Among a group of middle-aged men and women，who were discussing bringing about quality education(素质教育)，was a young man dressed in a white shirt．Within minutes, he was called onto the dais(讲台)．Twenty-two-year-old Babar Ali was surrounded by educators from across India．He was popularly known as the world's youngest head teacher．

    The school that Babar started in poor Bhabta village has completely changed．When he was nine years old, he had only eight students in his school．Now the school has 300 students and 10 teachers. The school is called Ananda  Siksha  Niketan. It is recognized by the West Bengal government．

    Today Babar is a student in the morning．He is learning English literature at Berhampore Krishanath College．But he comes home in the afternoon to teach his students．

    Baber was discussing education at the National Summit on Quality in Education(NSQE)．The meeting was held in Bangalore，capital of Karnataka State in southern India．

"It all started as a game when I used to teach my sister, my first student, in my backyard．Later, some children from the village often came to my classes and that was how the school was born," he said．

    His biggest achievement is that six of his students have now started teaching in his school after their college hours．

    In another month, Babar's dream of a school building will soon come true．Many people, a large part of whom are from Karnataka，have helped him realize the dream．They have given his school a lot of money．   

Although he has received so much attention and recognition(认可)，he is still not fulfilled ． "There are people in my village who do not go to school．And there is a long way to go as so many children still need to receive an education，"he says．

    A culture's values can be mirrored by its humor. Humor has been evaluated by many great minds such as Thomas Hobbes, who, In"On Nature", disliked humor," Laughter is nothing else but sudden glory arising from sudden thought of feeling far better than others." He thought humor to be a negative quality of human narrow-mindedness.

    However, Mordechai Gordon, PhD of Education, insists," Humor allows us to view the world from an angle that is amusing rather than serious." I agree with Gordon. Learning to look at the world through humor is important.

    In the United States, every four years an election occurs. Without humor as a way to express their feelings, how would Americans be willing to support the election? Television shows like "The Daily Show" have become important parts of American culture. They are mothering the masses by unconsciously inputting politics into our mouths. They make politics fun.

    Of course, politics is only one type of humor. Social humor helps people through the twists and turns of the human condition. American pop culture promotes an unhealthy self image. On the topic of self-image, Hari Kondabolu stands out. He has a joke about the popular musical group "The Pussycat Dolls", describing their hit song "Don't Cha" as a negative representation of women. He points out an obvious offence in American culture.

    A study from Loyola University of Maryland has shown that humor is one determining factor for selecting a mating partner. Amongst other things, mates look for an outstanding funny bone in a potential partner.

    Of course, humor is not always used for good purposes. Humor can be linked to vulgarity（粗俗）and racism, but, like everything else, it has potential to unite human beings by allowing us to laugh at ourselves, our failures and our connection with one another.

    Though life may seem tough and depressing at times, all I have to do is look in the mirror at my increased wrinkles（皱纹）to know that there is a comedy out there that even Chaplin wasn't aware of.

    With that in mind, remember to laugh with humanity and sometimes at humanity.

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    Mrs Smith trembled(颤抖)with excitement when she was told her fortunes(命运). "Somebody is coming home to you, " Mrs Gray said slowly. "He's carrying a rifle(步枪)on his back and he's almost there."

    Mrs Smith felt as if she could hardly breathe. "And there he is!"Mrs Gray cried, pointing to the road. They all rushed to the door to look.

    A man in a blue coat, with a gun on his back, was walking down the road toward the Smith farm. His face was hidden by a large pack on his back.

    Laughing and crying, Mrs Smith grabbed(抓住)her hat and her children and ran out of Mrs Gray's house. She hurried down the road after him, calling his name and pulling her children along with her. But the soldier was too far away for her voice to reach him.

    When she got back to their farm, she saw the man standing by the fence. He was looking at the little house and the field of yellow wheat. The sun was almost touching the hills in the west. The cowbells rang softly as the animals moved toward the barn(畜棚).

    "How peaceful it all is, "Private Smith thought." How far away from the battles, the hospitals, the wounded and the dead. My little farm in Wisconsin. How could I have left it for those years of killing and suffering?"

    Mrs Smith hurried up to her husband. Her feet made no sound on the grass, but he turned suddenly to face her. For the rest of his life, he would never forget her face at that moment.

    "Emma!" he cried.

    The children stood back watching their mother kissing this strange man. He saw them, and kneeling down, he pulled from his pack three huge red apples. In a moment, all three children were in their father's arms. Together, the family entered the little unpainted farmhouse.

    Later that evening, after supper, Smith and his wife went outside. The moon was bright, above the eastern hills. Sweet, peaceful stars filled the sky as the night birds sang softly.

    His farm needed work. His children needed clothing. He was no longer young and strong. But he began to plan for next year. With the same courage he had faced the war, Private Smith faced his difficult future.

    Katherine Johnson, a brilliant mathematician at NASA (美国宇航局), began working on the space program in the 1950s. Many of NASA's first missions were made possible by her amazing calculations (计算).

    As a child, she loved to count. Her father placed great importance on education and insisted all four of his children go to college, working overtime to pay for it. Johnson said this atmosphere was important to her success. "I was always around people who were learning something. I liked to learn." She said.

    Johnson graduated from high school at 14 and college at 18. In 1953, Johnson started to work for NASA, doing the math that powered engineers' work. Then, because of her outstanding talent, she was moved to work on rockets with an all-male flight research team. As for Johnson, her calculations contributed to many of NASA's most important projects. In 1961, with the help of Johnson's work, Alan Shepherd became the first American to go into space. Johnson also lent her unbelievable talent to the success of the Apollo 13, which had trouble getting back to earth. She worked hard to calculate a safe path back to Earth for the astronauts.

    Johnson retired in 1986, but her huge contribution to the space program has only been reaching the public attention for the past few years. Part of that is because, as she is the first to admit, science is based on collaboration. "I never took any credit because we always worked as a team, it was never just one person," she said in a 2010 interview.

    Earlier this year, NASA named a new data center after her. She was also given a Silver Snoopy award, which recognizes "outstanding performance, contributing to flight safety and mission success."

    Florence, Italy

    Who should go: art lovers, Renaissance historians and leather handbag shoppers with high credit limits.

    When to go: spring or fall. Travelers usually avoid summer in Florence.

    Paris, France

    Who should go: starving artists, Henry Miller fans, traditional food lovers.

    When to go: spring is the best time. That's what they all say, anyway. Autumn isn't bad, either, but I'd rather be rooting around the south of France in search of truffles (松露) in autumn. Summer in Paris isn't bad, really.

    Amsterdam, Holland

    Who should go: lovers of Dutch Master (artists I mean, like Rembrandt, not cigars), bicyclists—it's a bike city in a flat land.

    When to go: it can rain at any time in Amsterdam, but that's not a reason for not visiting this fascinating city. Off season tourists will be rewarded with good enough weather to stick around. Summer is good for sun lovers.

    Madrid, Spain

    Who should go: night owls—Madrid never sleeps, art lovers—the Prado is second only to the Louvre in presenting serious art, party-goers.

    When to go: spring, when days are warm and the nights are pleasantly cool. Demand for outside eating and drinking starts becoming stronger in March or April. Street life peaks in June and then slows in July and August as the temperature peaks. Autumn is also good, although you'll risk some rains.

    Venice, Italy

    Who should go: romantic dreamers who like walking through automobile-free streets, your mother (she'll want you to take her there, trust me), almost anyone who wants to see something really different and romantic.

    When to go: February is the time when the famous Venice Carnival is held and the weather is usually cold and foggy—perfect weather for Venice. Summer? A large number of tourists in shorts and whiny children ruin the atmosphere. You'll greatly enjoy yourself there in spring and early fall.

    NEW HAVEN, Connecticut—A surprise awaited students in Yale who showed up for Professor Laurie Santos's class. They got slips of paper that said, "No class today." There was only one rule for the students' unexpected free time—They were not allowed to study, but to relax. Since exams and papers were coming up, everyone was tired and stressed. At this moment they were touched. With around applause, nine students hugged Santos, and two burst into tears.

    Yet, cancelling class was not just a break. It was also a challenge, as she was asking them to stop worrying about their grades, even if it was just an hour. One student went to the Yale University Art Gallery for the first time in her four years at Yale. A group of students went to a recording studio and played a new song. More people were outside, and more were smiling. That's why about 1, 200 students were taking Santos's class, called "Psychology and the Good Life," the largest class in Yale's 317-year history. Even non-Yale students had the chance to take Santos's class. It was offered as an online course and she immediately became an Internet hit.

    Skyler Robinson, one of her students, was at a loss for a while about what to do during his break, and then decided to take a nap. "It was a great nap," he commented. Santos designed the class after she realized that her students kept busy through long days that seemed far more depressing and joyless than her own college years. "They feel they're in this crazy rat race. They're working so hard that they can't take a single hour off. That's awful."

    The ideas behind the class are simple. Santos said, "It is the hope that science can help students find peace among all the stresses and difficulties they face at college." The lessons include showing more gratitude, performing acts of kindness and increasing social connections. The students really wanted to learn to lead a happy life in a science -driven way. Santos also noted the psychological happening of "mis-wanting", which led people to work towards the wrong goals in life.

    One week, Santo asked students to exercise. Another week, she wanted them to get more sleep. They worked hard to keep some new habits. Social science research led to many new understandings of how people find happiness. She thinks her class can change Yale, or rather, not just Yale.