Meet the amazing Eliot Schrefer, and see why we're big fans!

    Scope: Why do you write stories about animals?

    Eliot: I've always been excited by animal stories. When I was young, I liked reading about animals because they seemed like they needed help, and they were also voiceless.

    Scope: Where did you get the idea for Animal Distress Calls?

    Eliot: Many years ago, I had a friend who worked as a doctor at the Bronx Zoo. One evening he invited me to see the zoo after hours. Wandering that still, dark zoo was haunting. I was imagining adventures with big wild animals, but only the wolves were awake. Then he took me into the clinic, where I met a sick bird. That nighttime visit clearly had a big impact on this story.

    Scope: Why did you leave Josie's fate ambiguous in the story Animal Distress Calls?

    Eliot: So many of us have known a creature, human or nonhuman, who's been suffering. Sometimes everything gets better, and sometimes it doesn't. That doesn't change the important, compassionate act of caring. I didn't want the story to become about the outcome of Josie's illness. I wanted it to be about the sympathy Josie and Julia share for each other.

    Scope: Have you had a personal experience with an animal that changed you?

    Eliot: I had a moment during research for my ape novels when I was staying at a bonobo sanctuary in Congo. I'd have breakfast with Oshwe, a young bonobo who was too little to eat with the rest of the group. Sitting with him for a few hours each morning, I helped make sure that he finished his meal and got the nutrition he needed—but it also felt like a gift he was giving me. Oh, I remember thinking, you're spending this precious morning time with me!

    Most people who fly on passenger planes in the United States do not lose their luggage. Even if the luggage is lost, usually it is only delayed. Most "lost" luggage is found in a few days. Airlines search for the owners of unclaimed(未认领的) bags for up to three months. But when the owners cannot be found or the bags are not claimed, they are sold to a store in the small city of Scottsboro, in the southern state of Alabama.

    About one-half of one percent of all luggage passing through US airports is unclaimed. Many of the missing bags, and what is in them, are sold at the Unclaimed Baggage Center. Seven thousand items arrive at the store every day. Tom Barnes, who was shopping at the store said, "I can go into any of the large shopping centers, like the international malls. I can walk through there for an hour and come out with three items. But I come into this store, and then I come out with my car full of stuff."

    Brenda Cantrell, who works at the store, said, "The Unclaimed Baggage Center is the only store in America that buys and resells unclaimed baggage from the airline industry. You would be surprised at all the jackets, eyeglasses, neck pillows, blankets, laptops, Kindles, iPads, and you know, all kinds of expensive electronics."

    The store says it once sold a container for flowers for $80 that was found to be worth $18,000. And it says a painting it sold for $25 was later found to be worth $25,000.

    The store buys the luggage from the airlines. It does not examine the things inside them before buying them. Only about half of the items in the bags are suitable for sale at the store.

    Some people say it is not fair to the owners of the lost passage to sell their goods. Customer Daniel Martin is not one of them, saying, "I feel the airport may try to find the people that lose the things. If they've tried and they can't get a hold of them, it's better than throwing them away or just letting them rot in a warehouse somewhere."

    July is a month of fun-filled activities for kids and teens as long as you know where to find them. When you want some fun activities for July, consider these ideas happening in this month.

    Teenagers enter their adolescent years with a mixture of optimism, excitement and anxiety. Adolescence is a time when boys and girls begin to show greater independence from their parents. It is also a time when young people begin to develop the sense of individuality that will help shape their future identity as adults. In fact, showing independence and forming a unique identity are two of the most important developmental tasks that adolescents must finish in preparation for satisfying and productive adult lives.

    It is not easy for parents or teenagers to go smoothly through this period. Adolescents want to be independent of their parents and make their own decisions. They often do not recognize their need for adults' guidance and support.

    However, some parents find it easy to keep the lines of communication open with an adolescent child. These parents are often noticed by the child as stable sources of positive influence, and the teen feels supported in his or her growing independence. Communication in such families characterized by mutual(互 相的) respect and the ability to freely exchange feelings and ideas. Parents who understand their teenager's need for a reasonable measure of independence and individuality encourage their child's growth and achievements. This positive interest strengthens parent-child relationships. When adolescents receive parental approval and believe that parents really value their accomplishments, it creates a willingness to share other information about themselves.

    Many parents find it difficult to have open communication with their child during the adolescent years. Some parents have difficulty understanding the changes their teenager is experiencing and pay little attention to his or her need to pull away from the family and make independent decisions. At the same time, some teenagers are so self-focused that they do not appreciate or accept their parents' concern, and they are against all parental authority. In this case, frequent arguments may develop, and family life may become difficult. Parents and teenagers may separate from one another to avoid arguments, but this is usually a short-term solution that does not clear up the main problems.

    A major long-term method is to help them develop more effective communication. This enables the family members to end their conflicts(矛盾) and to establish more harmonious and more satisfying relationships.

Pride and Prejudice for the Modern Woman

    Let us imagine how Pride and Prejudice, Jane Austen's most famous work, might be updated, 200 years on. Austen's popularity is rooted in her intelligence. But today she would certainly have had a very different life, as would her characters(角色). Here's my own suggestion…

    It is a truth finally and universally acknowledged that a single woman with brains deserves to have equal opportunities to men, however disadvantaged she may feel by sexism.

    "My dear husband," said his hopeful wife one day," have you heard that the local store, standing empty for so long, is taken over by a bright young businesswoman?"

    Her dull and indifferent (漠不关心的) husband replied that he had not. "But it is, it is," she replied excitedly. Mr. Dull-Husband made no reply.

    "Don't you want to know her plans?" she cried with some impatience.

    "Well, clearly you think it matters to your silly little head, so I'd better listen."

    "Well, my dear, the rumour (传言) is that she has already set up a string of successful businesses in northern England, though how a woman can know anything about that is beyond me". She will move in herself next month." "What is her name?" "Bingley."

    "Is she married or single?"

    "What a question! And none of your business. But her coming will be a fine thing for our five boys." "How so? How can it possibly affect them?"

    "My dear love; those lazy boys need something to wake them up. There are bound to be jobs going."

    "Is that her point in settling here? Surely as a woman she has simply taken a fancy to the place."

    "Nonsense, my love, how little you've noticed the world has changed. She's got a first-rate degree and some sort of business qualification, I'm told. She surely needs one of our boys! Perhaps you might give her a call."

    "Me? No. Perhaps you can take an interest. You still have your looks, after all. She may even offer you a job." "Oh, that's not likely. These new chances belong to the younger generation. But now you mention it, I think I'll go along all the same."

    And Mrs Bennet went along. That was 10 years ago. She is now managing director of a FTSE-listed company.

    It would remain the case, of course, that Mrs Bennet would be one of very few women on the company board, that her salary would be lower than her male colleagues, her bonus of a more "female" dimension(方面) and her lifespan (年限) among the city's business leaders shorter than theirs. Still, she'd no doubt have enjoyed Davos(达沃斯经济论坛)—and might even have hobnobbed (攀谈) with influential figures.

    Scientists say a huge percentage of bird species are in danger because their habitats, or homelands, are disappearing.

    Traditional migration (迁徙) paths take birds through countries that are not protecting the places for birds to stop, rest and feed. The scientists studied the migration or flight paths of almost 1,500 species. They decided that 91 percent of them passed through dangerous areas.

    The major danger for migratory birds is development. Buildings and pavements have covered the places where birds stop and feed as they move from one part of the world to another. One of the scientists who worked on the study says "Many of these important places have been lost to land reclamation because of urban, industrial and agricultural land expansion".

    The problem, according to scientists, is that many of these small birds die along their migration paths because they don't have a safe place to feed and rest. There is no place to restore (恢复) their energy for the next part of their journey. Countries in North Africa, Central Asia and those along the coasts of East Asia are having the most difficult time in protecting land. The scientists say these countries do not have enough areas that are safe for birds. One species that doesn't exist now is the Eskimo curlew. "Our world gets poorer every time we lose a species," one of the scientists says.

    The researchers say countries need to work together and come up with safe stopping areas for birds that pass through their boundaries. For example, one country might have preserved safe zones for migrating birds. But a neighbor country might not. A bird might die.

    One scientist who is not connected with the report tells Los Angeles Times that while some habitats are changing, more work can be done to make urban areas safe for birds.

    He says small changes, like planting more native plants or keeping cats out of the areas birds would be likely to use, could make a big difference.