This same experience was repeated until each family member had a turn. Dinner ended only after we had a clear understanding of at least half a dozen such facts.

    As children, we thought very little about these educational wonders. Our family, however, was growing together, sharing experiences and participating in one another's education. And by looking at us, listening to us, respecting our input, affirming our value, giving us a sense of dignity, Papa was unquestionably our most influential teacher.

    Later during my training as a future teacher, I studied with some of the most famous educators. They were imparting what Papa had known all along—the value of continual learning. His technique has served me well all my life. Not a single day has been wasted, though I can never tell when knowing the population of Nepal might prove useful.

    Almost every machine with moving parts has wheels, yet no one knows exactly when the first wheel was invented or what it was used for. We do know, however, that they existed over 5,500 years ago in ancient Asia.

    The oldest known transport wheel was discovered in 2002 in Slovenia. It is over 5,100 years old. Evidence suggests that wheels for transport didn't become popular for a while, though. This could be because animals did a perfectly good job of carrying farming tools and humans around.

    But it could also be because of a difficult situation. While wheels need to roll on smooth surfaces, roads with smooth surfaces weren't going to be constructed until there was plenty of demand for them. Eventually, road surfaces did become smoother, but this difficult situation appeared again a few centuries later. There had been no important changes in wheel and vehicle design before the arrival of modem road design.

    In the mid-1700s, a Frenchman came up with a new design of road—a base layer (层) of large stones covered with a thin layer of smaller stones. A Scotsman improved on this design in the 1820s and a strong, lasting road surface became a reality. At around the same lime, metal hubs (the central part of a wheel) came into being, followed by the pneumatic tyre(充气轮胎) in 1846. Alloy wheels were invented in 1967, sixty years after the appearance of tarmacked roads (柏油路). As wheel design took off, vehicles got faster and faster.

    In France, franglais（英式法语）was seen as a national threat. Just as we took in thousands of French words in the Middle Ages, French speakers and writers today are taking in thousands of English and American expressions. By 1994, so many English words had made their way to French that the French government passed a law forbidding the use of English words where good French words existed.

    But the latest edition of the Academy francaise dictionary did admit about 6,000 new words to the French language, including, for the first time, a number of franglais words and expressions.

    However, this sort of thing is not just limited to traditional English – French Competition. Norway and Brazil have recently taken similar measures to keep English out.

    As English spreads around the globe, it has developed rich varieties. English has been spoken in Singapore since the early 19^th century, but after independence from Britain, Singapore went a step further and English was made the official language of business and government. But the day −to–day English that the people of Singapore actually speak is a far cry from the official English that the government wants them to learn. It has become an expressive dialect called “Singlish”, full of vocabulary and grammar borrowed from the Singapores' native languages.

    And this may be the irony（讽刺）of the global spread of English. The more widely it's spoken, the more it may change into local dialects, which are not easily intelligible. People will make English their own and, in doing so, will make it something else. This has happened before to Latin which broke into French, Italian, Spanish, Portuguese, and Romanian. But English has always welcomed variety and change, and it still does.

5 Lifestyle Choices You Will Feel in Your Bones

    YOU SPEND TOO LITTLE TIME ON THE MOVE

    "Bone is a living tissue," says Jonathan Lee, a physician at Montefiore Health System in New York City. "The more you use it, the more it will adapt and strengthen. Likewise, if it is not subjected to loading, it will waste away. "The solution? Weight-bearing exercise-even just walking. Strength training Counts too

    YOU EAT SALTY SNACKS

    A study from Japan showed that women over fifty who had high sodium (钠) intakes were more than four times as likely to have a fracture (break of. bones)As those with low sodium intakes. That's because as the kidneys(肾) excrete(排出) the sodium, calcium is reducing from the bloodstream too.

    YOU SHUT SUNLIGHTAWAY

    "Vitamin D is required for the body to successfully absorb and use calcium," Dr. Lee says. "Most Americans do not get enough sun exposure to generate enough natural vitamin D, and thus supplementation is essential." According to the National Osteoporosis Foundation, adults under 50 need 400 to 800 IU of vitamin D daily and adults 50. And older need 800 to 1,000 IU. Talk to your doctor about your specific needs based on where you live, what time of year it is, and which vitamin D-rich foods you eat.

    YOU'RE CASUAL WITH WINE

    Low levels of alcohol consumption may be good for your bones, according to a study from Oregon State University, but more than a couple of drinks a day has the opposite effect. "Too much alcohol can make it harder to absorb calcium," says Dr. Lee. Furthermore, "In women in particular, higher alcohol consumption can decrease estrogen (雌激素) levels, and this can also lead to osteoporosis(骨质疏松), "Dr. Lee says.

    YOU LIVE INANAREA WITH DIRTYAIR

    In a study recently published in the Lancet Planetary Health, researchers dealt with hospital data for 9.2 million Medicare participants in the Northeast and mid-Atlantic between 2003And 2010. They found that even a small increase in levels of pollutants in the air--may lead to an increase in bone fractures and osteoporosis in older adults. If you live in a smoggy area, use an air purifier filter at home, avoid exercising outdoors when the air quality is bad, and get screened for osteoporosis.

    Last week I did something that scared me. I stood in front of nearly 200 financial planners and I talked to them about why financial blogs are a good thing. I'm a confident writer. I've been doing this long enough that I know my strength and my limitations. I'm less confident as a speaker. I don't have time to pause to collect my thoughts. I'm not able to edit. I'm afraid of being trapped in a corner without being able to talk my way out. Basically, I'm scared to speak.

    It would be easy to simply refuse the chances that come my way. When somebody asks me to speak in front of a group, I could say "no". When radio and television stations call for an interview, I could say "no". But for the past two years, I've been following my own policy to say "yes" to new chances.

    To say "yes" is to live in fear. My goal is to continually improve myself to become better than I am today. One way to do that is to do the things that scare me, to take them on as challenges, and to learn from them—even if I fail.

    In mid-November, a local station asked me to appear on live television. "I realize it's short notice," the producer wrote, "but we'd love to have you on the show if you're available tonight." I was frightened. I thought about recent taped television interviews that I had hated. I was afraid of what might happen.

    But I also thought about the things that had gone right. I thought of how my speaking skills had improved over the past year. And then I thought of the book I was reading, a book that I had bought for $1.29 at the local store. The Magic of Thinking Big was a huge bestseller during the 1960s. Written by Dr. David Schwartz, a professor at Georgia State University, the book contains dozens of practical tips on how to take risks to achieve big goals. Schwartz argues that nobody will believe in you until you believe in yourself.

    So when the television producer asked if I wanted to appear on his show, I thought big. "Sure," I said. "I'll do it." I acted confidently, but on the inside I was frightened. What I needed was techniques to build up my confidence and to overcome my fear.

    Parents often believe that they have a good relationship with their teenagers. But last summer, Joanna and Henry noticed a change in their older son. Suddenly he seemed to be talking far more to his friends than to his parents. "The door to his room is always shut." Joanna noted.

    Tina and Mark noticed similar changes in their 14-year-old daughter. "She used to sit in my arms on the sofa and talk with me," said Mark. "Now we joke that she does this only when she wants something. Sometimes she wants to be treated like a little girl and sometimes like a young lady. The problem is figuring out which time is which."

    Before age 11, children like to tell their parents what's on their minds. "In fact, parents are first on the list." said Michael Riera, author of Uncommon Sense for Parents with Teenagers. "This completely changes during the teen years." Riera explained. "They talk to their friends first, then maybe their teachers, and their parents last."

    Parents who know what's going on in their teenagers' lives are in the best position to help them. To break down the wall of silence, parents should create chances to understand what their children want to say, and try to find ways to talk and write to them. And they must give their children a mental (思想的) break, for children also need freedom, though young. Another thing parents should remember is that to be a friend, not a manager, with their children is a better way to know them.