One day Mark Twain was going to a small town because {#blank#}1{#/blank#} his writing. Before he was going to leave, one of his friends {#blank#}2{#/blank#} (say) to him that there were always a lot of mosquitoes in the town and told him that he'd better not go there. Mark Twain waved his hand and said, “{#blank#}3{#/blank#} doesn't matter. The mosquitoes are not relatives of mine. I don't think they will come {#blank#}4{#/blank#} (visit)me.”

    After he arrived at the town, Mark Twain stayed in {#blank#}5{#/blank#} small hotel near the station. He went into a room, but {#blank#}6{#/blank#} he was just about to have a rest, quite {#blank#}7{#/blank#} few mosquitoes flew about him. The waiters felt very sorry about that. “I'm very sorry, Mr. Mark Twain. There are too many mosquitoes in our town,” one of them said {#blank#}8{#/blank#} him.

    Mark Twain, however, made a joke, {#blank#}9{#/blank#}  (say) to the waiter, “The mosquitoes are very clever. They know my room number. They don't come into the wrong room.” What he said made all the people present laugh heartily.

    But that night Mark Twain slept well. Did you know why? That was {#blank#}10{#/blank#} all the waiters in the hotel were driving mosquitoes away for him during the whole night.

    Sang Lan's story is so special. Everyone who saw her, from nurses to famous visitors like Lconardo DiCaprio from the film Titanic, who went to see her in the hospital to {#blank#}1{#/blank#}her up, add said she was in good {#blank#}2{#/blank#}. Sang Lan knew that for many people the secret to happiness is to have {#blank#}3{#/blank#} for the good things in life, and to focus on goals, Instead of crying about what she had lost and feeling hopeless, Sang Lan thought about what she could do to get better . Her teammates were competing while she was in hospital. When they visited her and told her about their {#blank#}4{#/blank#} she was happy for them. When the doctor told her that she would never again be a gymnast, she was able to {#blank#}5{#/blank#} her sorrow by being proud of the things she had accomplished. She felt thankful to be alive and lucky to have the rest of her life to learn new things.

Emphasizing social play in kindergarten improves academics

    Emphasizing social play and students helping one another in kindergarten improves academic outcomes, self-control and attention regulation, finds new UBC research. The study, published in the journal PLoS One, found this approach to kindergarten curriculum also {#blank#}1{#/blank#} children's joy in learning and teachers' enjoyment of teaching.

    "Before children have the ability to sit for long periods {#blank#}2{#/blank#} information, they need to be allowed to be {#blank#}3{#/blank#} and be encouraged to learn by doing," said Dr. Adele Diamond, the study's lead author. "Indeed, people of all ages learn better by doing than by being told."

    Through a controlled experiment, Diamond and her colleagues {#blank#}4{#/blank#} the effectiveness of a curriculum called Tools of the Mind (Tools). The curriculum was introduced to willing kindergarten teachers and 351 children with different backgrounds in 18 public schools.

    Tools was developed in 1993 by two American researchers. Its basic {#blank#}5{#/blank#} is that social-emotional development and improving self-control is as important as teaching academic skills and content. The Tools {#blank#}6{#/blank#} the role of social play in developing skills such as self-control, selective attention and planning. "Skills like self-control and selective attention are necessary for learning. They are often more strongly associated with school readiness (入学准备) than intelligence quotient (IQ)," said Diamond. "This experiment is the first to show {#blank#}7{#/blank#} of a curriculum emphasizing social play."

    Teachers reported more {#blank#}8{#/blank#} behavior and greater sense of community in Tools classes. Late in the school year, Tools teachers reported they still felt {#blank#}9{#/blank#} and excited about teaching, while teachers in the control group were exhausted. "I have enjoyed seeing the {#blank#}10{#/blank#} progress my students have made in writing and reading." said a Tools teacher in Vancouver. "I have also enjoyed seeing the students get so excited about coming to school and learning. They loved all the activities so much that many students didn't want to miss school, even if they were sick."