【推荐1】Want to support animals in need? Here are three ways to show them some love.

Grounds & Hounds

When you buy any item from Jordan Karcher’s coffee company Grounds & Hounds, part of the proceeds (收入) goes to the shelter near you. In 2015, Grounds & Hounds’ donations helped partners provide blankets, food and services for about 2,000 rescued animals.

Tel.: 888-228-8914

E⁃mail: info@groundsandhoundscoffee.com

Fetch Eyewear and the Pixie Project

In 2004, Ann Sacks founded Fetch Eyewear, a company that sells stylish frames at affordable prices. Three years later, she launched the Pixie Project — a nonprofit project that offers free and low⁃cost treatment for animal diseases and injuries and rescues pets from overloaded (超负荷的) shelters across the country — and 100 percent of Fetch’s profits now benefit the charity. So far, the two organizations have helped with more than 5,000 pet adoptions and about 1,000 surgery (外科手术).

Adoption: 503-542-3433

Fax: 503-542-3437

Fur for the Animals

Fur for the Animals, run by the animal advocacy group Born Free USA, is a campaign (open through December 31) that collects unwanted furs and donates them to wildlife rehabilitation (康复) centers. The furs are used by injured creatures that need to feel cozy and comforted. More than 1,000 pounds of furs have already made their way to animals in need throughout the U.S.

Tel.: 011-5952-5440

【推荐2】Many doors close for those who have ever been in prison for a crime. It can be difficult for former prisoners to reenter society. A number of training programs are aimed at reopening doors for these men and women.

“Together We Bake” teaches cooking and marketing skills to women who have spent time in prison so they can start new lives. It is a 10-week program which teaches women how to bake and sell cookies. Two friends, Tricia Sabatini and Stephanie Wright, created the program.

“I have a background in social work and she is an amazing baker,” Ms. Wright explains. “We discovered that for this population of women, returning from prison into the community, there aren’t a lot of resources for them. So we thought we could combine our passions(激情) and develop this job as a training program. “Stephanie Wright says they started the program earlier this year.” We had two classes so far that have graduated. This is our third class. We have eight women currently in this class. We’ve 16 women graduated in the first two classes.”

Terry Garred is one of the graduates. She says the program helped her turn her life around. Next she hopes to complete her high school studies. She is also working for “Together We Bake” to help other women follow the path she took.

The program includes classes in which the women talk about their experiences and learn communication and job skills. Thirty-six-year-old Jamie White had spent three years in jail, which made her a little puzzled about her future life back into society. But she found those meeting were very helpful. She learned how to open up, and was just trying to better herself. She gained new skills. She sells baked goods at local markets every weekend now.

【推荐3】In the United States a voluntary organization called Musician Corps is making a difference in people's lives. Five years ago，Kiff Gallagher，the founder of the organization，realized that music and public services could be used together to help Americans in need. Recognizing that music has a positive effect on Alzheimer's disease and autism（自闭症），he had the idea of creating Musician Corps.

Musician Corps looks for musicians and trains them as teachers. Then the musicians provide these services in city schools，children's hospitals，and assisted-living homes for older adults. They also help organize community concerts. Anyone can play music at these community activities.

Kiff Gallagher says what makes Musician Corps different from other charity organizations is that everybody can take part. It provides a place for people to get involved. He remembers a Musician Corps event at a hospital. Afterwards，he says，the patients are less depressed.

David Meletiche, one of 200 musicians in Musician Corps, teaches an after-school guitar class in a high-crime neighborhood. He is excited that the group gives him not only a job in a difficult economy but also the chance to use the team-building skills he gained in college.

There are 12 high school students in his class. Selena Makwan, one of them who are learning to play the guitar, says the program keeps her busy. "It definitely keeps me off the streets, because without this program I probably would be wandering around right now and I would not know what to do. And it also gives me an opportunity to learn something I' ve never done before."

Musician Corps has established programs in California and North Carolina. Kiff Gallagher hopes Musician Corps will continue to expand across America.

【推荐1】I’m a seventeen-year-old boy preparing for my A Level exams at the end of the year. In the society where my peers and I live, we tend to accept the rat race values. As students, we want to get good grades so that we can get good jobs. I enjoy studying and have consistently received A’s in my classes. There was a year when I finished first in my class in the final exams. It was a great accomplishment.

Another one I am pleased with is that I managed to improve the relationship between Mum and Dad. Dad was a successful businessman who was rarely at home. Mum was a housewife who always felt bored and constantly nagged (唠叨) him to let her go to work. Their constant arguing bothered me, so I advised Dad that Mum would be better off with a part-time job. He agreed, and their relationship has improved since then.

My most proud achievement, however, is my successful work in the local old folks’ home. My grandparents had raised me since I was a child. I wept (哭泣) bitterly when they died. Unlike many of my classmates, I do not take part in my school’s community service to earn points. I enjoy my voluntary work and believe I’m contributing to a worthwhile cause. This is where I can help. I talk to the elderly, assist them with their daily life, and listen to their problems, glory days and the hardships they experienced.

Last year, I hosted a successful New Year party for the elderly and they enjoyed a great time. Many expressed a desire to attend another party the following year. When I reflect on my accomplishments, I’m especially proud of my service at the old folks’ home, so I hope to study social work at university and work as a social worker in the future. I wish to be more skilled in attending to the less fortunate as well as find great satisfaction in it.

【推荐2】Mr. and Mrs. Wormwood had a son called Michael and a daughter called Matilda ,who was so quick to learn that her ability should have been obvious even to the most stupid parents. But she was their daughter. To tell the truth, I doubt they had noticed she crawled into the house with a broken leg.

By the age of one and a half her speech was perfect and she knew as many words as most grown-ups. The parents, instead of praising her, called her a noisy chatterbox and told her sharply that small girls should be seen and not heard.

By the time she was three, Matilda had taught herself to read by studying newspapers and magazines that lay around the house. At the age of four, she could read fast and well and she naturally began seeking for books. The only book in the whole of this enlightened household was something called Easy Cooking belonging to her mother, and when she had read this from cover to cover, and had learnt all the recipes by heart, she decided she wanted something more interesting.

“Daddy,” she said, “do you think you could buy me a book?

“A book?” he said. “What do you want a book for?”

“To read, Daddy.”

“What's wrong with the telly? We've got a lovely telly with a twelve-inch screen and now you come asking for a book!”

Nearly every weekday afternoon Matilda was left alone in the house. Her brother went to school. Her father went to work and her mother went out playing bingo. On the afternoon of the day when her father had refused to buy her a book, Matilda set out all by herself to walk to the public library in the village. She asked Mrs. Phelps, the librarian, if she might sit a while and read a book. Mrs. Phelps, slightly surprised at the arrival of such a tiny girl unaccompanied by a parent, nevertheless told her she was very welcome.

“Where are the children's   books please!” Matilda asked.

“They’re over there on those lower shelves,” Mrs. Phelps told her. “Would you like me to help you find a nice one with lots of pictures in it?

“No, thank.you,” Matilda said. “I’m sure I can manage.”

From then on, every afternoon, as soon as her mother had left for bingo, Matilda would walk down to the library, where she spent two glorious hours sitting quietly by herself in a cosy comer devouring one book after another. When she had read every single children's book in the place, she started wandering around in search of something else.

Mrs. Phelps, who had been watching her with interest for the past few weeks, now got up from her desk and went over to her. “Can I help you, Matilda?” she asked.

“I’m wondering what to read next,” Matilda said. “I’ve finished all the children's books.”

“You mean you’ve looked at the pictures?”

“yes, but I’ve read the books as well. I thought some were very poor, but others were lovely. I like The Secret Garden best of all. It was full of mystery. The mystery of the room behind the closed door and the mystery of the garden behind the big wall”.

Mrs. Phelps was stunned.“Exactly how old are you, Matilda?”she asked.

“ Four years and three months,” Matilda said.“I would like a really good book that grown-ups read .A famous one.”

Mrs. Phelps looked along the shelves, taking her time.“Try this”, she said at last,“It’s very famous and very good If it’s too long for you, just let me know”.

“Great Expectations, ” Matilda read, “by Charles Dickens. I’d love to try it”