The Useful Bean

Do you know what the common factor in bee food, vinyl plastic, and tofu is? It is the soybean. Some part of the soybean is used in these products as well as many other edible（可以食用的）and nonedible products.

The soybean is also considered to be one of the multipurpose and hardy plants. It can grow in low-quality soil. Throughout the life of the plant, a release of nutrients throughout plant roots makes soil more fertile. Soybeans are also very high in protein. With its hardiness, soil benefits, high-protein content, and various uses, some people believe the soybean will become the greatest weapon against world hunger.

There are three standard procedures taken from the soybean plant—oil, protein, and whole soybeans. Oil is used for edible purposes such as cooking oil and salad dressing. Industries make nonedible use of soybean oil by adding to antistatic sprays, printer ink, and shampoo. One significant nonedible use of soybean oil is the making of vinyl plastics. Vinyl is used to make everything from credit cards and garden hoses to computer parts.

Protein from the soybean is also used in edible and nonedible products. Edible uses for the protein include baby foods and hypoallergenic milk. Even animals benefit: bee food and fish food contain protein from the soybean. Some industries use the protein for nonedible purposes such as cosmetics, adhesives, yarn, and water-based paints.

Items made using whole soybeans are the most commonly recognized product of the soybean plant. Whole soybeans are used to make food for people and animals. Grocery stores carry a variety of foods made with whole soybeans. Some of these items are pancake flour, coffee, soymilk, soy sauce and tofu.

As the versatility（多用途）and hardiness of this bean gains popularity, more uses of soybean products will certainly be discovered.

My sister-in-law Carol said she’d already picked out a kitten for me. I agreed to go with her… just to look. I made no promise to take one home. After all, only two months had passed since I lost my beloved calico cat, Mandi. Maybe I needed to be pet-free for a while.

When we got there, three of the four kittens remained in the litter. Carol picked up one and handed it to me. The beautiful face and white fur on the right side of her nose reminded me of a clown-like mask. How could I resist? Then another kitten, with an evenly balanced white face, jumped into my lap and purred.

Driving home in my British sports car proved difficult with two mischievous kittens. One clung to my left arm and shoulder, watching the fast-moving scenery outside. The other paced back and forth from my lap to the passenger’s seat, making it hard for me to shift gears. Both mewed in a loud duet(二重奏) of protest. Of course, I hadn’t brought a cage. I had not planned to take home a kitten — or two.

The clown-like-masked female earned the name Squeakette with her tiny voice squeaking about each new discovery as she explored her new home. The male, lacking only a black tie in his formal clothes, took the name Sebastian for my favorite composer, Johann Sebastian Bach.

A few weeks later, a neighbor helped me carry down my six-foot artificial Christmas tree from the attic(阁楼). I thanked him with a batch of cookies, and then set up the tree in the comer of my living room.

Sebastian and Squeakette knocked it down before I opened the box of decorations. After setting it upright, I straightened the few bent wire branches back into place. As I checked for any other damage, a quick flash of black-and-white fur passed by me. Up they went, branch by branch. The tree danced around as the two kittens took turns climbing it together. Sebastian made it to the top a moment ahead of Squeakette.

He lunged at me from the top, paws stretched out like wings.

Sensing their interest, I found a smaller Christmas tree for them.

In the community of Belfast, Maine lived an old lady, Marina Delune, 67, who had a cute dog named Ruth. The bright-eyed West Highland White Terrier (梗犬) jumped out of her owner’s car on Tuesday and ran off from her Belfast home.

As a person with multiple disabilities, Marina couldn’t do much searching herself. So she posted a piece of information on a Belfast Facebook page that she needed help looking for her lost dog. She expected only a few people would respond. However, the response that she got was beyond her expectation. “It was extraordinary. I couldn’t even keep up with all the responses. I’m not very good at using Facebook, so I couldn’t respond to all the comments,” said Marina. What actually happened was that half of Belfast were out looking for her dog in the woods.

The people in the community knew what Ruth meant to Marina. Ruth was her best companion. Always, they saw Marina walking and shopping with Ruth following behind.

For two days, the people in the community of Belfast together searched yards and woods for the lost dog, put up posters around the town and monitored social media for tips and sightings. As the hours and then days went by with no sight of Ruth, Marina grew more and more fearful that her dog would never come home. But the searchers didn’t give up, not even during Thursday’s icy rain.

Kimberly Mitchell, 53, is an animal lover, who also has disabilities. She walks with a cane (拐杖) and has her own challenges. Such a situation made her acutely aware of how Marina could be feeling. She got in touch with Marina and headed to her home late Thursday afternoon to help. When she pulled into the drive, she had a strong feeling that the dog was nearby.

Despite the cold rain, Kimberly checked the yard.

The dog was looking at Kimberly.