2020年经济学人 动物行为(2)

What was needed to clear the point up was an experiment. And fish are easier to experiment on than mongooses or jays.

需要进行一次实验来弄清楚这一点。与猫鼬或松鸦相比，用鱼做实验更容易。

Jan Naef and Michael Taborsky of the University of Bern, in Switzerland,

瑞士伯恩大学的Jan Naef 和Michael Taborsky因此捕获了

therefore acquired 96 specimens¹ of N. pulcher and created menages of a pair of dominant² landlords

96个美新亮丽鲷试样，并在沙底水族馆创造了支配者房东

and a subordinate tenant³ in sand-bottomed aquaria.

和从属租客的模式。

Left alone, the fish behaved much as they would have done in the wild,

如果不去管它，这些鱼的行为和它们在野外的行为差不多，

with the tenant doing the grunt⁴ work of maintaining the hollows in the sand, and good relations pertaining⁵ between all.

而租客则干着维护沙坑的粗活，它们之间的关系也很好。

However, if a tenant was prevented for a time from fulfilling its duties,

但如果一名租客被困在插入鱼缸的隔板后面，

by trapping it behind a partition inserted into the aquarium⁶ for that purpose, things changed.

并且在一段时间内无法履行其职责，那么情况就会发生变化。

When the partition was removed, the landlords attacked it,

当隔离墙被拆除后，房东们就开始攻击它，

and it showed a big increase in submissive behaviour for several minutes before things returned to normal.

并且在事情恢复正常之前的几分钟内，它的服从行为会大幅增加。

Whether similar treatment would be meted⁷ out for a failure to defend the landlords' eggs has yet to be determined⁸.

如果租户们没能保护好房东们的卵，房东们是否会采取类似的措施还有待确定。

When prevented by a partition from driving away predators⁹,

当由于被隔离而无法赶走捕食者时，

tenants¹⁰ were not subsequently on the receiving end of aggression¹¹ from landlords—

租客就不会受到房东的攻击—

but since there were no eggs to defend at the time, that may not have been part of the contract.

由于实验中没有需要保护的卵子，所以保护卵子不在合约当中。

The predators in question, a species called Telmatochromis vittatus,

上述提到的捕食者是一个被称为饰圈沼丽鱼的鱼种，

are not a threat to adult specimens of N. pulcher, only to eggs and fry.

对美新亮丽鲷试样没有威胁，只对卵和鱼苗有威胁。

It is nevertheless clear from Dr Naef's and Dr Taborsky's experiment that, for cichlids at least,

但从Naef博士和Taborsky博士的实验中，我们可以清楚地看到，至少对于美新亮丽鲷来说，

the rent must be paid in a timely fashion, or punishment will be faced.

房租必须及时交纳，否则就要受到处罚。

1 specimens   

n.样品( specimen的名词复数 )；范例；（化验的）抽样；某种类型的人

参考例句：

• Astronauts have brought back specimens of rock from the moon. 宇航员从月球带回了岩石标本。
• The traveler brought back some specimens of the rocks from the mountains. 那位旅行者从山上带回了一些岩石标本。 来自《简明英汉词典》

2 dominant   

adj.支配的，统治的；占优势的；显性的；n.主因，要素，主要的人(或物)；显性基因

参考例句：

• The British were formerly dominant in India.英国人从前统治印度。
• She was a dominant figure in the French film industry.她在法国电影界是个举足轻重的人物。

3 tenant   

n.承租人；房客；佃户；v.租借，租用

参考例句：

• The tenant was dispossessed for not paying his rent.那名房客因未付房租而被赶走。
• The tenant is responsible for all repairs to the building.租户负责对房屋的所有修理。

4 grunt   

v.嘟哝；作呼噜声；n.呼噜声，嘟哝

参考例句：

• He lifted the heavy suitcase with a grunt.他咕噜着把沉重的提箱拎了起来。
• I ask him what he think,but he just grunt.我问他在想什麽，他只哼了一声。

5 pertaining   

与…有关系的，附属…的，为…固有的(to)

参考例句：

• Living conditions are vastly different from those pertaining in their country of origin. 生活条件与他们祖国大不相同。
• The inspector was interested in everything pertaining to the school. 视察员对有关学校的一切都感兴趣。

6 aquarium   

n.水族馆，养鱼池，玻璃缸

参考例句：

• The first time I saw seals was in an aquarium.我第一次看见海豹是在水族馆里。
• I'm going to the aquarium with my parents this Sunday.这个星期天，我要和父母一起到水族馆去。

7 meted   

v.（对某人）施以，给予（处罚等）( mete的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• The severe punishment was meted out to the unruly hooligan. 对那个嚣张的流氓已给予严厉惩处。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》
• The money was meted out only after it had been carefully counted. 钱只有仔细点过之后才分发。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》

8 determined   

adj.坚定的；有决心的

参考例句：

• I have determined on going to Tibet after graduation.我已决定毕业后去西藏。
• He determined to view the rooms behind the office.他决定查看一下办公室后面的房间。

9 predators   

n.食肉动物( predator的名词复数 )；奴役他人者（尤指在财务或性关系方面）

参考例句：

• birds and their earthbound predators 鸟和地面上捕食它们的动物
• The eyes of predators are highly sensitive to the slightest movement. 捕食性动物的眼睛能感觉到最细小的动静。 来自《简明英汉词典》

10 tenants   

n.房客( tenant的名词复数 )；佃户；占用者；占有者

参考例句：

• A number of tenants have been evicted for not paying the rent. 许多房客因不付房租被赶了出来。
• Tenants are jointly and severally liable for payment of the rent. 租金由承租人共同且分别承担。

11 aggression   

n.进攻，侵略，侵犯，侵害

参考例句：

• So long as we are firmly united, we need fear no aggression.只要我们紧密地团结，就不必惧怕外来侵略。
• Her view is that aggression is part of human nature.她认为攻击性是人类本性的一部份。