Every pet owner loves his pet. There is no argument here.

    But when we asked our readers whether they would clone their beloved animals, the responses were split almost down the middle. Of the 228 readers who answered it, 108 would lone, 111 would not and nine weighed each side without offering an opinion.

    Clearly, from readers' response, this is an issue that reaches deeply into both the joy and eventual sadness of owning a pet. It speaks, as well, to people's widely differing expectations over the developing scientific procedure.

    Most of the respondents who favored the idea strongly believed it would produce at least a close copy of the original; many felt the process would actually return an exact copy. Those on the other side, however, held little hope a clone could never truly recreate a pet, many simply didn't wish to go against the natural law of life and death.

    Both sides expressed equal love for their animals. More than a few respondents owned “the t dog/cat in the World”. They thought of their pets as their “best friend”, ''a member of the family,” “the light of my life.” They told moving stories of pets' heroism, intelligence and selfless devotion.

Little wonders the loss is so disturbing—and the cloning so attractive. “People become very lose to their animals, and the loss can be just as hard to bear as when a friend or family member dies,” says Gary Kowalski, author of Goodbye, Friend: Healing Wisdom for Anyone Who Has Ever Lost a Pet. “For me, cloning feels like an attempt to turn death away... It's understandable. Death is always painful. It's difficult to deal with. It's hard to accept.”

    But would cloning reduce the blow? This question seemed to be at the heart of this problem.

    Katie was in big trouble. She was such a sweet kid; a third­grade teacher always dreamed of having a classroom filled with Katies; she has never had a discipline(纪律) problem. I just couldn't imagine why she had made her parents so angry.

    It seemed that Katie had been running up sizable charges in the lunch room. Her parents explained that Katie brought a great homemade lunch each day, and there was no reason for her to buy school lunch. They assumed a sit­down with Katie would solve the problem, but failed. So they asked me to help them get to the bottom of this situation.

So the next day, I asked Katie to my office."Why are you charging lunches, Katie? What happened to your homemade lunch？" I asked. "I lose it，" she responded. I leaned back in my chair and said, "I don't believe you, Katie." She didn't care." Is someone stealing your lunch, Katie？" I took a new track. "No. I just lose it." she said. Well, there was nothing else I could do.

The problem was still unsolved the next week when I noticed a boy who was new to the school sitting alone at a lunch table. He always looked sad. I thought I would go and sit with him for a while. As I walked towards him, I noticed the lunch bag on the table. The name on the bag said " Katie " .

    Now I understood and I talked to Katie. It seemed that the new boy never brought a lunch, and he wouldn't go to the lunch line for a free lunch. He had told Katie his secret and asked her not to tell anyone that his parents wanted him to get a free lunch at school. Katie asked me not to tell her parents, but I drove to her house that evening after I was sure that she was in bed. I had never seen parents so proud of their child. Katie didn't care that her parents and teacher were disappointed in her. But she cared about a little boy who was hungry and scared.

    Katie still buys lunch every day at school. And every day, as she heads out of the door, her mom hands her a delicious homemade lunch.

    When the telephone rings late at night, most women guess it must be one of only four or five people calling. A sister? Maybe. An emergency? Possibly. A mother? Probably not at that time of night. Much more probably it is a close female friend calling to tell you that she is heartbroken because she has split up with her boyfriend again or perhaps simply that a good movie has just started on TV.

    At a time when families are spread far and wide and marriages often end in divorce, friendships are becoming more and more important. Erika, a 32-year-old lawyer, is strengthened by her ten year friendship with her married friend Jane. "I was very sick one night, so I called Jane at about 3：00 a. m. to talk about it," she says. "She was very supportive and even came over to take me to the doctor's."

    As American TV shows like Friends have become more popular, many of us are beginning to see the value of such friendships.TV shows like this tell us that our romantic relationships may not last, but we need to keep in touch with our close friends if we want to survive.

    With Erika's family 200 miles away, it is Jane who keeps a spare set of keys to Erika's apartment and waters her plants whenever she is away. "Having Jane around gives me a certain amount of freedom. It is not the kind of thing that you could ask anyone to do, but she knows I would do the same for her. "Jane, who may move to a different city soon, is worried about leaving such a support system of friends. "My friends have more to do with my life than my parents and, therefore, I don't have to spend a lot of time explaining things to them. Friends are more up to date with what is happening."

    Chewing gum(口香糖) has its origins in ancient times from Mayans to Greeks who would chew the resin(树脂)of certain trees for medical purposes and maybe even for freshening breath. The history of chewing gum continued as Native Americans introduced it to European settlers.

    Chewing gum hit the market after Santa Anna brought a case of chicle(糖胶树脂) from Mexico to New York. Santa Anna gave some to the part-time inventor Thomas Adams Thomas Adams changed the gum and marketed it as a candy. The invention took off and was known as Chiclets.

    In 1900 Frank Fleer coate chewing gum with sugar, and in 1906 Blibber Blubber was invented, but never made it to market. Blibber Blubber was too sticky and it was also too difficult to remove the burst bubble(破了的泡泡) from one's skin without using some special tools.

    A history of bubblegum just wouldn't be complete without mentioning the gumball machine, which popularized gum. The first gumball machine came onto the scene in 1907 and sold sugar-coated chewing gum.

    However, it wasn't until 1928 that bubblegum was created. Walter Diemer, working for Frank Fleer's gum company, discovered bubblegum by accident while experimenting in the lab during his breaks. The gum was named Dubble Bubble. Pink was the only color which could be used at the time, and Dubble Bubble has remained pink ever since.

    According to the International Chewing Gum Association,during WWII Dubble Bubble was handed out by US military members as gifts, thereby spreading its popularity among the peoples of Europe, Africa, and Asia. And in the 1930s he first bubblegum cards appeared. "the pictures changed from war heroes to Wild West figures to professional athletes."

    Bubblegum has been popular ever since, especially among children, thanks to its inventive shapes, and sugary flavors, from original bubblegum to a yardstick of fruity bubblegum.

    When HarmonyOs, the Chinese self-developed operating system for Huawei mobile devices, was released on Aug 9, it quickly became a hot topic on social media. Many believe it not only represents the rise of the country as a tech power, but also shows respect to classical Chinese culture by naming the system "Hongmcng" in Chinese.

    "Hongmeng" is a classical word from Zhuangzi. In the ancient times of Chinese legend and myths (神话),"Hongmeng" was used to describe the original state of the universe before matter existed. For HarmonyOS, "Hongmeng" indicates the developers' aim to make an innovative operating system, unlike any other.

    Besides "Hongmeng'", Hunwei has also registered many of its products under the names of legendary creatures from Chinese myths. For example, the company's Kirin mobile chip got its name after a lucky monster called "Qilin". And its server chip is calked "Kunpeng", a creature that changed from a fish into a giant bird.

    Many Chinese Internet users and media have praised Huawei's use of these names," as they stand for Chinese wisdom and ancient people's imagination and spirit of exploration", Global Times noted.

    In fact, Huawei is not alone in using traditional culture for modern ventures. Ne Zha, the new film, also portrays traditional culture in a modern context. The movie is loosely based on the well-known work of classical Chinese myth The Investiture of the Gods. Earlier this month it became the biggest animated movie in China and was called "the glory of domestic anime (国产动漫)".

    Indeed, the long history and splendid classic works have given China a profound culture. Myths and legends are the creative works of tremendous imagination. As Global Times put it, today by revisiting a modern context, "ancient myths has the power to inspire imagination in young people". After all, imagination is the beginning of creation.

    Cassandra Feeley finds it hard to manage on her husband's income. So this year she did something more than a hobby. She planted vegetables in her yard. For her first garden, Ms. Feeley has put in 15 tomato plants, and five rows of a variety of vegetables. The family's old farm house has become a chicken house, its residents arriving next month. Last year, Ms. Rita Gartin kept a small garden. This year she has made it much larger because, she said, "The cost of everything is going up and I was looking to lose a few pounds too; so it's a win-win situation all around."

    They are among the growing number of Americans who, driven by higher living costs and a falling economy, have taken up vegetable gardening for the first time. Others have increased the size of their existing gardens. Seed companies and garden shops say that not since the 1970s has there been such an increase in interest in growing food at home. Now many gardens across the country have been sold out for several months. In Austin, Tex, some of the gardens have a three-year waiting list.

    George C Ball Jr. owner of a company, said sales of vegetable seeds and plants are up by 40%, over last year, double the average growth of last five years. Mr. Ball argues that some of the reasons have been building for the last few years. The big one is striking rise in the cost on food like bread and milk, together with the increases in the price of fruit and vegetables. Food prices have increase of higher oil price. People are driving less, taking fewer vacations, so there is more time to garden.