【推荐1】Unlike well-trained dogs that are able to distinguish (辨别) between common orders like "sit" and "stay", some "Gifted Word Learner" dogs can associate objects with words.

One year ago, Shany Dror and her colleagues at Eötvös Loránd University in Hungary discovered that some dogs have an obviously excellent natural ability to acquire object names. To study this further — how many words they can learn in a certain period of time and whether they can still remember the words after an extended period — they looked for more "Gifted Word Learner" dogs online and, in the end, they found six qualified dogs.

The researchers sent each dog's owner six new toys. Owners then had six days to teach their dogs the names of the toys with their usual methods. These generally involved playing with the dog and each toy, often for just half an hour a day. At the end of the six-day learning period, the research team used online video conferencing to test the dogs' abilities to pick out each toy by name from a number of old and new toys. Each owner sat with their dog in one room and told them to fetch a given toy from a second room. All the dogs successfully brought back at least five of the six new toys. The team then sent another 12 new toys and repeated the process. All the dogs successfully brought back at least 11 of the toys.

Afterwards, half the new toys were stored for one month, and the other half for two months, and the dogs were tested again after each storage period. Five of the dogs remembered all the toy names after one month, and four dogs remembered all or almost all of them after two months.

Dror says these dogs, which are raised in the home like human children, provide an excellent animal model (模式) for studying the way humans acquire language. An animal model offers a basis of comparison for understanding which language-learning skills are specific to humans, and which aren't. "We want to understand what makes humans different," says Dror.

【推荐2】Looking out of my window today reminded me of another day just like this one, a day when I was searching for a special blue bird. I thought it had been talking to my grandmother about me.

One day grandmother asked me to buy some bread. On the way home I gave my bread to a black dog. I really wanted to keep her but I knew my mother would not allow.

An idea occurred to me. I got to our back gate, carefully dug a hole under the fence, and left the rest of the bread right at the hole. Then from the front door I went down the drive and through to the backyard. I got there just in time. She was trying to reach the bread at the hole. I held her front paws and pulled her through. She ate up the bread and I was delighted that my idea had worked.

When I got inside, I told my grandmother that my bread was eaten by a stray dog. I was very pleased with myself for not having to lie. We suddenly heard scratching coming from the back door. Seeing her, grandmother asked me, “Where did that come from?” “She must have come in under the gate.” I pointed out the hole under the back gate. Grandmother told me she thought it was I who brought the dog home. I looked at my grandmother’ s face and asked, “How did you know?” She said, “A little bird told me, a little blue bird told me.” I reminded her I had not told a lie. She grinned and said, “No you did not lie. But the truth you told was not the whole story either.”

I spent most of that summer making sure the blue birds stayed out of the yard. I remember watching grandmother giggling a little as she watched me.

Years later I found out that grandmother had been looking out of the breakfast room window and watched me dig the hole, run back into the yard and pull the dog through. She and my mother laughed about it. Anyway, we kept the dog (even after she delivered 13 puppies) until she passed away with snow-white on her snout and around her eyes.

【推荐1】Do you fancy seeing some sights that aren’t heaving with other visitors? You might have to travel a bit off the beaten path while you’re in Italy. We’ll take you through four of the best hidden gems that you can find in the country.

Chioggia, Venetian Lagoon

Arranged across five islands, Chioggia is enchantingly spliced by beautiful canals. The adjoined town of Sottomarina throws in a six-mile sandy beach. Further south are more beaches plus empty riversides lovely for cycling—which, unlike Venice, one can also do in Chioggia.

San Nicolò dei Mendicoli, Venice

San Nicolò dei Mendicoli church was a key filming location in the 1963 film Don’t Look Now. “Mendicoli” is translated as “beggars” in Venetian language; this area once housed poor fishermen and the church used to shelter the homeless. Beyond set-jetting (电影主题旅游), further incentive to visit is provided by some superb Renaissance ceiling frescos and the celebrated Resurrection of Christ oil painting.

Borromini’s Perspective, Rome

There’s a beguiling reason to visit this impressive Centro Storico palace. On its first floor, find a peaceful orange tree courtyard and look down the colonnaded (柱廊式的) gallery whose distant statue of Mars is about 35 metres away. In fact, the passage is actually only eight metres long, and its god of war merely 60 centimetres high. Not that you’ll believe it until stepping forward.

Santa Maria Novella Pharmacy, Florence

In Florence, visiting one particular apothecary (药商) is a must, partly because the Santa Maria Novella is thought to be the world’s oldest pharmacy. Today, while admission to the neighbouring, tremendous Basilica (大教堂) costs €7.50, pharmacy entry is free. Friendly staff will guide you through handmade soaps, lotions, potpourri (精油) and fragrances made according to centuries-old recipes.

【推荐3】When did you have a really deep conversation where you felt truly heard? These types of connections are essential for people but they are not always easy to find. That’s why one woman decided to take listening to the streets. Her name is Traci Ruble, a psychotherapist (精神治疗医师) who is concerned that people today are experiencing loneliness and lack personal connections. She understands that with busy lives and demanding jobs, people are unable to make these connections.

On a spring day in 2015, Ruble and a handful of volunteers set up chairs on sidewalks in 12 locations around San Francisco and invited people passing by to sit for a few minutes and chat. This was the beginning of the nonprofit Sidewalk Talk. The mission is to create public spaces of connections where the people are. Today, the organization has more than 4,000 volunteers in 40 cities. These volunteers come from a variety of backgrounds and receive training from the organization.

Sidewalk Talk gives people a chance to speak and be listened to but it is not therapy. “Volunteers are not interacting as a therapist out there. They’re not there to solve someone’s problems. They’re there to practice being human.” Ruble said. “Therapy is only one-sided and therapists are taught to avoid self-disclosure. However by being human, volunteers can approach interactions about their own life and show sympathy with the people they’re talking with.”

Today, the increasing number of people experience loneliness, especially due to the COVID-19 lockdowns. In fact, 31 percent of all Americans feel serious loneliness including 61 percent of young adults. To deal with that, restoring community relationships is vitally important. While Sidewalk Talk will not solve the loneliness crisis, these chats could help someone have a brighter day. Knowing that there are sympathetic people who are willing to fully listen and share your feelings, could make all the difference to a lonely person.