question: Why do 33% of the households in the USA have cats? And how do you explain why there are 16 million more pet cats than dogs? Yes, kittens are adorable .Yes, they can grow up to be good mousers and are very entertaining to watch.And yes, cats are independent and don't require as much care as dogs.But research shows cats can also be caretakers for us and our families, improve our health and teach us and our children to be kinder, gentler souls.

Theodora Wesselman is 94 and has lived the past two years with her elderly cat, Cleo, at TigerPlace, a retirement community in Columbia, Mo.Their enduring friendship is a classic example of how humans and animals can become family and look out for each other.

Wesselman visits other residents, and her children stop by, but Cleo is her best friend, she says.They've been together nearly 21 years.

"She sleeps on her own pillow right beside mine," Wesselman says."In the morning, she pecks on my cheek to wake me up.It's really sweet.I pet her, tell her I love her and take her to the kitchen to prepare her food."

Research shows that being able to care for a pet improves our morale (;), helps validate us and encourages us to take care of ourselves, says Rebecca Johnson, director of the University of Missouri's Research Center for Human-Animal Interaction.The body of research is leading more retirement communities and universities _ .
1. What do one-third of houses in the US have?
2. What can they teach?
3. What can they raise?
4. What can they catch?
5. How many more domestic cats are there than dogs?
6. Where does Theodora Wesselman live?
7. What type of residence is that?
8. How long has she lived there?
9. How long has she lived with her pet?
10. What's her morning routine?
****
answer: 1. cats
2. to be kinder
3. morale
4. mice
5. 16 million
6. TigerPlace
7. a retirement community
8. two years
9. unknown
10. Cleo pecks her on the cheek to wake her up. Theodora pets her, tells her she loves her, and then takes her to the kitchen for food.

question: (CNN) -- Henry Joseph Madden was a good student and track team member in high school, but he had a secret: He sometimes wore his mother's pantyhose and underwear under his clothes.

Dr. Jennifer Madden, a family physician, began her transition to being female at age 48.

"I really wanted to be a girl so bad, and that was one way for me to satisfy those feelings," Madden said. "I always felt like someone was looking over my shoulder."

The desire to be female never went away. At age 48, Madden confessed these feelings to a doctor, and started seeing a gender therapist who suggested Madden was transgendered.

Through reconstructive surgeries, electrolysis, laser procedures and voice lessons, Henry Joseph became Jennifer Elizabeth, known as Jenny. She is a practicing family physician in Nashua, New Hampshire. Watch Jenny's story "

Chastity Bono, child of performer Cher and the late entertainer and politician Sonny Bono, announced Thursday the beginning of a transition from female to a male.

While still relatively rare -- one advocate estimates that 0.25 to 0.5 percent of the American population is transgendered -- the idea of changing gender identity has become more widespread in recent years. The term "LGBT" (Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender) is more commonly recognized, and transgendered people have been portrayed in the 1999 film "Boys Don't Cry" as well as the 2002 book "Middlesex" by Jeffrey Eugenides.

Many people who have transitioned, including Madden, say they knew they had been born into the wrong gender from childhood. As early as age 3, Dr. Julie Praus, born male, didn't understand why her father wanted to play catch. As a boy, Praus learned how to fish and hunt, but enjoyed collecting Depression-era glassware vases. Praus, 48, a psychiatrist in Brattleboro, Vermont, started living as a woman in March 2008.
1. How much of the American population is transgendered?
2. Does that include Dr. Jennifer Madden?
3. What was her birth name?
4. Did Henry want to be a girl in high school?
5. Did that keep her from being a good student and extracurricular activities?
6. How old was she when she transitioned?
7. Whose idea was it, originally?
8. What kind of doctor is Jenny?
9. Is the idea of transitioning getting more common?
10. How about the term "LGBT?"
****
answer: 1. 0.25 to 0.5 percent
2. yes
3. Henry Joseph Madden
4. yes
5. no
6. 48
7. her gender therapist
8. a family physician
9. yes
10. yes

question: CHAPTER XVIII.

THE EXHIBITION DRILL.

Seth Bartlett ceased to be an "amateur fireman" when he was admitted to the probationary class, even though he had not received an appointment, and, therefore this narrative was concluded, or should have been, with an account of the "blow-out" designed and arranged by Dan Roberts.

In case some of the readers care to know how Ninety-four's kid prospered, however, a brief account of his doings up to the day when he was honored even above any member of his own particular company, shall be given.

First, however, let it be said that Dan Roberts and Bill Dean did not abandon the idea of going to school.

On the night after the very pleasing entertainment on Chatham Street they set out with Seth, and from that time until the Third-Avenue store was a reality, they were in regular attendance.

Even after having engaged in what Dan called "real business," the partners continued their pursuit of knowledge by going to school on alternate nights.

Jip Collins gave good proof that he had reformed by attending closely to his work, and on the day when Messrs. Roberts & Dean purchased the establishment from the gentleman who did not believe in working, he was hired as clerk at wages to be proportionate with the sales.

Sam Barney disappeared on the day of the "blow-out," and was not seen by his former acquaintances for nearly eight months, when he suddenly showed himself once more, and announced that he was "partners with a city detective."
1. What is the name of the section?
2. Who is the novice firefighter?
3. How did he cease being a novice?
4. Was he appointed to it?
5. Who didn't give on on the thought of attending school?
6. Where were they entertained one night?
7. What did they continue to do after "real business"?
8. What proof was there of Collins' reform?
9. What did Roberts and Dean buy?
10. From who?
11. Who was hired as clerk?
12. Who disappeared the fateful day?
13. For how long?
14. What did he proclaim upon his return?
****
answer:
1. THE EXHIBITION DRILL
2. Seth Bartlett
3. he was admitted to the probationary class,
4. no
5. Dan Roberts and Bill Dean
6. on Chatham Street
7. continued their pursuit of knowledge
8. by attending closely to his work,
9. the establishment
10. the gentleman who did not believe in working
11. Jip Collins
12. Sam Barney
13. for nearly eight months,
14. that he was "partners with a city detective."