It’s natural for people to talk with each other in words. Can other living things too? What about animals? The answer is surprisingly “Yes”. Some animals can use sounds and body movements to talk, and some animals can even speak words! According to the news on the New York Times, a 22-year-old elephant in South Korea could “talk”, that is, he picked up some words from his human caretakers. And pet dogs or cats can, too. A quick search on the Internet will give you a lot of short videos of dogs saying “hello”, “I love you”, and even “I want my mommy.”

Can trees talk too? Yes—but not in words. It may sound strange, but some trees really try to talk with each other in other ways. Willows（柳树）are the best-known of these trees. When insects begin biting a willow, the tree sends out a special smell a once. This smell tells the other willows that dangerous insects are coming near. All of them quickly make a chemical in their leaves. This chemical is bad for the insects. The insects do not like it and will fly away soon. In this way, the willows protect themselves from the insects.

Next time when you take a walk in the forest, listen or watch carefully. Maybe the animals or trees are talking to each other in their own ways. Isn’t nature amazing?

I have a small dog and a small cat. They are very     19    , so they don’t have names. Now I’m     20     about names for them. The small dog likes to jump. It     21     a big green ball and it often     22     up onto the green ball. The small cat is cute. It is small and white. It     23     beautiful.

My sister, Linda, has a good idea. She says     24     me, “Amy, I have good names for     25    . Ball is the name for the small dog     26     it likes its ball very much. Cutie is the     27     for the small cat because it is very     28    . Do you like their names?” I like the two names. I think they are good names.