Katharine Mehta's mother likes to joke that the first sentence her daughter said was“I love dogs.”It's not the fact, but it's certainly true in spirit.

     “When I was young, my grandmother told me about how she sometimes found stray dogs and cats, and kept them on her farm as pets，”says Katharine.“That made me wonder what would happen when animals didn't have a home.I felt horrible thinking that they might be hungry or could get hit by a car.”

      But what could a little girl do？The answer came during a trip to a park in her New York City neighborhood two years ago, where she met volunteers from Mighty Mutts, a local no­kill animal rescue organization.“I thought maybe I could earn some money and give it to them，”she says.

       Since Katharine had plenty of practice taking care of her own dog, she decided to start a summer dog­walking service.She chose two friends and, with their parents'permission, the group put up homemade posters with their phone numbers and a bargain price—50 cents an hour.Before long they had 15 dogs in their care.“We walked two or three at a time with one mother helping out，”she says.“By the end of that summer, we'd collected $45.”That fall Katharine and her mother，Loma, came up with another mini enterprise to raise money for Mighty Mutts—selling fresh­baked shortbread to their neighbors.

       The 11­year­old，who starts sixth grade this fall, has become a nonstop campaigner.Her mother says，“When she sees somebody with a dog, she starts a conversation and tells them to donate to Mighty Mutts.”

        Katharine's passion comes from the heart.“It makes me cry to think that strays might be_put_to_sleep when there's a group that can find new homes for them，” Katharine says.“But it makes me smile to know I can help.”

Notes：

①stray adj.流浪的　②shortbread n ． 黄油甜酥饼

        In America, parents tend to encourage their children to develop their potential (潜能) to the fullest extent. Fathers and mothers frequently teach their children both ambition and the confidence necessary to work toward their goals. American parents are always active in concentrating on what their kids can do, not what they can't. As a result, millions of American boys and girls grow up hoping to become actors and athletes, diplomats and doctors. Many of them even want to become president.

       American parents often encourage their children to become involved in extra activities of all types at school, such as student government, sports and music. They believe that only through taking part in these activities can their children become mature young adults.

       As we all know, schoolwork is important. But parents should realize that the social skills their children learn form natural conversations with each other are as important as schoolwork and the skills they will need in the future work. What's more important in their work is that their children should have a sound knowledge of physics or the ability to communicate effectively.

       As a rule, Chinese parents don't educate their children about the same kind of ambition and confidence as Americans do, nor do they encourage the same level of participation in extra activities. Children are typically advised to study hard and pass exams. They have to spend a lot of time in doing much schoolwork every day. It is a great waste of time to do so.

       Now more and more Chinese parents have recognized that they should pay attention to developing the potential of their children. I hope that leaders in Chinese educational circles should take some measures to develop the potential of their children. I am very confident about it.  

               There are simple ways to organize and clean sports gear (设备). It just takes a little extraeffort, along with some tricks. Here are some tips.

Organizing sports gear

           For children playing different sports, have gym bags in different colors for eachsport—basketball gets green, soccer gets red, baseball gets blue. {#blank#}1{#/blank#} As forwhat to do with the soccer ball or baseball bat that comes home, keep itemscontained to one spot in the garage. Overhead shelves and nets work well forout－of－season items, too. They are out of theway but still in sight.

Cleaning sports gear

        Most  items can go in the washing machine. Use warm water, and always air－dry. For padded items with plastic,put them in a mesh laundry washing bag or a pillow case with a zipper. {#blank#}2{#/blank#}

●Gym bags

{#blank#}3{#/blank#}It's body odor. You played soccer, or basketball, or fencing, and you sweat.Prevent odor from building up by putting used fabric softener sheets in thebag, or spraying the inside of the bag with aerosol deodorant. This also workswell for padded helmets, where sweat gathers.

●Water bottles

           Wate rbottles often get a moldy, damp smell after a sports season or two. If you havereally cleaned it, if you've used a scrub brush, you may have scratched theplastic. {#blank#}4{#/blank#} Try using vinegar, which is safe and environmentally friendly, tokill mold and mildew.

●Hats

         The   easiest way to clean a baseball cap is to put it in the dishwasher. Then takeit out and air－dryit. If you want to make sure the cap keeps a rounded shape, dry it over acoffee can. {#blank#}5{#/blank#} Another option is to use shampoo, which is designed to breakdown body oil.

a．As we all know, they smell.

b．It's necessary to clean a sport gearafter every practice.

c．You can also put it on a blown－up balloon.

d．This protects the machine, and theequipment from getting scratched.

e．Those tiny little scratches are wherebacteria can get, and cause that smell.

f．Don't let children stuff clothing intheir bags.

g．So when they're rushing from oneactivity to the next, it's easy to grab the correct gear.