A few years ago, I stood in a small classroom, watching a high schooler named Serena Stevenson answer math questions. An instructor read out numbers-7447, 7089, 9842-and Stevenson added them in her head. For each question, she closed her eyes, and then the fingers of her right hand began to move. She answered most of the problems correctly.

The key to her success was an ancient technology called the abacus (算盘). For much of that evening, Stevenson used a practice called "mental abacus", imagining the abacus in her mind and then using her fingers to work through the problem.

From watching Stevenson, I knew that gaining skills on the abacus was more than a matter of counting beads (珠子), so I decided to sign up for an abacus course with my two daughters to see if we could also improve our math skills. I was one of the many who held some math doubts and I felt a touch of fear of math. My typical solution was simple-just escape, and if I had to calculate something like percentage change, I would go online.

Then after a few abacus classes-and a lot of practice-math seemed a little less frightening. I hadn't become Euclid. But the practice brought my numerical fears down a level. This is long-demonstrated power of the abacus. Confidence grows easily on the device, and abacus students are less likely to be nervous about an upcoming math test, according to one study. Part of the reason, it seems, is practice and results appear to move in step, with hard work about performance.

My kids had gained some math confidence as well. My youngest daughter would smile broadly after getting math problem correct, while my older child brought her abacus to school to show to her classmates and teachers. These were small successes. But that's how they eventually develop confidence.

Maybe it’s because it was our first purchase as homeowners. The salesman must have spotted just how green we were, so he began persuading. And soon he led us to a classic leather chair. All these years later, I remember he used words like handsome, useful and the thing every living room needed.

We believed him. So we bought that chair just less than $ 100, a great deal in the 1970s for a young couple!

How we loved that chair! It always occupied a place of honor in our various living rooms, moving with us from our first tiny house to our beloved new house.

Somehow, conversations were better on that chair, and life was more fun around it. Three daughters spilled their secrets on it. Old friends seemed to be attracted by it on those wonderful occasions. Crazy as it sounds, that leather chair seemed to have--well, powers. All for good.

At first, we didn’t really care that the leather was showing signs of wear or that it had lost its sheen（光泽）. But in our most recent move, when the chair was moved in our new living room, it suddenly looked terribly lonely sitting close to newly painted walls and a couple of shiny new tables.

My husband and I tried but still we couldn’t ignore the rough spots. Our chair had a skin disease. Even our adult kids raised eyebrows, urging us to at least remove the chair to some dark corner of the room. Neither of us could imagine such a retirement for it.

So we had an idea. We’d call in an upholsterer（修理工）to give our old chair a whole new life. Our friend Joe studied the chair and then took out a simple leather conditioner. He explained that although it wouldn’t work miracles, it would definitely get our weary chair looking younger again. It certainly doesn’t look new, but its seat and back are shining, and some of its deeper wrinkles have lightened.

Best of all, it’s back in the living room, looking like a wise old friend to the furniture around it. And, yes, there it will stay. Because some things, like some people, just deserve a happy old age.

Losing Touch with Nature May Make You Sick

For something that’s not actually a recognized medical condition, Nature-Deficit Disorder (NDD) has gotten a lot of attention since it was first coined in 2005. Writer Richard Louv came up with the term in his book, Last Child in the Woods: Saving Our Children from Nature-Deficit Disorder. 【小题1】 Louv explained that children who play outside often are less likely to become ill, stressed, or aggressive compared to those who watch a lot of television and spend most of their free time indoors. Indeed, studies appear to back up that claim by noting that children who spend a significant amount of time outdoors tend to have better mental and physical health. 【小题2】 Nevertheless, they may be worsened by staying inside watching TV, playing video games, or being glued to a smartphone. What’s more, research also suggests that getting a nature fix can help boost the immune system.

According to Louv, the effects of NDD can be lessened or even reversed by making sure parents encourage their kids to enjoy playing outdoors as much as they can. 【小题3】 Rather, they should lead by example, spending time with them in the park, at the beach, camping, and doing other activities, Louv said. He added that children learn many important and practical skills while interacting with nature, like risk-taking, independence, and decision-making. 【小题4】