4 . I was a rising high school junior in the summer of 2021, when I took Philosophy 101 at Lehmon College, a   ____that allows New York City public school students to earn credits. Why philosophy?________, I chose it on impulse (一时冲动). I expected this course to be interesting. I didn’t expect this class, which________me to the words and works of Socrates, Plato and other moral philosophers, to change my________to college education.

But that’s what________. During the second week of class, when we________the work of Socrates, I read Socrates’ words, “The unexamined life is no life for a human being to live”. My eyes________in surprise and my posture was fixed. I read these words over and over until my professor broke my trance (出神、发呆), “Could anyone in the class interpret the_______ of Socrates’ words?”

Then I did my best to explain that the wise philosopher was making a________on how we should live. To me, this meant getting________about all aspects of yourself, putting yourself in academic, social and cultural spaces that will_______ your world view, and being open to personal growth along the way.

After reflecting on the words even after the course was over, I realized Socrates was________meaningful life means a(n)________to exploration. Being immersed in ideas such as Socrates’________me to think about the person I am. I began to see college as a place to gain knowledge and explore my interests,________just fulfill classes.

8 . In most adults, learning and thinking begin to decline as early as age 30. People start to perform slightly worse in tests of cognitive abilities such as the rate at which someone does a mental task.     1    

These changes are often considered normal aging. But they may instead represent something more like the “summer slide” that some schoolchildren experience in academic progress during summer break. Recent research suggests that a pause of learning is indeed a problem causing cognitive reduction.    2    

In a three-month intervention, the researchers provided an encouraging learning environment for 24 older adults. They took at least three classes to learn three new skills. They also discussed issues related to learning barriers and motivation. Over the course these participants’ cognitive scores for memory and flexibility significantly improved. In a follow-up study, the researchers discovered amazingly that they had improved further:    3     In other words, giving these seniors a multicourse routine seemed to bring up their abilities to levels similar to those of college students.

The researchers are still investigating why cognitive scores continued to climb after the program’s end, but one possibility is that the experience encouraged these older participants to continue learning and practicing new skills. Older adults are often assumed to be on a downward slide with unrecoverable loss. “Use it or lose it,” the saying goes.    4     Decline, as we so often see it, may not be certain. That’s why we need to create enriched learning environments for adults after their formal education and job training end.

    5     Educators know how to educate children and adolescents, and we can adapt that knowledge to develop learning opportunities for adults. Societies could also provide resources and paths toward lifelong learning to ensure that everyone can benefit. Let’s shift the conversation about adults from avoiding loss and decline to learning and growing.

9 . You’ve raced to the supermarket only to realise you’ve left the shopping list home. You need to memorise which groceries to pick up before you forget. Thankfully, there’s a memory aid that’s perfect for the job: the peg-word method.

What is the peg-word method?

It employs a set of pre-determined words, regarded as peg words, for the to-be-remembered information. Peg words act as a structure to help you remember particular items. Essentially, you’re hanging information you need to recall on these pegs, which allows it to be recalled quickly and easily.

Initially, to use this method, you will have to remember the peg words as well as the numbers:

The next step is to create associations between the information you need to remember and the item linked with the corresponding number. If the first item, for instance, is milk, then you need to visualise the milk and a bun(小圆面包) together. The more unusual you can make your image, the more likely you are to remember it. In this case, you could imagine a bun drinking a glass of milk.

Why is it useful?

As the case shows, it is most useful when it comes to remembering lists and you can recall the listed items easily in order. Another way to use this memory aid is to memorise important numbers, like phone numbers or dates. For instance, you need to remember that William Shakespeare was born in the year 1564. First, change that number to bun-hive-sticks-door. Then imagine a story to help you remember the series:

William Shakespeare put a bun in a beehive to coat it in honey, but he didn’t like how sticky it became so he threw it at a door.

The peg-word method has been wildly recognized as a helpful memory aid. For more information, please visit https://jojomemory.com/.