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　　Separate lives, similar dreams

　　As we know, some children live in the countryside, and some live in the city．Their lives are a little different, but they also have many of the same dreams．

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Dog Translation Products Coming to U．S．

　　A Japanese toy maker declares that they have developed a gadget that translates dog barks into human language and plans to begin selling the gadget——under the name of Bowlingual——in U．S．pet stores and gift shops this summer．

　　Tokyo-based Takara Co．Ltd．says about 300, 000 of the dog translator gadgets have been sold since it was on sale in Japan late last year．It is forecasting far bigger sales once an English language translation for dogs comes to America in August．The United States is home to about 67 million dogs, more than six times the number in Japan．

　　“We know that the Americans love their dogs so much, so we don’t think they will mind spending $ 120 on this product,”the Takara marketing manager said during an interview at a recent pet products conference in Atlanta．

　　Regarded as one of the coolest inventions of 2002 by Time magazine, Bowlingual is made up of a 3 - inch long wireless microphone that is fastened(绑/系)to a dog collar and sends out sounds to a small console(控制台)that is connected to a database(数据库)．The console divides each bark into six emotional types——happiness, sadness, disappointment, anger, threat and desire——and shows common phrases, such as“You’re ticking me off,”that fit the dog’s emotional state．

　　Takara says it has spent millions of dollars developing the gadget in cooperation(合作)with famous sound experts and animal behaviorists．

　　One thing that does appear certain is that the markets for animal translation products will likely remain a dog’s world since Takara has no plans to develop a similar gadget for cats．“They are too unpredictable(反复无常),”the marketing manager said．

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　　As a child, I remember listening to a song called“Wonderful, Wonderful Copenhagen．”When I visited the city last year, that song kept running through my head．It got me wondering：Just what is wonderful about Copenhagen?

　　It’s not a place filled with world-famous tourist sites．But it does have a charm(魅力)that makes you want to linger．You can sample the food, visit the castles and museums, and learn about the life of the Danes．

　　Stoget, the world’s longest pedestrian(人行道)mall, runs through the center of the old city．This string of lively street and squares makes walking a treat．I happily explored the mall, looking in the windows of shops and cafes．I followed Stoget from the square in front of the city hall to Nyhavn．Here, old houses painted bright colors look out over a picturesque harbor filled with sailing ships．Denmark’s beloved storyteller Hans Christian Andersen lived here when he wrote his first stories．

　　From Nyhavan, I continued heading north．I wanted to see Copenhagen’s symbol, the statue of the Little Mermaid(美人鱼)．She was set up in honor of Hans Christian Andersen’s famous story．As I continued my city tour, one thing impressed me all the bicycles．I learned that half the population of Copenhagen rides bikes every day．Only 20 percent of Copenhageners own cars because there is a 180 percent tax on them．That certainly keeps the city free of traffic jams and heavy pollution! It’s easy to join all the bicyclists pedaling(骑车)through the streets, too．The city provides free bicycles that anyone can use．The cycling around the castles and parks made a relaxing end to a full day．As darkness fell and the parks’ lights began to twinkle, I watched families enjoying themselves．

　　So what is wonderful about Copenhagen? Just about everything．

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　　Pupils are ordered not to wade into ankle-deep water unless teachers first carry out a full risk assessment and put“proper measures in place”．

　　Staff are expected to check rivers, ponds and the sea for currents and rocks before allowing children to dip their feet．

　　Guidance issued to schools warns that any“impromptu(事先无准备的)water-based activities”could pose dangers to children．

　　The recommendations were outlined in a document-available to all 21,000 schools in England－to help teachers organize more school trips．Advice from the Department for Children, Schools and Families is intended to cut red tape(官样文章)and give staff practical tips．

　　But the guidance caused argument after teachers were presented with a series of orders surrounding swimming and the use of minibuses．

　　It said：“Swimming and padding or otherwise entering the waters of river, canal, sea or lake should never be allowed as an impromptu activity．The pleas of young people to bathe－because it is hot weather, for example, should be resisted where bathing has not been prepared for．”

　　“In-water activities should take place only when a proper risk assessment has been completed and proper measures put in place to control the risks．”

　　Teachers are urged to check the weather, currents, weeds, rip tides, river or sea beds and breakwaters before allowing children into the water．No child should be able to swim deeper than waist height, the guidance added．

　　Margaret Morrissey, from campaign group Parents Outloud, said：“Wading out into the ocean is one thing but there’s nothing wrong with padding where the waves break．”

　　“Part of children’s learning is to walk along the water’s edge and get your feet wet．There are dangerous currents further out and you stay at the edge．”

　　She added：“I want to see schools and youth groups taking advantage of opportunities that learning outside the classroom can provide．”

　　But the Department for Children, Schools and Families said teachers had to plan activities carefully．

　　“We are not banning padding,”said a spokeswoman．“We have seen cases in the past where things have not been planned and assessed for the risk．Unplanned activities around water can be dangerous．”

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　　Watching bison up close is fascinating, like watching a grass fire about to leap out of control．With their huge, wedge-shaped heads and silver-dollar-size brown eyes, the 2,000-pound animals are symbols of another place and time．More than 100 bison now roam the 30,000-acre American Prairie Reserve in eastern Montana－the first time they’ve inhabited that region in a century．Direct descendants of the tens of millions of bison that once populated the Western plains, they represent an epic effort：to restore a piece of America’s prairie to the national grandeur that Lewis and Clark extolled two centuries ago．During that famous expedition across the Western states to the Pacific, the two explorers encountered so many bison that they had to wait hours for one herd to pass．

　　In order to protect what’s here and reintroduce long-gone wildlife(something the World Wildlife Fund is helping with), the American Prairie Foundation began purchasing land from local ranchers in 2004．It now owns 30,000 acres and has grazing privileges on another 57,000．Its goal over the next 25 years is to assemble three million acres, the largest area of land devoted to wildlife management in the continental United States．

　　Already, herds of elk, deer, and pronghorn antelope roam the grasslands, where visitors can camp, hike, and bike．Cottonwoods and willows are thriving along streams, creating habitats for bobcats, beavers, and other animals．

　　Not everyone shares APF’s vision．Some residents of Phillips County(pop．3,904)worry that the area could become a prairie Disneyland, overcrowded with tourists．But the biggest obstacle is the ranchers themselves, whose cattle compete with prairie dogs and bison for grass and space．

　　“People like me have no intention of selling their ranches,”says Dale Veseth, who heads the Ranchers Stewardship Alliance of 35 families in Phillips County and whose family has been ranching here since 1886．“They’ve been a labor of love through the generations．”Instead, he wants APF to pay or subsidize ranchers to raise bison．This would be far less costly for the foundation, he argues, than buying the land directly．

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　　The days of the hunter are almost over in India．This is partly because there is practically nothing left to kill, and partly because some steps have been taken mainly by banning tiger-shooting to protect those animals which still survive．

　　Some people say that Man is naturally a hunter．I disagree with this view．Surely our earliest forefathers, who at first possessed no weapons, spent their time digging for roots, and were no doubt themselves often hunted by meat-eating animals．

　　I believe the main reason why the modern hunter kills is that he thinks people will admire his courage in overpowering dangerous animals．Of course, there are some who truly believe that the killing is not really the important thing, and that the chief pleasure lies in the joy of the hunt and the beauty of the wild countryside．There are also those for whom hunting in fact offers a chance to prove themselves and risk death by design; these men go out after dangerous animals like tigers, even if they say they only do it to rid the countryside of a threat．I can respect reasons like these, but they are clearly different from the need to strengthen your high opinion of yourself．

　　The greatest big-game hunters expressed in their writings something of these finer motives．One of them wrote：

　　“You must properly respect what you are after and shoot it clearly and on the animal’s own territory(领地)．You must fix forever in your mind all the wonders of that particular day．This is better than letting him grow a few years older to be attacked and wounded by his own son and eventually eaten, half alive, by other animals．Hunting is not a cruel and senseless killing－not if you respect the thing you kill, not if you kill to enrich your memories, not if you kill to feed your people．”

　　I can understand such beliefs, and can compare these hunters with those who hunted lions with spears and bravely caught them by the tail．But this is very different from many tiger-shoots I have seen, in which modern weapons were used．The so-called hunters fired from tall trees or from the backs of trained elephants．Such methods made tigers seem no more dangerous than rabbits．

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　　Warning：reading too much Cinderella to your daughter may damage her emotional health in later life．A paper to be developed at the international congress of cognitive psychotherapy in Gothenburg suggests a link between the attitudes of women abused by their parents and early exposure to the wrong sort of fairy tales．It says girls who identified with Cinderella, Rapunzel and Beauty in Beauty and the Beast were more likely to say in destructive relationships as adults．

　　The theory was developed by Susan Darker Smith, a psychotherapist at the University of Derby．She interviewed 67 female abuse survivors and found that 61 put up with severe abuse because they believed they could change their partners with patience, composition and love．The same view was taken by male survivors who had been abused as children．Hardly any of the women in a control group, who had not experienced abuse, thought they could change their partners in this way．

　　These women and men said they would leave a relationship rather than put up with abuse from a partner．Ms Darker Smith found the abused women were much more likely to identify with Cinderella and other submissive female characters in fairytales, who were later rescued by a stranger prince or hero．

　　Although most girls heard the stories, damage appeared to be done to those who adopted the characters as role models．“They believe if their love is strong enough they can change their parents’ behaviors,”she said．“Overexposure in children to stories that emphasize the transformational qualities of love may make women believe they can change their partners．”For example, they might never have understood the obvious flaw in the story of Rapunzel, who remained locked in a high tower until rescued by a knight on a white horse, who broke the door down．“The question,”said Ms Darker Smith,“is why she did not break the door down herself．”

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　　MEXICO CITY：A jetliner from the beach resort of Cancun was briefly hijacked as it landed in Mexico City on Wednesday．The hijackers released all passengers shortly before federal police stormed the plane, and the crew emerged unharmed moments later．

　　Police, who did not fire a single shot, led as many as eight handcuffed men away from the airplane, which was isolated at the end of a runway in an area designed for emergencies．The hijackers’ motive was unclear, though Mexican news media initially identified them as Bolivians demanding to speak with Mexican President Felipe Calderon．

　　US, French and Mexican citizens were among the 112 passengers and crew on Aeromexico Flight 576, according to a US official who had been briefed on the situation．The official was not authorized to discuss the case and spoke on condition of anonymity．

　　Mexico’s transportation and communications secretary, Juan Molinar, said there was no bomb on the airplane, although some passengers said one of the hijackers held a package that resembled an explosive device, and a bomb squad(拆弹小组)was later seen near the airplane．

　　He did not immediately identify the hijackers or speculate on their motive．

　　“Various people who participated in the act have been detained and we are investigating,”Molinar said．

　　The attorney general’s office said it was opening an investigation into terrorism and kidnapping but did not specify how many people could be charged．

　　Mexican news media initially reported the hijackers were Bolivian, but Bolivia’s ambassador to Mexico, Jorge Mancilla, said Mexican authorities had no evidence that was the case．Mancilla said sources told him they could be Colombian or Venezuelan．Several passengers told reporters they did not notice a non-Mexican accent．

　　Passenger Rocio Garcia told the Televisa network that the pilot made an announcement after landing in Mexico City that the airplane was being hijacked．Passengers said the hijackers never communicated with them directly．

　　“These were scary moments,”she said．

　　She said she saw one of the hijackers whom she described as a well-dressed, older man．

　　“He looked fine, like a normal passenger,”she said．

　　Passenger Daniel Hernandez said he saw a hijacker carrying a Bible．