I developed a habit of daily learning something new many years ago. It’s one of the best things I’ve ever done.     1     And it also gives me a deeper understanding of how the world works.

    2     When we learn something new, our brain forms new neuronal (神经元的) connections. The more we learn, the easier it is for us to get knowledge. The brain is like a muscle.     3    

Learning new things can also improve our skills, such as creative writing, math and many others we’ll find helpful now and in the future.

Understanding new information helps us develop our critical (批判性的) thinking skills. When we’re studying a new subject, our brain actively processes new information.     4     Knowing different knowledge also helps us to avoid believing fake (假的) information on the Internet. Even when you are just writing a book report, you are training your mind to become more analytical (善于分析的).

By learning something new, we can have interesting conversations with our friends.     5     Next time you meet your friends, share some of the information that you’ve learned and discussed it. This will give you a deeper understanding of the topic you are trying to know more.

【推荐3】Do you dream about a trip to the space one day? Seeds (种子) of some vegetables and crops are a lot luckier than you, as they have travelled to space and back.

China is among the three countries in the world that carry out agricultural research (农业研究) in space. The others are Russia and the US.

Since 1987, China has sent about 1,000 species of seeds into space. These include green peppers (青椒), tomatoes, cucumbers (黄瓜), carrots, lettuce and wheat. Even on China’s first manned spaceship Shenzhou V, there were some seeds from an island.

“Conditions in outer space such as radiation (辐射) and low gravity can cause big changes in the seeds,” said Chinese researcher Jin Xing.

But not all seeds are better after going to space. After returning to the Earth, the best seeds are selected. These seeds grow faster and also produce (生产) much more than normal (正常的) seeds.

【推荐3】Would you BET on the future of this man? He is 53 years old. Most of his adult life has been a losing struggle against debt and misfortune. A war injury has made his left hand stop functioning, and he has often been in prison. Driven by heaven-knows-what motives, he determines to write a book.

The book turns out to be one that has appealed to the world for more than 350 years. That former prisoner was Cervantes (塞万提斯), and the book was Don Quixote (《堂吉诃德》). And the story brings an interesting question: why do some people find new energy and creativity to the end of their days, but others go to seed long before?

We’ve all known people who run out of steam before they reach life’s halfway mark. I’m not talking about those who fail to get to the top. We can’t all get there. I’m talking about people who have stopped learning on growing because they have taken in the fixed attitudes and opinions that all too often come with passing years.

Most of us, in fact, progressively narrow the variety of our lives. We succeed in our field of specialization and then become trapped in it. Nothing surprises us. We lose our sense of wonder. But, if we are willing to learn, the opportunities are everywhere.

The things we learn in maturity (成熟) seldom involve information and skills. We learn to bear with the things we can’t change. We learn to avoid self-pity. We learn that however much we try to please, some people are never going to love us-an idea that troubles at first but is eventually relaxing.

With high motivation and enthusiasm, we can keep on learning. Then we will know how important it is to have meaning in our life. However, we can achieve meaning only if we have made a commitment to something larger than our own little egos (自我) , whether to loved ones, to fellow humans, to work, or to some moral concept.

Many of us regard “commitment” with such “caring” jobs as teaching and nursing. But doing any ordinary job as well as one can is in itself an admirable commitment. People who work toward such excellence whether they are driving a truck or running a store make the world better just by being the kind of people they are. They’ve learned life’s most valuable lesson.

【推荐1】Have you ever seen the treasures at Sanxingdui?

The number one divine tree (神树) is one of the most famous of them. It includes three parts: a base, the tree itself and a dragon. The base is made to be like a mountain, rising on three sides.     1     The dragon is winding (弯曲) its way down to the mountain. The divine tree is divided into three levels. There are three branches on each level. And each branch spreads in two directions.     2    

Some people think the number one divine tree is the tree Fusang in the book “Classic of Mountains and Seas”. It describes there live nine birds carrying the sun from east to west in Fusang tree.     3     Every day, one bird takes off from the Fusang tree in the east and flies to the Ruomu tree in the west.

It’s said that there are in total of ten birds. But on the divine tree there are only nine, so where’s the tenth? There are two different ideas.     4     However, most people believe the tenth bird isn’t there because it is its turn to fly west, carrying the sun.

    5     Maybe they wanted to use it to connect heaven and earth. They wanted to reach higher and communicate with the gods. At the same time, they hoped to receive gods’ ideas.