§1. As his feet splash through the warm waters of a huge outdoor pool at Dolphin Cove in the Florida Keys, USA, tenyear-old Jamie has a delighted expression on his face. He suffers from a disability which means he has difficulty communicating with the rest of the world, but the presence of playful dolphins elicits attention and squeals of pleasure. His parents are happy, too. 'In the past, he wouldn't even touch anything solid, and now he's grabbing hold of the dolphin's fin', says May, Jamie's mother. 'It's opening a new world for him.'

§2. The captive dolphins are part of the Dolphin Human Therapy programme, established by Dr David Nathanson, who uses dolphins to help children with mental and physical disabilities. The dolphins are not treated as miracle healers. Instead, the possibility of touching their grey-suede skin or even having a swim with a dolphin is a reward that encourages children like Jamie to respond to their teachers, who sit with the children at the water's edge. The sessions start with the teacher encouraging the child to motion 'hello' to a dolphin, which responds with a shake of its head or fin. The child is offered another chance to play with the dolphin if he or she works hard during the session.

§3. Adults too are attracted to swimming with captive dolphins as well. At a theme park near Orlando, people pay to have a 30-minute swim with them. It is a deeply memorable experience. When a swimmer slides into water alongside a dolphin they can actually feel their skin tingling as the dolphin scans them with sonar (гид­ро­ло­ка­тор). Then with a flip of their powerful tails, the dolphins are off, gliding around effortlessly, clearly observing their human visitors.

§4. Anyone tempted to swim with wild dolphins, however, should be careful. They can have a vicious streak. Male dolphins will sometimes kill baby dolphins, to attract the attention of females. They have also been filmed killing small porpoises (animals similar to dolphins), probably mistaking them for baby dolphins.

§5. Scientists have discovered that dolphins 'talk' to each other, through a form of whistling. The animals practise 'whistle matching', which is when one dolphin whistles and another repeats the sound within three seconds.

§6. Back at Dolphin Cove, the dolphins' contribution to the children's progress is acknowledged. 'I think dolphins are incredible,' says Jeffrey Bicknell, who works with the children. 'I've seen them look at a child and observe what the problem is, and change their behaviour according to the nature of the problem. They are more dominant with some children, more patient with others.'

1.  Margherita Taylor is the only female presenter at Capital Radio, one of London's top music radio stations. She got into radio while she was a student in Birmingham. Along with hundreds of other hopefuls, she and a friend queued for hours in the rain to take part in a 'Search for a Star' competition held by a local radio station, BRMB. "I had to read a travel script and a weather script, talk about myself for a minute, then introduce a record." Within days the phone call came to say that her voice had earned her a regular show on BRMB. Truly the stuff dreams are made of. After working there for 18 months, she was offered a job with Capital.

2.  Margherita claims never to get nervous before a show. "You can't get nervous because then you make mistakes, she says. Of course, there has been the odd disaster. "For instance, when I did my first live concert show at BRMB, I'd only done one programme. In front of a crowd of 50,000, I went on stage to introduce a certain well-known singer. I said: "Please welcome our next performer. You know her best for hits like." Then I just went blank. There was this silence from the crowd, and for the life of me I couldn't think what she'd sung. That's one occasion that will stay with me for ever."

3.  Margherita says that her own musical tastes are varied. But she doesn't pick her own music for the show. The Capital computer selects the records in advance from a list approved by the station managers. "The station has a certain sound, and if we all picked our own music, it wouldn't sound like Capital," she says."But for someone who likes music, this is a dream job. I get to go to concerts and meet the bands you can hear on my show. It's great to hear the "behind the scenes"gossip."

4.  Most people would expect that a presenter's most important qualities are a nice voice and huge amounts of confidence, but Margherita says that basic maths is handy as well. "You have to make sure that you've got an eye on everything that's going on in the studio, but you've got to be able to add and subtract and think in minutes and seconds," she says. "You're dealing with timed records, and you have to be ready to switch to the news at exactly the right second. If you're going over to a live event, you need to be ready for that on time, not a second earlier or later."

5.  Margherita Taylor is very nice and very easy-going, but very much in control. She is so much a "Capital Radio girl" that you might think she is just doing a good job for the station's publicity department, although you know what she's saying really comes from the heart. She smiles a lot, laughs a lot and is generally a great advert for Capital.

1.  Margherita Taylor is the only female presenter at Capital Radio, one of London's top music radio stations. She got into radio while she was a student in Birmingham. Along with hundreds of other hopefuls, she and a friend queued for hours in the rain to take part in a 'Search for a Star' competition held by a local radio station, BRMB. "I had to read a travel script and a weather script, talk about myself for a minute, then introduce a record." Within days the phone call came to say that her voice had earned her a regular show on BRMB. Truly the stuff dreams are made of. After working there for 18 months, she was offered a job with Capital.

2.  Margherita claims never to get nervous before a show. "You can't get nervous because then you make mistakes, she says. Of course, there has been the odd disaster. "For instance, when I did my first live concert show at BRMB, I'd only done one programme. In front of a crowd of 50,000, I went on stage to introduce a certain well-known singer. I said: "Please welcome our next performer. You know her best for hits like." Then I just went blank. There was this silence from the crowd, and for the life of me I couldn't think what she'd sung. That's one occasion that will stay with me for ever."

3.  Margherita says that her own musical tastes are varied. But she doesn't pick her own music for the show. The Capital computer selects the records in advance from a list approved by the station managers. "The station has a certain sound, and if we all picked our own music, it wouldn't sound like Capital," she says."But for someone who likes music, this is a dream job. I get to go to concerts and meet the bands you can hear on my show. It's great to hear the "behind the scenes"gossip."

4.  Most people would expect that a presenter's most important qualities are a nice voice and huge amounts of confidence, but Margherita says that basic maths is handy as well. "You have to make sure that you've got an eye on everything that's going on in the studio, but you've got to be able to add and subtract and think in minutes and seconds," she says. "You're dealing with timed records, and you have to be ready to switch to the news at exactly the right second. If you're going over to a live event, you need to be ready for that on time, not a second earlier or later."

5.  Margherita Taylor is very nice and very easy-going, but very much in control. She is so much a "Capital Radio girl" that you might think she is just doing a good job for the station's publicity department, although you know what she's saying really comes from the heart. She smiles a lot, laughs a lot and is generally a great advert for Capital.

§ 1. If you walk into any bookstore there is an entire shelf dedicated to books about people who decide to change their lives by relocating to another country. I used to laugh at those kinds of books and wonder why anyone would put themselves through the discomfort of going to live in a foreign country  — all in search of a simple lifel

§ 2. One day, instead of walking straight past this section, I selected a book to read on the train. It was about an accountant who realised one day how boring her life was, so she bought a ticket to Italy. After reading the book, the idea of moving abroad had lodged (за­се­ла) itself in my mind and was turning into a magnificent possibility.

§ 3. I resigned from the hospital where I worked, sold my apartment and moved to the region of Umbria in Italy. Once there, I rented an apartment and hired a little motorbike. I loved sampling the local cuisine and I signed up for a short cooking course. A very charming local man called Francesco ran the course. Each lesson not only did we learn how to prepare an authentic Umbrian dish, we were also rolling around the floor in fits of laughter, since Francesco was a natural storyteller and we enjoyed his talent for imitating people.

§ 4. I also took a three-month Italian language course. It is fair to say that my attempts at cooking were more successful than my attempts to acquire a new language. I tried hard, however, and after a few weeks of lessons I actually had a short conversation with a local  — OK, I only asked for directions to the train station. In my mind, though, this was a triumph of communication and I was satisfied with my modest progress.

§ 5. It was at one of these language classes that I heard a fellow student, John, mention that his neighbour, Sandro, was moving to Rome and selling his farmhouse very cheap. John said he wished he had the money to purchase it himself, as the property was sure to be snapped up soon. I couldn't believe that it cost less than half the amount that I had sold my tiny apartment for. Would I dare to copy the writers of all those books? I had to go and have a look, of course. The farmhouse was located on the top of a hill, and although it was very run-down, it possessed charm. I bought it straight away.

§ 6. The project wasn't without its difficulties, though. The farmhouse was collapsing in several places. My first priority, therefore, was to hire some local workers to add supports to the building. I also strengthened the foundations, installed a new kitchen and renovated the rest of the property. In the end, all the cost and effort were worthwhile, because I felt I belonged here as much as I did anywhere in the world, and I was determined to make it my home. I must say I sometimes look at my collection of books on Italy and think I'd like to have a goal writing one myself I'd like to share my experience and let other dreamers out there know that the difficulty is worth it. I didn't quite find the simple life, but I did find what the Italians call the sweet life  — la dolce vita.

§ 1. If you walk into any bookstore there is an entire shelf dedicated to books about people who decide to change their lives by relocating to another country. I used to laugh at those kinds of books and wonder why anyone would put themselves through the discomfort of going to live in a foreign country  — all in search of a simple lifel

§ 2. One day, instead of walking straight past this section, I selected a book to read on the train. It was about an accountant who realised one day how boring her life was, so she bought a ticket to Italy. After reading the book, the idea of moving abroad had lodged (за­се­ла) itself in my mind and was turning into a magnificent possibility.

§ 3. I resigned from the hospital where I worked, sold my apartment and moved to the region of Umbria in Italy. Once there, I rented an apartment and hired a little motorbike. I loved sampling the local cuisine and I signed up for a short cooking course. A very charming local man called Francesco ran the course. Each lesson not only did we learn how to prepare an authentic Umbrian dish, we were also rolling around the floor in fits of laughter, since Francesco was a natural storyteller and we enjoyed his talent for imitating people.

§ 4. I also took a three-month Italian language course. It is fair to say that my attempts at cooking were more successful than my attempts to acquire a new language. I tried hard, however, and after a few weeks of lessons I actually had a short conversation with a local  — OK, I only asked for directions to the train station. In my mind, though, this was a triumph of communication and I was satisfied with my modest progress.

§ 5. It was at one of these language classes that I heard a fellow student, John, mention that his neighbour, Sandro, was moving to Rome and selling his farmhouse very cheap. John said he wished he had the money to purchase it himself, as the property was sure to be snapped up soon. I couldn't believe that it cost less than half the amount that I had sold my tiny apartment for. Would I dare to copy the writers of all those books? I had to go and have a look, of course. The farmhouse was located on the top of a hill, and although it was very run-down, it possessed charm. I bought it straight away.

§ 6. The project wasn't without its difficulties, though. The farmhouse was collapsing in several places. My first priority, therefore, was to hire some local workers to add supports to the building. I also strengthened the foundations, installed a new kitchen and renovated the rest of the property. In the end, all the cost and effort were worthwhile, because I felt I belonged here as much as I did anywhere in the world, and I was determined to make it my home. I must say I sometimes look at my collection of books on Italy and think I'd like to have a goal writing one myself I'd like to share my experience and let other dreamers out there know that the difficulty is worth it. I didn't quite find the simple life, but I did find what the Italians call the sweet life  — la dolce vita.