1 . Nowadays, it is more common for people to express their thoughts in an e-mail or text. In fact, more and more students use technology for written communication in their lives. Even so, research shows that teaching handwriting skills has its benefits (好处). However, are the benefits worth spending valuable classroom time on teaching handwriting skills when students could be learning more about computer keyboarding?

States across the country have good reasons to require students to learn computer keyboarding skills. For one, students are learning a technology that will help them communicate faster with more people and in many different forms, such as e-mails, websites, blogs, and so on. Also, the better a student's computer keyboarding skills, the greater the chance that student has to become a better writer. Computer tools such as the grammar and spell check make correcting quick and easy, although not 100% accurate (准确无误的). With these and many other tools, students gain important computer skills. Furthermore, students no longer have to worry about their writing being graded poorly by teachers. All in all, computer keyboarding skills are a step in the right direction.

Still, the advantages of computer keyboarding skills may not be enough to leave handwriting instruction in the dust. Marlena Hamilton, professor of neurology at University of Pennsylvania, did an experiment with her co-workers to study what happens in students' brains when writing. They found that many of the areas of the brain light up. These are the same areas that are used to learn to read. They then wondered if the same would be true when students looked at letters on a keyboard. “What we found,” she states, “is that brains are much less involved when we just view letters. When we actually use our hands to make things, the brain works much harder.”

Schools across the nation are looking at the evidence and deciding what to do. William McIntyre, a reading coach at Sunshine Elementary School in Albany, New York, says, “What we have learned from the research is that learning handwriting benefits students educationally. What we also know is that students need to be taught keyboarding skills.” Now, it is up to each school to make a decision.

2 . Tropical ( 热带的) rainforests are disappearing at an alarming rate, and according to a new report by Rainforest Foundation Norway, humans are to blame. The world’s dependence on coal, farming, beans, palm oil and mining has resulted in two-thirds of Earth’s tropical rainforests being completely destroyed, and the remaining ecosystems being put closer to a tipping point.

Tropical rainforests once covered 14.5 million square kilometers of Earth’s surface, but now, just one-third of that remains undamaged. Of the original area tropical rainforests once occupied, 34% is completely gone and 30% is suffering from damage. All that remains is roughly 9.5 million square kilometers, and 45% of that is in a degraded (恶化) state, the report says.

Researchers blame human consumption for the loss. While agriculture has always been a driving factor of rainforest loss, the report said that energy consumption, international trade and the production of beans and palm oil, logging and mining have been the largest threats (威胁) over the past century. A significant number of US products rely on resources from tropical rainforests. The country heavily relies on palm oil, rubber and cocoa, all of which come from forests around the world. Often, these resources are harvested from illegally destroyed lands.

Tropical rainforests are home to more than half of the Earth’s biodiversity and have more carbon in living organisms than any other ecosystem. In addition to supporting significant animal life, tropical rainforests are also necessary for slowing down global warming. “These unique ecosystems are suffering from constant abuse, through our bottomless appetite for land and resources,” said Anders Krogh, the author of the report. “We expect that upcoming UN climate and biodiversity summits provide specific targets and measures to protect tropical rainforests.”

The researchers also believe that the loss of tropical rainforests puts the whole world at the risk of future diseases. “Huge deforestation (毁林) is violating nature’s natural virus protection systems,” Krogh said. “The outbreak of COVID-19 should bring rainforest protection to the top of the agenda of all policy makers and world leaders concerned about preventing the outbreak of new diseases.”

3 . Beijing will provide COVID-19 vaccinations (接种疫苗) for certain groups in nursing homes, including the elderly and caregivers, on a voluntary basis to prevent a renewed outbreak at nursing homes during autumn and winter, the local government said.

Those who will receive the vaccines include nursing home kitchen workers, security guards and cleaners, Beijing Daily reported on Friday.

Xing Yinli, director of Jingkangyuan, a nursing home in Fengtai district with about 290 elderly residents (居民), said they have received the document (文件) recently and will strictly follow its guidance.

“It’s our top duty to strengthen prevention and control,” Xing said, adding they have been using methods such as keeping detailed records of resident contacts outside the nursing home, and encouraging online visits for family members.

As to vaccinations, she said they will ask for permission from residents, their family members and workers before giving vaccines.

In late October, Shaoxing, Zhejiang Province carried out an emergency COVID-19 vaccine program, allowing the public to ask for injections (注射) in advance, with key groups first. A similar program was also organized in Jiaxing, Ningbo and Yiwu in Zhejiang.

Nationwide, emergency use of home-grown COVID-19 vaccines was approved in June and launched in late July. China now has four coronavirus candidate vaccines in the third stage clinical trials (临床试验).

The document from Beijing also said nursing homes should conduct nucleic acid testing (核酸检测) every month among kitchen workers and residents who leave the nursing homes to see a doctor. Tests will cover all people in nursing homes considered at high risk if new infections are reported in the city. Besides, routine disinfections (消毒) should be strengthened in kitchens, storerooms and restrooms, it said. The document also recommended non-contact visits from family members.

6 . Today we know Antarctica as an extreme environment containing ice and snow. But new research provides evidence that the area had a rainforest in the past.

The researchers collected a piece of Earth sediment from under the seafloor off the coast of Antarctica. In the sediment, they discovered forest material that was estimated to be about 90 million years old. This would have been in the Cretaceous Period, when dinosaurs were the main land animals. The sediment was removed by scientists on the research icebreaker RV Polarstern in the Amundsen Sea near Pine Island Glacier.

Johann Klages is a geologist with the Alfred Wegener Institute, Helmholtz Center for Polar and Marine Research in Germany. He was the lead writer of a study on the findings, published in the journal Nature. He said the sediment was collected from a depth of about 30 meters below the ocean floor. Klages said an examination showed that the material didn't form in the ocean.

The researchers estimate that the area — about 900 kilometers from the South Pole — had average yearly temperatures of about 12 to 13 degrees Celsius. During the warmest summer months, average temperatures likely reached between 20 and 25 degrees Celsius. The soil included fine dirt particles and hard clay, as well as substances linked to at least 65 different kinds of plants, the study found. Klages added that the plants included trees, ferns and flowering plants. While no animal remains were found, Klages said there were likely dinosaurs, flying reptiles and many insects in the environment.

The research represents new evidence of the major climate changes Earth has experienced in the past — and is currently undergoing today. The soil in the sediment dates back to the planet’s warmest period of the past 140 million years, with sea level about 170 meters higher than today. The researchers said that the rainforest environment in Antarctica was especially surprising because each year, the area experiences a four-month polar night when there is no sunlight to fuel plant life. Klages said no ice sheets were present during the time, but seasonal snowfall was likely.

7 . One of the most important things that has happened to me occurred long before I was aware of it. As the story goes, I was three days old and Mom was singing “The Name Game” song to me: “Christine Bo-Bean-Banana-Fanna-Fo-Feen.” By day four, I was given a new name — Christine-Bo-Bean, or just Bo-Bee to my mother. Now, I am Bo to her and close friends.

Why is this nickname(昵称)so important to me? I once read a book with a passage about True Names which explains that when a person’s true name is spoken, she has a distinct aura(光环)around her. Although I have been Bo to my mother all my life, I recently discovered that my true name is not on my birth certificate; it’s the name that is as unique and memorable as I am.

People usually know me as Christine. They still see me as a quiet, bookish child. They don’t know who I am now. My most recent hopes, fears, goals, dreams and opinions escape their notice; it is easier to think of me as I was. In their minds, they have a box labeled “Christine” in which I fit neatly, and as Christine, I was content with the perfect packaging.

Those who call me Bo or Bo-Bee really know me. They remember who I was and realize I have changed. Bo is a tight squeeze in the old “Christine” boxes. The Bo I am is ever-changing, ever-growing and ever-learning.

When I was Christine, I was quiet, and easily scared. I feared groups, meeting new people and sharing my opinions. I was more comfortable with a book than my best friend. As Christine, I thought everyone was better than I was.

As Bo, I still love my books, but I want to discuss them. As Bo, my dream is to live where I can experience new things and meet new people. I dream about being alone on a stage lit by a single spotlight; I have that confidence now. I am equal to those I once saw as better than me.

A name shouldn’t make such a difference, but sometimes, when a person finds his or her True Name, they develop a new shine visible to friends, family and especially themselves.

I can’t always be Bo. Sometimes exposing myself is still scary and I feel too nervous; I want to hide in those old boxes. Mostly, however, I am ready for the world. So, just call me Bo.