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　　Be careful of what you say around your dog．It might understand more than you think．

　　A border collie named Rico recognizes the names of about 200 objects, say researchers in Germany．The dog also appears to be able to learn new words as easily as a 3yearold child．Its wordlearning skills are as good as those of a parrot or chimpanzee(黑猩猩)．

　　In one experiment, the researchers took all 200 items that Rico is supposed to know and divide them into 20 groups of 10 objects．Then the owner told the dog to go and fetch one of the items and bring it back．In four tests, Rico got 37 out of 40 commands right．As the dog couldn’t see anyone to get clues, the scientists believe Rico must understand the meanings of certain words．

　　In another experiment, the scientists took one toy that Rico had never seen before and put it in a room with seven toys whose names the dog already knew．The owner then told Rico to fetch the object, using a word the dog had never heard before．

　　The correct object was chosen in 7 out of 10 tests, suggesting that the dog had worked out the answer by process of elimination(排除法)．A month later, Rico remembered half of the new names, which is even more impressive．

　　Rico is thought to be smarter than the average dog．For one thing, Rico is a border collie, a breed(品种)known for its mental abilities．In addition, the 9yearold dog has been trained to fetch toys by their names since the age of nine months．

　　It’s hard to know if all dogs understand at least some of the words we say．Even if they do, they can’t talk back．Still, it wouldn’t hurt to sweettalk to your dog every now and then．You might just get a big, wet kiss in return!

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　　I had my first job at the age of thirteen, when a friend of my mother who owned a bookshop hired me for six hours a week to help her in the shop．I was very proud to earn my own pocket money and my parents never interfered(干涉)with how I spent it, even when I was spending it foolishly．They believed that by earning money, spending it, and learning from the mistakes, I would become more mature and responsible about how to handle work, relationships with others, and money．

　　Like many American parents, my parents also let me and my brothers do things over which they worried a great deal．When I was sixteen, for example, after I finished high school and before I entered university, I wanted to spend the summer months traveling around Europe．My mother was against the idea of my traveling alone at such a young age, but my father felt that it would be a great experience for me．In the end, my father won the argument on the condition that I limited my traveling to France, my mother’s home, where I had many uncles, aunts and cousins spread out through the country who could provide shelter and help if I needed them．

　　Three years later, my younger brother decided to take a year off after his first year in university and travel through the United States and the Caribbean．Again my mother was very worried and not eager to see my brother leave school, but my father encouraged him and my brother had a fascinating year working his way on trains and ships to earn passage to different ports and cities, and discovering many fascinating places and people．

　　These kinds of experiences are probably rare for children in many countries but in the US they are fairly common．Most parents start pushing their children at a young age to do small things by themselves．By the time they have finished high school, many American kids have already had parttime jobs, traveled around the US or other countries on their own, have selected the university they plan to attend and maybe even decided on their future career, and so on．

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　　Is your CHOLESTEROL number up?

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