For a long time, the traditional method of identifying liars was to watch their body language, including facial expressions.

    What if the person appears to be nervous? Is the person unable to look me in the eye? Is he or she look around the room? What about other nervous movements, such as fidgeting（坐立不安）or shifting from side to side? Many people—from parents to police officers and airport security personnel—depend on this method. But does a person's body and face reveal the truth? Not according to a new study.

    Talking, it seems, is the best way to smoke out a liar. That is what researchers in the United Kingdom found out recently. Their investigation took place at one place where lying can get you into big trouble—an airport.

    The researchers asked volunteers to pretend they were real passengers and then lie to airport security agents. Some of the agents used spoke conversation-based methods to question these make-believe passengers. Others depended instead on the person's body language, like lack of eye contact and showing signs of nervousness. The agents talking with the passengers were 20 times more likely to catch the liars. The study found that these conversation-based techniques can help you recognize when a person is lying to you. Like many methods, this conversation method has a name. It is called Controlled Cognitive Engagement or CCE, for short.

    The British government partly financed this study. The American Psychological (APA) published the findings. Body language cannot be trusted. Using body language and facial expressions to catch someone in a lie is really hard. And it only works, seemingly, by chance.

    Thomas Ormerod is the head of the School of Psychology at the University of Sussex in England. On the APA website, he reported that the “suspicious-signs method”—or using body language—“almost completely fails” in finding lies.

    A student was one day taking a walk with his teacher. As they went along, they saw a pair of old shoes lying in the path. They were a poor farmer's, who was working in the nearby field.

    The student turned to the teacher, saying: “we will hide his shoes, and hide ourselves behind those trees, and wait to see what he will do.”

    “My young friend,” answered the teacher, “we should never make fun of the poor. Why not put a coin in each shoe, and then we will hide ourselves and watch?” The student did so and they both hid themselves behind the trees. The poor man soon finished his work, and came across the field to the path where he had left his coat and shoes.

    After putting on his coat, he put his foot into one of his shoes, and felt something hard. Then he bent (弯腰) down to feel what it was, and found the coin. Surprised, he looked at the coin, turned it around and looked at it again. He then looked around, but no person was seen. He put the money into his pocket, and continued to put on the other shoe. His surprise was doubled on finding the other coin.

    He couldn't control his feelings and fell to his knees, looked up to the sky and expressed his thanks. Then he spoke of his wife, sick and helpless, and his children without bread. He said the help would save them from dying.

    The student stood there deeply moved, and his eyes filled with tears. “Now,” said the teacher, “are you not much happier than if you had hidden the shoes?”

    At the age of seven, while his friends were spending their allowances on candy and toys, Jose Adolfo Quisocola, from Peru, came up with the creative idea of an eco-bank, which allows kids of all ages to become economically independent and financially wise while also helping the environment.

    Established in 2012, The Bartselana Student Bank is the world's first cooperative bank for kids. Whoever wants to join has to bring in at least 5 kilograms(11 pounds)of solid waste(paper or plastic)and establish a savings goal. Once accepted, all bank "partners" are required to deposit at least one additional kilogram(2.2 pounds)of recyclables on a monthly basis and obey other requirements, such as attending financial education and environmental management workshops. The waste accumulated is sold to local recycling companies, who, thanks to some clever negotiation by Jose, pay a higher-than-market rate for everything brought in by Bartselana Student Bank members. The funds received are placed in the individual's account where they collect until his／her savings goal is reached. The account holder can then withdraw his／her money, or choose to leave it and continue to grow for a bigger target.

    "At the beginning, my teachers thought I was crazy or that a child could not undertake this type of project," Jose recalls." They did not understand that we are not the future of the country but its present. Luckily, I had the support of the school principal and an assistant in my classroom."

    The youngster's persistence paid off. Today, the eco-bank, which now has the support of several local institutions, has ten educational centers and begins accepting applications from kids all across Peru. On November 20, 2018, the young boy was awarded the famous Children's Climate Prize (CCP)."Jose's eco-bank is a brilliant way of linking economy and climate impact, both in thought and practice. The potential impact is amazing," a judge said.

    Hopefully, Jose's success will inspire more kids and adults to come up with new ideas that create value while helping the environment. As the boy says," Together we can change the world…we just need an opportune it."

    Newborns begin to develop language skills long before they begin speaking. And, compared to adults, they develop these skills more quickly. People have a hard time learning new languages as they grow older, but babies have the ability to learn any language easily.

    For a long time, scientists have tried to explain how such young children can learn the complicated (复杂的) grammatical rules and sounds of a language. Now, researchers are getting a better idea of what's happening in the brains of the tiniest language learners. This new information might help kids with learning problems as well as adults who want to learn new languages. It might even help scientists who are trying to design computers that can communicate like people do.

    Most babies go "ma ma" by 6 months of age, and most children speak in full sentences by age 3. For many years, scientists have wondered how the brains of young children figure out how to communicate using language. With help from new technologies, scientists are now finding that babies begin life with the ability to learn any language. They get into contact (接触) with other people, listen to what they say and watch their movements very closely. That is why they quickly master the languages they hear most often.

    Studies show that, up to about 6 months of age, babies can recognize all the sounds that make up all the languages in the world. Starting at around 6 months old a baby's brain focuses on the most common sounds it hears. Then, children begin responding only to the sounds of the language they hear the most.

    In a similar way older babies start recognizing the patterns that make up the rules of their native language. For example, English children who are about 18 months old start to figure out that words ending in "-ing" or "-ed" are usually verbs, and that verbs are action words.

    Use your domestic plan when you travel in over 100 countries for $10 a day. Add International Day Pass to your existing plan before you go, then follow these tips to help manage costs and make the most of your travels:

How it works

    While abroad, if you make or accept a call, listen to a voicemail, send a text, or use data, you will be automatically charged $10 for 24-hour access to your domestic plan. During that period you can:

●Use your domestic plan data to email, post on social media, translate languages and more.

●Make unlimited calls to countries included in International Day Pass.

●Send unlimited texts to the world.

How to help manage costs

●If you are outside of a 24-hour access period and you don't want to use your phone, turn off data roaming (漫游) to avoid being charged $10 accidentally.

●Save data by connecting Wi-Fi, especially if you download, or send and receive large files.

    Note: INTERNATIONAL DAY PASS: Coverage not available in all areas. Int'l Day Pass may be removed if international talk, text, or data use exceeds (超过) 50% of your total talk, text, or data use for two months.

    "You can use me as a last resort(选择), and if nobody else volunteers, then I will do it." This was an actual reply from a parent after I put out a request for volunteers for my kids' lacrosse(长曲棍球) club.

    I guess that there's probably some demanding work schedule, or social anxiety around stepping up to help for an unknown sport. She may just need a little persuading. So I try again and tug at the heartstrings. I mention the single parent with four kids running the show and I talk about the dad coaching a team that his kids aren't even on … At this point the unwilling parent speaks up, "Alright. Yes, I'll do it."

    I'm secretly relieved because I know there's real power in sharing volunteer responsibilities among many. The unwilling parent organizes the meal schedule, sends out emails, and collects money for end-of-season gifts. Somewhere along the way, the same parent ends up becoming an invaluable member of the team. The coach is able to focus on the kids while the other parents are relieved to be off the hook for another season. Handing out sliced oranges to bloodthirsty kids can be as exciting as watching your own kid score a goal.

    Still, most of us volunteers breathe a sigh of relief when the season comes to a close. That relief is coupled with a deep understanding of why the same people keep coming back for more: Connecting to the community(社区) as you freely give your time, money, skills, or services provides a real joy. Volunteering just feels so good.

    In that sense, I'm pretty sure volunteering is more of a selfish act than I'd freely like to admit. However, if others benefit in the process, and I get some reward too, does it really matter where my motivation lies?