Since May 1, 2015, Beijing started to allow blind people to take guide dogs (导盲犬) onto the subway(地铁). How much do you know about guide dogs? What can they do to help blind people?

    Not every dog can become a guide dog. The most common guide dog breeds (品种) are Labrador Retrievers (拉布拉多猎犬) and Golden Retrievers (金毛猎犬). That's because they are smart and have a good temper.

    To help blind people, dogs need to learn many skills, such as finding and following a clear road, moving around obstacles (障碍物), and stopping when they reach a curb (路牙) beside a road. Of course they should pass tests. They also need to learn an important lesson known as “intelligent disobedience (智能抗命)”. For example, blind people ask the dog to go forward when crossing a road. But if the dog knows that a car is coming, it will not move until it is safe.

    At about 10 or 12 years old, guide dogs retire(退休). Some of them stay at their owner's home and become their pets. Others may go back to training schools and live there.

    What can a guide dog do to help blind people?

• Follow a direct road, paying no attention to other things such as smells, animals and people.

• Keep a steady (稳定的) pace and just ahead of the owner.

• Stop at all curbs until the handler tells them to move forward.

• Stay quiet when the owner is sitting down.

• Help the owner to move around buses, subways and other public transportation.

    Answer the following questions. (in no more than eight words)

    You may think that English dictionaries have been used for many, many centuries. The spelling of English has always been a problem, but it was more of a problem in the days before a dictionary. In those days people spelt words in different ways which you might find interesting. But it made reading English much more difficult. So dictionaries were invented to encourage everybody to spell the same. In fact, an English dictionary like the kind you use today wasn't made until the time of the Qing Dynasty.

    The largest dictionary in the world is the Oxford English Dictionary, or OED for short. The idea for this dictionary came from an important meeting in Britain in 1857. Twenty-two years later, Oxford University asked James Murray to be the editor of its new dictionary.

    Murray had not been to college. At the age of fourteen, he left his village school in Scotland and taught himself while working in a bank. Later he became a great teacher. After Oxford gave him the job, Murray had a place built in the garden behind his house to do his work. Part of it was one metre underground. In winter he had to wear a heavy coat and put his feet in a box to keep warm. Every morning, Murray got out of bed at five o'clock and worked several hours before breakfast. Often he would work by candle light into the evening.

    Murray hoped to finish the new dictionary in ten years. But after five years, he was still adding words for the letter A! Then others went to work with Murray, and his two daughters were among them. He worked on the dictionary until he was very old. Forty-four years later, in 1928, other editors finished it. It had more than 15,000 words in twelve books. And you thought your English dictionary was big!

    If you go into the forest with friends, stay with them. {#blank#}1{#/blank#}If you get lost, this is what you should do. Sit down and stay where you are. {#blank#}2{#/blank#}You can help them find you by staying in one place. There is another way to help your friends or other people to find you. You can shout or whistle (吹口哨) three times. Stop. Then shout or whistle three times again. {#blank#}3{#/blank#}

    Keep up shouting or whistling. Always three times together. When people hear you, they will know that you are not just making a noise for fun.{#blank#}4{#/blank#}They will give you two shouts or two whistles. When a signal is given twice, it is an answer to a call for help.

    If you don't think that you will get help before night comes, try to make a little house with branches(树枝). {#blank#}5{#/blank#}

    When you need some water, you have to leave your little branch house to look for it. Don't just walk away. Pick off small branches and drop them as you walk in order to go back again easily. When you are lost, the most important thing to do is to stay in one place.

    When you are on vacation without your parents, it's easy to feel homesick(想家的). How can you have a great vacation without your parents? Here is some advice for you.

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    Try not to think about it too much. Find something interesting to do. If you are busy enough, you will not think of your parents too much.

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    Hearing your parents' voices(声音) will make you happy and forget all your worries. You can call them at night and talk about some interesting things with them.

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    Talking to your friends will make you feel better. You can meet many new friends when you're on vacation. Join them and enjoy yourself.

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    When you miss your parents at night, listen to some relaxing music or read a good book. I think these ways can help you feel better.

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    Take some photos of your vacation and show them to your parents when you get home, It will be fun to show them what a great time you have had.

    Have fun! Just enjoy your vacation, and know your parents will be waiting for you at home.