Hello, I’m Lucky. I am a guide dog (导盲犬). I start training (训练) in a school when I am little. Being a guide dog is not easy. We have to be very smart. We need to understand orders (指令). I am very kind to people. So people trust (信任) me.

What do I learn at school? I learn to wear a harness (导盲鞍). When the harness is on, I start my work. I can lead (引导) people from one place to another. I stop when I see trees in front of me. And I can remember the way.

Do you like me and want to play with me? But I can’t play with you when I am at work. You are welcome to play with me when my harness is off. That’s play time.

Have you ever seen a squid (枪乌贼) before? 【小题1】 You may have even seen one in the ocean on a family vacation. There are a lot of fantastic things to know about squids. Let’s take a closer look together!

Squids belong to a group of ocean animals called “molluscs”. Squids do not have bones. 【小题2】 Squids’ bodies are long, but their heads are very short. Around its mouth, there are eight arms and two long tentacles (触须).

Do you know where squids live? Well, squids live in both salt water and fresh water. 【小题3】 Some can be found more than 13,000 feet (3,962 m) deep. But sometimes they like to swim in shallow (浅的) waters, or even along the coast.

Do you know what squids eat? Squids are carnivores (食肉动物). 【小题4】 They catch lots of fish. Sometimes they even eat smaller squids.

You might be surprised to know that squids do not live a very long life. No matter what their sizes are or what they eat, the average lifespan (寿命) of a squid is only about three to five years.

【小题5】 There could be as many as 200 more types that we still have to discover.

Do you know anyone born in the Year of the Tiger? What’s their personality like? Are they brave, strong and tenacious (坚韧的)? If so, then they are a typical “tiger”.

In Chinese culture, tigers are considered the king of all animals. They stand for power, energy and protection. Tigers are regarded as fearless animals, so that’s why in China you can see pictures of tigers on the walls of houses to keep away danger.

Tigers have an important cultural meaning not just in China, but across Asia. As they mostly live in Asia, for many people in the West, they have become a cultural symbol of Eastern countries and regions. For example, strong economies in the East—Singapore, South Korea, China’s Hong Kong and Taiwan—were called “The Four Asian Tigers”. In the book Life of Pi, Canadian writer Yann Martel chooses a Bengal tiger as the partner for the Indian boy Pion his adventure in the Pacific Ocean.

In the West, ▲ . A famous phrase is “eye of the tiger”, which means power and strength. In English, if you want someone to calm down, you can say to them, “Easy, tiger.”

Tigers are also one of my favourite animals. I first learned about the beauty of tigers as a child, while watching animal programs. If you ask my mom, she’ll tell you that my favourite toy was my toy tiger, which I have treasured dearly to this day. As an animal lover, I feel so sad that they are in danger and I want to help protect them.

Just as tigers serve as a symbol of protection in Chinese culture, we hope that in the Year of the Tiger more people can learn about tigers and help protect them.