【推荐1】Dogs are born to socialise with people because we raise them that way. Two-month-old dogs can already recognise when people are pointing at objects and will stare at our faces when they’re spoken to—both signs that dogs have an innate capacity to interact with us through body language.

“Although individual relationships with people might influence that behaviour, at least 40percent of this ability comes from genetics alone, “says Emily Bray at the University of Arizona. “Over the course of keeping dogs, there has been a clear selection for these social skills,” she says. “It’s something that’s deep in them and that comes out at a really young age even before they have much experience with humans.”

Bray and her colleagues tested these types of skills in 375 eight-week-old dogs that were chosen to become service dogs. Bray says, “It was the earliest age when the dogs could carryout such experiments because they were only just old enough to be motivated by food rewards.”

The researchers found that pointing at food hidden under a cup helped the dogs to find it nearly 70 percent of the time. The success rate was high from the start, meaning they weren’t learning to follow pointing, but had already known to do so. In a control test, the randomly selected dogs couldn’t find food hidden under one of the two cups at a higher rate, indicating that they weren’t simply smelling it. Much of the variation in different dogs’ abilities to follow finger-pointing is explained by genetics. Using statistical analyses based on the dogs’ parents and other relatives, the researchers found that genetic factors were responsible for much of these variations.

The team also ran another experiment in which the researchers spoke “baby talk” to the dogs and found that the dogs fixed their eyes on the person for more than 6 seconds on aver-age, representing an understanding that the researchers were communicating with them.

【推荐2】A Swedish Professor at Natural History came out to the farm to ask me for help. He had come to Africa to find out at what stage of the embryo (胚胎) state the foot of the monkeys begins to differ from the human foot. For this purpose, he meant to go and shoot Colobus monkeys on Mount Elgon.

“You will never find out from the Colobus monkeys,” I said to him, “they live in the tops of the trees and are shy and difficult to shoot. It would be the greatest luck should you get the embryo you want.”

The Professor was hopeful. He was going to stay out till he had got his foot, he said, even if it was be for years. He had applied to the Game Department for permission to shoot the monkeys he wanted. The permission he was, in view of the high scientific object of his research, certain to get, but so far he had had no reply.

“How many monkeys have you asked to be allowed to shoot?” I asked him

He told me that he had, to begin with, asked for permission to shoot fifteen hundred monkeys.

Now I knew the people at the Game Department, and I assisted him to send in a second letter asking for a reply by return of post, since the Professor was keen to get off on his research. The answer from the Game Department did, for once, come by return of post. The Game Department, they wrote, were pleased to inform Professor Landgreen that, in view of the scientific object of his research, they had seen their way to make an exception from their rules, and to raise the number of monkeys on his license from four to six.

I had to read the letter over twice to the Professor. When the contents at last were clear to him, he became so deadly shocked and hurt, that he did not say a single word. To my expressions of sympathy he made no reply, but walked out of the house, got into his car and drove away sadly.

【推荐3】Monarch butterflies (帝王蝶) are edging dangerously close to extinction despite a decision late last year to remove the orange-and-black insects from the endangered species list, a new study has found.

An annual survey led by the World Wildlife Fund(WWF)of the species wintering in central Mexico found the second-lowest number of monarch butterflies on record, meaning they took up just 2.2 acres of regional forests, 59% less than during the 2022 — 2023 winter season. The findings are troubling to scientists determined to protect the species.

Each year, monarch butterflies migrate (迁徙) thousands of miles from southern Canada and the northern and central US to the mountain forests of central Mexico. They require a large and healthy forest to protect them from winds, rain and low temperatures in the areas where they migrate for winter. Yet because of heat and drought brought on by climate change, scientists say, their natural habitat is quickly depleting. Scientists with the WWF considered this winter season’s findings serious and said they represented the second-smallest area taken up by monarch butterflies in Mexico since 1993.

What’s worse, in recent years, their breeding areas in Canada and the US have seen a reduction in milkweed leaves where female monarch butterflies lay their eggs. “Land-use changes in the United States, combined with the widespread use of chemicals, also contributed to the loss of milkweed and other plants that adult monarch butterflies feed on,” the WWF said.

Monarch butterflies play an important role in maintaining plant ecosystems and are also an important food source for birds, small animals and other insects, according to the National Park Service. It’s necessary that all governments, communities, scientists, and others continue to strengthen our protection efforts to support their unique migration.

【推荐1】I’m Li Ying. I like to set goals for myself. I’m a “go-getter” — when I set out to do something, I do my best to achieve it.

Senior secondary school is a new start. Studying is definitely a big part of my life. I tend to set a goal for every subject at the beginning of each term. My aim is to do well in every subject this term. Biology is my favorite subject, and my target is to prepare myself for my degree in biology at university. I am always attentive in all classes and think actively, so that I can have more free time to do other things that I am interested in after school.

I like reading books of all kinds. I have a top 10 reading list and I try to keep it updated. Meanwhile, I’m an active member of my school’s long-distance running team and volunteering club. It always makes me excited to work hard and achieve a team goal together.

To achieve all I want, I must use my time well. At school, I do my homework when I have spare time. After school, I try to use any possible time to revise the things I have learnt during the day. For example, it usually takes me 20 minutes to get home by bus. I often use the time to review English words. As the popular saying goes, “Every minute counts!”

Set a goal and get ahead!