Danger-junkie orangutans(猩猩) in Borneo climb dead trees and shake then until they begin to fall. They scream with excitement as they cling to the falling tree. Just before the tree hits the ground the orangutans leap to another tree or vine, narrowly escaping death. While no one cab ask orangutans if they enjoy it as a person playing an extreme sport, one animal behaviorist sees this monkey fun as a bit of harmless thrill-seeking.

    A growing number of scientists agree that animals are conscious and capable of experiencing basic emotions(情感), such as happiness, sadness, boredom or depression. A few scientists even see the possibility for higher animal emotions like love, jealousy and spite.

    Five years ago, behaviorist and animal-rights activist Dr. Jonathan Balcombe stood on a Virginia hotel balcony watching two crows intimately groom (清洁) each other in the comfort of an abandoned billboard. He felt that the birds liked what they were doing, even if engaged in a natural, beneficial act, such as picking parasites (寄生虫) off the other's feathers. That moment changed the way he would view animals forever and led to a book, “Pleasurable Kingdom: Animals and the Nature of Feeling Good”, which is filled with hundreds of examples of animals living it up thanks to developed senses of touch, taste, sight, sound and smell.

    Balcombe recounts a favorite example of Kenyan hippos (河马) having high-end spa treatment in a fresh water spring. They splay their toes, open their mouths wide and wait for a school of cleaner fish to remove parasites and slough off dead skin, he recalls. Balcombe knows that the hippos and the fish both benefit from this arrangement. “My interpretation is that it is also enjoyable for them ,” he says.

B

    My friends and I had just finished lunch at a hotel when it started to rain heavily. When it became lighter, I decided to get my car which was parked at my office three streets away.

    My friends argued that I shouldn't go, mainly because I was seven months pregnant（怀孕的）then. I made it clear to them that I'd be very careful. One of them wanted to come with me but I insisted that she stayed with another friend who needed help with her baby.

    I walked out of the hotel and started making my way to the car. At the crossing, a van stopped and a man came out with an umbrella. Before I knew what was happening, he walked right beside me and told me he'd escort（护送）me to my destination. Although I was very embarrassed and refused, he insisted that he would.

    During our walk, he kept telling me to walk slower, as the ground was wet. When we got to the car-park, I thanked him and he went away. I did not get his name and may not even recognize him now. Did he purposely stop for me? I'll never know.

    So how did I pay it back? I was at home when I noticed two Indian construction workers walking in the heavy rain. They were probably on their way to the working place near my home. I went out and passed them an umbrella. They were completely surprised by my action, and I told them they should take and keep it. They were very grateful to me, probably wondered why a stranger was offering such kindness. I was so relaxed and happy that day.

    Terrafugia Inc. said Monday that its new flying car has completed its first flight, bringing the company closer to its goal of selling the flying car within the next year. The vehicle — named the Transition — has two seats, four wheels and wings that fold up so it can be driven like a car. The Transition, which flew at 1,400 feet for eight minutes last month, can reach around 70 miles per hour on the road and 115 in the air. It flies using a 23-gallon tank of gas and burns 5 gallons per hour in the air. On the ground, it gets 35 miles per gallon.

    Around 100 people have already put down a $10,000 deposit（定金） to get a Transition when they go on sale, and those numbers will rise after Terrafugia introduces the Transition to the public later this week at the New York Auto Show. But don't expect it to show up in too many driveways. It's expected to cost as much as $279,000. And it won't help if you're stuck in traffic. The car needs a runway.

    Inventors have been trying to make flying cars since the 1930s, according to Robert Mann, an airline industry expert. But Mann thinks Terrafugia has come closer than anyone to making the flying car a reality. The government has already permitted the company to use special materials to make it easier for the vehicle to fly. The Transition is now going through crash tests to make sure it meets federal safety standards.

    Mann said Terrafugia was helped by the Federal Aviation Administration's (联邦航空管理局) decision five years ago to create a separate set of standards for light sport aircraft, which are lower than those for pilots of larger planes. Terrafugia says an owner would need to pass a test and complete 20 hours of flying time to be able to fly the Transition, a requirement pilots would find relatively easy to meet.

    Some international languages are widely used for many purposes. Some minority languages will die out and some nations tend to keep minority languages. I reckon that most common used international languages ease our life quality and communication with different nationalities. On the other hand, we need to help improve minority languages.

    There are many languages in the entire world but two or three minority languages die out each year. Some countries try to save dying languages. For instance, Australian Government created a project to save the language and culture of Maori who are Australian aborigines. And there are other projects to keep minority languages such as American Indian language.

    However, the worldwide job market usually requires candidates who can speak English or other international languages. People who cannot speak lingua franca (共通语) could hardly be promoted at work. For example, some companies need an employee who can deal with foreign companies. So most people tend to learn at least one international language that helps them to find a better job.

    Therefore, world needs one common lingua franca that should be spoken in any country. Consequently, one common language should be a required subject in every school. So anyone speaking one common language can travel without worries to any point of the world and trade their products. People will not be forced to learn many languages.

    In conclusion, we should help minority nations to keep their languages for the cultural diversity. To ease the worldwide communication among nations, we should create a common language and provide courses of it. As a result, no one will face a language issue.

Both humans and animals have enemies. It is easy for us to know the difference between our friends and our enemies. But can other animals do the same? Elephants can! They can use their sense of vision and smell to tell the difference between people who mean a threat and those who do not. In Kenya, researchers find that elephants react differently to clothing worn by men of the Maasai and Kamba ethnic groups. Young Maasai men hunt animals and thus mean a threat to elephants; Kamba men are mainly farmers and are not a danger to elephants.

In an experiment conducted by animal scientists, elephants were first presented with clean clothing or clothing that had been worn for five days by either a Maasai or a Kamba man. When the elephants noticed the smell of clothing worn by a Maasai man, they moved away from the smell faster and took longer to relax than when they noticed the smells of either clean clothing or clothing worn by a Kamba man.

Clothing color also plays a role. In the same study, when the elephants saw red clothing not worn before, they reacted angrily, as red is typically worn by Maasai men. Rather than running away as they did with the smell, the elephants acted angrily toward the red clothing.

The researchers believe that the elephants' emotional reactions are due to their different senses of smell and sight. Smelling a possible danger means that a threat is nearby and the best thing to do is run away and hide. Seeing a potential threat without its smell means that risk is low. Therefore, instead of showing fear and running away, the elephants express their anger and become aggressive.

    Need a fall fix? Try one from these great places.

    ⒈Mackinac Island, Michigan

    The only way to reach this famed car-free island is by boat and ferry, and once visitors arrive, they are attracted by the history, scenery and fall colors. "It's a throwback to years past, a little town, and there's a big state park as well," Blackwell says. "You're allowed to have boats all around the island."

    ⒉Tellico Lake, Tennessee

    With nearly 400 miles of shoreline, this waterway flowing out of the Great Smoky Mountains is largely unexploited, well-protected in its natural state. Fall visitors find a range of colors reflecting in the clean waters, says Blackwell, who vacationed in the area with his family as a child. "The thick forest there just allows you to see more greenery and wildlife."

    ⒊Dillon Reservoir, Colorado

    With an hour from Denver, this lake is home to what claims to be the nation's highest sailing club, at an altitude of more than 9,000 feet. Marinas in the towns of Dillon and Frisco make it easy to get out on the water and to see the bright yellows and golds of fall leaves. "People are surprised that there's boating in Colorado, and you can see the mountains just before the snowball," Blackwell says.

    ⒋Lake Monroe, Indiana

    The state's largest lake is surrounded by more than 13,000 acres of protected forest and three recreation areas, making it an ideal place to see fall colors, particularly from oaks and the tulip poplar, the state tree. " It's a gem (宝石) in southern Indiana," says Blackwell, who grew up in the area. "There are lots of different activities: canoeing, kayaking and fishing."