“Because then I cannot see you and you will fall down and cry and I will not hear you.”

“How do you know I’ll fall?” whined the girl.

Imagine that you are taking a peaceful walk in the British countryside, when suddenly you hear the annoying sound of mobile phones going off all around you. Before you start looking for any loquacious human culprits, maybe you should look to the trees instead. The Royal Society for the Protection of Birds has found that British birds, such as starlings, are mimicking the noise of cell phone ringing tones. Mike Everett, a spokesman for the society, says that birds have long imitated manmade sounds from human whistling to car brakes screeching.

GLOSSARY:

starlings = estorninho (tipo de pássaro)

loquacious = falador, loquaz, tagarela

spokesman = porta-voz

culprit = situações perturbadoras

screeching = som de freada brusca

Both Joy and Tommy are growing up in the culture of the United States. They are learning what it means to be a girl and a boy in this culture. Their sex at birth, female or male, is now becoming a gender – a way of thinking, speaking, and acting that is considered feminine or masculine. Each culture has its own way of defining gender, and very early in life gender becomes a basic part of a person’s identity.

In the United States and Canada, boys and girls usually play in the same sex groups. Boys play in large groups in which every boy knows his place.

Some are leaders; others are followers. Many boys like to get attention by boasting, or talking how well they can do things.

Girls, on the other hand, usually play in smaller groups. They may be interested in playing fairly and taking turns. For example, when jumping rope, the rope-holders always take their turn jumping.