Every year in America, high-school students who want to go to college take a national examination called the Scholastic Aptitude Test, or SAT in a shortened way. Their score is an important factor in determining which colleges will admit them or whether any will be admitted at all. The Scholastic Aptitude Test measures one's mathematical ability and use of the English language. Traditionally, the English part involved grammatical questions and paragraphs that test reading comprehension.

    But the SAT folks have added a single question, to be answered in an essay, hand-written on the spot. That's an interesting way to test writing ability, but content aside, have you ever seen young people's handwriting lately? Or anyone's for that matter, in this age of computer keyboards? Students write numbers and sign their names on bank checks. They scribble class notes in what can generously be described as the written word.

    Yet today's kids are asked to write, thoughtfully and clearly, for several minutes on this SAT Test. Good luck to the text scorers who must work out difficultly the scrawl (潦草的字迹) of young people who've been typing on computers since the age of three! Teachers insist that good handwriting can not only help one's score on the SAT, but also, later on in life, impress potential employers. And don't forget, we all have to turn to handwriting from time to time, as computers go down when power goes out.

    Then how to improve the handwriting? Well, with a few simple steps you can improve your hand writing.

    Position the pen. You should hold the pen between the forefinger and the thumb, then rest it near the first knuckle (指节) of the middle finger. The rest of your fingers should be curled (卷曲) under your hand and your hand should remain relaxed.

    Evaluate your writing. Make changes to your letters till you like how they look.

    Take your time. Speed is bound to make your writing messy-looking.

    Practice. Practice it a lot; it's not enough to do it once and hope for the best. It has to be something you work at to make great improvements.

    When you see someone you know, the easiest way to recognize them is by their face—but not everyone can do this. Many people have prosopagnosia, or face blindness, which is a neurological（神经病学的）condition where the part of the brain that recognizes faces fails to develop. It can stop people recognizing partners, family members, friends or even their own reflection. It was once thought to be caused by brain injury (acquired prosopagnosia) but now a genetic link has been proved (development prosopagnosia).

    Acquired prosopagnosia is a very rare but as many as one in 50 people may have developmental prosopagnosia. There's no specific treatment, but training programmes are being developed to help improve facial recognition.

    For many, the situation can be dangerous. I've heard stories of people being robbed by strangers claiming to be family members, or of children wandering off strange men.

    It was only is this century that researchers began to realize exactly how many people in this world were quietly living with the condition.

    Like a blind person who can recognize family members by their footsteps, prosopagnosics are forced to develop unusual ways of discovering who it is they're meeting or talking to. From the obvious markers like hair and voice, to the way one sits, stands or walks, they rely on dozens of means to get through ordinary life.

    Faces are an important part of identity. Not to be recognized feels terrible—it's as if you've been overlooked, like someone's saying you don't matter. But it's nothing to the pain of knowing that you're hurting people's feelings constantly, and yet being completely unaware that you're doing it in the moment. To be alienated（隔离的）from the world of faces is a strange position to be in, but I'm comforted by the thought that articles like this will do a little to help people forgive me and others like me.

    New Zealand's government is hoping to make the nation greener by planting 100 million trees each year, ensuring the electricity grid（电网） runs entirely from renewable energy, and spending more money on cycle ways and rail transport. The government's plan is to reduce its net greenhouse gas emissionto zero by the year 2050.

    New Zealand's prime minister Jacinda Ardern has set ambitious environmental policies to confronta warming planet. “We will absolutely focus on the challenge of climate change,” said Ardern. “That will include a zero carbon government policy. That will include an independent climate commission. That will include making sure that we have an all gases, all sectors emissions trading scheme,” she added. According to the Associated Press (AP), Arden said the goal of doubling the amount of trees the country plants each year is “absolutely achievable.”

    Not everybody is happy with the plans. Many farmers are worried they will be required to pay more if they are absorbed into an emissions trading plan. “There is concern that if this should happen, New Zealand will become less competitive with other food-producing nations.” said Katie Milne, the president of Federated Farmers.

    More than 80 percent of New Zealand's electricity already comes from renewable resources. The AP reported that Ardern wants to increase it to 100 percent by 2035, in part by investing more in solar, which currently takes up only 0.1 percent of the country's total renewable energy slice.

    Mom noticed that something was wrong when I started getting so thirsty. I'd have a lot to drink before bed, which was unusual for me. One time, I opened a big container of apple juice and kept refilling my glass. Before I knew it, I'd drunk the entire container! My mom called my doctor. I then had a few blood tests, and the results were certain — I had diabetes (糖尿病), which meant that the amount of sugar in my blood was very high. That can be dangerous, so I had to learn how to control my blood-sugar level.

    My eating habits had to change in a big way. With diabetes, I can't eat a lot of sugar or carbohydrates (碳水化合物). I have to figure out exactly how much sugar I plan to eat, and then I get an injection of insulin (注射胰岛素) before the meal to help my body process the food. Also, I test my blood-sugar level often. I'm always trying to keep my blood sugar at a healthy level. The level can drop when I exercise, but that doesn't keep me out of gym class or off the basketball court — I just keep some juice boxes around to boost my blood sugar if I need to.

    It's a lot of work and not a lot of fun to keep track of everything, but I've gotten used to my new habits. I was a little scared at first because I wasn't sure how my life would change. Once I knew what I needed to do, though, it wasn't a big deal. My life is different now from what it was before, but it has become completely regular to me.

    Sometimes the best gift is the one you can use at home. These items will likely be appreciated all year for time spent relaxing, entertaining or getting things done.

    Jawbone Jambox Wireless Speaker

    $199 retail (far cheaper online). The bigger version goes for $299.

    The cool-looking rechargeable wireless speaker is getting good reviews for its big, balanced sound and compact design. It lets you stream music from smartphones, laptops and other Bluetooth devices(设备).

    Chalkboard Wall Planter

    $129. 95 retail at Williams-Sonoma

    No need to make room indoors for more flower pots. Grow a herb garden indoors in a wall-fixed vertical planter, and you'll get the benefits of fragrance (芳香). Fill the 10 planting cells with the herbs of your choice, and hang the planter in a sunny spot. Use the chalkboard borders to label each plant. Measures 16 by 5 by 24 inches and weighs 11 pounds.

    Pocket Projector

    $299 retail at Brookstone

    Let everyone get a good look at the pictures on your smartphone, computer, video player, or digital camera. This rechargeable pocket projector can turn a flat surface into a 60-inch big screen with 1080p HD picture quality. Invite friends for a movie night or a presentation. An HDMI cable is included to connect it to your device.

    Adjustable Tablet Stand

    $159 at Sharper Image

    This is the gift for the person who enjoys mobile. Use it to keep your hands free while doing homework, crafts or writing out bills. It can be rotated through 360 degrees. The stand slides easily under your furniture and can be used on either side of a bed or a sofa. It also folds for storage.

Most people assume that the human brain is set on "automatic"—that means it learns all by itself. But this isn't always true. We need to train ourselves to be better learners—to actively take part in the learning process and to reflect on what we have learnt. These kinds of learning behaviours are called "active learning". I suggest doing four things to take an active role in your learning.

Listen to the outer voice

There are two kinds of voices: the inner voice and the outer voice. Your inner voice expresses your personal opinions, while the outer voice tells you about opinions from what you hear or read. Although your inner voice can be useful, it can also get in the way of learning. If you keep paying too much attention to it, you risk missing important information. Instead, active learners are open-minded and focus on what the speaker/ write is saying, not on what their brain is saying in the background. In this way, they are in a better position to make decisions.

Ask questions

Asking questions is the easiest way to promote active learning. When you get information from someone, from books or the Internet, ask two, three, even five question about the topic. The answers will lead you to further learning, and the very act of working out questions will help you to achieve a higher level of understanding about the topic. In short: Do not stop being curious.

Get to the truth

Active learners do not accept everything they learn. They attempt to find the truth at the heart of each idea. Even when an idea sounds entirely unlikely, there may be an aspect of it that is based on truth. So if someone says that dinosaurs still exist today, think about why they believe this. Where does the idea come from? Do they have enough data to support their views? If you try to find out the source of an idea, no matter how crazy it seems, you will increase your chance of learning something.

Focus on the message

Many people miss out on learning opportunities because they let their feelings get in the way. They refuse to learn or ignore what is said because of who the speaker/ writer is. It is true that we cannot help disliking some people —this is human nature, after all. But do not forget you can still learn from them. Active learners do not judge people based on firs impressions or personal feelings. Instead, they separate the message from the message. This goes the other way as well—do not just assume that some people are always right because of who they are or just because they are your friends.