My name is Xue Mingying, a 15-year-old middle school student from Xianyang. I’m in Grade 8. I did an experiment called frozen rocks last month. Here is some information about it. Let’s have a look.

Everybody should develop a habit of daily learning something new from now on. It opens our eyes to the world and gives us a deeper understanding of how the world works.

Many studies have shown that learning new things can improve our brainpower (智力) and memory. When we learn something new, our brains (大脑) form 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 (肌肉). The more we use it, the more powerful it gets. 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 thinking (批判性思维) skills. When we’re studying a new subject, our brains actively process (加工) new information and compare it to what we already know. 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. We should let ourselves know as much as possible about others’ opinions. Next time you meet your friends, share some of the information that you’ve learned and discuss it. This will give you a deeper understanding of the topic you are trying to know more.

The game of Go is not only a competitive event of the mind, but also a board game of amusement.

Created in China more than four thousand years ago, Go was introduced to Korea and Japan over 1,000 years ago. Since then, it has become a favorite activity of many people there. Today, Go still serves as a way of cultural exchange among the people in many Eastern and Western countries. 1

The game of Go is sometimes like real life. There are 181 black pieces and 180 white ones in total. While the board is fixed, the pieces can be placed in millions upon millions of different ways, just as life in the real world may take many turns.      2     

Go pays much attention to peaceful competition and coexistence（共存）. In a game of Go, the players do not wipe out（消灭） each other’s pieces. Instead, they simply try to win a larger share of space while allowing the other side to have some space. 3

Wu Qingyuan (1914-2014), a modern Go talent, believed that the final purpose of the game was to try to achieve peace. Instead of fighting as enemies, the two players work together to play an excellent game.