At 80 years old，scientist Jane Goodall continues to enjoy the joy of discovery.“Trees can communicate with each other，” she said during her Nov.16，2014 China visit to celebrate the 20th anniversary of the China establishment of her youth organization Roots & Shoots，which has grown to more than 600 branches in the country among 150，000 active groups globally.

    Jane Goodall still travels 300 days a year in all around the world and says she absorbs energy from the inspired people she meets in each country.The elderly activist and the youth take inspiration from each other.

    On Nov.16，2014，she visited the project of Roots & Shoots which was set up in Beijing.“She thought our project was great，” says 16－year－old Beijing Experimental High School student Qi Zhengyang，whose group helps protect a wetlands in the suburbs of Beijing.“She said we're doing a good job.She paid attention to us.”

    Jane Goodall plans to continue to set up Roots & Shoots branches as many as possible throughout the world.“I'll go on as long as I can，” she says.“I hope I maintain physical health as long as possible because there's so much to do.” Her aspiration for the organization in China is to expand in rural areas.Most branches are in big cities as Beijing and Shanghai.

    It was publishing her findings about chimpanzees (My Friends the Wild Chimpanzees)  more than half a century ago that made Jane Goodall a household name in the world.She was named United Nations Messenger of Peace in 2002.

    Some of the members in Roots & Shoots realize Goodall is 80 and has already considered who'll lead the movement once she's gone.“It can be all of us，” she says.“A group is stronger than one person.We can do more working together.”

    “Freelance retail consultant” refers to daigou in Chinese, or overseas people who buy goods for customers in the Chinese mainland.

     It's estimated that there are 40,000 daigou in Australia, most of whom are young migrants or international students looking for ways to help cover their rent and university cost.

    These freelance retail consultants have created thousands of trading routes, both small and big, into China.

    Shops in Australia sold out of instant formula （婴儿配方奶粉）, leaving many Australian parents unable to buy their preferred brands. The Sydney Morning Herald reported last year that half of Australia's infant formula sold went to China through customers selling to other customers.

    Because of this, daigou have received criticism from Australian media. The Sydney Morning Post even suggested that the Australian government should put a limit on instant formula exports.

    However, not everyone dislikes daigou. “We think daigou are good for the local economy and they are very good for our business,” Peter Nathan, the chief executive of A2 Milk, a New Zealand infant formula maker, told Reuters. “We clearly believe they are a positive force.”

    Others agree that nothing is wrong with the practice. “People are buying these products legally on the Australian market… they're not illegally being exported to China,” Tim Foulds, head of research at Euro monitor Australia and New Zealand, told The Washington Post.

    Pigeons may only have a brain the size of a thimble (顶针), but it appears that pigeons can categorize and name objects in the same way human children learn new words.

    A new study from the University of Iowa has shown that the birds are capable of learning to categorize 128 different photographs into 16 basic categories.

    Scientists taught three pigeons to sort out different kinds of dogs or types of shoes, for example by using a particular symbol in exchange for a reward. When they were shown black and white pictures of previously unseen dogs or shoes, the birds were able to correctly match these with the corresponding symbols.

    The scientists behind the project say this is a similar approach taken by young children when they are first learning words for objects. However, the researchers said it took their birds around 40 days to perfect the task of learning just 16 categories.

    Professor Edward Wasserman, who led the work, said: "Our birds' rate of learning appears to have been quite slow. Would children learn faster than pigeons? Almost certainly. However, our pigeons came to the experiment with no background knowledge at all. Thus, the more relevant comparison group may be newborn babies, who indeed take 6–9 months to learn their first words."

    Writing in the journal Cognition, the researchers said their experiment was a very simple mirror of the way children are taught words — by their parents pointing to pictures and asking them to name the object.

    Pigeons are known to be smarter than many birds. Professor Bob McMurray, who also took part in the study, said the results showed that human learning is not as unique as was previously believed.

    He said: "Children are facing a huge task of learning thousands of words without a lot of background knowledge to go on. For a long time, people thought that such learning is special to humans. What this research shows is that the ways in which children solve this huge problem may be shared with many species.

    Asia can boast(吹嘘) that it has some of the best beaches in the world. Sihanoukville, Cambodia is a seaside town located 200km or a four­hour bus ride away from the country's capital, Phnom Penh. With several beaches and small offshore islands, it is definitely not a place to miss out if you are intending to visit Angkor Wat, as the beaches there are stunning and still unspoiled by mass tourism.

    Serendipity Beach

    Serendipity Beach is the most popular beach for the masses, since it is the most accessible beach, being the nearest one from the main town area. There are plenty of bars scattered around the beach, so be prepared for the crazy parties every night.

    Ochheuteal Beach

    Ochheuteal Beach is located south of Serendipity Beach, and it's a bit of an improvement from Serendipity Beach itself in terms of the people that go there. Over here, there are bars and pubs, but at night, don't expect wild parties like at the Serendipity Beach area.

    Otres Beach

    All the way down south, near Moat Peam, lies a hidden gem called Otres Beach. This is where you can get your yoga suit on and practice meditation(冥想). This is the quietest beach in Sihanoukville and it is the least crowded, with very few parties. If your idea of a beach holiday is just yourself and the sun, sea and sand, this place is for you.

    Koh Rong

    Koh Rong is an island off Sihanoukville that is covered with beautiful sandy beaches. True relaxation lies at Long Beach, which is located on the other side of the island. Clear water surrounds the beach, and once you get there, you'll be greeted with fine white sand.

    Koh Rong doesn't have any roads, so there are no cars or motorbike rentals — everything is mostly on foot.

Open Letter to an Editor

I had an interesting conversation with a reporter recently — one who works for you. In fact, he's one of your best reporters. He wants to leave.

    Your reporter gave me a copy of his resume(简历) and photocopies of six stories that he wrote for you. The headlines showed you played them proudly. With great enthusiasm, he talked about how he finds issues(问题), approaches them, and writes about them, which tells me he is one of your best. I'm sure you would hate to lose him. Surprisingly, your reporter is not unhappy. In fact, he told me he really likes his job. He has a great assignment (分工), and said you run a great paper. It would be easy for you to keep him, he said. He knows that the paper values him. He appreciates the responsibility you've given him, takes ownership of his profession, and enjoys his freedom.

    So why is he looking for a way out?

    He talked to me because he wants his editors to demand so much more of him. He wants to be pushed, challenged, coached to new heights.

    The reporter believes that good stories spring from good questions, but his editors usually ask how long the story will be, when it will be in, where it can play, and what the budget is.

    He longs for conversations with an editor who will help him turn his good ideas into great ones. He wants someone to get excited about what he's doing and to help him turn his story idea upside down and inside out, exploring the best ways to report it. He wants to be more valuable for your paper. That's what you want for him, too, isn't it?

    So your reporter has set me thinking.

Our best hope in keeping our best reporters, copy editors, photographers, artists — everyone — is to work harder to make sure they get the help they are demanding to reach their potential. If we can't do it, they'll find someone who can.

    Fifty years ago I had a young family of three boys. My husband Johnny and I left them with a friend while we made a rare trip to the cinema in Liverpool.

    It was dark and pouring with rain but with the headlights shining on the road  we saw something ahead of us. Johnny pulled to a stop and I jumped out, ran to the grass edge and grabbed a small, wet, and frightened creature. I wrapped it safely in my woollen hat and insisted that my husband turn back and head for home. We thought it was a baby rabbit because it had long ears and was grayish-brown in colour. Once home, we filled a box with torn-up newspaper and a warm towel. We named our new animal Bobsy as we had no idea of its sex.

    Sadly though, on the third day with us, it caught its back foot in a door and we quickly realised it was broken. We rushed to the vet (兽医), who said, "It's only a rabbit, I'll put it to sleep." Our response was a very determined, "No way !"We found another vet and told that she was a baby hare. We were told we should continue to keep her in her box for a week and her foot would heal.

    After her recovery, Bobsy learnt to use the kitty litter tray. She would comb her long ears with her front paws. The local paper heard about this and came to our house to take her photo and write a story about her. We had her for seven wonderful years before we moved to New Zealand and we will never forget her.