A farmer grew some vegetables in his garden. One day his wife was ill and he had no money. He had to sell some cabbages and carrots in the market. The next morning he took two baskets of vegetables to town, but it was raining hard that afternoon and there were few people in the street. When his vegetables were sold out, it was dark. He bought some medicine and hurried to his village.

    On his way home he saw a person lying on the ground. He placed his baskets on the ground and was going to help the person to get up. At that time he found it was a dead man and there was much blood on his body. He was so afraid that he ran away quickly, without taking his baskets.

    The next afternoon the farmer was sent to the police station. Having shown the baskets, an officer asked, “Are these yours? ” “Yes, sir. ” The farmer answered timidly（胆怯地）. “Have you killed the man?” “No, no, sir.” The farmer said in a hurry. “When did you see the dead man?” “About seven last evening. ” “Did you see who killed the man?” “No, sir. ” The officer brought out a knife and asked, “Have you seen it yet?” “No, sir. ” The officer became angry and told the policemen to beat him up and sent him into prison.

    That evening the officer went on trying. Pointing to the knife, he asked again, “Have you seen it yet?” “ yes, sir.” The officer was happy and asked, “When and where?” “I saw it here this afternoon, sir.”

    “Asia's Challenge 2020” Essay Prize

    DESCRIPTION

    What is the most important challenge facing Asia over the next decade? Why? What should be done about it?

The best answer in 3,000 words or less will win a prize of 2,500. Two runners-up will be awarded prizes of 1,000 each. These three prize winners will be invited to Singapore for an expenses-paid awards ceremony. The winning articles will be posted on Time.com.

    PURPOSE

    The main purpose of the essay prize is to generate fresh ideas for tackling key challenges to Asia's continued competitiveness and development, as well as encourage young professionals to make an impact on public policy and business in Asia.

    SELECTION CRITERIA

    The essay will be judged according to creativity, innovation, rigor of research and writing, as well as achievability of idea. It can be focused on one or more areas relevant to Asia, such as macro-economics, business, international relations, trade and investment, education, healthcare, urban development, science and technology, and energy and the environment. The essay must be written in English. It should not have been previously published in English in a publication with broad international circulation.

    CANDIDATE REQUIREMENTS

    The candidate authoring the essay must be under 32years of age as of December 31, 2010. The candidate must be an Asian national.

    SUBMISSION REQUIREMENTS

    The essay should be submitted electronically to prize@asiabusinesscouncil.Org. by August 31, 2010. Prize winners will be announced in September 2010.

    The submission should contain the candidate's full name, nationality, and month and year of birth. The essay should include a title and word count.

    French writer Frantz Fanon once said: "To speak a language is to take on a world, a culture." Since the world changes every day, so does our language.

    More than 300 new words and phrases have recently made it into the Oxford Dictionary Online, and in one way or another they are all reflections of today's changing world.

    After a year that was politically unstable, it's not hard to understand the fact that people's political views are one of the main drives of our expanding vocabulary. One example is "clicktivism", a compound of "click" and "activism". It refers to "armchair activists" -- people who support a political or social cause, but only show their support from behind a computer or smart phone.

    "We had all the words around Brexit (脱欧) in the last update and we are now starting to see all the words around Trump coming into the dictionary," Angus Stevenson, Oxford Dictionaries' head of content development, told The Guardian.

    Lifestyle is also changing our language. For example, "fitspiration -- a compound of fit and inspiration -- refers to a person or thing that encourages one to exercise and stay fit and healthy. The phrase "climate refugee" -- someone who is forced to leave their home due to climate change -- reflects people's concern for the environment.

    According to Stevenson, social media was the main source for the new expressions "People feel much freer to coin their own words these days." he said.

    But still, not all newly- invented words get the chance to make their way into a mainstream dictionary. If you want to create your own hit words, Angus Stevenson suggests that you should not only make sure that they are expressive and meaningful, but also have an attractive sound so that people will enjoy saying them out loud.

    A young woman sits alone in a café sipping tea and reading a book. She pauses briefly to write in a nearby notepad before showing her words to a passing café waiter: "Where are the toilets please?" This is a familiar scene in Tokyo's so-called "silent cafés", where customers are not allowed to speak, and only communicate by writing in notepads.

    The concept rises by a desire to be alone among young Japanese, a situation brought by economic uncertainty, a shift in traditional family support structures and the growing social isolation. The phenomenon is not limited to coffee shops but covers everything from silent discos, where participants dance alone wearing wireless headphones connected to the DJ, to products such as small desk tents designed for conversation-free privacy in the office. One Kyoto company even offers single women the opportunity to have a "one woman wedding"—a full bridal affair, complete with white dress and ceremony, and the only thing missing is the groom. The trend has its own media expression-“botchi-zoku”, referring to individuals who consciously choose to do things completely on their own.

    One recent weekday afternoon, Chihiro Higashikokubaru, a 23-year-old nurse, travelled 90 minutes from her home, to Tokyo on her day off in order to enjoy some solo time. Speaking quietly at the entrance of the cafe, Miss Higashikokubaru said: “I heard about this place via Twitter and I like the idea of coming here. I work as a nurse and it's always very busy. There are very few quiet places in Tokyo, and it's a big busy city. I just want to come and sit somewhere quietly on my own. I'm going to drink a cup of tea and maybe do some drawings. I like the idea of a quiet, calm atmosphere.”

    The desire to be isolated is not a new concept in Japan, home to an estimated 3.6 million "hikikomori" - a more extreme example of social recluses(隐士) who withdraw completely from society.

    It is commonly believed that in medieval France, New Year was celebrated on 1 April. Then in 1562, Pope Gregory introduced a new calendar for the Christian world, changing New Year to 1 January. With no modern communications, news travelled slowly and new ideas were often questioned. Many people did not hear of the change, some merely forgot, and others chose to ignore it. These people were called fools. Invitations to non-existent "New Year" parties were sent and other practical jokes were played. Over time playing tricks on 1 April became a tradition. The custom eventually spread to England and Scotland, and it was later transported across the Atlantic to the American colonies (殖民地) of the English and the French. April Fools' Day has now developed into an international festival of fun, with different nationalities celebrating the day in special ways.

    France and Italy

    In France and Italy, if someone plays a trick on you, you are the "fish of April". By the month of April fish have only just hatched and are therefore easy to catch. Children stick paper fish to their Friends' backs and chocolate fish are found in the shops.

    America and Britain

    Today, Americans and the British play small tricks on friends and strangers alike on 1 April. A common trick is to point to a friend's shoe and say "Your shoelace (鞋带) is untied." When they look down, they are laughed at. Schoolchildren might tell a friend that school has been cancelled. Sometimes the media get involved. Once, a British short film was shown on April Fools' Day about spaghetti farmers and how they harvest their crop from spaghetti trees!

    Scotland

    In Scotland, April Fools' Day lasts for two days! The second day is called "Taily Day" and tricks on this day involve the bottom (or the "tail", in informal speech). Often a sign saying ‘kick me' is stuck onto someone's back without them knowing.

    Since the 1970s, scientists have been searching for ways to link the brain with computers. Brain­computer interface (BCI) technology could help people with disabilities send commands to machines.

Recently, two researchers, Jose Millan and Michele Tavella from the Federal Polytechnic School in Lausanne, Switzerland, demonstrated(展示) a small robotic wheelchair directed by a person's thoughts.

    In the laboratory, Tavella operated the wheelchair just by thinking about moving his left or right hand. He could even talk as he watched the vehicle and guided it with his thoughts.

    "Our brain has billions of nerve cells. These send signals through the spinal cord(脊髓) to the muscles to give us the ability to move. But spinal cord injuries or other conditions can prevent these weak electrical signals from reaching the muscles." Tavella says. "Our system allows disabled people to communicate with external world and also to control devices."

    The researchers designed a special cap for the user. This head cover picks up the signals from the scalp(头皮) and sends them to a computer. The computer interprets the signals and commands the motorized wheelchair. The wheelchair also has two cameras that identify objects in its path. They help the computer react to commands from the brain.

    Prof. Millan, the team leader, says scientists keep improving the computer software that interprets brain signals and turns them into simple commands. "The practical possibilities that BCI technology offers to disabled people can be grouped in two categories：communication，and controlling devices. One example is this wheelchair."

    He says his team has set two goals. One is testing with real patients, so as to prove that this is a technology they can benefit from. And the other is to guarantee that they can use the technology over long periods of time.