【推荐3】With time going on, dogs have developed a special relationship with people. Recently, however, some dogs have taken a different role in people’s lives — therapy dogs.

    1     Some therapy dogs visit patients in hospitals or nursing homes, while others visit children in schools and libraries. They are there to help children become better readers.

Reading programs that use therapy dogs have been in existence for more than ten years. All therapy dogs of this program are registered with an organization that tests the dogs to make sure they have the right personality for the job.

    2     Both the dogs and the handlers are volunteers with the reading program.

At the start of a reading therapy session, a child and a dog are introduced. The pair is allowed to settle down in a quiet corner together.     3     An adult handler stays nearby but generally lets the dog perform its job without being interrupted. Sometimes, a handler may ask a question that encourages the child to work with the dog to help the child feel more comfortable.

Not every child will be able to be part of a reading therapy program that uses dogs. A few children might be allergic to dogs or afraid of them; some children might have cultural traditions that prevent them from touching a dog.     4    

Reading therapy programs inspire learning and change for human beings. The readers benefit a lot, gaining confidence and learning that reading aloud can be a relaxing experience.

    5     They spend time with human friends. For dogs that love human companionship and a quiet place to rest, being part of a reading therapy program can be a great way to spend a few hours being with humans each day.

【推荐1】Like many other five-year-olds, Jeanie Low of Houston, Texas, would use a stool (凳子) to help her reach the bathroom sink. However, the plastic step-stool she had at home was unstable and messed up the small bathroom shared by her whole family. After learning of an invention contest held by her school that year, Jeanie resolved to enter the contest by creating a stool that would be a permanent fixture in the bathroom, and yet could be kept out of the way when not in use.

Jeanie decided to make a stool attached to the bathroom cabinet door under the sink. She cut a board of wood into two pieces, each about two feet wide and one foot long. Using metal hinges (铰链), Jeanie attached one piece of the wood to the front of the cabinet door, and the second piece to the first. The first piece was set just high enough so that when it swung out horizontally from the cabinet door, the second piece would swing down from the first, just touching the ground, and so serving as a support for the first piece of the wood. This created a convenient, strong platform for any person too short to reach the sink. When not in use, the hinges allowed the two pieces of wood to fold back up tightly against the cabinet, where they were held in place by magnets (磁铁). Jeanie called her invention “the Kiddie Stool”.

Jeanie’s Kiddie Stool won first place in her school’s contest. Two years later, it was awarded first prize again at Houston’s first annual Invention Fair. As a result, Jeanie was invited to make a number of public appearances with her Kiddie Stool, and was featured on local TV as well as in newspapers. Many people found the story of the Kiddie Stool inspiring because it showed that with a pair of observant eyes, anyone can be an inventor.

【推荐2】Selena Gomez and I were scheduled to meet at a low-key coffee shop in Encino. Not wanting to keep the superstar waiting, I arrived at nine, 20 minutes early. As I was catching up on e-mails, Selena quietly scooted into the seat next to me. No bodyguard. Not even a drop of makeup. She was ten minutes early and so inconspicuous that no one else in the restaurant looked up so much. Selena was wearing Bebe shorts. She had a baby face and ordered a hot chocolate.

After making small talk about what she wore for the shoot, she dived into the subject of her career. Selena declared 2012 the year of movies. She filmed three: Spring Breakers, a drama; The Getaway, an action flick; and Hotel Transylvania, a comedy. Each is a marked move away from the teen style that made her a household name.

Now that her Disney days are behind her, Selena is at that unstable point in a child star's career where she is trying to grow up-both as a person (she turned 20 in July) and as an artist. “Being part of the Disney Channel was a blessing, and I'm super happy with what my show accomplished, but acting is something I would like to take on more seriously.” She continued, “I don't necessarily feel accomplished. I want to create a whole different persona when it comes to acting.”

Selena has been working full time since she was seven years old and scored a role on Barney & Friends. In 2007, when she was offered the lead in Wizards of Waverly Place, Selena, her mother, and her stepfather uprooted from Grand Prairie, Texas, to LA, where they are settling now.

【推荐3】The meaning of the word “volunteer” may be a little different in different countries, but it usually means “one who offers his or her services” .There are many different ways in which people can volunteer, such as taking care of sick people, working in homes for homeless children, and picking up garbage(垃圾)from beaches and parks. Volunteers may work within their own countries or in other countries. They are often people with a strong wish to help those who are less fortunate than themselves. Volunteers don’t expect any kind of pay.

At the root of volunteering is the idea that one person may have the ability to offer services that can help other people. Tracy, a good friend of mine, however, recently came back from India with a new idea of what being a volunteer means. She worked for two and a half weeks in one of Mother Teresa’s homes in Calcutta. The following is her story.

“I first heard about Mother Teresa in my high school, we watched a video(录像)about her work in India and all over the world. I was so moved by her spirit to help others and her endless love for every human being that after I graduated from high school, I too wanted to try her kind of work. So with two friends I flew to Calcutta for a few weeks.”

“I was asked to work in a home for sick people. I helped wash clothes and sheets, and pass out lunch. I also fed the people who were too weak to feed themselves and tried to cheer them up. I felt it was better to share with them than to think that I have helped them. To be honest, I don’t think I was helping very much. It was then that I realized that I had not really come to help, but to learn about and experience another culture (文化) that helped improve my own understanding of life and the world.”