95'

英文原文：

（Until his recent death at the age of 19, Baxter was American's oldest working therapy dog, visiting patients in hospitals and hospices. In a new memoir, Moments with Baxter, Melissa Joseph shares stories about her trained assistance dog.

Baxter was about two years old when Melissa Joseph adopted him, and she and the golden retriever-chow mix spent the next 17 years together.

At the time, Joseph says, she didn't realize she was grooming and training Baxter to become a therapy dog. (That happened eight years later.)

To get Baxter certified as a therapy dog, Joseph had to make sure he was comfortable in all sorts of situations, and with all sorts of people. Then, he started a mission that lasted more than eight years at San Diego Hospice, which cared for people with terminal illnesses.

Baxter also connected with children, including one six-year-old boy, Joseph recalls. This little boy didn't speak with anybody but all of the sudden, he started talking to Baxter. "I think it's just the magical power of that love that's for free." Such unconditional love and comfort, Joseph explains, is what makes therapy dogs able to connect with people regardless of how young or how old they are.

Joseph says working with her therapy dog was such a rewarding experience that she plans to continue. She is looking for another dog she can train to become her next healing hero.

中文译文：

（巴克斯特是美国年龄最大的工作医疗犬，它最近去世了，享年19岁。它在医院和晚期患者收容所看护病人。在一本新的回忆录《与巴克斯特的美好时光》里，梅利莎·约瑟夫和我们分享了她训练助理犬的故事。）

梅利莎·约瑟夫**巴克斯特时它大约两岁，后来，她和这只杂交黄金猎犬一起生活了17年。

那时候，约瑟夫没有意识到她会把巴克斯特训练成一只医疗犬。（那是8年后的事了。）

为了让巴克斯特通过认证，成为一条医疗犬，约瑟夫必须确保它能在各种情况下都能感到舒服，并能和各种人融洽相处。然后，巴克斯特在圣地亚哥晚期患者收容所开始了一项持续了8年多的任务，那就是去照料那些晚期病人。

约瑟夫回忆说，巴克斯特也和孩子们相处，其中包括一个6岁的男孩。这个小男孩和任何人都不讲话，但他突然开始对巴克斯特说话了。‘我想这就是那种不求回报的爱的魔力。’ 约瑟夫解释道，这种毫无条件的爱与安慰，使得医疗犬能够和不管多么年轻或是多么年迈的人都能相处。

约瑟夫说和她的医疗犬一起工作是一段很有意义的经历，她计划继续进行下去。她正在寻找着另一只犬，她想训练它成为下一条英雄医疗犬。

词汇加油站：
1、hospice：n. 收容所，养老院
2、memoir：n. 回忆录，自传
注意读音：

2'

3、certify：v. 颁发或授予专业合格证书
4、terminal：a. 晚期的
5、rewarding：a. 值得的，有益的

Tips：
1、书读百遍其义自现，多读且大声地读几遍甚至几十遍上百遍，可以有效地锻炼自己的听说读能力；
2、可以通过英译中、中译英的交替训练加深对文段的理解和掌握。