In Hanoi, capital of Vietnam, a 5-storey building is completely covered（覆盖）by a living, green curtain. The so-called “living building” is the work of Dr. Hoang Nhu Tang. He was a university teacher.

It all started 30 years ago. Back then, this building was one of the tallest in the area. The sunlight shone the building all through the day in summer and that made it very uncomfortable to live in. Hoang decided to plant two creeping plants（匍匐植物）because he wanted to block（遮挡）sunlight. He was happy to see his idea worked and the temperature dropped a lot. And 30 years later, the plants still play their role. Hoang said it only took the creeping plants 8 or 9 years to completely cover the whole building, but guiding them towards that end was the hardest part. Now, he must cut off some of the branches（树枝）from the plants once or twice a month. It’s a way of stopping the plants from covering certain areas, like the windows.

“Because of the plants, the air in the house is very fresh and cool,” Hoang said. “The building is a peaceful place that helps people live peacefully with nature in this crowded city center.”

Bashert is a gentle(温柔的), white dog. When her owner is sad, she licks him to make him happy. When her owner feels upset, she licks him again to encourage him.

Animals like Bashert play an important part in people’s lives. Whether it is a dog, a cat or a fish, people always enjoy their companionship (陪伴). But do you know that people also love animals for other reasons?

When staying with animals, people can relax, because compared to the human world, the animal world seems to be simpler. For example, when children are with their pets, they can forget grades and class performance. What they feel is warmth and acceptance without any conditions.

Animals, especially pets, also teach people to learn responsibility (责任). Besides feeding and cleaning them, you also need to care for them. When they are sick, take them to an animal hospital. When they feel lonely, just play with them for a while. When they get old, you should spend time with them and let them know that you will always love them. Such a caring heart tells you to treat people in a nice way. Then, you will find yourself a much beloved person.

In the wild, wolves with broken legs often face an unlucky fate (命运), waiting for death. Yet, in the Hoh Xil National Nature Reserve (保护区) in Qinghai, one such wolf had a different fate. It grew from a poor and thin one to a fat and happy wolf because tourists in the area often fed it.

This “act of kindness” led people to ask: Should tourists feed the wolf? Supporters argue that without feeding, the wolf would die because it couldn’t get food by itself. But those who do not agree with the idea believe that humans should not mess with the natural order. Science, however, provides us with an answer.

Research published in Scientific Reports in June 2019 studied how human feeding affected (影响) the lives of bottlenose dolphins (宽吻海豚) near.

Bunbury, Australia. Dolphins there can sometimes get food from the Dolphin Discovery Centre. After studying ten years’ data, the scientists found that dolphins looking for food from boats had a higher risk of death than those that found food themselves. This is because they may get hit by boats or caught by fishing nets (网).

Feeding wild animals may lead them to depend on humans for food, warned Dai Qiang, a scientist at the Chengdu Institute of Biology of the Chinese Academy of Sciences. What’s more, sick animals may bring diseases to people who feed them.

So, if we come across a wild animal that seems to need our help, what should we do? Qi Xinzhang, the deputy director of Xining Wildlife Park, said that it’s best to report the animal to the authorities (相关部门) instead of just feeding it.