On Monday, I stopped my car in front of my daughter Juliet’s middle school. She jumped in the front seat, feeling _______. She asked me to help her study for her science test.

“Dad, I need to memorize a unit about the Reproductive Cycle of Plants. And I can _______ make it.”

“You know, memorizing seems like the best way to study, but in fact you can do better in tests if you work on trying to _______ the material,” I said.

Juliet was open to my _______. We had two nights to study before the test. I suggested a plan.“Tomorrow night, you are going to _______ the material to me. Tonight, read the unit. Prepare to teach.”

The idea of asking her to teach me was really _______ but I decided to have a try. Studies show teaching somebody else is a very useful way to _______. I expect the act of teaching leads to more learning than merely memorizing.

On Tuesday afternoon, Juliet _______ with her science book facing me and said, “Okay, Dad, let’s study.”I wanted her to teach me. But _______ started happened. I told myself I couldn’t be too hard on her. So instead, we started with me asking her some simple questions. She knew some but not others. When she didn’t know the ________, I encouraged her to check the book.

She started checking things that didn’t make sense. And she was actively seeking to test her understanding. I was happy to see that she wasn’t memorizing, she was trying to make sense of things, which was exactly what I expected.

For the past six years, Jordan Romero has been running after a dream. That dream has taken him to the top of the world’s highest mountains.The dream came true when the California teenager stepped onto the top of Mount Vinson Massif in Antarctica (南极洲).

On that day—December 24, 2011—Jordan became the youngest person to have climbed the tallest mountain on each of the seven continents(大陆). These mountains are known as the “seven summits(顶峰)”.

It all began when Jordan was 9 years old. He was attracted by a school wall painting that showed the seven summits. Jordan had never climbed a mountain before. But he told his dad that he wanted to climb them ALL!

In fact, Jordan’s dad was an experienced mountaineer. From that day on, Jordan’s parents trained him in top-level mountaineering and climbed every mountain with him. As part of “Team Jordan”, they also became the first family to climb the seven summits together.

Training to climb the highest mountains in the world involves a lot of hard work. But Jordan has always been very active—it’s just the way he lives. Still, there were times when he thought, “Yeah, I want to be done.” But he refused to give up. When others thought he was too young to climb Mount Everest, the world’s highest mountain, he just kept thinking. “All you no-sayers, I’ll show you.” He sure did. When he was 13, he became the youngest person to reach Mount Everest.

He encourages kids to “find your Everest.” That doesn’t mean he wants everyone to start mountain climbing. He means find something you love doing and try your best to make it. “Anything is possible,” Jordan says.

Have you ever imagined going inside of a video game? That dream may soon become a reality (现实). It’s called the “metaverse”.

The metaverse is a shared online 3D world which is considered as the future of the Internet. Instead of being on a computer, in the metaverse you might use a VR headset to enter a virtual world connecting all kinds of environments. It will feel real because the technology can simulate (模拟) our senses: sight, hearing, touch, and even smell.

So, what can you do inside of the metaverse? Anything you want! You can meet other people wherever they are. Your location (位置) will no longer matter, said VOA News. In the metaverse, people would be connected at all times. So, if you are bored and can’t find any friends to play basketball with, don’t worry. Just jump into the metaverse and join a game.

The metaverse doesn’t just connect people. It creates a new space, full of places to explore. Are you tired of visiting the same beach every year? Forget Sanya. Meet your friends in the metaverse and go to a beach on the moon—or anywhere else you can imagine. Once you’re there, you can do more than just swim in the water. You can fly over the sand or dive to the bottom of the sea. You can ride horses, or better yet, dinosaurs!

Cathy Hackl, an expert in metaverse technology, said her son’s first concert was inside of a video game. “Just because it happened in a video game, it didn’t make it less real for him,” she said.

Perhaps the metaverse will change our idea of what is real.