Passage 1
A project called Playing for Change unites musicians from around the world. Producer Mark Johnson's first recording for the project was of an American street musician singing "Stand by Me." He then began traveling and recorded more than 30 other musicians singing the same song. "Stand by Me" was the first big hit for Playing for Change. Soon, Johnson had asked more than 100 musicians to take part in the project. He says their message is about more than music. Playing for Change is a movement of people around the world who believe that with music we can inspire each other to come together. So in a world with so many divisions, Playing for Change is trying to create inspiring connections for the human race through music. Johnson asked ten musicians from seven countries to perform in North America. South African musician Louis Mhlanga says Playing for Change is spreading an important message. It's what the world needs: to open people's thoughts, to make them aware that there's love, peace, happiness, and respect to be shared. The project created an organization that provides musical supplies and educational programs to poor communities around the world. It has set up schools to teach the beauty of music and spread the message of playing for change.  

Passage 2
The Intel Science Talent Search is the top science competition for high school students in the United States. The 40 finalists were honored in Washington. President Obama welcomed them to the White House. Wendy Hawkins is executive director of the Intel Foundation. She says the 40 finalists represented excellence across many areas of science. Their projects are deep, rich, and insightful. Selina Li wanted to find a more effective treatment for liver cancer. She began her research 4 years ago. Ms. Li placed 5th in the Intel Science Talent Search and was awarded $30,000. Scott began using a laboratory at the University of Arizona at the age of 14. Over 4 years, he completed a project studying a fungus linked to the decrease in amphibians around the world. He placed 10th in the Intel competition and was awarded $20,000. Evan O'Dorney of Danville, California, won the top award of $100,000 in this year's Intel Science Talent Search. For his mathematical project, he compared two ways to estimate the square root of an integer, a number with no fractional parts. Wendy Hawkins says these young people represent the next generation of scientists who will help shape America's future.  

Passage 3
Some students get so nervous before a test that they do poorly even if they know the material. Sian Beilock is a psychology professor who has studied these highly anxious test takers. Professor Beilock developed a possible solution. Just before an exam, highly anxious test takers spend 10 minutes writing about their worries about the test. She said when students write about their worries on paper, they think about the worst that could happen. They might realize it is not as bad as they thought. And writing about it prevents these thoughts from popping up when they are taking the test. The researchers tested the idea on a group of 20 anxious college students. They gave them two short math tests. After the first one, they asked the students to either sit quietly or write about their feelings about the upcoming second test. Professor Beilock says those who sat quietly scored an average of 12% worse on the second test. But the students who had written about their fears improved their performance by an average of 5%. But what if students do not have a chance to write about their fears immediately before an exam or presentation? Professor Beilock says students can try it themselves at home or in the library and still improve their performance.  

Passage 4
President Obama talked a lot about education in his State of the Union speech in January. He said, "We need to out-innovate, out-educate, and out-build the rest of the world." If Americans want to "win the future," he said, then they also have to win the race to educate their children. The president said, "Over the next 10 years, nearly half of all new jobs will require education that goes beyond a high school education. And yet, as many as a quarter of our students aren't even finishing high school. The quality of our math and science education lags behind many other nations. America has fallen to ninth in the proportion of young people with a college degree." Two years ago, Mr. Obama set a goal to regain the world's highest rate of college graduates by 2020. He says the responsibility to give every child a chance to succeed begins not in classrooms, but in homes and communities. He said, "We need to teach our kids that it's not just the winner of the Super Bowl who deserves to be celebrated, but the winner of the science fair." President Obama talked about his Race to the Top competition. It offered states money to develop plans to improve teacher quality and student performance. Also, he called for preparing 100,000 new teachers in science, technology, engineering, and math over the next 10 years.  

Passage 5
Tablet computers were the stars of this year's Consumer Electronics Show. The international gathering in Las Vegas, Nevada, is the world's biggest technology trade show. Companies launched more than 80 handheld computers similar to the popular Apple iPad. Examples include a new Wi-Fi version of the Galaxy Tab made by Samsung of South Korea. Asus announced four new tablets for this year. One of them can connect to a keyboard to make it more like a laptop computer. Another has a keyboard that slides out. Both of these tablets use Google's new Android Honeycomb operating system. Motorola, based in the United States, also demonstrated that system on its new Xoom tablet. More and more companies are offering 3D images on devices like tablets and notebook computers. There are 3D Blu-ray players, cameras, camcorders, and printers. Many companies are selling products that run on solar energy or wind energy to recharge cell phones or other small devices. Popular products at the Consumer Electronics Show also included internet TVs and devices to stream video onto existing high-definition sets.