A dog, it is said, is a man's best friend. Put a dog, a kid and a book together, and you have a struggling reader's best friend.

    The therapy dogs of R.E.A.D. – Reading Education Assistance Dogs – have been helping children improve their reading skills since 1999, when Intermountain Therapy Animals (ITA) began the program in Salt Lake City, Utah.

    Today, tens of thousands of R.E.A.D. teams – dogs and their owners – volunteer to spend time with youngsters in schools and libraries across the United States and around the world. The idea is that sharing a book with a nonjudgmental (不带评论的) partner encourages students' confidence and helps develop a love of reading.

    Izzy, a Havanese therapy dog, is a regular visitor to Public School 57 in East Harlem, New York. Students meet him in the library, pick out a book and sit down on the carpet. Izzy snuggles (依偎) up to them and gets ready to hear a story.

    “I love reading to Izzy because he listens to me, and he doesn't make fun of me when I make a mistake,” says third-grader Aelane Vasquez. The 9-year-old, whose parents are from Mexico, is one of 15 Latin-American students at the school who were selected for the program.

    “All the students that we work with in the R.E.A.D. program were behind reading levels at the beginning of the year,” Bridget McElroy, who teaches English as a Second Language, explained. “Now most of them have reached the average level, if not above it.” That's important, because achieving proficiency (熟练) in reading is vital for kids to succeed. Studies have shown that students who can't read at grade level by the end of third grade are four times less likely to graduate high school by the age of 19.

    The R.E.A.D. teams from New York Therapy Animals work with 175 kids at Public School 57 and nine other schools.

    McElroy said she sees a marked difference in Aelane and her classmates, and not just in study. “Not only do the kids have time to practice reading, what we are really seeing is that they are excited to read and practice even when Izzy is not here,” she said.

    China Merchants Bank Co Ltd has teamed up with ride-hailing major Didi Kuaidi to provide automobile financing and expand its reach in China's booming mobile payment industry.

    The two have inked a comprehensive partnership, which includes a strategic investment by the former in the latter. Under the partnership, CMB will become the first bricks-and-mortar bank that can offer in-app credit card payments to Didi users. At present, users of Didi can only choose third-party payment solutions like WeChat Payment and Alipay to pay cab fares.

    Zhao Ju, vice-president of CMB, said the cooperation with Didi was an important step in its mobile Internet finance strategy. “CMB's mobile payment is going to enter a new chapter by leveraging Didi Kuaidi's vast user base," he said.

    According to a report by China Internet Network Information Center earlier this month, Didi holds 87.2 percent of China's private car hailing market. The company said it has received 1.43 billion car-hailing requests on its platforms in 2015, which means 1.43 billion payments were made via smartphones.

    CMB is expected to use Didi to reach the core users of China's mobile payment market. Jean Liu, president of Didi, said many of the expats prefer payment by credit card rather than Alipay or WeChat. "The new partnership will help improve service quality and customer loyalty," she said. The investment makes CMB part of Didi's existing investors, including Tencent Holdings Ltd, Alibaba Group Holding Ltd and China Investment Corporation. Both of the companies declined to reveal the actual amount of the investment.

    Liu, who showed up on Tuesday for the first time in public after her treatment for breast cancer, said the cooperation with CMB is for the long run and "the capital investment is only part of it".

    Under the partnership, CMB and Didi will cooperate on a wide range of initiatives on financial services and online-to-offline cooperation. Apart from the in-app credit card payments, the two companies are going to launch joint credit cards in late February and automobile financing services for Didi's car owners. CMB's branches across China are expected to help Didi recruit more drivers.

    "There is a lot of room for imagination in our partnership," Li said, adding in future people may use their CMB credit card reward points to pay for the ride on Didi.

    Li Chao, an analyst with iResearch Consulting Group, said the partnership may not significantly boost CMB's mobile payment business. "Didi has educated the market for three years and its customers have formed the habit of paying by WeChat or Alipay. So I think CMB can only turn a very smart proportion of Didi users into its payment customer," he said. "But the move shows that China's traditional banking industry is finally thinking out of the box and looking for outside partners in Internet finance competition," he said.

    Statistics from Big-Data Research showed that more than 90 percent of China's 9.3 trillion yuan ($1.41 trillion) worth of third party mobile payment market is donated by Alibaba and Tencent.

    These days having a best friend seems so important to girls. However I have learned that having one best friend is not the way to go. It's so much better to have many great friends.

    As I was coming into Middle School, I was really excited because my friend Jennifer was going to be in the same Middle School! At first things were great, she introduced me to her friend Amy and we had lots of fun together. Then things started to change. Jennifer was very controlling: I couldn't make new friends, and pretty soon being Jennifer's friend was a struggle.

    Jennifer wanted to be the "leader" of our little group. Amy and I were never partners with each other in class projects or gym; it was always, "Who gets the privilege（特权） of being Jennifer's partner." Amy and I both wanted to be Jennifer's number one.

    I always waited for Jennifer and Amy after classes. They chatted by Jennifer's desk as Jennifer packed her books up and I waited by the door. Sometimes when they left, they'd walk right past me. No "Thanks for waiting." No "Sorry we took so long." It was as if they couldn't even see me.

    After months of living through school this way, I had really changed. I was moody, depressed, lonely. I spent lots of days trying not to cry, I felt so left out.

    Finally, near the very end of the school year, I was so incredibly sick of having to battle for friendship. I stopped sitting with Jennifer at lunch and stopped waiting for her after class.

    It was tough at first, but now, I have tons of friends. We have fun and happy times together and I love them all to bits. It amazes me how easy our friendship is. There's no struggling to be on top. I wish Jennifer could understand. Maybe one day she'll look back at what happened and she'll change, but even though I lost a friend, I am a happier person.

    I live a different life in every season. Life in the summertime is often full of pests. Like most Long Island homeowners, I want to ensure my suburban life with pest-free living. So it was with wide-eyed surprise that I greeted the smiling exterminator (灭虫者) who rang my bell.

    “We'll be serving your neighbors, Mike and Sarah (I'm not familiar with either one by name),” he waved in the other direction. “Since we'll have a team here tomorrow, we're offering a discount. ” He came out with numbers beginning from $299 then in seconds to $89.

    “You've probably been seeing the ant hills around.” he moved toward my front walkway and lawn. “And have you seen the bees that dig nests in the ground?” he continued with his head shaking up and down pushing me to do the same.

    “What we do is spray three feet out from your foundation and three feet up.” As he was talking, and without breaking eye contact, he opened his iPad cover and began operating at the screen to show me frightening images. “It also kills other pests, like spiders. It is the best pesticide (杀虫剂),” he said, pausing for effect.

    He then went into soft talk to close the deal, correctly foreseeing that I would be concerned about safety and the environmental impact on my vegetable garden, plants and our little patch of planet here on Long Island. “The products are environmentally responsible, safe with children and pets,” he said.

    I'm unkind when it comes to unwanted visitors entering on my out-of-doors moments. Any insect found in my house or on my deck is bound to be poisoned or pancaked.

    Unfortunately for the exterminator, just as I was considering buying the pesticide, Billy, my fearless husband, pulled into our driveway, which made me ask for a business card out of politeness instead.

Summer Programs for Teens

    University of Maryland: TERP Young Scholars

    This program is the perfect summer camp for academically talented teenagers who want to pursue academic interests, explore career opportunities, and discover college life at the University of Maryland.

    During three weeks of intellectual exploration, teens can study with students who share similar interests, and communicate with some of the university's best teachers. Upon successful completion, students can earn three college credits.

    Carpe Diem: The University-bound Adventure

    Carpe Diem supports both American and international students in applying to a university by providing private consultation. This 2-week experience also includes tours of famous East Const universities Students will also have the opportunity to build their resumes (简历) by working with writing experts.

    Great Books Summer Program

    This is a lively, warm and welcoming summer camp community of outstanding teens, who love literature and ideas In the past eleven years, it has gathered middle and high school students from across the world to read selections from the greatest works of literature, experience heated discussions and enjoy summer camp fun with other literary-minded students. Participants can gain confidence in their ability to read a text closely and express their ideas clearly both verbally and in writing.

    Zeal Travel

    We offer our teens two week and three- week long trips to Hawaii, Alaska, Australia and Spain. All trips include 15-25 hours of community service activities.

    Depending on your trip of choice, you'll be helping Hawaiians protect their forest ecosystem, caring for dogs in Spain, working with Habitat for Humanity, and much more. Every trip also includes exciting outdoor activities like surfing, driving, ice-climbing, hiking and more. The possibilities are endless and there is a zeal trip for every interest.