听力文摘：闲谈什么是电梯效应

Today's program is about an effect that not only have we all witnessed, but have participated in. Haven't we all been on an elevator and noticed that just about everyone stops talking when they get on? Why do we do that? You can be having a perfectly¹ pleasant conversation with someone, and as soon as you get on an elevator, you just feel like you'd better shut up. Then, as soon as the doors open, everyone resumes² conversation.

今天的节目是关于一个我们不仅曾经目睹过，而且亲身体验过的现象。当我们都在电梯上的时候，你有没有注意过电梯上升时所有人都停止了说话？为什么我们会这么做？你或许正在和某人进行非常愉快的交谈，而当你走上电梯的时候，你立刻感觉到你最好闭上嘴。随后，当电梯门打开的时候，大家又恢复了交谈。

Primatologists, or people who study primate³ behavior, have a term for this. It's called the “elevator effect,” though it doesn't occur only on elevators. It happens whenever a group of primates⁴, like humans, is brought into a situation where escape is temporarily impossible.

研究灵长类行为的灵长类动物学家有一个术语来描述这个现象。它被称之为“电梯效应”，尽管它不仅仅发生在电梯上。它常常发生在一群灵长类动物身上，比如人类，当他们被带入一个暂时不可能逃脱的位置时。

It's thought to be a kind of safety mechanism⁵: as long as nobody talks, nobody is going to risk getting in a fight when there's no way to spread out. The elevator effect keeps a lid on potential problems before they start.

这被认为是一种安全机制：只要没有人说话，就不会有人在无处可逃时试图冒险卷入一场战斗。电梯效应使得潜在的问题在爆发之前得到抑制。

Even though they rarely if ever ride elevators, chimpanzees demonstrate the elevator effect as well. When chimps⁶ are temporarily crowded together into small areas, they will minimize⁷ their vocalizations–that is, nobody speaks–and avoid eye contact. The amount of scratching the chimps do, however, goes up.

尽管黑猩猩几乎从来不乘坐电梯，它们也同样验证了电梯效应。当黑猩猩们暂时拥挤在一个很小的空间时，它们会使它们的声音最小化--也就是说，没人说话--并且避免眼神的接触。然而，黑猩猩抓挠的次数却增多。

Since scratching is a sign of stress in chimps, we can imagine what they are feeling: something like what we feel in a crowded elevator, with everybody carefully staring at the lighted numbers and no one saying a thing. I haven't noticed if we scratch more.

因为抓挠是黑猩猩感受到压力的标志，我们可以想象它们的感受：就像我们在拥挤的电梯中的感受一样，每个人都小心的盯着亮灯的数字，没有人说话。我从未注意过我们是否也挠来挠去的。

1 perfectly   

adv.完美地，无可非议地，彻底地

参考例句：

• The witnesses were each perfectly certain of what they said.证人们个个对自己所说的话十分肯定。
• Everything that we're doing is all perfectly above board.我们做的每件事情都是光明正大的。

2 resumes   

n.摘要，概略，履历( resume的名词复数 )v.重新开始( resume的第三人称单数 )；重新获得；重新占用；恢复

参考例句：

• Later we received resumes of what she had said. 后来我们收到她讲话的摘要。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Night resumes her reign. 夜幕又降临了。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》

3 primate   

n.灵长类（目）动物，首席主教；adj.首要的

参考例句：

• 14 percent of primate species are highly endangered.14%的灵长类物种处于高度濒危状态。
• The woolly spider monkey is the largest primate in the Americas.绒毛蛛猴是美洲最大的灵长类动物。

4 primates   

primate的复数

参考例句：

• Primates are alert, inquisitive animals. 灵长目动物是机灵、好奇的动物。
• Consciousness or cerebration has been said to have emerged in the evolution of higher primates. 据说意识或思考在较高级灵长类的进化中已出现。

5 mechanism   

n.机械装置；机构，结构

参考例句：

• The bones and muscles are parts of the mechanism of the body.骨骼和肌肉是人体的组成部件。
• The mechanism of the machine is very complicated.这台机器的结构是非常复杂的。

6 chimps   

（非洲）黑猩猩( chimp的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Chimps are too scarce, and too nearly human, to be routinely slaughtered for spare parts. 黑猩猩又太少，也太接近于人类，不可以作为人器官备用件说杀就杀。 来自英汉非文学 - 生命科学 - 医学的第四次革命
• And as nonprimates, they provoke fewer ethical and safety-related concerns than chimps or baboons. 而且作为非灵长类，就不会产生像用黑猩猩或狒狒那样的伦理和安全方面的顾虑。 来自英汉非文学 - 生命科学 - 医学的第四次革命

7 minimize   

vt.使减（缩）小到最低，极力贬低，最低估计

参考例句：

• To minimize the risk of burglary,install a good alarm system.安装可靠的报警设备以减低被盗的风险。
• To minimize the public expenditure of this country.把该国的财政支出减少到最低限度。