Prospect Park Zoo

    Hours & Dates

    Open daily: April 7 — October 31    10:00 a.m. — 5:00 p.m.

    Prices

For your safety at the zoo, please obey all posted signs and guidelines throughout the zoo.

    No Pets

Pets of any kind are not allowed in the zoo area. Also, DO NOT leave pets in your car while you are in the zoo. Service animals like guide dogs are allowed in the zoo. However, they are not permitted in the following areas: the petting zoo, the deer forest, or near the big cat (tigers, lions, cheetahs, etc.) habitats.

    Follow the Rules in the Deer Forest

In the deer forest, wait for the deer to come to you. Then try to feel them by gentle touches. Never run after or shout at them as this stresses them out. Animals prefer quiet.

    Never Cross Any Fence in the zoo

Please do not try to touch the animals not in the deer forest or the petting zoo. All animals can bite and their habitats are their homes. This is for the safety of both our visitors and our animals.

Do Not Bring Outside Food for Our Animals

All of our animals' diets include specific foods. Outside food can make them very sick, even if it seems like they could eat it. Feeding the animals is allowed in the petting zoo and the deer forest with food that is provided by the zoo.

Children Must Be Supervised (监管) at All Times

Children must be supervised at all times while in all areas of the zoo.

    A friend invited us to help serve dinner at Tent City. A number of tents were set up for the homeless in the area.

    I took my two boys with me. They were 9 and 5 at the time. They had a lot of questions because this whole thing challenged their common ideas about how people lived in the world.

    "Why don't they have homes?"

    "Why don't they get food the way we do?"

    We talked through the reasons why people end up in this type of situation and the importance of creating a safety net for them. I explained that oftentimes, the only safety net is other people who are willing to share some of their time and resources.

    The people we served ranged in age from the young to the elderly. Many of them were missing teeth or had dirty clothes. To my surprise, they were quite thankful that I had brought the boys. Many said how fun it was to have active, joyful children around.

    After dinner, I saw my older son sitting together with several elderly gentlemen who were talking about sports in front of a small television set. He was having a great time sharing and hearing stories.

    As some people returned to their tents, I heard him tell them, "Thanks so much for coming to have dinner with us." I could see through their facial expressions that his simple behavior touched them greatly. I hugged him a little tighter as we left to go home because it touched me too.

    It was a great reminder that how treating people with respect, no matter who they are, can lift all of us up.

    My grandmother grew up in a world different from me. She experienced many things in her long life.

    Though she never told stories, her stories were in the way she ate- she savored (品尝) her food, cherished it. Often she would be the first to sit at the dinner table, and the last to leave. Food had been really scarce (缺乏的) when she grew up.

    Her stories were in the way she handed me lucky money. From a young age, my grandmother was brought up to understand the importance of hard work and the necessity of saving. Every Chinese New Year, I would be handed, or sent a small red envelope that contained money, but never more than twenty yuan. When I was young, I didn't understand why my grandmother gave me such a small amount of money. As I grew older, I realized that she wasn't teaching me about money, but about tradition and hard work and family. The money was not the main point. I would probably spend it on any toy that I would lose soon after; it was the meaning behind her gift that mattered. It was her saying, "I love you; I am your family and I want you to work hard as your family has before you."

    My grandmother's stories were lessons. But they were never told in words. From the time that I was very young, up until she could barely remember my name, I remember her calling me "good girl". Those two little words, in the course of my growing up, were a constant reminder that I was still so young, with still so far to go.

    Now my grandmother is gone, but I see her every day. I see her in the women around me and in the mirror. She lives with me, inside me, and in the legacies (遗产) that I will create. And I know she would be proud.

    The FDA is the common name for the Food and Drug Administration (食品药品监督管理局). It is a government agency that makes consumer goods safe. It regulates (调节) food and the food supply. It also controls diet supplement (供给). The FDA also makes sure that drugs and medical instruments are safe and effective.

    For drugs and medical machines to be accepted, they must go through a certain process. There are many strict tests. First, anything that humans use must be tested on animals. This may take up to 6 years. Then, it must be tested with a few people. Testing on 15 to 20 people can last up to a year and a half. Third, a mid-sized group (100 to 500 people) is used. This often takes two years. Then a large group is tested over 3 years. Of 5,000 drugs discovered, only 5 go to the final test. Of that, only one passes on to the market.

    Food supplements like ginseng(人参) follow a different path. The FDA does not test them as they do for drugs. The agency only controls these products if they are unsafe but are already being sold. Two exceptions are baby and medical food. Because those that use them are not strong, the FDA is more careful with these products.

    Labeling (标签) is a major focus. A label must show what a product is for. For drugs, labels should say the name of the drug and what it is used for. It should also detail who should take it and list any side effects. It needs to detail directions for pregnant women, children, or old people. It also needs to detail safety information.

    The FDA protects the public from harm. It achieves this through controls and labeling. It has standards for effectiveness in medical products. It also has standards for how information is shared.

Top Tips for the Flu Season

    It's coming. I can feel it in the air. On the subway every time someone coughs, I look up to see if I can move a little further. As I exit the train, I immediately reach for hand wash to remove any of the dirt on my hands.

    If you are elderly, have medical problems, or are a young child, you may not be so lucky. Each year more than 200,000 people are staying in hospital due to the illness. Depending on the year, between 3,000 and 49,000 people die.

    You may have heard about a new study on flu vaccines (疫苗), and it found that the flu vaccine didn't work as well as we thought or would like. However, it still offers considerable protection. For adults, the vaccine is 59 percent protective on average. For children the result is better. Clearly, we need better vaccines but it's still a really good idea to get vaccinated.

    You may have an arm pain or a little fever, but the injection does not contain a live virus and cannot give you the flu. If you got the flu shot last year, do you need it this year? It isn't clear how long the protection lasts and if the vaccine protects against different flus for only one year.

    First, if you have the symptoms, call your doctor early to see if he wants to prescribe some medicine. Then, stay at home until your fever has been gone for at least 24 hours. That will reduce the number of people you give this to. Also, cover your coughs and sneezes. And don't forget to keep your hands clean.

    Best wishes for a safe flu season!

    Tonight, I was walking home from work. It was dark. I passed a man1on a bench in the street. We looked at each other. As I passed, I half smiled and he just2me, sad like. It seemed he might be staying there for the3. He was wearing a thin sweater.

    As I walked away, I4the cold air on my skin and thought, "I wish I had a5to offer him. I have a bag from my grandmother. I thought maybe there is an extra blanket among her things.

    I looked in the bag but there was no blanket. There was my6winter hat though. I've had it for years. It would keep his head warm at least, I thought. I went back to the man and stood in7just a little away until he looked up.

    I wasn't sure what to say. I didn't want to suppose he needed a hat to keep8. Maybe he wasn't going to stay there for the night. Maybe he was just sad and wanted9to be alone.

    We both stared at each other for a moment and then I10forward and asked simply, "Would you like a hat?" He looked at me, then at the hat. I waited for him to tell me to go away or something similar.11his face softened and he said, "Yes, thank you." "Okay, goodbye." I said with a little wave as he nodded kindly and half12.

    I am glad I had the hat to13. I think I will start keeping blankets. It's getting colder out there and more people are living in the14. As Mother Teresa said, "Let us touch the dying, the poor, the15and the unwanted according to the graces we have received and let us not be ashamed or slow to do the humble (卑贱的) work."

    In the 2000s, my husband, David, and I married, bought a home, and began our careers. It wasn't long before        friend called us "Yuppies".

    Then        (come) the 2010s, still childless. That's when another friend told us we were "double income-no kids" or "Dinks".

    In the next few years, we went        double income-no kids to single income-three kids. To take        (good) care of our kids, we decided I'd give up my work and become a full-time mom. At first, everything went OK.       , things began to change as primary school started.

    We signed up for soccer, violin and French class. So much to do. So little time        (do) it all. From then on, some of our most        (meaning) conversations took place on our street with David sitting in his car heading home from work and me in        (my) rushing with kids in another direction. Another friend called me "Soccer Mom".

    Then one day, I looked around and thought, "What are we doing?" We had three beautiful, healthy kids with all we've ever wanted. Yet the five of us hardly knew each other. My schedule was worse than it had been when I was working. I couldn't remember a time        we'd had dinner around the table like a real family.

    After several late-night        (discuss) and a lot of praying, David and I decided to drop out of the marathon.

— I see. Take it easy.

要求: 1）词数80词左右；

2）根据Shy Girl的问题给出2-3条建议；

3）文章不得出现你所在的学校及你的真实信息；

4）开头已给，不计入总词数。

Dear Shy Girl,

Yours,

Dr. Know