英语听力文摘 English Digest 139、动物会哭吗？

　　Do other animals besides humans cry?
All animals with mobile eyes are equipped with a tearing system that keeps their eyes lubricated, protecting their eyes from the elements and so on.
People tell tales of animals such as elephants and dogs weeping when punished. However, even if such an animal does shed tears, there is no scientific evidence that the animal is expressing emotion in doing so.
But what about when a baby chimp¹ or ape whimpers and screams as it’s being separated from its mother, couldn’t we say with some certainty that the animal is crying?
While this display does elicit² caregiving from the mother, prompting her to feed or protect the baby, it is less clear that what the baby is feeling is similar to what a human feels when he or she cries.
In fact, it’s not clear that crying and other emotional displays mean exactly the same thing to all humans. For instance, there is a wide range of emotions that prompt people to cry, and some bouts³ of weeping, such as crying at a stranger’s wedding, seem to be culturally programmed responses.
In addition, autistic people are said to be less emotionally expressive⁴, but research has shown that it’s more that their expressions and their reactions to the emotional expressions of others are unusual. Different. But does that mean that their sadness is different somehow?
So even if apes can be said with some certainty to be feeling emotions, then there is the problem of figuring out to what extent what they feel resembles what humans feel.

1 chimp   

n.黑猩猩

参考例句：

• In fact,the color of gorilla and chimp are light-color.其实大猩猩和黑猩猩的肤色是较为浅的。
• The chimp is the champ.猩猩是冠军。

2 elicit   

v.引出,抽出,引起

参考例句：

• It was designed to elicit the best thinking within the government. 机构的设置是为了在政府内部集思广益。
• Don't try to elicit business secrets from me. I won't tell you anything. 你休想从我这里套问出我们的商业机密, 我什么都不会告诉你的。

3 bouts   

n.拳击（或摔跤）比赛( bout的名词复数 )；一段（工作）；（尤指坏事的）一通；（疾病的）发作

参考例句：

• For much of his life he suffered from recurrent bouts of depression. 他的大半辈子反复发作抑郁症。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• It was one of fistiana's most famous championship bouts. 这是拳击界最有名的冠军赛之一。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》

4 expressive   

adj.表现的，表达…的，富于表情的

参考例句：

• Black English can be more expressive than standard English.黑人所使用的英语可能比正式英语更有表现力。
• He had a mobile,expressive,animated face.他有一张多变的，富于表情的，生动活泼的脸。