Why Do Dogs Watch--and React to--TV?

    Domestic dogs can perceive images on television similarly to the way we do, and they are intelligent enough to recognize onscreen images of animals as they would in real life-even animals they've never seen before-and to recognize TV dog sounds, like barking.

    A 2013 study published in the journal Animal Cognition showed that dogs could identify images of other dogs among pictures of humans and other animals, using their visual sense alone.

    However, there are some differences between ourselves and man's best friend-for one, dogs' eyes register images more quickly than do ours. So older television sets, which show fewer frames(帧数) per second than modern televisions, would appear to a dog to be flickering(忽隐忽现的) like a "1920s movie," said Nicholas Dodman, a veterinary behaviorist(动物行为学家) at Tufts University, in Massachusetts.

    Dogs also have dichromatic vision, which means they see a range of two primary colors, yellow and blue. Human vision is trichromatic, so we see the full range of colors, according to Binghamton University's Ask a Scientist web page.

DogTV, an HDTV cable channel designed for dogs, interests canines(犬) because HDTV has a much higher number of frames per second and is specially colored to accommodate dogs' dichromatic vision, said Dodman, who is the channel's chief scientist.

    DogTV has modes for relaxation, which shows images like dogs recreate themselves in a grassy field; stimulation, which depicts scenes like dogs surfing in southern California; and exposure which shows things like a dog reacting to a ringing doorbell and obeying commands to adapt to such situations at home.

    Adults always think it surprising that they can remember well what they learned as children but have never practiced ever since. A man who has not had a chance to go swimming for years can still swim as well as ever when he gets back in the water. He can get on a bicycle after many years and still ride away. He can play catch and hit a ball as well as his son. A mother who has not thought about the words for years can teach her daughter the poem that begins “Twinkle, twinkle, little star” or remember the story of Cinderella or Goldilocks and the Three Bears.

    One explanation is the law of overlearning, which can be stated as follows: Once we have learned something, additional learning trials (尝试) increase the length of lime we will remember it.

    In childhood we usually continue to practice such skills as swimming, bicycle riding, and playing baseball long after we have learned them. We continue to listen to and remind ourselves of words such as “Twinkle, twinkle, little star'' and childhood tales such as Cinderella and Goldilocks. We not only learn but overlearn.

    The multiplication tables (乘法口诀表) are an exception to the general rule that we forget rather quickly the things that we learn in school, because they are another of the things we overlearn in our childhood.

    The law of overlearning explains why cramming (突击学习) for an examination, is not a satisfactory way to learn a college course, though it may result in a passing grade. By cramming, a student may learn the subject well enough to get by on the examination, but he is likely soon to forget almost everything he learned. A little overlearning, however, is really necessary for one's future development.

    Cold weather can be hard on pets, just like it can be hard on people. Sometimes owners forget that their cats are just as used to the warm shelter (住所) as they are. Some owners will leave their animals outside for a long period of time, thinking that all animals are used to living outdoors. This can put their pets in danger of serious illness. There are things you can do to keep your animal warm and safe.

    Keep your pets inside as much as you can when the weather is bad. If you have to take them out, stay outside with them. When you're cold enough to go inside, they probably are too. If you must leave them outside for a long time, make sure they have a warm, solid shelter against the wind, thick bedding, and plenty of non-frozen water.

    If left alone outside, dogs and cats can be very smart in their search for warm shelter. They can dig into snow banks or hide somewhere. Watch them closely when they are left outdoors, and provide them with shelter of good quality. Keep an eye on your pet's water. Sometimes owners don't realize that a water bowl has frozen and their pet can't get anything to drink. Animals that don't have clean and unfrozen water may drink dirty water outside, which may contain something unhealthy for them.

    Dr. Amanda Harris was ready for sleep since it was already 11 pm. The phone rang. On the other end of the line was a woman about to break a promise. The woman was her mother's neighbor. Flora Harris had made the neighbor swear she wouldn't tell her daughter she'd had a heart attack and was in hospital. The neighbor wisely decided to disobey orders.

    Amanda desperately wanted to get to the hospital immediately, but she couldn't. She lives in Washington D. C. and her mother lives in California. For the past year and a half, Amanda has gone to Los Angeles every other month to take care of her mother. Flora Harris takes care of her husband, James, who's 91 and has Alzheimer's disease. They live in their own home, and a caregiver comes to help them a few hours a day.

    Amanda is one of many Americans facing the heartache of how to take care of aging parents from afar. She's often worried and guilty, not to mention busy with a demanding job, two teenage daughters and the frequent trips to California.

    In some ways, Amanda is lucky. She has the resources to make the trips to Los Angeles. Plus, she is a doctor who treats the elderly. She's treated countless patients whose children live far away.

    “But it's still tough,” she says. “I can foresee what the next few years are going to look like, and it's not a pretty picture. There will come a time when my father won't recognize me and I worry he's going to be violent and hurt my mother.”

    So what do you do when you live a continent away from your aging, sick parents? You can hire someone to help, but you can't count on it completely.

    When Casey Waletich, the director of safety and operations at the Hillsboro School District in Oregon, decided to start a campaign against bullying (欺凌）in his district, he knew he had to get the students on board.

   "We knew that this had to be a student-led effort. The days of having schools do things without the involvement of the students are over，"Mr. Waletich says.

    So he got a group of students together and asked them how they would like to do things. The resulting campaign," Rethink, Redefine, Where Do You Stand?" was launched in October 2014.

    The Hillsboro campaign is just one example of how schools nationwide are increasingly turning to students to develop-anti-bullying movements designed to not just discourage bulling, but also to encourage students to get involved.

    In 2013, some 20 percent of high school students reported experiencing bullying, according to federal data on Stop Bulling gov. The figure jumps to 28 percent when middle school students are included. Some 70 percent of young people say they have witnessed bullying.

    In response to these issues, anti-bullying campaigns in which students have a central role are being conducted across the country. From West Jordan, Utah(where students participated in a three-year character-building program to stop bullying), to Lisbon, Iowa, and Goodrich, Mich, school officials report that their students are taking ownership.

   "This year I've noticed our students are already thinking about what they need to do to make Sunset Ridge an accepting, safe environment." Said Julie Scherzinger, a guidance councilor at Sunset Ridge Middle School in West Jordan." Students come up to me and ask if anyone needs help"

   "There are many reasons why having students at the center is most

important." Says Ron Avi Astor, a professor in social development at the University of Southern California in Los Angeles." Bullying takes place when adults are absent. The kids see and hear more and can go and inform adults when they aren't there to respond immediately"

   "Teaching kids to step up when someone is being bullied teaches them how to be responsible citizens." Ron Avi Astor added.

    We can make mistakes at any age. Some mistakes we make are about money. But most mistakes are about people. "Did Jerry really care when I broke up with Helen?" "When I got that great job, did Jim, as a friend, really feel good about it?" "And was Paul friendly just because I had a car?" When we look back, doubts like these can make us feel bad. But when we look back, it's too late.

    Why do we go wrong about our friends or our enemies? Sometimes what people say hides their real meaning. And if we don't really listen we miss the feeling behind the words. Suppose someone tells you, "You're a lucky dog." That's being friendly. But "lucky dog"? There's a bit of envy in those words. Maybe he doesn't see it himself. But bringing in the "dog" bit puts you down a little. What he may be saying is that he doesn't think you deserve your luck.

    "Just think of all the things you have to be thankful for" is another noise that says one thing and means another. It could mean that the speaker is trying to get you to see your problem as part of your life as a whole. But is he? Wrapped up in this phrase is the thought that your problem isn't important. It's telling you to think of all the starving people in the world when you haven't got a date for Saturday night.

    How can you tell the real meaning behind someone's words? One way is to take a good look at the person talking. Do his words fit the way he looks? Does what he says agree with the tone of voice? His posture(姿态)? The look in his eyes? Stop and think. The minute you spend thinking about the real meaning of what people say to you may save another mistake.