It’s growing increasingly common to see pets at work, especially at smaller companies settings in New York City. LinkedIn has 178 results for “dog friendly” jobs in NY, which probably means they either have one kind of “office dog” or multiple employees may bring their dogs in. Big names like Google, Mashable, and Amazon have pet-friendly plans that welcome these companions into the office on a daily basis. Smaller companies are following suit by allowing dogs into the workplace seeing this action as a non-financial award. It helps create an atmosphere of work friendliness and a recognition of job devotion of the incoming workforce.

    The benefits are surely obvious: pets help reduce stress and may increase communication and socialization and there is no shortage of research to this effect. Approximately 60% of Americans own a pet. It’s not surprising therefore that there is a cultural shift toward permitting free access for pets in spaces. There has been a lot of research on the impact that pets have on children, the elderly, the sick, and prisoners. For example, pets may help the emotional development of children by putting them in a situation where they learn how to care for others. Pets have been shown to help elderly Americans remain social and mobile, and may reduce depression in this population. 

    In another study, it was found that the presence of a companion dog in a group work setting encouraged participants to be more cooperative, communicative, and friendly toward each other than in groups where there was no companion dog. This supports the proposal that pets may help break down barriers (障碍) to social interaction by providing a pathway to conversation.

While the evidence indicates some positivity, it’s not completely true. In a survey on the stress levels, productivity, and organization perception among people who brought their dogs to work at a company in North Carolina, about half of those bringing their dogs to work reported the dog was important to their productivity, while the remaining half gave a neutral (中立的) response. The majority of dog owners who did not bring their dogs to work and non-pet owners reported a neutral response as well. In both groups, however, approximately 20% reported that the dog’s presence was helpful and 20% reported it was a barrier to productivity. In other words, most people who had exposure to a pet at the office reported no noticeable effects.

Title: The rising trend of pets at   (1)  

He was a scientist, an airplane engineer and a general in the United States Amy. At one time, he held the record for flying faster than any other person, the first pilot to cross the United States in less than 24 hours and the first pilot to fly “blind,” that is, using only instruments to guide his airplane. And when his country entered World War II, he led one of the first successful attacks against the enemy.

His name was James Harold Doolittle, who was born on December 14 th,1896, in the western state of California. His family soon moved to Nome,Alaska. James was a small boy and never grew to be very big. Yet larger boys made a mistake if they thought being small also meant being weak. James would fight if someone tried to hurt him. And he almost never lost.

As a young man James became a boxing champion and held the American West Coast championship for his weight. He continued to box when he entered the UniversityofCalifornia to study mineral engineering. When the US entered World War I, young James joined the army and was trained as a pilot. After the war, he stayed in the army, thinking this would give him a chance to combine his flying skills and his interest in engineering.

For most of the years of the world wars, James was involved in the growth of the airplane industry. He helped test new airplanes, flew longer and longer distances and entered the world-famous air races of the time. In 1989, President Ronald Reagan conferred the Presidential Medal of Freedom on James. The award honored his work in aviation(飞机制造业) and his service to his country.

On September 27^th, 1993, James died at the age of 96.

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Parents can help their seventh and eighth grade students stand out in and out of their English classroom if they introduce them to newspapers. Newspapers not only offer information on current events, but they can also be used to test your child’s knowledge of grammar, vocabulary, and more.

Who, What, Where, When, Why, and How

Have your child read the first couple of paragraphs of a news story. Ask them to write down all of the important facts, such as who, what, where, when, why and how. This helps parents to see if their children comprehend the basic facts and information.

Grammar[

Parents can monitor a child’s understanding of grammatical parts of speech (词性) without a grammar textbook. Ask your child to read a paragraph in an article and then list a specific number of nouns, verbs, adjectives, adverbs, pronouns, prepositions and the like, which serves more of a test of their grammatical knowledge. Encourage them to list each of these parts of speech in a paragraph. Then, reread the paragraph to see if they missed anything.

Persuasion

Ask your child to select an advertisement from the newspaper. Have them investigate how the author expresses himself to influence their feelings about a particular product. Then, encourage them to create an advertisement of their own for an item they do not like. Tell them not to show their true feelings and try to make people want to buy this unwanted item. After that, ask them to list the persuasive techniques used in their ad.

Facts vs Opinions

Select an editorial for your middle schooler to read. Have your child divide a piece of paper into two columns, one marked fact, and the other marked opinion. Have your student decide which column it fits under. This will help your child better understand facts versus opinions. Another related exercise is responding to an editorial. Encourage your child to write letters to the editor or responses to editorials or other articles. Before your child sends his or her letter, check the opinion section to see what requirements there are.

Headlines and Synonyms(同义词)

Ask your middle schooler to rewrite a couple of headlines using the synonyms of the originalwords. Compare the headlines. Do the original versions(版本) or the rewrites sound better? This is a great exercise to help students learn synonyms and expand their vocabulary.

If you find your seventh or eighth grade child is struggling with these newspaper activities, it may be an indicator that they have fallen behind in their reading skills. These activities were designed with a seventh or eighth grader in mind; therefore, while they are educational, they should be more of reinforcement (增强) instead of a major reading challenge.

In a broad sense, migration is usually defined as “permanent or semi-permanent change of residence”. Although movements within nations (internal migration) are often greater than movements between nations (international migration) in number, the motives of people who move short distances are very similar to those of international migrants.

Students of human migration speak of “push” and “pull” factors, which influence an individual’s decision to move from one place to another. Push factors are associated with the place of origin. A push factor can be as simple and mild a matter as difficulty in finding a suitable job, or as traumatic as war, or severe desaster. Obviously, refugees who leave their homes with guns pointed at their heads are motivated almost entirely by push factors.

   Associated with the place of destination, pull factors are mostly economic, such as better job opportunities or the availability of good land to farm. In general, pull factors add up to an apparently better chance for a good life and material well-being than is offered by the place of origin. When there is a choice between several attractive potential destinations, the deciding factor might be a non-economic consideration such as the presence of relatives, friends, or at least fellow countrymen already established in the new place who are willing to help the newcomers settle in. Considerations of this sort lead to the development of migration flow.

   Besides push and pull factors, there are what the sociologists call “intervening obstacles”. Even if push and/or pull factors are very strong they still may be outweighed by intervening obstacles, such as the distance of the move, the trouble and cost of moving, the difficulty of entering the new country, and the problems likely to be encountered on arrival.

   The decision to move is also influenced by “personal factors” of the potential migrant. The same push-pull factors and obstacles operate differently on different people, sometimes because they are at different stages of their lives, or just because of their varying abilities and personalities. The thought of packing up everything and moving to a new and perhaps very strange environment may appear interesting and challenging to an unmarried young man and terribly difficult to a slightly older man with a wife and small kids. Similarly, the need to learn a new language and customs may excite one person and frighten another.

   Regardless of why people move, migration of large numbers of people causes conflict. The newest arrivals are usually given the lowest-paid jobs and are resented by native people who may have to compete with them for those jobs. It has usually taken several decades for each group to be accepted into the mainstream of society in the host country.

Time management is important in our daily life. There never seems to be enough hours in the day to accomplish all you need to do. Here are some tips that might be of some help to you.

●Set up a plan. Go for a week at a time, and decide the most important ones. Include things you want to accomplish. Focus mostly on the things that are important to you.

●Control your stress. No matter what kind of pressure mounts on you, try to keep cool. Stressing out can lead to an early breakdown, which is definitely counter-productive when you have a list of things to do. Itˈs easier to take a 10-minute break and cool off than to work all week with stress.

●Shut your door. When working under a schedule, perform your important tasks with your door shut to get them done. This will ensure a better quality time to get what needs to be done, done.

●Focus on one thing at a time. Forget trying to multi-task! You will lose concentration, and it will take you longer to accomplish what you set out to do.

●Just say "no." If you are constantly interrupted, and you really donˈt have the time to help out, just say "no." Youˈre only one person, and you canˈt save the world by yourself!

●Stop wasting time on the phone. While talking on the phone, keep your conversations short, and to the point and youˈll waste much less time.

●Be realistic. You can only do what you can do. Donˈt set out to accomplish the impossible. Do your best, but keep realistic expectations of yourself.

●Relax. The most important thing is remember to take time to relax, and regroup. You need a break every now and then to keep working efficiently. Even if itˈs a 10-minute walk, get away from your list and get refreshed.

   As families today get busier and busier, itˈs important to your own mental health to keep things on track. Donˈt delay; get your life in order now.

Caffeine myth or caffeine fact? It’s not always easy to know. Chances are you have some misunderstanding about caffeine. Read on. Here are some of the most common myths about caffeine and some facts have been gathered to shed light on them.

      Myth one: Caffeine is addictive

      Caffeine is a stimulant(起刺激作用的食物) to the central nervous system, and regular use of caffeine does cause mild physical dependence. But caffeine doesn’t threaten your physical, social, or economic health the way addictive drugs do. If you stop taking caffeine abruptly, you may have symptoms for a day or more, especially when you have been used to consuming two or more cups of coffee a day. However, caffeine does no cause the severity of withdrawal or harmful drug-seeking behaviors as drugs or alcohol. For this reason, most experts don’t consider caffeine dependence a serious addiction.

      Myth two: Caffeine probably causes insomnia(失眠症)

      Processed mainly through the liver, caffeine has a relatively short half-life. This means you can get rid of half of it within about five to seven hours on average. After eight to ten hours, 75% of the caffeine is gone. For most people, a cup of coffee or two in the morning won’t prevent them from sleeping at night. Consuming caffeine later in the day, however, can interfere with sleep. Your sleep won’t be affected if you don’t consume caffeine at least six hours before going to bed.

      Myth three: Caffeine harms children

      As of 2004, children aged 6 to 9 consumed about milligrams of caffeine per day. This is well within the recommended limit. However, energy drinks that contain a lot of caffeine are becoming increasingly popular, so this number may go up. Some kids are sensitive to caffeine, developing temporary anxiety or irritability, with a “crash” afterwards. Also, most caffeine that kids drink is in sodas, energy drinks, or sweetened teas, all of which have high sugar content. These empty calories put kids at higher risk for obesity. Even if the caffeine itself isn’t harmful, caffeinated drinks are generally not good for kids.

      Myth four: Caffeine has no health benefits

      Caffeine has few proven health benefits. But the list of caffeine’s potential benefits is interesting. Any regular coffee drinkers may tell you that caffeine improves alertness, concentration, energy and clear-headedness. Scientific studies support these subjective finding. One French study even showed a slower decline in cognitive ability among women who consumed caffeine. Other possible benefits include helping certain types of headaches. These research findings are interesting, but still need to be proven.