The kids in this village wear dirty, ragged clothes. They sleep beside cows and sheep in huts made of sticks and mud. They have no school. Yet they all can chant the English alphabet, and some can make words.

    The key to their success: 20 tablet computers(平板电脑) dropped off in their Ethiopian village in February by a U.S. group called One Laptop Per Child.

    The goal is to find out whether kids using today's new technology can teach themselves to read in places where no schools or teachers exist. The Massachusetts Institute of Technology researchers analyzing the project data say they're already amazed. “What I think has already happened is that the kids have already learned more than they would have in one year of kindergarten,” said Matt Keller, who runs the Ethiopia program.

    The fastest learner—and the first to turn on one of the tablets—is 8-year-old Kelbesa Negusse. The device's camera was disabled to save memory, yet within weeks Kelbesa had figured out its workings and made the camera work. He called himself a lion, a marker of accomplishment in Ethiopia.

    With his tablet, Kelbasa rearranged the letters HSROE into one of the many English animal names he knows. Then he spelled words on his own. “Seven months ago he didn't know any English. That's unbelievable,” said Keller.

    The project aims to get kids to a stage called “deep reading,” where they can read to learn. It won't be in Amharic, Ethiopia's first language, but in English, which is widely seen as the ticket to higher paying jobs.

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    Have you ever found yourself in this situation：You hear a song you used to sing when you were a child-a bit of nostalgia（怀旧）or "blast from the past，"as we say．But it is not a distant childhood memory．The words come back to you as clearly as when you sang them all those years ago．

    Researchers at the University of Edinburgh studied the relationship between music and remembering a foreign language．They found that remembering words in a song was the best way to remember even one of the most difficult languages．

    Here is what they did. Researchers took 60 adults and randomly divided them into three groups of 20．Then they gave the groups three different types of "listen-and-repeat" learning conditions．Researchers had one group simply speak the words．They had the second group speak the words to a rhythm，or beat．And they asked the third group to sing the words．

    All three groups studied words from the Hungarian language for 15minutes．Then they took part in a series of language tests to see what they remembered．

    Why Hungarian，you ask ? Researchers said they chose Hungarian because not many people know the language．It does not share any roots with Germanic or Romance languages，such as Italian or Spanish．After the tests were over，the singers came out on top．The people who learned these new Hungarian words by singing them showed a higher overall performance．They did the best in four out of five of the tests．They also performed two times better than those who simply learned the words by speaking them．

    Dr．Katie Overy says singing could lead to new ways to learn a foreign language．The brain likes to remember things when they are contained in a catchy 3，or memorable 4，tune 5．

    Dr．Ludke said the findings could help those who struggle to learn foreign languages．On the University of Edinburgh's website Dr．Ludke writes，"This study provides the first experimental evidence that a listen-and-repeat singing method can support foreign language learning，and opens the door for future research in this area．"

    A Samoan airline says that it is the world's first carrier to charge passengers by their weight. Samoa Air, which opened in 2012, asks passengers to give their personal weight during booking, which is then charged according to the length of a flight. The customers will also be weighed just before they board the plane.

    "It is believed that all people throughout the world are the same size," Samoa Air CEO Chris Langton said. "Airplanes always run on weight, not seats."

    "There is no doubt in my mind that this is the concept of the future. This is the fairest way of your travelling with your family or yourself."

    Though the airline introduced the plan last November, it caught people's attention last week when the carrier began international flights to neighboring American Samoa.

    Almost at the same time, a Norwegian economist, Bharat Bhatta, published a report suggesting that airlines should charge obese passengers more.

    The Pacific Islands contain some of the world's most common countries for obesity, many ranking in the top 10, according to the World Health Organization (WHO). Samoa is ranked number four, with 59.6 percent of the population considered obese, said the most recent WHO report.

    According to Samoa Air's latest schedule, the airline charges up to $0.57 per kg for flights in Samoa and $1.03 per kg for its only international flight to American Samoa, around 250 miles.

    Children under 12 are charged 75 percent of the adult rate, with fares also based on weight. Any overweight baggage is calculated at the same rate as the passenger's personal weight.

    The plan could actually prove cheaper in some cases, such as for families travelling with small children, and Langton said customer reaction has mainly been "amazingly positive".

    The idea of charging passengers by weight has been hotly discussed before, and in the US some airlines require those who do not fit into a seat comfortably to buy a second seat.

    It's a good idea for families to talk about what they would do to escape（逃跑，逃离）a fire. You'll want to talk about escape plans and escape routes，so let's start here.

    An escape plan can help every member of a family get out of a burning house. The idea is to get outside quickly and safely. Smoke from a fire can make it hard to see where things are，so it's important to learn and remember the different ways out of your home.

    If you live in an apartment building，you'll want to know the best way to the stair or other emergency exits. If you're in a room with the door closed when the fire breaks out，you need to take a few extra steps：

    Check to see if there's heat or smoke coming in the cracks(裂缝) around the door.

    If you see smoke coming under the door—don't open the door!

    If you don't see smoke—touch the door. If the door is hot or very warm—don't open the door!

    If you don't see smoke—and the door is not hot—then use your fingers to lightly touch the doorknob(门把手)．If the doorknob is hot or very warm—don't open the door!

    If the doorknob feels cool，and you can't see any smoke around the door，you can open the door very carefully and slowly. When you open the door，if you feel a burst of heat，or smoke pours into the room，quickly shut the door and make sure it is really closed. If there's no smoke or heat when you open the door，go toward your escape route exit.

D

    We've all been there: in a lift, in line at the bank or on airplane, surrounded by people who are, like us, deeply focused on their smartphones or, worse, struggling with the uncomfortable silence.

    What's the problem? It's possible that we all have compromised conversational intelligence. It's more likely that none of us start a conversation because it's awkward and challenging, or we think it's annoying and unnecessary. But the next time you find yourself among strangers, consider that small talk is worth the trouble. Experts say it's an invaluable social practice that results in big benefits.

    Dismissing small talk as unimportant is easy, but we can't forget that deep relationships wouldn't even exist if it weren't for casual conversation. Small talk is the grease (润滑剂) for social communication, says Bernardo Carducci, director of the Shyness Research Institute at Indiana University Southeast. "Almost every great love story and each big business deal begins with small talk," he explains. "The key to successful small talk is learning how to connect with others, not just communicate with them."

    In a 2014 study, Elizabeth Dunn, associate professor of psychology at UBC, invited people on their way into a coffee shop. One group was asked to seek out an interaction(互动) with its waiter; the other, to speak only when necessary. The results showed that those who chatted with their server reported significantly higher positive feelings and a better coffee shop experience. "It's not that talking to the waiter is better than talking to your husband," says Dunn. "But interactions with peripheral(边缘的) members of our social network matter for our well-being also."

    Dunn believes that people who reach out to strangers feel a significantly greater sense of belonging, a bond with others. Carducci believes developing such a sense of belonging starts with small talk. "Small talk is the basis of good manners," he says.

    There were smiling children all the way. Clearly they knew at what time the train passed their homes and they made it their business to stand along the railway, wave to complete strangers and cheer them up as they rushed towards Penang. Often whole families stood outside their homes and waved and smiled as if those on the trains were their favorite relatives. This is the simple village people of Malaysia. I was moved.

    I had always traveled to Malaysia by plane or car, so this was the first time I was on a train. I did not particularly relish the long train journey and had brought along a dozen newspapers and magazines to read and reread. I looked about the train. There was not one familiar face. I sighed and sat down to read my 21^st Century Teens.

    It was not long before the train was across the Causeway and in Malaysia. Johore Baru was just another city like Singapore, so I was tired of looking at the crowds of people as they hurried past. As we went beyond the city, I watched the straight rows of rubber trees and miles and miles of green. Then the first village came into sight. Immediately I came alive; I decided to wave back.

From then on my journey became interesting. I threw my magazines into the waste basket and decided to join in Malaysian life. Then everything came alive. The mountains seemed to speak to me. Even the trees were smiling. I stared at everything as if I was looking at it for the first time.

    The day passed fast and I even forgot to have my lunch until I felt hungry. I looked at my watch and was surprised that it was 3:00 pm. Soon the train pulled up at Butterworth. I looked at the people all around me. They all looked beautiful. When my uncle arrived with a smile, I threw my arms around him to give him a warm hug. I had never done this before. He seemed surprised and then his weather-beaten face warmed up with a huge smile. We walked arm in arm to his car.    I looked forward to the return journey, by train.