2 . Willpower helps us to keep studying and working hard. It allows us to say no to the extra sweet after a meal. We may not achieve our goals if we fail to control ourselves, so scientists have been studying willpower for many years.

One of the main theories (理论) of willpower is the energy model of self-control. According to it, the brain can provide limited power, which can be used up. Nobody is disciplined all the time. When an act of self-control weakens our will, we’ll feel tired because of the decrease of blood sugar as we face another challenge.

This model has great influence, but Northwestern University’s Daniel Molden doesn’t agree with it. His team has been using a new experiment to test the role of carbohydrate metabolism (碳水化合物代谢) in self-control.

Daniel’s team questioned the finding that self-control lowers blood sugar levels. Volunteers ate nothing and had their baseline blood sugar level tested. Some completed high self-control tasks, while others did low disciplined tasks. Later, all volunteers had blood sugar tests and did another self-control challenge.

The results were interesting. Volunteers who completed the challenging task showed less willpower in the following task. This agrees with the energy model. However, their blood sugar did not fall. It showed that willpower didn’t increase carbohydrate metabolism.

The energy model suggests that using up sugar can bring back self-control. Daniel’s team tested this idea by having volunteers rinse (清洗) their mouths with water mixed with sugar, spitting (吐出) it out like mouthwash. Others rinsed with the artificial sweetened water that was similar to a sugary drink but provided no energy. Later, all volunteers participated in a second task requiring self-control.

The results disagreed with the energy model once again. Those who rinsed with the artificial sweetened water showed lower willpower. However, rinsing with the sugary water seemed to bring back volunteers’ lost willpower, more than the artificially sweetened water. This study showed that only the sugary rinse could bring back self-control.

Scientists believe that inspiration is the reason why self-control is back. They believe the mouth “senses” the carbohydrates in the mouthwash, which may tell that a reward (奖励) is coming. Sensing that an energy increase is coming, the brain is active to put in extra effort. In short, the sugar inspires—rather than offers energy for—willpower.

If inspiration can be refilled with something as simple as a mouthwash, this opens different possibilities for new researches in the future.

Smile to the Lost Present

The one who has never gained something will never experience the pain of losing whatever that something is. That is pretty clear. But I consider the absence of the joy of “having” to be more miserable (痛苦的) than that of having lost something after having once had it.

When I was six years old, a lovely doll caught my eye. My mom refused to buy it for me, so I took a “job”, my first, selling sweets in a park. Holding the doll which had been earned by myself, I was the happiest girl in the world. However, the doll ended up losing during a family trip. My tears couldn’t bring it back.

In Grade Nine, my closest friend became estranged (疏远) from me. We had shared our innermost secrets with each other and supported one another through difficult times. At the time she kept me at a distance, I was very disappointed and even wished I had never known her. Accustomed to our friendship and her company, I didn’t know what to do without her at one time.

Recalling the past, I’m not that sad about those lost treasures now. Instead, I am thankful for them for making my life colorful. I am proud of the persevering little girl who managed to acquire her coveted doll. And the memory of my ex-friend’s warm smile continues to encourage me from time to time. How much would I have missed in life if I hadn’t bought that doll or hadn’t befriended that girl?

Experiences are of great importance to our lives. The world is so changeable that nothing is able to last forever. Nothing actually belongs to us except our own feelings. How much regret do you think exists in this unfilled blank which we create for ourselves when we give up on our reasonable wants just because of our fears of potential loss? For me, nothing could be more miserable than a risk-free but boring life in which you have the constant desire for something but have not the courage to make it your own!

Face peacefully the fact that, while the treasure itself is gone, the memories are still very much alive. Walk out of the shadow and accept the new present that is being delivered to you. Let these wonderful past moments shine like stars in the night sky.

Don’t cry because it’s over; smile because it once happened.

Have you ever seen shadow plays? The shadow play is one of the oldest puppet performances in China. It was a popular folk drama in ancient China and also the ancestor (祖先) of the films in the world.

Shadow plays were once a popular form of entertainment, and they were also used for religious (宗教) and instructional purposes. Simple to perform, dramas were played out on screens or walls for thousands of years, and the shadow play is still performed in China today.

A simple lamp and a thin screen were all that were needed for a stage. Things like people, animals, furniture, walls and plants were shown on the screen by placing figurines or figures made of cardboard or leather in front of the lamp.

The lamp lighted the screen from behind, and people could move little figurines around for theatrical performances. With added music and sound effects, the plays could be quite entertaining if they were well performed. These were ancient dramas or cartoons, and they were even colorized for added entertainment by using colored translucent (半透明的) figurines. The lamp light cast a colored shadow.

One can imagine that stone-age people sat next to campfires and watched stories played out on rock walls by shadows cast by using their hands or figurines.

It is said that the Mongols in the 13th century liked to watch shadow plays in their camps. They took the entertainment with them, and it became a popular entertainment in the Yuan Empire of the 13th century.

Shadow plays were performed in France when French missionaries (传教士) returned from China in 1767 and put on performances in Paris and Marseilles. It is said that this is how the shadow play was introduced to Europe. The plays were popular in France, and they were called “Chinese Shadows” at first.

Nowadays, performers use plastics, computer controlled lightning and machinery, and modern paint and dyes to produce bright and colorful shadow figures. They can produce images that are controlled by computers, and these can be used for animation and entertainment effects in plays. It is difficult for shadow puppeteers to compete with modern entertainment technologies for an audience, but some of them are using modern materials and adopting technology to help stage interesting entertainment in China.

I’m no literary Luddite (反对新技术的人). I bought an iPad with my first paycheck from my first full-time job after graduating from college. But after two years of reading occasionally on the device, I gave it away to my brother. It just wasn’t the right reading experience for me.

Technology lovers choose e-readers over books because e-readers are more convenient. They’re right. It is objectively easier to carry a 7oz (盎司) tablet with thousands and thousands of books at your fingertips than it is to carry five books in your bag, which is exactly what I did on vacation.

But I don’t read for convenience. I read to learn more about the world and myself. I have made friends by seeing a book cover in a cafe and noticing that it was the same title that I was reading. I can trace my life by the books that have been my companions. When I open an old book and come across my previously scribbled notes — shaky ones when I’ve been reading on the subway, covered in sand if I read it at the beach, next to a train ticket if I was traveling — I am able to add an extra level of personal depth and experience to the story I am about to reread. It’s just not enough to simply consuming the story, which is what e-readers are great for.

When I read paper books, I hold onto them for long periods of time. I just purchased a new bookshelf specially for my “to be read” pile. Once in a while, I go through the process of deciding which books to donate (捐赠), but usually the idea of parting with a book feels like giving away a part of my soul (灵魂).

Physical books may not be the most efficient medium, but they are the most meaningful. So keep your Kindle, by all means. But I’ll be happy hoarding (贮存，聚藏) with my library.

8 .

How Audiobooks Help Readers and Inspire a Love of Books

Not long ago, one of my third graders Jack was struggling (挣扎) to find books he liked. His teacher reported that he kept choosing books that were too simple or too difficult for him to manage on his own.

I visited with Jack one morning to find out what he was looking for. He started telling me that he just didn’t like to read, but after a bit of conversation, he shared that he actually loved books about dragons.

I thought of the Dragon Masters series. I took the first book off the shelf. When I opened the book, there were pictures to help him understand the story more easily. He was excited. We sat down to read a bit together, but it quickly became clear that it was hard for him to read. He was upset, but I told him I had an idea.

We downloaded Sora which is a reading app with audiobooks and searched for an audiobook of the first Dragon Masters book. We printed it and picked up a bookmark to hold under each line as the narrator (讲述者) read so he could follow along. Two days later, he was back in the library happily. The last time I checked, he was nearing the end of the series.

I have advised teachers to use audiobooks with struggling readers. However some people hold that audiobooks are not a substitute (替代品) for silent reading. I disagree. When a student struggles to decode (解码), the interest in reading disappears very quickly. Audiobooks can help students by allowing their joy of reading to increase as they continue to improve their reading skills in class.

“If we give kids an audiobook, won’t that make them depend on them forever?” The answer is, I deeply doubt it. When we used training wheels, they didn’t prevent us from learning how to ride a bike. They provided support as we got confidence, and we learned to let them go and ride off into the sunset at the end of the street. If a student is enjoying audiobooks as part of their learning, the student will be a real reader when working with teachers to increase confidence in written text.