For hundreds of millions of years, turtles (海龟) have struggled out of the sea to lay their eggs on sandy beaches, long before there were nature documentaries to celebrate them, or GPS satellites and marine biologists to track them, or volunteers to hand-carry the hatchlings (幼龟) down to the water's edge lest (for fear that) they become disoriented by headlights and crawl towards a motel parking lot instead. A formidable wall of bureaucracy has been erected to protect their prime nesting on the Atlantic coastlines. With all that attention paid to them, you'd think these creatures would at least have the gratitude not to go extinct (die out).

    But Nature is indifferent to human notions of fairness, and a report by the Fish and Wildlife Service showed a worrisome drop in the populations of several species of North Atlantic turtles, notably loggerheads, which can grow to as much as 400 pounds. The South Florida nesting population, the largest, has declined by 50% in the last decade, according to Elizabeth Griffin, a marine biologist with the environmental group Oceana. The figures prompted Oceana to petition the government to upgrade the level of protection for the North Atlantic loggerheads from "threatened" to "endangered"— meaning they are in danger of disappearing without additional help.

    Which raises the obvious question: what else do these turtles want from us, anyway? It turns out, according to Griffin, that while we have done a good job of protecting the turtles for the weeks they spend on land (as egg-laying females, as eggs and as hatchlings), we have neglected the years spend in the ocean. "The threat is from commercial fishing," says Griffin. Trawlers (which drag large nets through the water and along the ocean floor) and longline fishers (which can deploy thousands of hooks on lines that can stretch for miles) take a heavy toll on turtles.

    Of course, like every other environmental issue today, this is playing out against the background of global warming and human interference with natural ecosystems. The narrow strips of beach on which the turtles lay their eggs are being squeezed on one side by development and on the other by the threat of rising sea levels as the oceans warm. Ultimately we must get a handle on those issues as well, or a creature that outlived the dinosaurs (恐龙) will meet its end at the hands of humans, leaving our descendants to wonder how creature so ugly could have won so much affection.

    Larry was on another of his underwater expeditions(探险)but this time, it was different. He decided to take his daughter along with him. She was only ten years old. This would be her first trip with her father on what he had always been famous for.

    Larry first began diving when he was his daughter's age. Similarly, his father had taken him along on one of his expeditions. Since then, he had never looked back. Larry started out by renting diving suits from the small diving shop just along the shore. He had hated them. They were either too big or too small. Then, there was the instructor. He gave him a short lesson before allowing him into the water with his father. He had made an exception. Larry would never have been able to go down without at least five hours of theory and another similar number of hours on practical lessons with a guide. Children his age were not even allowed to dive.

    After the first expedition, Larry's later diving adventures only got better and better. There was never a dull moment. In his black and blue suit and with an oxygen tank fastened on his back, Larry dived from boats into the middle of the ocean. Dangerous areas did not prevent him from continuing his search. Sometimes, he was limited to a cage underwater but that did not bother him. At least, he was still able to take photographs of the underwater creatures.

    Larry's first expedition without his father was in the Cayman Islands. There were numerous diving spots in the area and Larry was determined to visit all of them. Fortunately for him, a man offered to take him around the different Spots for free. Larry didn't even know what the time was, how many spots he dived into or how many photographs he had taken. The diving spots afforded such a wide array of fish and sea creatures that Larry saw more than thirty varieties of creatures.

    Larry looked at his daughter. She looked as excited as he had been when he was her age. He hoped she would be able to continue the family tradition. Already, she looked like she was much braver than had been then. This was the key to a successful underwater expedition.

    The law says women should have the chance of doing the same jobs as men and earn the same as them. The reality is very different. Women lose because, 25 years after the Equal Pay Act, many of them still get paid less than men. They lose because they do lower-paid jobs which men just won't consider. And they lose because they are the ones who interrupt a career to have children.  All this is reported in an independent study ordered by the Government's women's unit. The biggest problem isn't equal pay in workplaces such as factories. It is the sort of work women do.

    Make a list of low-paid-jobs, then consider who does them. Try nurses, secretaries, cleaners, clerks, teachers in primary schools, dinner ladies and child-care helpers. Not a lot of men among that group, are there? Yet some of those jobs are really important. Surely no one would deny that about nurses and teachers, for a start. So why do we reward the people who do them so poorly? There can be only one answer—because they are women. This is not going to be put right overnight. But the government, which employs a lot of them, and other bosses have to make a start.

    It is disgraceful (可耻的) that we have gone into the 21st century still treating women like second-class citizens.

    Dogs can tell how other dogs are feeling from the way their tails are wagging(摇摆)，according to researchers who monitored the animals' heart rate as they watched dogs' movies. The Italian team found that dogs had higher heart rates and became more anxious when they saw others wag their tails more to the left，but not when they wagged more to the right, or failed to wag at all.

    The curious form of communication is probably not intentional, or consciously understood, but is instead an automatic behavior that arises from the structure of the brain, said Giorgio. “It's not something they clearly and exactly understand,” Giorgio told The Guardian. “It's just something that happens to them.”

    Giorgio traces the effect back to the way the two halves of the brain process different experiences. In a previous study, his team showed that when a dog had a positive experience, activity rose in the left side of the brain, bringing about more tail wagging to the right. Or else more tail wagging to the left. The effect is barely visible to the human eye because dogs tend to wag their tails too fast, but it can be seen with slow motion video, or in some larger types.

    In the latest study, the researchers wanted to find out whether the direction of tail wagging had any effect on other dogs. To get an answer, they fitted dogs with vests that recorded their heart rates, and played them movies of other dogs wagging their tails one way and then the other. To ensure the dogs reacted only to tail wagging, and not appearance? They repeated the experiment with dogs that appeared only as shadows.

    “When dogs saw other dogs wagging their tails to the right, there was quite a relaxed reaction and no evidence of an increased heart rate. But when the wagging was to the left we saw an increase in heart rate and a series of behaviors typically associated with stress, anxiety and being more watchful, “Giorgio said. The anxious animals held their ears up, breathed, and kept their eyes wide open. The study appears in the latest issue of Current Biology.

    The similarities between elephant and human behavior has been a curiosity to scientists worldwide. These huge beasts are not so different from us. Their devotion to their family is just as powerful as the friendships between humans. In order to prevent future elephant attacks, people must first understand the similarities between elephants and themselves.

    Because deaths are felt so deeply in elephants, memories of people harming or killing other members are not forgotten. Due to the Uganda-Tanzania War in Africa, poaching (偷猎) elephant increased during the 1970's and continued, despite government restrictions. However, ecologists like Eve Abe did not see this as simple poaching; they saw it as a “mass destruction. “Elephants that have witnessed the murder of a matriarch, are more likely to become violent and attack humans. Many aggressive elephants do not act without reason; they are suffering from Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD). At a young age, humans invade their life, kill their parents, and ultimately destroy their peaceful environment. More and more calves live neglected lives without a mother figure, and have to become a parent early for survival. Humans that had a difficult childhood or early family life also suffer from aggression and pain. Young elephants have been known to have “nightmares,” waking up suddenly and screaming. These are clearly signs of stress, as males grow up to be increasingly hostile (敌对的) humans and target certain villages where painful experiences had occurred.

    Although many see elephants as massive, violent, and simple-minded animals, their social structure is not unlike many human societies. Humans and elephants have been on parallel paths. However, if people continue practicing ignorance over the cruel treatment of these creatures, then collision will become inevitable. Cruel treatment of elephants still goes on, but by understanding the similarities between us, it can be stopped.

    Some parts of the garden are for the rest of the world to admire. Others are for you to disappear to when you don't want to be found. Of course, that's easy enough to arrange when you have lots of land with space for the kids to run round and cosy "garden rooms" for the adults to enjoy. But when your garden is on the small side, you might think it's a tall order. Well, you're wrong.

    To create a secret garden, people tend to take the routine: surrounding a small garden with high fences and then placing a lawn(草坪) in the middle and borders round the edge. Far from making the most of the area, that just makes it look a lot smaller and more boring. Dividing it up makes much more use of your space and means you can have your practical family area plus a secret garden.

    When you're searching for the perfect secret site within your existing set-up, consider your present favourite spot. A secret garden needs to be special—a complete contrast to the more practical family parts of the garden. Perhaps you take a folding chair down to a quiet corner that gets evening sun; maybe you sit and watch the pond or simply slip out to the patio(露台)with a glass of wine.

    It's quite easy to change an existing favourite feature into a secret place. You could top the patio with a pergola(棚架) pole and plant a grapevine for shade, or position a bench overlooking the pond and plant bamboos to screen it from the rest of the garden.

    The areas you create needn't all to be the same size—or even the same style—but if you're planning a major redesign, take your time and work it out on paper before committing time and money. Then when it's done, you'll really be able to relax and enjoy it.