时差N小时 在野外动物会救助其他动物于危难

Even without the guidance of organized religion, some animal sinstinctively know that it's a good thing to help others.

即使没有类似人类宗教的指引，有些动物仍能本能地救助处于危难中的其它动物。

For example, when a bird spots a predator¹, instead of just flying away, it calls out in alarm andwarns everyone in the vicinity.

比如，一只小鸟发现了捕食者，它就会发出叫声以警示和提醒附近其它的小动物们。

When a dolphin is injured, other dolphins help it swim up to the surface and get some air.

如果一只海豚受伤了，那么其他海豚也会帮助它一直游到岸边以呼吸新鲜空气。

And in a lab experiment that was set up so that one rat had to sit on a platform or else his ratfriends would get an electrical shock when they tried to feed, the rats quickly learned to cooperateand take turns sitting on the platform.

在类似试验中，一只老鼠必须要坐在一个平台上以防止它的朋友们试图进食时被电击，很快老鼠们就学会了如何协作，它们轮流坐在平台上以防止同伴被电击。

You might think that evolution would work against this kind of altruism² since, instead ofconcentrating on their own survival, animals spend time and energy helping³ others.

因为这些动物们不仅仅只关心自己的生命，也会花费时间与精力去帮助其他动物。所以，你可能会认为进化过程会有悖于这种利他主义。

But evolutionists suggest that when animals help animals who are their genetic⁴ relatives, or who are likely to return the favor later on, they are actually helping their species to survive the processof natural selection.

但进化论者认为，当动物们在帮助那些遗传亲属，或可能会在稍后回报其所提供的这种帮助时，它们实际上是在帮助它们的种群能够在自然选择的过程中存活下来。

Some animals will even sacrifice their own lives to insure the survival of the larger group.

某些动物甚至会牺牲自己的生命以保全更大种群的存活。

The worker honeybee, for example, will die defending her hive if necessary.

比如说工蜂，在保护蜂巢的过程中就会不惜牺牲生命。

Even acts that seem selfish may end up helping the group in the long run.

甚至，某些看上去貌似自私的行为实际长远看来也有助于种群存活。

For instance, whenthere isn't enough food to go around, wasps⁵ and termites⁶ will cannibalize their nest-mates.

比如说，当附近没有足够的食物时，黄蜂和白蚁就会对它们同族的伙伴进行蚕食。

Gruesome as this may seem, it insures the colony's survival through tough times.

也许听上去很可怕，但实际上这保证了艰难时期种群的存活。

Although here at A Moment of Science, we don't condone⁷ human cannibalism⁸, we still hope thatthese examples of altruism in animals will give you some food for thought.

我们《科学一刻》栏目虽然不能宽恕人类自相残杀的行为，但我们希望，这些存在于动物之间的利他主义将会带给大家一些发人深省的思想。

1 predator   

n.捕食其它动物的动物；捕食者

参考例句：

• The final part of this chapter was devoted to a brief summary of predator species.本章最后部分简要总结了食肉动物。
• Komodo dragon is the largest living lizard and a fearsome predator.科摩多龙是目前存在的最大蜥蜴，它是一种令人恐惧的捕食性动物。

2 altruism   

n.利他主义，不自私

参考例句：

• An important feature of moral behaviour is altruism.道德行为一个重要特点就是利他主义。
• Altruism is crucial for social cohesion.利他主义对社会的凝聚是至关重要的。

3 helping   

n.食物的一份&adj.帮助人的，辅助的

参考例句：

• The poor children regularly pony up for a second helping of my hamburger. 那些可怜的孩子们总是要求我把我的汉堡包再给他们一份。
• By doing this, they may at times be helping to restore competition. 这样一来, 他在某些时候,有助于竞争的加强。

4 genetic   

adj.遗传的，遗传学的

参考例句：

• It's very difficult to treat genetic diseases.遗传性疾病治疗起来很困难。
• Each daughter cell can receive a full complement of the genetic information.每个子细胞可以收到遗传信息的一个完全补偿物。

5 wasps   

黄蜂( wasp的名词复数 )； 胡蜂； 易动怒的人； 刻毒的人

参考例句：

• There's a wasps' nest in that old tree. 那棵老树上有一个黄蜂巢。
• We live in dread not only of unpleasant insects like spiders or wasps, but of quite harmless ones like moths. 我们不仅生活在对象蜘蛛或黄蜂这样的小虫的惧怕中，而且生活在对诸如飞蛾这样无害昆虫的惧怕中

6 termites   

n.白蚁( termite的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Termites are principally tropical in distribution. 白蚁主要分布在热带地区。 来自辞典例句
• This spray will exterminate the termites. 这种喷剂能消灭白蚁。 来自辞典例句

7 condone   

v.宽恕；原谅

参考例句：

• I cannot condone the use of violence.我不能宽恕使用暴力的行为。
• I will not condone a course of action that will lead us to war.我绝不允许任何导致战争的行为。

8 cannibalism   

n.同类相食；吃人肉

参考例句：

• The war is just like the cannibalism of animals.战争就如同动物之间的互相残。
• They were forced to practise cannibalism in order to survive.他们被迫人吃人以求活下去。