1 . Need a Job This Summer?

The provincial government and its partners offer many programs to help students find summer jobs. The deadlines and what you need to apply depend on the program.

Not a student? Go to the government website to learn about programs and online tools available to help people under 30 build skills, find a job or start businesses all year round.

If you are a teenager living in certain parts of the province, you could be eligible(符合条件) for this program, which provides eight weeks of paid employment along with training.

Who is eligible: Youth 15-18 years old in select communities(社区).

Summer Company provides students with hands-on business training and awards of up to $3,000 to start and run their own summer businesses.

Who is eligible: Students aged 15-29, returning to school in the fall.

You could apply to be a Stewardship Youth Ranger and work on local natural resource management projects for eight weeks this summer.

Who is eligible: Students aged 16 or 17 at time of hire, but not turning 18 before December 31 this year.

Through the Summer Employment Opportunities program, students are hired each year in a variety of summer positions across the Provincial Public Service, its related agencies and community groups.

Who is eligible: Students aged 15 or older. Some positions require students to be 15 to 24 or up to 29 for persons with a disability.

3 . It’s about 250 miles from the hills of west-central Iowa to Ehlers’ home in Minnesota. During the long trip home, following a weekend of hunting. Ehlers _______about the small dog he had seen _______ alongside the road. He had _______ to coax(哄) the dog to him but, frightened, it had _______.

Back home, Ehlers was troubled by that _______ dog. So, four days later, he called his friend Greg, and the two drove _______. After a long and careful _______, Greg saw, across a field, the dog moving _______ away. Ehlers eventually succeeded in coaxing the animal to him. Nervousness and fear were replaced with _______. It just started licking(舔) Ehlers’ face.

A local farmer told them the dog sounded like one ________ as lost in the local paper. The ad had a ________ number for a town in southern Michigan. Ehlers ________ the number of Jeff and Lisa to tell them he had ________ their dog.

Jeff had ________ in Iowa before Thanksgiving with his dog, Rosie, but the gun shots had scared the dog off. Jeff searched ________ for Rosie in the next four days.

Ehlers returned to Minnesota, and then drove 100 miles to Minneapolis to put Rosie on a flight to Michigan. “It’s good to know there’s still someone out there who ________ enough to go to that kind of ________,”says Lisa of Ehlers’ rescue ________.

“I figured whoever lost the dog was probably just as ________ to it as I am to my dogs,” says Ehlers. “If it had been my dog, I’d hope that somebody would be ________ to go that extra mile.”

4 . According to a recent study in the Journal of Consumer Research, both the size and consumption habits of our eating companions can influence our food intake. And contrary to existing research that says you should avoid eating with heavier people who order large portions(份), it's the beanpoles with big appetites you really need to avoid.

To test the effect of social influence on eating habits, the researchers conducted two experiments. In the first, 95 undergraduate women were individually invited into a lab to ostensibly(表面上)participate in a study about movie viewership. Before the film began, each woman was asked to help herself to a snack. An actor hired by the researchers grabbed her food first. In her natural state, the actor weighed 105 pounds. But in half the cases she wore a specially designed fat suit which increased her weight to 180 pounds.

Both the fat and thin versions of the actor took a large amount of food. The participants followed suit, taking more food than they normally would have. However, they took significantly more when the actor was thin.

For the second test, in one case the thin actor took two pieces of candy from the snack bowls. In the other case, she took 30 pieces. The results were similar to the first test: the participants followed suit but took significantly more candy when the thin actor took 30 pieces.

The tests show that the social environment is extremely influential when we're making decisions. If this fellow participant is going to eat more, so will I. Call it the “I’ll have what she's having” effect. However, we'll adjust the influence. If an overweight person is having a large portion, I'll hold back a bit because I see the results of his eating habits. But if a thin person eats a lot, I'll follow suit. If he can eat much and keep slim, why can't I?

According to a review of evidence in a medical journal, runners live three years     1    (long) than non-runners. You don't have to run fast or for long    2    (see)the benefit. You may drink, smoke, be overweight and still reduce your risk of     3     (die) early by running. While running regularly can't make you live forever, the review says it     4     (be) more effective at lengthening life    5     walking, cycling or swimming. Two of the authors of the review also made a study published in 2014    6    showed a mere five to 10 minutes A day of running reduced the risk of heart disease and early deaths from all     7    (cause).

The best exercise is one that you enjoy and will do. But otherwise…   it's probably running. To avoid knee pain, you can run on soft surfaces, do exercises to    8    (strength)your leg muscles(肌肉),avoid hills and get good running shoes. Running is cheap, easy and it's always    9    (energy).If you are time poor, you need run for only half the time to get the same benefits as other sports, so perhaps we should all give    10    a try.

8 . For Western designers, China and its rich culture have long been an inspiration for Western creative.

“It’s no secret that China has always been a source(来源) of inspiration for designers,” says Amanda Hill, chief creative officer at A+E Networks, a global media company and home to some of the biggest fashion(时尚) shows.

Earlier this year, the China Through A Looking Glass exhibition in New York exhibited 140 pieces of China-inspired fashionable clothing alongside Chinese works of art, with the aim of exploring the influence of Chinese aesthetics(美学) on Western fashion and how China has fueled the fashionable imagination for centuries. The exhibition had record attendance, showing that there is huge interest in Chinese influences.

“China is impossible to overlook,” says Hill. “Chinese models are the faces of beauty and fashion campaigns that sell dreams to women all over the world, which means Chinese women are not just consumers of fashion — they are central to its movement.” Of course, not only are today’s top Western designers being influenced by China—some of the best designers of contemporary fashion are themselves Chinese. “Vera Wang, Alexander Wang, Jason Wu are taking on Galliano, Albaz, Marc Jacobs—and beating them hands down in design and sales,” adds Hill.

For Hill, it is impossible not to talk about China as the leading player when discussing fashion. “The most famous designers are Chinese, so are the models, and so are the consumers,” she says. “China is no longer just another market; in many senses it has become the market. If you talk about fashion today, you are talking about China—its influences, its direction, its breathtaking clothes, and how young designers and models are finally acknowledging that in many ways.”

9 . My Favourite Books

Jo Usmar is a writer for Cosmopolitan and co-author of the This Book Will series(系列) of lifestyle books. Here she picks her top reads.

I once wrote a paper on the influence of fairy tales on Roald Dahl’s writing and it gave me a new appreciation for his strange and delightful words. Matilda’s battles with her cruel parents and the bossy headmistress, Miss Trunchbull, are equally funny and frightening, but they’re also aspirational.

It’s about two sisters—Eri, a model who either won’t or can’t stop sleeping, and Mari, a young student. In trying to connect to her sister, Mari starts changing her life and discovers a world of diverse “night people” who are hiding secrets.

There was a bit of me that didn’t want to love this when everyone else on the planet did, but the horror story is brilliant. There’s tension and anxiety from the beginning as Nick and Amy battle for your trust. It’s a real whodunit and the frustration when you realise what’s going on is horribly enjoyable.

This is an excellent fantasy novel from one of the best storytellers around. After a serious flu outbreak wipes out 99.4% of the world’s population, a battle unfolds between good and evil among those left. Randall Flagg is one of the scariest characters ever.

10 . “You can use me as a last resort(选择), and if nobody else volunteers, then I will do it.” This was an actual reply from a parent after I put out a request for volunteers for my kids’ lacrosse(长曲棍球) club.

I guess that there’s probably some demanding work schedule, or social anxiety around stepping up to help for an unknown sport. She may just need a little persuading. So I try again and tug at the heartstrings. I mention the single parent with four kids running the show and I talk about the dad coaching a team that his kids aren’t even on … At this point the unwilling parent speaks up, “Alright. Yes, I’ll do it.”

I’m secretly relieved because I know there’s real power in sharing volunteer responsibilities among many. The unwilling parent organizes the meal schedule, sends out emails, and collects money for end-of-season gifts. Somewhere along the way, the same parent ends up becoming an invaluable member of the team. The coach is able to focus on the kids while the other parents are relieved to be off the hook for another season. Handing out sliced oranges to bloodthirsty kids can be as exciting as watching your own kid score a goal.

Still, most of us volunteers breathe a sigh of relief when the season comes to a close. That relief is coupled with a deep understanding of why the same people keep coming back for more: Connecting to the community(社区) as you freely give your time, money, skills, or services provides a real joy. Volunteering just feels so good.

In that sense, I’m pretty sure volunteering is more of a selfish act than I’d freely like to admit. However, if others benefit in the process, and I get some reward too, does it really matter where my motivation lies?