Jeremy Herda, age 7, of Spokane, Washington, for his question:

How are monkeys different from humans?

Some people think that monkeys look a little like humans. And some humans know for sure that certain people, old and young, sometimes behave like monkeys. But we should not pay serious heed to these likenesses. Actually, the differences between monkeys and humans are so great that we cannot compare them. One big difference is in the mind. No monkey could ever, ever understand the wonderful things that go on in the mind of a man.  A human being is a top notch thinker who can reason things out, make decisions and choices and solve problems. A monkey has a smidgeon of smartness, but he could never have tried, as the human race has, to remodel the whole world to suit himself.

And humans have an even greater gift that sets them apart from all of nature's animals. We can stand back, so to speak, and behold ourselves. We can examine the deeds we do and decide whether they are right or wrong. We can say no to ourselves when we want to be foolish. No monkey, no other animal can understand the human conscience or share the range of human feelings