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Mengxi Cao
Response
Information disclosure has been a serious issue in contemporary society. In China, I receive a lot of strange calls from different companies. Some are phone calls are advertisement and some phone calls are fraud. As a smart phone user, we need to be cautious when giving out our phone number. More importantly, the government should make legislation to protect personal information. Phone and computer companies should also take action to protect citizens' information.

1. I usually got scam phones when I was in China. Some companies sell customer information to the fraud organization.
2. I will give my real phone numbers to my friends, my family and my school. In other case, I will  not give my real phone numbers.
3. Pay attention to apps and be cautious to give them permission to your personal information.

Vocabulary
access(v.)
accessible(adj.)
accessibility(n.)
Original: “Not too long ago, if a computer program you had on your Windows or Mac desktop would call home or would try to access the internet, we would freak out,” he recalled.
Definition: a means of approaching or entering a place
My own sentence: Only the manager has the access to the database of the company.
Synonyms: entry

statement(n.)
stately(adj.)
state(vt.)
Verizon apologized in a statement, but claimed media reports were overstated and that there was “no loss or theft of Verizon or Verizon customer data information.”
Definition: a definite or clear expression of something in speech or writing /  a formal account of events given by a witness, defendant, or other party to the police or in a court of law
My own sentence: You should be cautious about the statement to make sure that you understand everything.
Synonyms: presentation representation

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This is definitely a very relevant topic for students. It can be stressful for students, especially when they feel a lot of pressure from themselves or family. It's important to try to keep everything in perspective. When one door closes, another door opens...

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Mengxi Cao
Impede(v.)
Origin:But when stress turns into distress it impedes our ability to live well, to live joyfully.
Definition: delay or prevent (someone or something) by obstructing them.
impediment(n.)
impedient (adj.)
My own sentence: Don't let difficulty impede you. You should try your best to over come it.
Synonyms: intervention

perpetually(adv.)
Origin:  It seems that nothing is fixed or inert. The universe appears to be perpetually flowing and bubbling with potentiality, a virtual sea of possibilities.
Definition: in a way that never ends or changes
perpetual(adj.)
My own sentence: I want to be happy perpetually.
Synonyms: permanent
ceaseless

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Siwei Cao
Response
Anxiety becomes a serious problem for us today. Not only adults are easy to have anxiety disorders because of the stress of working, more and more young students have anxiety disorders because of stress of study. Some of them feel sad about the bad grades, some of them worry about college application and some of them worry about uncertain future. I agree with author's opinion, worrying about future is useless and we should see what we have done. Compare with worrying uncertain future, we better enjoy the moment and try our best to prepare for the future.
DQs:
1. Sometimes I do. When I don't have enough time to prepare for the tests, when I don't know which major fits me and when I don't know which kind of jobs I can do in the future, I will be nervous and have anxiety disorders.
2. When I have anxiety, I will have a deep breath and think of some interesting and happy things to make myself relaxed.  Sometimes, eating and exercise are effective ways to handle the anxiety as well.
3. The author thought the "determinism" made us predict the future and it will build us the way of thinking. Actually, it benefits us a lot, but it also brings us burden if we do this extremely.
Vocabularies:
epidemic (adj./n.)
Origin: We have become habituated to—and normalized—an epidemic of anxiety.
epidemiology (n.)
epidemiologist (n.)
Definition: (especially of medicine) of disease or anything resembling a disease; attacking or affecting many individuals in a community or a population simultaneously.
My own sentence: The popular epidemic makes lot of people move out the town.
Synonyms: infection, popular, fashionable
disrupt (vt. /adj.)
Origin: As a practicing psychotherapist, I’ve been looking at why we are suffering in this way. It’s time we disrupt our complacency around our victimhood.
disruptive (adj.)
disruption (n.)
Definition: To prevent something from continuing in its usual way by causing problems.
My own sentence: The change of climate disrupts the traffic.
Synonyms: destroy, tear, undermine

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Juncong Zhu
Response
Anxiety disorder needs to be taken seriously as a college student. College life is not so easy as people think. It is stressful. Some students are under pressure, but they cannot handle the pressure. They are working so hard, but their grades are not improved. They do not know what they can do in the future. I think people should live in the present. Do not think too much about what will happen in the future, do your best to live for now. People can make aims that can be archived in short period. Step by step, you won't be anxious about anything.
1. I used feel anxious about my future. Because I had no aims to work for. I had no motivation to learn. I worried about my future.
2. I try to not think about my future at that time. And I make a list of goals that I want to achieve this quarter. I regained my goal of struggle.

Vocabulary
contentious(adj.)
origin: They had grown apart, were contentious and had little in common.
contention(n)
content(v)
Definition: causing a lot of argument and disagreement between people
My own sentence: This task can be an arduous and sometimes contentious effort in organizations.
Synonyms: objectionable

formidable(adj.)
origin: Remember that what you resist you make more formidable.
formidably(adv)
Definition: very powerful or impressive, and often frightening
My own sentence: The new range of computers have formidable processing power.
Synonyms: powerful, terrible, august

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Article 5: Why We Suffer from Anxiety and How We Can Overcome It

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Article 5: Why We Suffer from Anxiety and How We Can Overcome It

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Mengxi Cao
Discipline: social science
Summary: In the article, the author indicates that our anxiety comes from the prediction of uncertain future. The author told the story a divorced woman. Her fear comes from the uncertainty about the future life. The author points out that too much "determinism" will have a negative effective on people's psychological wellbeing. He suggested us to embrace the uncertain. The author also maintains that we need to think what we have done.
Response: I totally agree with the author's point. As a college student, I am always stressed. When thinking about the uncertainty of the future life, I feel worried. After reading this passage, I think I really need to change my thought. I need to be confident and make a more specific plan for myself. The anxiety really should not be our impediment. If we try our best, we should not worry about it.
DQs:
1.Do  you feel anxious about your life?
2. What do you think is the effective way to handle the anxiety?
3. What does author think about the "determinism"?

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In any given year, approximately 40 million Americans will suffer from a debilitating encounter with anxiety. Over the course of your lifetime, there's a 25% chance you'll experience a diagnosable anxiety disorder. This is such a staggering rate of affliction. It appears we've adapted to a new norm-one of mass disquiet. We have become habituated to-and normalized-an epidemic of anxiety.

If 40 million people fell suddenly ill, The Center for Disease Control would be working overtime to find both the cause and the cure. As a culture, we only look superficially into the cause of anxiety and focus more on the treatment-typically management through medication. We need to do much better. As a practicing psychotherapist, I've been looking at why we are suffering in this way. It's time we disrupt our complacency around our victimhood.

Stress is normal in our hurried lives. We can look at stress as a byproduct of our adapting to the challenges that confront us. Stress is the result of our deeper engagement with life that can lead to growth, new learning and productivity. But when stress turns into distress it impedes our ability to live well, to live joyfully. Distress calcifies into anxiety. So, the question is: why do we suffer from this avalanche of anxiety? Here's what I've learned.

Anxiety, at its source, is due to our relationship with our thoughts. In particular these are the thoughts which are perpetually seeking certainty. We want to know what the future will bring, and what the consequences of our decisions will be. But that future is of course unknowable. And so, we become anxious as we try to ward off the unknown. This results in our not being in the flow of life as we try to hold back the future. Ask yourself, "What causes me distress and anxiety?" Does it have something to do with your uncertainty about the future, your fear around decision-making?
Who Would I Be?
I had been working with a middle-aged woman who came to see around her anxiety regarding her future. She had been unhappily married for quite some time and shared that she and her husband had been unsuccessful in marital therapy. They had grown apart, were contentious and had little in common. She felt that her marriage was a drag on her life. Given that she had no children and was financially independent I inquired why she was opting to stay married. She said, "I don't know who I'd be as a divorced woman."

There it was. Her fear around the unknown-which offered her possible relief and new possibilities-kept her imprisoned with anxiety. She was actually choosing to stay miserably in the known rather than face the uncertainty of a different path-one that might have brought her joy. The question, "Who would I be?" froze her with fear.

We invite uncertainty into many aspects of our lives. We enjoy watching sports and movies because of the thrill of not knowing. But in our personal lives we become choked by predictability and certainty. Seeking predictability stunts our relationships, our curiosity and our greater engagement with life.

So how did we become so attached to needing to know the future in advance? I track the cause to the great 17th-century scientist Isaac Newton. He instructed that if we had sufficient information-in today's jargon we might call that data-we could reasonably predict the future. This became known as determinism. And we have become addicted to this way of thinking.

Determinism has benefited us in many ways, but at the extreme it's led to much pathology. We live life as though we were playing a chess match. We sit back and calculate our next move. We might fret over whether our decision will be a "mistake." We slice and dice and analyze the possible consequences of our decisions and we get frozen. We don't move forward as this straitjacket of fear blocks our flow of life. If you feel anxious around decision making, you're likely addicted to seeking predictability.

Here's the good news: It turns out that we've been living from the wrong game plan. Over the last hundred years quantum physics has revealed an astonishingly different picture of reality. Unlike Newton's determinism, reality appears to be thoroughly uncertain-and that's actually good news. It seems that nothing is fixed or inert. The universe appears to be perpetually flowing and bubbling with potentiality, a virtual sea of possibilities.

We too can join into that new worldview. When we learn to reframe our relationship with uncertainty, we invite in new possibilities. Remember that what you resist you make more formidable. Paradoxically if you choose to welcome uncertainty it becomes your ally. When we welcome uncertainty and literally embrace it, we are in movement, joining in the flow of the universe. We are then able to navigate our life as it unfolds, in real time.

Think of it this way: Uncertainty = Possibility. If reality is uncertain and we continue to demand certainty we will dysfunction and anxiety will be the result. To embrace uncertainty, we must change our relationship with our thoughts. Try to notice your thoughts. What are they telling you? If you see your thoughts trying to predict the future, release the thought. It's just a thought, you don't need to become that thought. "In the nanosecond before your next thought, you exist in a state of pure potential."

When you free yourself from the torrent of addictive thoughts seeking certainty, you join in the flow of your life and anxiety retreats. It turns out that the epidemic of anxiety is primarily due to living from an outmoded game plan for life. It's time to embrace what we've been resisting and make uncertainty your ally. Uncertainty can become the wind in the sail of our change process.​
Transcending Anxiety, Stress and Depression. A Live Streaming, Interactive Online Workshop. Starts Wed. March 7.

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Why We Suffer from Anxiety and How We Can Overcome It

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In any given year, approximately 40 million Americans will suffer from a debilitating encounter with anxiety. Over the course of your lifetime, there's a 25% chance you'll experience a diagnosable anxiety disorder. This is such a staggering rate of affliction. It appears we've adapted to a new norm-one of mass disquiet.

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Article 6: Here’s Why You Shouldn’t Give Away Your Cellphone Number

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Article 6: Here’s Why You Shouldn’t Give Away Your Cellphone Number

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Juncong Zhu
Discipline: social science
Summary: In the article, the author tells us more serious problems about our cell phone numbers. Most people know social security numbers are very importance and need to be protected, but they ignore that hackers also can easily get any information just through your cell phone numbers.
Response: The author mentions the importance of cell phone numbers. I have a strong feeling with the author’s statement because I often get scam calls and sales calls.Cybersecurity expert Shaun Murphy, CEO of sndr.com, stressed, “Most people have their emails, their social media, their pictures, their location-tracking applications – and all these things are on one little tiny spot that fits in your pocket. And someone could grab it out of your pocket very easily.” Most people’s life is on their phones, and cell phone numbers directly connect to the phones. People should be alert to cell phone numbers and well protect them.

DQs:
1. Have you ever get scam calls?  Where do you think they get your phone numbers from?
2. How do you decide when to give real phone numbers?
3. What are some ways to protect your personal information?

Vocabulary
negligence(n.)
Origin: But these mobile gateways to your life are left unprotected in an age of hacking, data mining, and sheer negligence.
neglected(adj.)
negligent(n.)
Definition: failure to take enough care over something that you are responsible for
My own sentence: The traffic accident was allegedly due to negligence.
Synonyms: omission, oversight

obligated(adj.)
origin: It could also be a gateway to your bank account. In the age of mobile banking, financial institutions offering these services are not obligated under any “rules or regulations to protect your cell number.”
obligate(v)
obligation(n)
Definition:  If you feel obligated to do something, you feel that it is your duty to do it.
My own sentence: I felt obligated to let him read the letter. It was so important to him.
Synonyms: liable

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Cellphone numbers are slowly becoming personal identifiers - a role all-important social security and national numbers have fulfilled for decades. But these mobile gateways to your life are left unprotected in an age of hacking, data mining, and sheer negligence.

For the past 50, 60, 70 years, social security numbers have been the key that private investigators and information brokers used to tap into credit reports, addresses, dates of birth and a whole lot more.

With that kind of data, investigators can run the social security number into different indexes and find out about finances, property ownership, criminal records and more, said Thomas Martin of Martin Investigative Services and author of Seeing Life Through Private Eyes: Secrets From America's Top Investigator to Living Safer, Smarter, and Saner.

"But now, where's your identifier? asked cybersecurity expert Shaun Murphy, CEO of sndr.com. "Well, it's your social media profile. It's your email. It's your messaging application. And guess where all those things are? It's ... your phone."

Traditional wisdom has it that you don't give your social security number to just anyone because it reveals so much about you. But when asked, many people often freely give away their cellphone number - the "number one gateway to your identity," as he put it in a chat with Techtonics.

"Your entire life is on your phone," he stressed. "Most people have their emails, their social media, their pictures, their location-tracking applications - and all these things are on one little tiny spot that fits in your pocket. And someone could grab it out of your pocket very easily."

Grant permission to an app and it can "listen to your microphone all day" or "potentially steal data off your phone as well," added Murphy.

"Not too long ago, if a computer program you had on your Windows or Mac desktop would call home or would try to access the internet, we would freak out," he recalled. "... But nowadays, everything does that. ... It is a whole different world."

Criminals already have figured out that it is far easier to use a cellphone number to get all the data they want than chasing after a social security number. And they are not deterred by two-factor authentication, noted Martin, a former federal investigator.

"Now, the bad guys around the world ... and who are hackers, can get your cellphone number and then that is a gateway to your living room," he told Techtonics. "... Now, I can get into your text messages, your email, your photos, your Amazon account, your credit card information."

Once they have your phone - and everybody has either '1234' or 'bingo' [for passwords], I mean those things are easily obtained, that's the least of the hackers' worries - once they have your number, your password is kind of like making oatmeal - Thomas Martin

It could also be a gateway to your bank account. In the age of mobile banking, financial institutions offering these services are not obligated under any "rules or regulations to protect your cell number."

"Everything that you do with your banking is tied to your cell number," said Martin. "So once I have your cell number, I can find out your banking. I can find out your bank account, your checking account, your savings accounts, your IRAs, your retirement, I can find all that out. ... I'm telling you what the real world is. I'm not telling you that we do that."

Yet that those same cellphone numbers are compiled and sold by companies making "billions off of the fact that they can gather information about you," said Murphy.

"They can sell your data," he said. "... Sure, they're interested in securing their own interests, but securing you data - well that's sort of against what their mission is. ... It turned out to be an incredible business model."

"There are no regulations," added Martin. "There are no rules by the government, by the states, by the cities to make any effort to try and regulate it. ... We get many calls from corporate executives or famous people or entertainers who say ... somebody got a picture of me through my cellphone and they want $100,000."

Just this past Wednesday, an Israeli company left up to six million Verizon subscriber records publicly available on a storage server - cellphone numbers, account numbers, names - all available for download with little effort.

Verizon apologized in a statement, but claimed media reports were overstated and that there was "no loss or theft of Verizon or Verizon customer data information." The statement also noted the server had "a limited number of cellphone numbers for customer contact purposes."

"The way to solve the problem," said Martin, " ... is to have two or three phones. I would have one phone that is as clean as Mother Theresa," he explained. "And that phone would only be used to receive calls and maybe every once in a while to make a call. ... And that phone would have no text[ing]."

The other option is to use a prepaid or burner cellphone, where you pay for whatever call you make and dispose of the phone.

"The phone that you have your kids pictures on, your relatives pictures or your texts that are sent to your boyfriend, girlfriend, buddies, friends, neighbors, pictures that you share - all of that is on a separate phone that you never, ever, ever give out," he advised.

Juggling three phones might be a problem for people who prefer to have all their data on one device, or for 18-23-year-olds who grew up with cellphones and never owned a landline. "Their whole life is in that cellphone," he said.

This is why Murphy believes people need to be more protective of their devices and smarter about what apps they download, what permissions they give, and who they share their cell number with because their life could be stolen without their knowledge, and they might not even understand the implications of that loss.

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Here's Why You Shouldn't Give Away Your Cellphone Number

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Cellphone numbers are slowly becoming personal identifiers - a role all-important social security and national numbers have fulfilled for decades. But these mobile gateways to your life are left unprotected in an age of hacking, data mining, and sheer negligence. For the past 50, 60, 70 years, social security numbers have been the key that [...]

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Mengxi Cao
Response
Failure and success are familiar in our life. As a student, I always feel frustrated when I do not get good grades. Luckily, I can make a balance between  failure and success. I can always get experience from the past and make detailed plan for myself.  Every time I feel frustrated, I will think about the happy memory and regain confidence.
1.Failure is necessary because people can really learn a lot from the past experience and do better.
2. When I face the failure, I will find out the reason and conclude what can I learn from the past. Then, I will make a specific plan for my goal. Every time when I make progress, I will regain confidence.
3. When I face the failure, I always reminds myself of positive things and try to gain the confidence. When I face the success, I will have more confidence. I also tell myself not to be arrogant.

Vocabulary
resilient(adj.)
Origin:If we can consistently empower students to tell stories about their lives in a more positive way, we can help them become more resilient and motivated as they pursue their goals.
resilience (n.)
resiliently (adv.)
Definition:(of a person or animal) able to withstand or recover quickly from difficult conditions
My own sentence: We need to learn from the past experience and be resilient when we meet the difficulties.
Synonyms: rubbery springy

accomplish (v.)
Origin:Next, try to remember a difficult moment in your life when you failed to accomplish a goal or fell short of your reaching your full potential.
accomplishment (n.)
accomplished(adj.)
Definition:achieve or complete successfully
My own sentence: When you accomplish a ambitious goal, you will fell proud of yourself.
Synonyms:
complete
fullfill

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Juncong Zhu
Response
Narrative is good way to get people to know you. It is also a good way to know yourself. Everybody can easily and happily create a narrative of success. However, most people cannot tell stories about their failure. I strongly agree the statement that "thinking about one's failure can be a adaptive process." Nobody would be successful all the time. People need courage to face failure. If one day you can bravely create a narrative of failure, you must learn a lot from failure and be better next time.
1. Failure is necessary. People always say "failure is the mother of success". That's always true. Some people are successful, not only they are sometimes lucky,  but they learn from one failure after another.
2. I am  a kind of optimistic person. So, I would not take failure too seriously. I would keep doing it until I succeed.

Vocabulary

relentless(adj.)
Origin: In the moments of success, did you focus on your hard work, relentless commitment, and dedication that got you to succeed?
relentlessly(adv.)
Definition: strict, cruel, or determined, without ever stopping
My own sentence: In the relentless busyness of modern life, we have lost the rhythm between action and rest.
Synonyms: cruel, iron, strict, ruthless

persistence(n.)
Origin: Then, they were asked to complete a grit scale as a measure of persistence, and to report their most recent grades.
persistent(adj.)
persistently(adv)
persist(v)
Definition: determination to do something even though it is difficult or other people oppose it
My own sentence: Her persistence paid off when she was offered the job of manager.
Synonyms: duration, standing

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Siwei Cao
Response
My parents always tell me that I should be careful with private information, such as photo ID, bank account and social security number. There are some bad people doing illegal things by those ways. In China, I heard these kinds of news in Television. Some of bad people even call old people and lie to them, then they steel their money. From the article, I'm surprised to know the phone numbers can be attacked as well. I hope the article can notice more people be careful with their private information and some government departments can take some actions to solve the related problems.

DQs:
1. I sometimes got scam calls. Most of time, I heard recording voice and I couldn't understand them. At that time, I just thought they call people randomly and they didn't know me at all.
2. I gave my phone numbers to my family and my familiar friends. Sometimes, some staff who worked in stores and markets asked me the phone numbers and I rejected some of them for avoiding too many advertisements.
3. I think everyone should have the consciousness to protect their own personal information. When other people ask the private information, we should make decisions carefully. When we use Internet in some public places, we should also be careful with submitting some information which is  like bank accounts' passwords.
Vocabulary
potentially (adv.)
Original: Grant permission to an app and it can “listen to your microphone all day” or “potentially steal data off your phone as well,” added Murphy.
potential (adj./n.)
Definition:  with a possibility of becoming actual
My own sentence: The use of paper-made books may attack the living environment potentially.
Synonyms: possibly
authentication (n.)
Origin:Criminals already have figured out that it is far easier to use a cellphone number to get all the data they want than chasing after a social security number. And they are not deterred by two-factor authentication, noted Martin, a former federal investigator.
authentic (adj.)
authenticity (n.)
authenticate (vt.)
Definition: A mark on an article of trade to indicate its origin and authenticity.
My own sentence: To enter the password gate, we have to use the authentication information.
Synonyms: certification, demonstration, identification

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Article 4: Create a Narrative to Better Yourself

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Article 4: Create a Narrative to Better Yourself

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Siwei Cao
Discipline: social science
Summary: In the article, the author talks about that we will achieve different results if we have different thoughts on both success and failure. There is also a research shows that the people who use the "competence-building narratives fair" better than those who don’t. The success and failure will affect teenagers a lot, so it's important for them to learn have adaptive ways of their different experiences. They should see failure as an opportunity of study, then they will do better next time.The conclusion is that we should get courage from success and get positive lessons from the failure.
Response: I was attracted by the article's title. I was curious about which kind of narrative stories I could create. In our lives, everything happened may affect our feelings. Every time
when we get bad grades, lose a game or don't achieve a goal,we will feel bad. However, feeling bad can't help us at all and it destroys our spirit. If we have positive perspective on it, then the things will change differently. I heard that "Failure is the mother of success", so we can see failure is the intro of next-time success. We have long-time lives and we will have uncountable experiences, then I hope that everyone is happy all the time and draws their own beautiful stories.
DQs:
1. Do you think failure is necessary? Why?
2. Do you have your own ways to fight with failure?
3. How do you balance yourself between positive and negative feelings?

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Here's an exercise: Think about a time in your life when you experienced success, whether it was receiving a good grade, landing your dream job, or getting a promotion. Next, try to remember a difficult moment in your life when you failed to accomplish a goal or fell short of your reaching your full potential.

In the moments of success, did you focus on your hard work, relentless commitment, and dedication that got you to succeed? Or did you brush these things off and chalk it up to luck or good timing? And in the moments of failure, did you focus all of your mental energy on that dreadful feeling of personal incompetence, or were you accepting and eager to learn from your mistakes?

There are many ways to think and talk about one's experiences in life. These personal narratives allow us to reflect on both our triumphs and shortcomings, and tailor our current beliefs and actions to fit our future goals.

People develop a unique style of personal narratives over time. It likely begins early on during the formative years of adolescence and academic life. Adolescence, we know, can be a turbulent time in which young people try to figure out their sense of self. An experience of failure, such as getting a bad grade on a test, can seriously impact a young person's self-esteem and their perceptions of who they are. What is important here, is how we frame those unpleasant experiences: Seeing "failure" as a learning opportunity to grow and better oneself in the future.

This begs the question, can people actually change their personal narratives in response to both successes and failures? Can they use these narratives in a positive way for self-motivational benefit? Yes, according to new research they can.
Competence-building narrative themes
There is new evidence showing that thinking about one's failures can be an adaptive process. Research from the Journal of Experimental Social Psychology suggests that narratives of both success and failure can have a host of downstream positive effects.

The team of researchers, led by Brady Jones at the University of St. Francis, talk about the concept of competence-building narratives, which they define as adaptive ways of recounting one's life experiences. Jones and colleagues propose that these can be done separately for both successes and failures.

Success narratives, the researchers posit, involve thinking about the ways in which a person is able to achieve their goals effectively, thus increasing their self-esteem and drive to succeed again in the future. Failure narratives, on the other hand, allow a person to appreciate his or her own efforts, and recognize that they got through it, and that the experience made them more equipped to deal with future difficulties.

The purpose for Jones and colleagues was to see i) whether students who use such competence-building narratives fair better than those who don't, and ii) if a manipulated intervention of competence-building narratives would help enhance students' goal persistence and academic achievement.
The link between competence-building schemes and goal persistence
Sixty-two ninth-grade students from various backgrounds took part in the first study. They were first instructed to complete a survey, and write about a time they succeeded and a time they failed. Then, they were asked to complete a grit scale as a measure of persistence, and to report their most recent grades.

As the researchers predicted, students who naturally incorporated competence-building narratives into their personal narratives demonstrated greater persistence and better grades. These students not only celebrated their achievements and recognized their own hard work, but they also acknowledged their failures and the fact that they were able to move forward despite their struggles.

Another sample of ninth-grade students took part in the second study. Adding to the first study's findings, here the researchers wanted to assess the casual effectiveness of these competence-building narratives through an intervention design. Participants were randomly assigned to either a control condition or a treatment condition, and all students were asked to write about a moment of failure and a time of success in their lives.

The treatment group differed in that they were asked to write about how the failure experience changed them in a positive way. Similarly, for the success prompt, students in a treatment condition were asked to write about the specific steps they took, and the effort they have put in that made them succeed.

In line with the predictions, students who were instructed to include competence-building themes in their narratives of success and failure showed higher goal persistence for several weeks, and received better grades than students in the control condition.
Implications of findings
If we can consistently empower students to tell stories about their lives in a more positive way, we can help them become more resilient and motivated as they pursue their goals.

And the data don't end with students. Success and failure is natural part of life; it follows us all the way into adulthood as we progress through our careers and personal lives. Thus it's wise advice for all individuals to get into the habit of reflecting on both positive and negative experiences through personal story-telling.

So, whether you're a student of school or a student of life, the next time you succeed or stumble, don't downplay your achievements or declare yourself a failure. Instead, create a personal story, and tell it often.
Nick is a behavioral and brain scientist whose work helps people uncover their peak mental performance. Drop by and say hello!

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Here's an exercise: Think about a time in your life when you experienced success, whether it was receiving a good grade, landing your dream job, or getting a promotion. Next, try to remember a difficult moment in your life when you failed to accomplish a goal or fell short of your reaching your full potential.

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Siwei Cao
Adolescence (n.)
Origin: It likely begins early on during the formative years of adolescence and academic life. Adolescence, we know, can be a turbulent time in which young people try to figure out their sense of self.
adolescent (adj.)
adolescent (n.)
Definition: The time period between the beginning of puberty and adulthood.
My own sentence: It's important for adolescence to have healthy bodies and righteous ideas.
Synonyms: puberty, youthhood

incompetence (n.)
Origin: And in the moments of failure, did you focus all of your mental energy on that dreadful feeling of personal incompetence, or were you accepting and eager to learn from your mistakes?
incompetent (adj.)
incompetently (adv.)
incompetency (n.)
Definition: Lack of physical or intellectual ability or qualifications.
My own sentences: I'm so sad of my incompetence in swimming.
Synonyms: disability, inability

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Literacy is a very interesting topic. Nice discussion questions.

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Mengxi Cao
This passage tells us voice technology can promote literacy. In some remote and poor areas, people lost connection to the outside world because they don't have the opportunity. With the voice technology, people can learn news from all over the world. They can also learn some knowledge by watching TV.
1. I think voice technologies can help promote literacy. In some remote area people don't have conditions to study. When they watch the TV or listen to the radio, they can know the news from all over the world.
2. We can donate some books to the remote are which can help poor people gain knowledge.
3. Literacy is really important to the society. People with good literacy are more likely to find  a job. It will make our society more stable.
Vocabulary
recognition(n.)
But certain needs have to be met before voice recognition can significantly impact literacy, says a leading education technology expert.
recognize(v.)
recognized(adj.)
Definition: the action or process of recognizing or being recognized
My own sentence:  Citizen's recognition about healthiness has improved so they spend more time doing exercise.
Synonyms: identification discernment
Promote(v.)
But voice recognition technologies can be a potential bridge to promote literacy, Trucano said.
promotion(n.)
promoted(adj.)
Definition:  further the progress of (something, especially a cause, venture, or aim); support or actively encourage
My own sentence: This meeting for two companies promotes our business relationship.
Synonyms: boost, facilitate, further

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Siwei Cao
From this report about voice technologies and illiteracy, I knew there were many people  couldn't get enough help from outside for their literacy in the world. Even though I can't believe the subtitling  of karaoke or movie  can push literacy, it is better than nothing. It can help people who live in developing regions learn more about language, but it's not enough. I hope there are more people and organizations notice this and support people's literacy learning.
1. Yes, I do think voice technologies can promote literacy. When I was young, I found that watching more English movie and TV Show  can help me improve English language skills.Because of this,  I believe if people start having habits to listen and read words, then they will make a big progress.
2. For the people who live in developing regions, I think society should focus more on their literacy or not. If government can build more school and more organizations can teach people study reading and writing,  then people's literacy will be promoted efficiently.
3. Obviously, literacy can contribute a lot to our society and countries. Basically,  our daily communication needs it. Secondly, we need literacy to spread knowledge. When more people's literacy is developed, then more people can do study and research to contribute to our society and countries.
Vocabulary
potential (n.)
Original: Voice-enabled devices have the potential to unlock a world of information for illiterate populations around the world.
potentially (adv.)
potentiality (n.)
Definition: likely to develop into a articular type of person or thing in the future.
My own sentence: Tom shows his potential that he may become the winner of the game.
Synonyms: possibility, probability, feasibility

impediment (n.)
original: For 780 million non-literate people in the world, the inability to do any of these things is a huge impediment.
impede (vt.)
Definition: something immaterial that interferes with or delays action or progress.
My own sentence: "Fast fashion"  will become the impediment of our living environment and society's development.
Synonyms: prevention, intervention

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Article 3 ：Voice Technologies Not Yet Ready to Push Literacy

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Article 3 ：Voice Technologies Not Yet Ready to Push Literacy

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Juncong Zhu
Discipline: social science
Summary: In the article, “Voice Technologies Not Yet Ready to Push Literacy” by Aida Akl, the author mentions that voice technologies are not efficient way to solve the problem of too many illiterate populations.Voice-enabled devices can help literate populations around world. Trucano provides one example of subtitling of karaoke or movies in India. Even though it works so well to promote literacy, there are 780 million non-literate people in the world. It is still a long and challenge way to do.
Response:I strongly agree with Aida’s statement that ‘For 780 million non-literate people in the world, the inability to do any of these things is a huge impediment’. Even though Trucano said ‘Same Language Subtitling’ and ‘Talking book’ are really helpful to improve literacy skills in india and Ghana which are the testing regions, there are still many other places that have no access to use those voice technologies. Voice technologies can only cover few regions with few resources and low literacy levels. The limitation is really a huge obstacle to achieve the goal of no illiteracy.

DQs:
1.  Do you think voice technologies can really help to promote literacy? Why?
2. What are some ways that can help to promote literacy?
3. How does literacy affect society or countries?

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Posted October 27th, 2017 at 9:11 am (UTC-5)

Voice-enabled devices have the potential to unlock a world of information for illiterate populations around the world. But certain needs have to be met before voice recognition can significantly impact literacy, says a leading education technology expert.

"There is so much going on where you need to be literate," said Michael Trucano, the World Bank's senior education and technology policy specialist.

One issue is that the world, particularly in developing regions, is full of printed content - documents that need to be written or signed, and vital information about health and well-being that needs to be read. For 780 million non-literate people in the world, the inability to do any of these things is a huge impediment.

But voice recognition technologies can be a potential bridge to promote literacy, Trucano said. One example is the subtitling of karaoke or movies in India.
Small pieces, big picture
Working with local partners, PlanetRead uses eye-tracking and karaoke-style subtitles to push literacy through a sound-to-text system. As people watch television, they see the lyrics of music videos and film songs displayed on the screen in the same language as the audio.

Called "Same Language Subtitling," the approach strengthens correspondence among weak and struggling readers by "integrating perfectly matching text into their film song viewing," the organization said.

The subtitling "gives automatic and inescapable reading practice to millions of viewers," said ​PlanetRead founder Brij Kothari. It's "karaoke on existing Bollywood content on TV for everyday and lifelong reading practice."

A different approach is taking place in Ghana, in regions with few resources and low literacy levels. Using a low-cost audio computer called the Talking Book, the Literacy Bridge, a nonprofit group, disseminates information to users about health, agriculture, and education "in their own dialect," said the group's executive director, Cliff Schmidt.

Users also record their own messages and feedback, thereby creating their own digital content in areas where there is none.

While promising, these low-cost interventions yield "marginal and diffuse" literacy gains, said Trucano of the World Bank. They are, however, pieces of a much larger "literacy, low literacy, illiteracy challenge." Paired with voice recognition, they could spur people to increase their literacy skills.

"These will be important building blocks of many of the illiteracy efforts that we're going to see," he said.

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Voice Technologies Not Yet Ready to Push Literacy

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Voice-enabled devices have the potential to unlock a world of information for illiterate populations around the world. But certain needs have to be met before voice recognition can significantly impact literacy, says a leading education technology expert. "There is so much going on where you need to be literate," said Michael Trucano, the World Bank's [...]

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1) Nice vocabulary words.
2) Please enable comments and attribution.

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Siwei Cao
From this research about deafness, I have new views of deaf people. Not only hearing people have their language and culture, deaf people always have their own ways to live and communicate. We shouldn't force deaf people to learn speaking and understand us, we should learn to understand them and be close to them.  There will no kind of people can be majority of society, we should respect and love each other.
1. They are a husband-and-wife team which are hired by a school to do the deafness education research. Their opinion is, deaf students don't want to learn speaking and lip language because they are afraid of other people's reaction,  this is a psychology problem.
2. This will not lead to social isolation because there are deaf  communities in major cities, and deaf people have their own culture and language.
3. No, I don't think deaf is really disability. They have their own culture and language, they have their own way to communicate. If we can't understand them, because we don't start trying  to understand them. Everybody has different behaviors, deaf people are same with us as well.
Vocabulary
resonate (vt.)
Original: Nevertheless, the controversy they stirred up at the Clarke school still resonates through discussions of deaf education.
resonant (adj.)
resonance (n.)
Definition: If something such as an event or a message resonate, it seems important or good to people, or continue to do this.
My own sentence: I get the resonance with my friend, both of us think the math homework is hard.
Synonym: vibrate
heritage （n.)
Original: Throughout history, deaf communities have invented sign languages that served not only as an instrument of communication but also as a means of transmitting a rich cultural heritage centered on the experience of deafness.
heritable (adj.)
heritor (n.)
Definition: Practices that are handed down from the past by tradition.
My own sentence: My family heritage is eating together in the Spring Festival.
Synonyms: tradition, succession

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Article 2: "Is deaf really a disability?" by David Ludden

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Article 2: "Is deaf really a disability?" by David Ludden

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Mengxi Cao
Discipline: Social science
Summary: The passage mainly discuss the issue whether deaf can be. There are two different ways to teach deaf children. The manualist approach stress the naturalness of sign language and the oralist approach let deaf children study in the hearing community and read lip. The deaf people usually feel ashamed to read lip so they are not willing to interact with the mainstream society. The author indicates that the sign language has its rich culture. David maintains deafness will lead to social isolation because there are deaf communities in major cities. Also, hearing friends and the family of the deaf people can use sign language to communicate with the deaf people.
Response: In my opinion, deaf is not a disability. Deaf people has their own standing and forcing them to read lip will only make them feel uncomfortable. They have their own culture and we should respect this culture. If we want to help them fit in the mainstream society, we can use sign language to communicate with them.
DQs:
1. Who is Fritz and Grace Heider? What is their opinion about deaf people?
2. Why do author think that deafness will not lead to social isolation?
3. Do you think deaf is really disability? Why?

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In 1927, the husband-and-wife team of Fritz and Grace Heider were hired by the Clarke School for the Deaf in Massachusetts to conduct educational research. Although schools for the deaf had been operating in the United States for over two centuries, they typically offered instruction in the local sign language, so their graduates spent their lives in isolated deaf communities. But the Clarke School was new and progressive, and its mission was to integrate deaf children into the mainstream hearing community. To this end, the use of sign language was forbidden, and the children were taught to speak and read lips instead.

The Heiders bought into the school's mission-at first, anyway. But what the couple learned from observing the children in their everyday lives forced them to reconsider their assumptions. First, they found out that sign languages weren't just simple systems of gesture and pantomime, as had been assumed. Rather, they were full-fledged communication systems with the same range of expression as spoken languages. And second, they discovered that these deaf children were just as socially mature and well-adjusted as their hearing peers. In other words, being deaf hadn't stunted their social or cognitive development in any way.

Perhaps most importantly of all, the Heiders learned that the children deeply resented the school's methods. They still used sign language among themselves when their teachers weren't around. And they hated being forced to speak and read lips. It felt so unnatural to them, especially when they could much more easily communicate in sign language instead. Because hearing people often had difficulty understanding what they said, the children felt ashamed to speak, and so they had little incentive to interact with mainstream society.

The couple published their findings in a series of papers. But the Clarke administration wasn't pleased with their reports, and the couple eventually severed their connection with the school. Today, the Heiders are recognized as pioneers in the psychology of deafness. Nevertheless, the controversy they stirred up at the Clarke school still resonates through discussions of deaf education.

This story illustrates the two very different approaches to teaching deaf children. On the one hand, the manualist approach emphasizes the naturalness of using sign language among the deaf. Throughout history, deaf communities have invented sign languages that served not only as an instrument of communication but also as a means of transmitting a rich cultural heritage centered on the experience of deafness. On the other hand, the oralist approach tries to mainstream deaf children into the larger hearing community by teaching them to speak and read lips. Those who are successful can then interact effectively with hearing people. However, they also have to contend with the various misunderstandings and stereotypes that hearing people have about the deaf.

Which pedagogical approach is better depends on your point of view. If you're a hearing person, you no doubt see deafness as a disability that needs to be corrected. Thus, you'll want the deaf to learn to speak and read lips so they can communicate with you and with other hearing people. This is especially true in the case of hearing parents of a deaf child. It's only natural to want to raise your child in your own language and culture, and it can be heart-wrenching to see your deaf child seek out a sign-language community that seems so alien to you.

But when we take the deaf person's point of view, the perspective is completely different. Deaf children who are immersed in signing communities learn sign language just as easily as hearing children learn spoken language. And they make friends with others who share similar experiences. Those who were born deaf have no idea what it's like to hear and, by the same token, hearing people often have no understanding of the deaf experience either. Even if they become proficient at speaking and lip reading, deaf people are still outsiders in hearing society.

Deafness may exclude a person from hearing society, but it doesn't have to lead to social isolation. There are vibrant deaf communities in all major cities, mainly centered on schools for the deaf as well as on clubs where the deaf can interact and share their experiences. In fact, researchers make a distinction between deaf with a lowercase d, which refers to the condition of not being able to hear, and Deaf with a capital D, which refers to a community of sign language users. In other words, the Deaf community includes not only deaf people but also hearing friends and family members who can use sign language.

Deaf communities have a rich culture that includes a tradition of storytelling. Two common themes often run through these stories. The first is a rejection of the notion that deafness is a disability. The second extols the virtues of being deaf, typically in the form of a deaf person gaining an advantage over a hearing person. Often these stories are humorous, and they help to create a strong sense of in-group solidarity through shared experiences.

One example of Deaf humor, as cited by Sutton-Spence and Napoli (2012), goes as follows:

A blind man, a man in a wheelchair, and a deaf man are having a drink in a bar. Just then, God walks in and comes over to their table. God turns to the blind man and says, "Be healed!" The blind man looks around at everything he can see, shouting "Praise the Lord!" Then God turns to the man in the wheelchair and says, "Be healed!" The man in the wheelchair stands up and runs from the bar shouting, "Praise the Lord!" Finally, God turns to the deaf man, but before He can speak, the deaf man signs, "No, please don't heal me! I don't want to lose my disability benefits!"

This joke is an example of minority humor, in which a member of a minority group outsmarts someone in a position of power. Such humor is common among minorities around the world, and it's an effective tool for bolstering group identity and self-esteem.

From the perspective of the hearing majority, deafness is a disability that isolates its sufferers from mainstream society. And yet, that's not the way deaf people view themselves. They certainly understand that they're outsiders in the hearing world, and no matter how good their skills at speaking and lip reading, they may never completely fit in. But within their Deaf communities, they lead rich and happy lives full of meaningful relationships with others who share the same experiences and worldview. If the deaf don't see deafness as a disability, why then should the hearing community treat it as one?

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In 1927, the husband-and-wife team of Fritz and Grace Heider were hired by the Clarke School for the Deaf in Massachusetts to conduct educational research. Although schools for the deaf had been operating in the United States for over two centuries, they typically offered instruction in the local sign language, so their graduates spent their lives in isolated deaf communities.

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Mengxi
stunt(v.)
Original: In other words, being deaf hadn’t stunted their social or cognitive development in any way.
stuntedness(n.)
stunt(n.)
Definition: prevent from growing or developing properly
My own sentence: This tree blocks the sunlight so we should try to stunt its growth.
forbidden (adj.)
Original: To this end, the use of sign language was forbidden, and the children were taught to speak and read lips instead.
forbid(v.)
forbidding(adj.)
Definition:not allowed; banned
My own sentence: Cheating in the exam is forbidden so we should avoid it.

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Juncong Zhu
I would support that deafness is a disability. People define deaf as disabled because the deaf can not hear voices. Therefore, the deaf do not speak because they can not correct themselves by hearing their own voices. The deaf have to use sign language to communicate with others. By reading lips, the deaf may not get correct exact information from other people who can speak. So I think the deaf still have inconvenience to interact with speaking people in normal society.

Vocabulary
integrate(v.)
original:  But the Clarke School was new and progressive, and its mission was to integrate deaf children into the mainstream hearing community.
integrative(adj.)

Definition: to make up, combine, or complete to produce a whole or a larger unit, as parts do.

My own sentence: Many children with learning difficulties are integrated into ordinary schools.
Synonyms: merge, unify, fuse

ashamed(adj.)
original: Because hearing people often had difficulty understanding what they said, the children felt ashamed to speak, and so they had little incentive to interact with mainstream society.

Definition: feeling very sorry and embarrassed because of something you have done.
ashamedly(adv.)
shamelessness(n.)

My own sentence: She felt ashamed that she had missed her sister’s wedding.
Synonyms: compunctious

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Juncong
After I read this short story. I am touched by Jim and Della's love. They gave each other selfless love. They would not have any sadness about useless gifts. They are seemed unwise, but they are wisest because they give true love to each other.

Vocabulary
ruin(v.)
Original: The hair had been ruined by her love and her desire to give a special gift.
ruinable(adj.)
ruiner(n.)
Defination:to spoil or destroy something completely
My own sentence: All this mud’s going to ruin my shoes.
Synonyms: devastate, destroy

Obey(v.)
original: Instead of obeying, Jim fell on the couch and put his hands under the back of his head and smiled.
obeyable(adj.)
obeyer(n.)
Defination:to comply with or follow the commands, restrictions, wishes, orinstructions of
My own sentence: If everyone obeys the rules of the road, safety is much improved.
Synonyms: comply

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Claire
From the story of Della and Jim, I can feel how valuable their love are. They are trying to give their best to each other. Even though they are poor, they are rich in love.

1. When Jim saw Della's short hair, he had a complex feeling. He felt strange about Della's new haircut and he could not understand why she cut her beautiful hair.
2. Magi means the wisest man. Though Della and Jim sold their valuable things, they showed love to each other.
3. If I were Jim or Della, I will do the same things like them because I want to make people who I love happy.

Vocabulary
frighten(v.)
Original:There was an expression in them that she could not read, and it frightened her.
frightened(adj)
frightener(noun)
Definition: make someone afraid or anxious.
My own sentence: In Halloween, people always dress in strange costumes and try to frighten others.

silent(adj)
Original:Negotiating until one's face burned with the silent knowledge of being poor.
silenced(adj)
silently(adv)
Definition: not making or accompanied by any sound or person not speaking
My own sentence: Everything is silent in the dark night and we can see stars shinning in the sky.

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Siwei
possession (n.)
Original: Now, Mr. and Mrs. James Dillingham Young had two possessions which they valued.
possessive (adj)
possess (vt)
Definition: If something is in your possession, you own it, or you have obtained it from somewhere .
My own sentence: The landlord said, we would get the possession of the house by August.
Synonyms: estate, property, treasure

negotiation (n.)
Original:Pennies saved one and two at a time by negotiating with the men at the market who sold vegetables and meat.
negotiable (adj.)
negotiator (n.)
negotiate (vi.)
Definition: Official discussions between the representatives of opposing groups who are trying to reach an agreement, especially in business or politics.
My own sentence: To stop the war, the two countries of the war decided to have a negotiation.
Synonyms: treaty, alienation

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Article 1:The Gift of the Magi by O.Henry

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Article 1:The Gift of the Magi by O.Henry

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Siwei
Discipline: Short story
Summary: In the story, Jim and Della were a couple and they are poor. Jim has a wonderful watch and Della has perfect hair, they plan to give Christmas gifts to each other. At last, Della sells her hair to buy a chain for Jim's watch  and Jim sells his watch to buy a comb for Della's hair. Their gifts become useless, but they are so happy.
Response: After I read this story, I saw happiness with a little sadness. They were poor, but they still fought with real life. To show their love to each other, they even sold their most cherish things. However, even they worked hard, their were still poor and the society was so dark at that time.
DQs:
1. What did Jim think when he saw Della cut her hair?
2. What's meaning of the title "The gift of the magi"?
3.If you were Jim or Della, will you do the same things

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Editor's Note: We are pleased to share a traditional holiday story with you, 'The Gift of the Magi' by O. Henry. Karen Leggett adapted this story for VOA Learning English. Your storyteller was Shep O'Neal. The producer was Lawan Davis.
One dollar and eighty-seven cents. That was all. And sixty cents of it in the smallest pieces of money - pennies. Pennies saved one and two at a time by negotiating with the men at the market who sold vegetables and meat. Negotiating until one's face burned with the silent knowledge of being poor. Three times Della counted it. One dollar and eighty-seven cents. And the next day would be Christmas.

There was clearly nothing to do but sit down and cry. So Della cried. Which led to the thought that life is made up of little cries and smiles, with more little cries than smiles.

Della finished her crying and dried her face. She stood by the window and looked out unhappily at a gray cat walking along a gray fence in a gray back yard. Tomorrow would be Christmas Day, and she had only one dollar and eighty-seven cents to buy her husband Jim a gift. She had been saving every penny she could for months, with this result.

Jim earned twenty dollars a week, which does not go far. Expenses had been greater than she had expected. They always are. Many a happy hour she had spent planning to buy something nice for him. Something fine and rare -- something close to being worthy of the honor of belonging to Jim.

There was a tall glass mirror between the windows of the room. Suddenly Della turned from the window and stood before the glass mirror and looked at herself. Her eyes were shining, but her face had lost its color within twenty seconds. Quickly she pulled down her hair and let it fall to its full length.

Now, Mr. and Mrs. James Dillingham Young had two possessions which they valued. One was Jim's gold time piece, the watch that had been his father's and his grandfather's. The other was Della's hair.

Had the Queen of Sheba lived in their building, Della would have let her hair hang out the window to dry just to reduce the value of the queen's jewels.

So now Della's beautiful hair fell about her, shining like a brown waterfall. It reached below her knees and made itself almost like a covering for her. And then quickly she put it up again. She stood still while a few tears fell on the floor.

She put on her coat and her old brown hat. With a quick motion and brightness still in her eyes, she danced out the door and down the street.

Where she stopped the sign read: "Madame Sofronie. Hair Goods of All Kinds." Della ran up the steps to the shop, out of breath.

"Will you buy my hair?" asked Della.

"I buy hair," said Madame. "Take your hat off and let us have a look at it."

Down came the beautiful brown waterfall of hair.

"Twenty dollars," said Madame, lifting the hair with an experienced hand.

"Give it to me quick," said Della.

The next two hours went by as if they had wings. Della looked in all the stores to choose a gift for Jim.

She found it at last. It surely had been made for Jim and no one else. It was a chain -- simple round rings of silver. It was perfect for Jim's gold watch. As soon as she saw it she knew that it must be for him. It was like him. Quiet and with great value. She gave the shopkeeper twenty-one dollars and she hurried home with the eighty-seven cents that was left.

When Della arrived home she began to repair what was left of her hair. The hair had been ruined by her love and her desire to give a special gift. Repairing the damage was a very big job.

Within forty minutes her head was covered with tiny round curls of hair that made her look wonderfully like a schoolboy. She looked at herself in the glass mirror long and carefully.

"If Jim does not kill me before he takes a second look at me," she said to herself, "he'll say I look like a song girl. But what could I do--oh! what could I do with a dollar and eighty-seven cents?"

At seven o'clock that night the coffee was made and the pan on the back of the stove was hot and ready to cook the meat.

Jim was never late coming home from work. Della held the silver chain in her hand and sat near the door. Then she heard his step and she turned white for just a minute. She had a way of saying a little silent prayer about the simplest everyday things, and now she whispered: "Please God, make him think I am still pretty."

The door opened and Jim stepped in. He looked thin and very serious. Poor man, he was only twenty-two and he had to care for a wife. He needed a new coat and gloves to keep his hands warm.

Jim stopped inside the door, as immovable as a dog smelling a bird. His eyes were fixed upon Della. There was an expression in them that she could not read, and it frightened her. It was not anger, nor surprise, nor fear, nor any of the feelings that she had been prepared for. He simply looked at her with a strange expression on his face. Della went to him.

"Jim, my love," she cried, "do not look at me that way. I had my hair cut and sold because I could not have lived through Christmas without giving you a gift. My hair will grow out again. I just had to do it. My hair grows very fast. Say 'Merry Christmas!' Jim, and let us be happy. You do not know what a nice-- what a beautiful, nice gift I have for you."

"You have cut off your hair?" asked Jim, slowly, as if he had not accepted the information even after his mind worked very hard.

"Cut it off and sold it," said Della. "Do you not like me just as well? I am the same person without my hair, right?

Jim looked about the room as if he were looking for something.

"You say your hair is gone?" he asked.

"You need not look for it," said Della. "It is sold, I tell you--sold and gone, too. It is Christmas Eve, boy. Be good to me, for it was cut for you. Maybe the hairs of my head were numbered," she went on with sudden serious sweetness, "but nobody could ever count my love for you. Shall I put the meat on, Jim?"

Jim seemed to awaken quickly and put his arms around Della. Then he took a package from his coat and threw it on the table.

"Do not make any mistake about me, Dell," he said. "I do not think there is any haircut that could make me like my girl any less. But if you will open that package you may see why you had me frightened at first."

White fingers quickly tore at the string and paper. There was a scream of joy; and then, alas! a change to tears and cries, requiring the man of the house to use all his skill to calm his wife.

For there were the combs -- the special set of objects to hold her hair that Della had wanted ever since she saw them in a shop window. Beautiful combs, made of shells, with jewels at the edge --just the color to wear in the beautiful hair that was no longer hers. They cost a lot of money, she knew, and her heart had wanted them without ever hoping to have them. And now, the beautiful combs were hers, but the hair that should have touched them was gone.

But she held the combs to herself, and soon she was able to look up with a smile and say, "My hair grows so fast, Jim!"

Then Della jumped up like a little burned cat and cried, "Oh, oh!"

Jim had not yet seen his beautiful gift. She happily held it out to him in her open hands. The silver chain seemed so bright.

"Isn't it wonderful, Jim? I looked all over town to find it. You will have to look at the time a hundred times a day now. Give me your watch. I want to see how it looks on it."

Instead of obeying, Jim fell on the couch and put his hands under the back of his head and smiled.

"Dell," said he, "let us put our Christmas gifts away and keep them a while. They are too nice to use just right now. I sold my gold watch to get the money to buy the set of combs for your hair. And now, why not put the meat on."
Download activities to help you understand this story here. Now it's your turn. Write to us in the Comments section or on our Facebook page about a very special gift you received
The magi were wise men--wonderfully wise men--who brought gifts to the Baby Jesus. They invented the art of giving Christmas gifts. Being wise, their gifts were wise ones. And here I have told you the story of two young people who most unwisely gave for each other the greatest treasures of their house. But in a last word to the wise of these days, let it be said that of all who give gifts, these two were the wisest. Everywhere they are wisest. They are the magi.

QUIZ

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negotiate - v. to discuss something formally in order to make an agreement

expression - n. the way someone's face looks that shows emotions and feelings

magi - n. the wise men, generally assumed to be three in number, who paid homage to the infant Jesus. Matt. 2:1-12.

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This traditional American holiday story tells of a young couple trying to make their way in life. They struggle to find gifts for each other at Christmas time. What can they find to show their love for each other? Like other O. Henry stories, this one has a surprise ending.