1 . In 2021, scientists studying animal communication discovered that some dogs connect objects with words similarly to babies. Then what about cats, which are commonly believed to be unconcerned about human affairs?

Saho Takagi, a researcher at Azabu University, doubted cats’ seeming unconcern. “Cats don’t appear to listen to people’s conversations, but in fact, they do,” said Takagi. According to previous research, cats understand human communication better than expected. Like dogs, they can use human pointing and stares to find food. They even can tell the difference between human facial expressions and states of attention, according to a 2016 study. However, cats can do more than that.

Another study showed that cats can discriminate their own names from the names of their cat companions (those that live in the same house). The researchers believed that cats learned to connect names with other cats by observing communication between their owners and their cat friends.

In a recently published study, Takagi and her colleagues compared two groups of cats: cats living with at least two other cats and cats living in “cat cafés” with up to 30 cats. Using a simple two-phase (阶段) test, they assessed the cats’ responses to hearing their names and seeing their faces on a monitor. Sometimes, the cat that appeared on the screen matched the name spoken; other times, the name and the image did not match. If cats knew the names of their cat friends, they would investigate by staring doubtfully at the monitor when the name and image did not match. House cats had a significantly longer stare than café cats, indicating that house cats generally expected a specific cat’s face upon hearing the cat’s name.

“This is the first evidence showing that house cats link human words and their social companions through daily experiences,” the researchers wrote. “However, we could not recognize the mechanism (机制) for learning. But with more and more scientists becoming interested in cats, who are much smarter than we assume, this question is sure to be solved.”

2 . The suburb I live in backs on to a large nature reserve. One morning I saw a koala (考拉) sitting in a palm tree in my front yard. I phoned around to ask what I could _________ this koala, but no one wanted to know. I ended up _________ the koala out of my tree and we crossed the road _________ for him to return to the nature reserve.

I’ve always been befriending animals. As a young kid I used to pick up lizard eggs and _________ them. It stimulated my interest as to why there wasn’t anyone wanting to come and _________this koala in my tree. After that, I signed up for all the _________I could find.

Once I had accreditation (合格证 ), I volunteered with the RSPCA in 2019, rehabilitating (使康复) wildlife. I was an ambulance driver, _________ overnight rescues. We rescued hundreds of animals and _________ more.

I cut the leaves of the eucalyptus trees for the koalas to eat and look after the __________ wildlife at our centre. If they recover, they are __________ back to where they come from.

As a kid I would never have imagined doing this. I feel like I’m the __________ girl on the planet that I get to do what I love. I believe it’s my __________.

After Japan discharged nuclear wastewater, people are terribly worried about more animals, especially marine animals. Any animal has the right to survive and the Earth is our common home. Please care for our animal friends.

4 . Five years ago, a friend asked me to look after his cat while he went on holiday, and I realized the idea had potential on a bigger scale. So I moved to London and decided to _______ cat sitting (猫咪代养).

For me, cat sitting is about _______ two groups of people who need what the other can offer. I get to stay in people’s _______ without rent while they’re on holiday. The owners get _______ cat sitting. It also means that there is someone to keep an eye on their homes while they are away. It seems a fairer _______ than just watering plants or walking dogs — I’m more of a cat person.

I have always loved cats, and their gentle temper makes them ideal _______ for someone working from home. Cats have such different personalities, so it’s not surprising that I _______ more with some than others. An owner once told me not to _______ her cat to sit on me, as it had happened only once. But just four days later, the cat came over and sat on my lap. I sent her a photo!

Cat sitting helps me with my _______ anxiety disorder, too. I want to be around people, but sometimes I can’t. Sometimes, this anxiety even ________ me from leaving the house. But since becoming a cat sitter my mental health has ________. Having my own ________ gives me the power to plan my day. I can recharge when I need to and can go out and meet people when I want. The cats have ________ helped.

Now I have stayed in 25 houses, ________ 30 cats and saved more than 10,000 pounds that would have gone on ________. One day I want to save up for a flat so I can have a cat of my own.

6 . Reading a pup’s body language requires experience and expert guidance. Zazie Todd, a dog trainer and founder of the blog Companion Animal Psychology, weighs in on how to decode dogs’ behaviour.

1. If your dog looks remorseful (羞愧的) when you walk in the door and see a mess…

They’re expecting punishment but don’t necessarily know that what they’ve done is wrong. Alexandra Horowitz, a professor at Barnard College in New York City whose research focuses on canine (犬科) cognition, put that ”guilty” look to the test in 2009.     1     Subsequent research out of the University of Cambridge found no evidence that dogs can even feel guilty.

2. If your dog licks their mouth…

They’re stressed Recently, two European studies have highlighted the meaning of this licking.     2     The other determined that dogs lick their mouths—and also look away—in response to a mild threat. If you spot this sign, try reducing your dog’s stress levels.     3    

3. If you’re at the vet and your dog’s tail is down…

They’re anxious. Obvious signs of an unhappy dog include hiding or trying to leave the exam room, but commonly missed triggers range from a tucked tail and lowered ears to trembling.     4     Many vets now use food to make the experience more fun.

4. If your dog leans into you during a petting session…

They like it! If you’re unsure that a dog is enjoying being petted, stop, then gauge their reaction. This is called a consent test. If they choose to wander off, the session is over.     5     Preferred spots on their bodies are to either side of the chest and under the chin.

7 . Microplastics are one of the largest environmental problems we face. They are tiny bits of plastics less than 5 mm long. Now a tiny robotic fish that might help tackle one of the problems of plastic pollution has been invented by scientists in China.

The bionic little swimmers have been programmed to wiggle their way through water collecting microplastics as they go. The robofish are only 15mm long. Yet, they can travel quite quickly as they clean. They move by flashing a laser on and off in their tails. It causes the tail to flap side to side which drives the ‘fish’ forward through the water. As they swim along, any nearby microplastics get drawn towards the robots and stick to them.

Not only is their shape inspired by marine life but also is the material they are made out of. Instead of being made out of the traditional materials used for soft robots that can be damaged easily in the water, this one was made from a material that takes inspiration from mother-of-pearl. Mother-of-pearl is found on the inside surface of clam (蛤蜊) shells. As well as attracting microplastics, the material could also heal itself after being cut, still maintaining its ability to absorb microplastics. Because it’s so durable and can swim as fast as it does(for how small it is), the researchers say that it could be used for monitoring microplastics and other pollutants in the hard-to-reach places of complex underwater environments.

Microplastics have been found nearly everywhere. They’ve been found in our oceans, on top of mountains, in some of the food we eat and even in the stomachs of some marine animals. One of the biggest problems with microplastics is, because of their size, they are difficult to clean up. This is especially true of microplastics in the ocean. The scientists hope that their tiny fish-shaped robots can one day help tackle this global problem. At the moment, the robofish are something called proof of concept. It just means that the scientists were able to make something that proves their idea worked.

Now that the team has shown that their idea works, they are going to keep working on it. They hope to create new versions that can dive deeper and absorb more microplastics.

8 . There’s a popular misconception that rhinos are aggressive and stupid, but I discovered sensitive, affectionate animals. Weighing over a ton, black rhinos are unexpectedly agile and have an unpredictable nature-but, given reassurance, they can be very trusting. In the past few decades, their numbers have dropped dramatically. In recent years, I’ve helped look after rhinos being moved to sanctuaries (保护区), so they can form new populations in countries that have few left.

Last year, I helped on a project to fly five black rhinos from a private reserve in South Africa to the Serengeti National Park. Once there, the animals had to be kept captive for a few weeks to adapt to the new environment, in which time they lived in “bomas”-wooden enclosures (围场) with “bedrooms”, designed to create a calm space.

A couple of weeks before their planned release, the sky filled with smoke. Watching the flames rushing through the bush toward the bomas, I froze. Terrified that it would catch fire, my instinct was to release the rhinos, but hey hadn’t yet been fitted with transmitters. If I let them out into a bushfire and they were injured, we’d have great difficulty tracking them down.

So I dashed back to the bomas and called the rhinos to the bedrooms. Sensing the fear in my voices, they moved without hesitation and remained astonishingly calm. It was crucial the rhinos didn’t panic -they can easily hurt each other if they do.

Meanwhile, the rangers managed to beat the closest flames away. At last, after half an hour, the wind changed direction and the fire began to recede.

That we and the rhinos had escaped unhurt was a miracle. The teamwork of everybody there played a large part, and the rhinos were very much a part of that team. The relationships we’d built with them had proved crucial - had they or we panicked, all our work would have been in vain. Instead, two weeks later, they were released into the wild, ready to found part of a new population in the Serengeti.