读者文摘:宠物们在想什么(7)

Parrots. 36 I mimic¹ humans well because I'm good at copying other parrots.

我很会模仿人类，因为我擅长模仿其他鹦鹉。

In the wild, parrots live in large, cohesive² groups and squawk constantly,

在野外，鹦鹉生活在大的，紧密团结的群体中，而且经常尖叫，

updating one another on where the best seeds are and which direction to search next for food.

互相告知最新的种子在哪里，接下来去哪里寻找食物。

Timothy F.Wright, coauthor of Parrots of the Wild: A Natural History of the World's Most Captivating Birds,

蒂莫西·F·赖特是《野生鹦鹉：世界上最迷人的鸟类的自然史》一书的合著者，

told the New York Times that it's rare for wild parrots to mimic sounds made by other species.

他在接受《纽约时报》采访时表示，野生鹦鹉能够模仿其他物种发出的声音是很罕见的。

But in captivity³, they'll mimic barking dogs, car alarms, and human speech in an attempt to bond with their human flock.

但是在圈养下，他们会模仿狗叫，车鸣，还有人类讲话，试图和人类建立联系。

Hamsters. 37 I can learn to take risks.

我可以学会冒险。

A 2015 experiment found that hamsters whose cages had received fancy upgrades (extra bedding, chew toys, a tent) were more inclined to take a risk:

2015年的一项研究发现，如果仓鼠的笼子升级了(额外的床上用品、咀嚼玩具、帐篷)，它们就更愿意冒险：

drinking from a new water dispenser when they didn't know whether it contained a sweet or a bitter liquid.

在不知道新的饮水机装的是甜的还是苦的液体的情况下喝里面的水。

Hamsters whose upgrades were replaced with cardboard tubes and squeaky wheels, on the other hand,

另一方面，笼子里换上硬纸板管和吱吱作响的轮子的仓鼠，

were less likely to go for it—seemingly figuring that they couldn't expect nice things in life.

不太可能去喝里面的水，似乎发现了它们不会期待生活中的好东西。

Horses. 38 I can gauge⁴ your mood. A study in Biology Letters showed that horses can tell the difference between happy and angry human expressions.

我能判断你的情绪。《生物学报》的一个研究显示，马能区分人类高兴和生气的表情。

When they looked at photographs of people making negative faces,

当他们看到人们做负面表情的照片时，

their heart rates climbed and they turned their heads to allow themselves to focus with their left eye.

它们会心跳加速，扭头让自己的左眼集中注意力。

Researchers think this "left-eye gaze" happens because the right hemisphere of the brain is better at processing negative emotions.

研究人员认为，这种“左眼注视”会出现是因为，大脑的右半球能更好地处理负面情绪。

Horses are not alone in this skill: A 2016 study found that

不止是马有这个技能：一项2016年的研究发现，

dogs could tell from photos of human facial expressions and recordings⁵ of voices whether the person in question was happy or mad.

狗能从人类面部表情的照片和录音中分辨出这个人是高兴还是生气。

(They can read the faces and vocalizations of other dogs too.)

（他们也能阅读其他狗的面孔和声音。）

39 And I remember you were mad the last time I saw you.

我记得上次见到你时你很生气。

In another study, several hours after horses were shown photographs of people with happy or angry expressions,

在另一项研究中，研究人员向马展示了人的快乐或愤怒表情的照片几个小时后，

those same people visited the horses in person, wearing neutral faces.

同样是这些人，带着中立的表情，亲自去见了这些马。

If a horse had previously⁶ seen an angry-looking photo of that person,

如果一匹马之前看到过那个人的愤怒的照片，

it exhibited a left-gaze bias⁷ and showed other signs of stress, including scratching the floor.

它就会表现出左视倾向，并表现出其他压力表现，包括抓地板。

But horses visited by people who were happy in the photos weren't stressed at all.

但是当马看到照片中是高兴表情的人时，它们不会表现出丝毫紧张。

1 mimic   

v.模仿，戏弄；n.模仿他人言行的人

参考例句：

• A parrot can mimic a person's voice.鹦鹉能学人的声音。
• He used to mimic speech peculiarities of another.他过去总是模仿别人讲话的特点。

2 cohesive   

adj.有粘着力的；有结合力的；凝聚性的

参考例句：

• She sealed the parcel with cohesive tape.她用粘胶带把包裹封起来。
• The author skillfully fuses these fragments into a cohesive whole.作者将这些片断巧妙地结合成一个连贯的整体。

3 captivity   

n.囚禁；被俘；束缚

参考例句：

• A zoo is a place where live animals are kept in captivity for the public to see.动物园是圈养动物以供公众观看的场所。
• He was held in captivity for three years.他被囚禁叁年。

4 gauge   

v.精确计量；估计；n.标准度量；计量器

参考例句：

• Can you gauge what her reaction is likely to be?你能揣测她的反应可能是什么吗？
• It's difficult to gauge one's character.要判断一个人的品格是很困难的。

5 recordings   

n.记录( recording的名词复数 )；录音；录像；唱片

参考例句：

• a boxed set of original recordings 一套盒装原声录音带
• old jazz recordings reissued on CD 以激光唱片重新发行的老爵士乐

6 previously   

adv.以前，先前（地）

参考例句：

• The bicycle tyre blew out at a previously damaged point.自行车胎在以前损坏过的地方又爆开了。
• Let me digress for a moment and explain what had happened previously.让我岔开一会儿，解释原先发生了什么。

7 bias   

n.偏见，偏心，偏袒；vt.使有偏见

参考例句：

• They are accusing the teacher of political bias in his marking.他们在指控那名教师打分数有政治偏见。
• He had a bias toward the plan.他对这项计划有偏见。