The Unusual Package

We had just finished our wonderful New Year Party. Now it was finally time to exchange presents.

One by one, our teacher called out each name, and then he handed the presents. Soon, all kinds of gifts, from board games, candy and books to small toys had been almost opened.

I stood off to one side with my best friends, Carrie and Megan. Carrie’s gift was a box of chocolates and Megan’s was a book of 365 stories. I tried to appear disinterested. But when the last brightly wrapped(包装的) present was gone, I began to get nervous.

The teacher finally called out my name and handed me an old, sort of dirty small box.

What an unusual package(包裹), I thought. Who would wrap something like this?

“Who’s it from?” asked Carrie.

I turned over the box and found, “To Betty from Sarah,” written in pencil. My heart dropped down to my feet when I saw it.

Sarah’s family was poor and they moved here about two years ago. Sarah was nice but terribly shy. She had trouble with her schoolwork, especially reading. Sometimes our teacher asked me to help her.

My mother had taught me that I should always be polite when receiving a gift. “Feelings are more important than things,” she always said. “There is nothing in the world worth hurting someone else’s feelings over.” So I was ready to act as if I had just been given the best present I had ever received.                         

“Maybe it’s an eraser,” said Carrie.

“I think it’s just a card,” said Megan.                                

But when I opened the box and reached my fingers in, I knew they were both wrong. I pulled out a hair pin. It was light yellow with a small pink flower on it. It was truly beautiful.

That night, I received more than the gift Sarah gave me. I learned not to prejudge others, and that nice presents and kind hearts could come in unusual packages.

As digital devices (数字设备) have taken over society, keyboard activity is now often taken to replace early handwriting. The idea is that typing may be easier for young children. But a new study has found that using a pen or pencil activates (激活) more areas of your brain than a keyboard does.

Audrey van der Meer, the study’s leader from the Norwegian University, believes that young children should learn to write by hand successfully. This is because writing “gives the brain more chances than typing to hang your memories on”, she explains. Think about it. When we write, our brain needs to think about and get back memories of the shape of each letter. We also need to use our eyes to watch what shapes we’re writing. And we need to control our hands to press a pen or pencil to shape the different letters. All of this uses and connects more areas of the brain.

Along the way, these processes appear to “open the brain up for learning”, says Van der Meer. So learning through only one way — digital — could be harmful, she worries.

Van der Meer also points out that taking notes by hand encourages “visual(视觉的) notetaking”. Rather than typing blindly, the visual notetaker has to think about what is important to write down. Then, key words can be “connected with boxes, arrows, and small drawings”. Drawing images and writing also turn on parts of the brain involved with learning. Writing even activates language areas.

This suggests, Van der Meer says, that when we write by hand, “we both learn better and remember better”. So it’s important for children to learn handwriting in school from an early age.

This study does not suggest giving up digital devices. In fact, it points out, computers and other devices with keyboards have become essential in many modern classrooms. Keyboarding also can be helpful for students with certain special needs (such as if they have trouble using their hands). But nearly all students will benefit from learning handwriting at an early age.

Van der Meer agrees that learning to write by hand is a slower process and requires fine motor skills. But, she adds, that’s good: “If we don’t challenge our brain, we can’t make full use of it.”

Why do We Celebrate Festivals?

Festivals are celebrated all around the world. Every festival has its different customs. However, no matter how different they may seem, all over the world, the spirit of sharing joy, thanks, love, or peace is common in all festivals.

Of all the traditional festivals, the harvest(丰收) festival can be found in almost every culture. This important festival takes place after all the crops have been gathered in. People celebrate to show that they are thankful for the year’s supply of food. In ancient Egypt, the harvest festival was celebrated during the springtime—the Egyptian harvest season. It had a parade and a great large meal with music dancing, and sports. Today, in some European countries, people decorate town halls with flowers and fruit, and get together to celebrate over a meal. During the Mid-Autumn Festival in China, families gather to admire the shining moon and enjoy delicious moon cakes.

Customs play an important role in festivals, but sometimes they can change over time because of the development of modern society and the spread of new ideas. One example is the Chinese Spring Festival custom of lighting fireworks to drive away the evil(恶毒的) spirits and celebrate the new year. Nowadays, many big cities have given up this custom in order to avoid air pollution. Another example is Halloween, which slowly became an exciting festival for children which is far from its original custom.

Festivals are becoming more and more commercial(商业的) with businesses taking advantage of the celebrations. Online shopping websites and social media apps have made it much easier for the public to spend more on gifts for their loved ones. Although some believe festivals should not be commercialized, others believe the increase in spending is good for the economy(经济) and public happiness.

Festivals are an important part of society. They show people’s wishes, beliefs and attitudes towards life. They allow us to relax and enjoy life, and forget about our work for a little while. They help us understand where we came from, who we are, and what to thank for. And if you study festivals carefully, you may be surprised to find that different cultures actually have a lot in common after all.

40. 生活中并不缺少美，而是缺少对美的发现。美，可以是一个人，一桩事，一件物品，一处风景……

某英文报社以“Discover the Beauty in Life(发现生活中的美)”为话题展开征文活动，请你用英语写篇短文给报社投稿，谈谈你发现的美是什么，发现美的过程中你经历了什么，以及从中得到的收获。

Beauty is everywhere around us.