Fifty-five public schools in New York City have recently invited furry friends to their classrooms. The Comfort Dog Program has been around for five years.
Comfort dogs have been found to augment levels of oxytocin, serotonin and dopamine in our brains, hormones (激素) promoting positive feelings and a happy mood (心情). But how are these pets helpful in the classroom?
For some students the comfort pet provides the emotional support they need, which then allows the child to be engaged and successful in their studies. A struggling student can hold the pet in the arms and get the support he or she needs at the time, which also develops their self-awareness and ability to regulate their emotions. In other cases, teachers use the pet as part of the lesson. Meredith Loftus, a teacher in New York, brought a dog named Chip to help out with a phonies game in the classroom.
Dog training isn’t necessarily a walk in the park, although it can definitely include that. It takes time, effort and consistency to train pets, and this is the case for this program, too.
To be a part of the program, an educator and their dog must participate in a six-hour training session by The Good Dog Foundation. This training teaches the educator what to do if students are scared of pets. It also trains dogs on the differences they’ll experience in a school environment, such as the school bell, fire alarms, loud announcements and other possible distractions. The dog is also trained at being friendly with strangers and the handler, in this case the educator, who needs to be very in tune with the pet and know how to look out for its stress signals.
The program has been a genuine success so far, and a helpful addition to the education and well-being of many students in New York. In fact, hundreds of other schools have expressed their interest in joining the program and may be including it in their curriculum in the near future.
【小题1】The underlined word “augment” in paragraph 2 most probably means “______”.| A．reach | B．stabilize | C．balance | D．increase |
| A．develop in an all-round way | B．succeed academically |
| C．become more supportive | D．have richer feelings |
| A．How to be friendly with dogs. | B．How to keep dogs away from stress. |
| C．How to respond to students’ fear of pets. | D．How to adapt to a school environment. |
| A．It’s still on trial in New York. | B．It’s gaining greater popularity. |
| C．It’s promoted across New York. | D．It’s part of New York curriculum. |
