In this day and age,it may seem that getting two people with different views together to discuss them leads to a disaster.Just think about what would happen if you sat down and had an open and honest conversation with someone with completely opposing views.Could it bring you closer together?

    However,the Human Library Organization is counting on it.At a Human Library,people volunteer to become "books" and make their experiences open and available."Readers" are encouraged to ask them questions freely,and they'll get honest answers in return.There's no judgment,and no questions are off—limits.

    You won't find unpleasant comments,and you won't lose faith in humanity.At the Human Library,you actually feel letter about the world you live in.You might even make a new friend!

    "The human books consist of people who have been discriminated by society."said Ronni Abergel,the Human Library Organization's founder,who has set out to build a space for conversations that can challenge prejudices through dialogue."The most pleasantly surprising thing about it is how close all the human books become to one another."she said.

    Human Libraries help to remind us there really is more that unites us than divides us.And as events now spread throughout 82 countries,with Human Libraries even set to launch soon in Pakistan and Jordan,you can tell that is a shared feeling.

    "We can spend billions and billions in trying to build up homeland security and our safety,but real safety comes from having positive relations to other groups in your community."said Abergel,"Real safety is not going to come from building walls.It's going to come from reaching out and getting to know each other."

    During the past Spring Festival, many children may have received red packets from their families. But Xing Pu, a 40-year-old economist, is asking the government to give red packets to every Chinese citizen.

    Xing suggested the government give out 1,000 yuan to each Chinese since the government income has increased rapidly in recent years. He said his suggestion would allow everyone to directly enjoy the fruits of the country's economic success, help the lower-income groups deal with rising prices and increase consumption (消费) around the country.

    Recent years have seen the government carry out a series of pro-poor (扶贫) and pro-rural (惠农) policies, including increasing spending on public healthcare and calling off the agricultural tax. But the lower-income group still needs more help while being hit hard by an 11-year high in prices and recent snowstorms.

    Xing said while making the draft, he has borrowed many ideas from practices in countries like the United States and Singapore. Earlier this year, the governments of the two nations offered money to their citizens as the result of a surplus in government income. As for in China, "We can even encourage the rich to donate their 1,000 yuan red packet to the poor," said Xing.

    Although Xing's suggestion has gained wide support among ordinary Chinese on the Internet, many other economists criticized it as unpractical. Even Xing himself admitted he made the suggestion without any careful calculation. But they agreed with Xing's point that the growing economic pie should be shared among the people.

    "To better use the increase of money, handing out money is not a solution that holds good for all time. It could be better to improve the public service or cut the price of energy used in daily life," said QiaoXinsheng, an economic professor.

    When I was younger, I thought that boys and grown men should not cry. The tears were signs of being weak and a sissy(胆小鬼), which a man is not supposed to be. This was even strengthened in my young mind when the song, Boys Don't Cry, came out in the early 1980s.

    But just this June, I discovered that courage is not all about trying to keep all the pain inside in check. Courage is not all about trying to hide the tears. It is the opposite — the tears strengthen the heart's courage. And I saw this in my father. That day my father cried.

    My 18-year-old sister eloped (私奔) and from it I saw how weak my father's heart was. My sister and I were used to seeing him as an iron-willed figure and authoritarian father.

    For three days after my sister eloped, he would not talk. He would just sit quietly outside our house in the dark. On the fourth night, I sat beside him and asked him to tell me what he felt about everything.

    It has been years since I have laid my hand on my father's shoulder as we have drifted apart (疏远) farther and farther while I was growing up. That night，though, I sensed my father trying to control his pain and I wanted him to be able to let it out. We have all cried over what happened except him. All of us except him.

    The simple touch and my words, "Dad, it is not your fault.", broke my father's dam.

    In the darkness, he began to cry. I felt his shoulders shaking as he whispered, "Where did

    I go wrong? All I ever wanted was for my children to grow up right. Why couldn't your sister wait?"

    I understood then why he preferred to be in the dark. By being there, he hoped to spare his family of a father's pain. His tears, though we did not see them before that night, were there all the same. I saw his courage, that night when my father cried with my hand on his shoulder, and understood his pain.

    In the future those who are taking care of old people may get help from the house itself.

    Over the last few years, new technology, such as the Internet, Wi-Fi and flat TV screens, has changed our homes and the way that we live. Now, another technology revolution is happening. A new project at the University of Hertfordshire wants to create a home that monitors people living in it who are elderly.

    The researchers have developed a wristband device（装置）which helps us to watch the elderly person who is wearing it. The device collects information to see if the person has fallen or has wandered away from where he or she should be.

    The assisted-living project is part of the university's wider Interhome project, which is the development of a smart house. The house remembers the habits of the person who lives there and it uses very low amounts of energy. The Interhome team hope that offering this service will help take care of the elderly. They say, "It's very important that these technologies are there to help and support and not replace any of the existing services."

    The Interhome is not just a research method. It's also a way for students from different scientific backgrounds to learn and develop technology. The university uses the latest technology to help students get experience by developing new hardware and software themselves. The team includes design, engineering and computer science students working together.

    "We are working on a smart-home project in Watford with some companies at the moment," says the project leader. "We are looking at how a smart home can provide even more services." This could help millions of old people around the world have a better and safer life in the future.

    Last year, I lived in Chile for half a year. I lived with a Chilean family and had the responsibilities of any Chilean teenager. I had good days and bad days I didn't understand.

    Chuquicamata, my host community, is a mining camp. When I arrived there, I was scared. It was so different from what I was used to. There were lots of dogs on the streets, and there was no downtown, few smoothly paved streets, and little to do for entertainment. Rain was not seen very often, earthquakes and windstorms were frequent.

    I had studied Spanish for two and a half years and was always one of the best students in my class. But in my first week in Chile I was only able to communicate and needed one person to whom I could explain my shock. I couldn't speak the thoughts in my head and there were so many.

    Most exchange students experience this like me. Culture shock presents itself in everything from increased aggression towards the people to lack of appetite (食欲). I was required to overcome all difficulties.

    As time passed, everything changed. I began to forget the words in English and to dream in Spanish and love Chilean food. I got used to not depending on expensive things for fun. Fun in Chuquicamata was being with people. And I took math, physics, chemistry, biology, Spanish, art, and philosophy.

    But the sacrifices were nothing compared to the gain. I learned how to accept and to succeed in another culture. I now have a deeper understanding of both myself and others.

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.