During the day, Mercer, is a hard-working dog , helping his owner and making sure she stays safe. But at night, the big, black dog slips out of the house, tries his paws at ice-skating, and even makes hot chocolate for himself .
Or at least that's what he does in Marvelous Mercer, a new book written by the dog's 12-year-old owner, Shea Megale. Shea has spinal muscular atrophy, a condition that makes her muscles very weak. She uses a motorized wheelchair. Mercer is an assistance dog that is specially trained to do many of the things Shea can't.
Shea is writing a series of six books about Mercer Marvelous mercer arrived in stores this fall, and the second book is due out early next year.
Cool Tricks
During his training, Mercer learned to carry out 60 different commands, Shea now uses them to tell Mercer what she needs as she goes about her day. “Under ”tells down. “Car” tells him to get into a vehicle.
Shea’s favorite command is “lap”, which tells Mercer to put his front paws across her lap. “I love that ”, Shea says .
At school, Mercer carries Shea’s backpack and helps her order her lunch in the dining room. During class, he stays under her desk in case she drops her pencil. At night, he pulls the covers up for her and turns out her bedroom light.
Leading a Paw
Shea and Mercer aren’t the only ones benefiting from their special relationship. “Thanks to the book series . We’re helping a lot more people now ,” Shea says.
Some of the books profits are going to help pay for research into the disease Shea is suffering from. Money from the books also will be used to train assistance dogs for U.S. soldiers who were injured in Iraq.
Despite all of the attention –and his star status success hasn’t gone to Mercer’s head. In fact , when WR News interviewed Shea, Mercer slept through the whole thing-most likely dreaming about his next adventure !
67．We know from the passage that Mercer is .
A．Shea’s pet dog B．an assistance dog helping Shea
C．a 12-year-old dog D．a character Shea makes up in her book
68．According to the passage , Shea’s “Cool Tricks ”include the following EXCEPT .
A．commanding Mercer to lie down B．commanding Mercer to get into a car
C．telling Mercer to open her backpack
D．telling Mercer to put his front paws across her lap
69．The underlined expression “Lending a Paw ”is closest in meaning to “ ”
A．giving a helping hand B．acting as a guide
C．benefiting from friendship D．exploring adventures
70．Which of the following is TRUE according to the passage ?
A．Shea has written 6 books about Mercer
B．Mercer is glad to be the focus of attention
C．Mercer isn’t allowed in Shea’s classroom
D．Though disabled , Shea helps lots of people