国家地理 移植的脸如何改变了一名女子的生活(2)

We are members of an exclusive group: animals that recognize their own faces in a mirror. Besides us, great apes, Asian elephants, Eurasian magpies¹, and bottlenose dolphins are the only other animals known to recognize themselves. Dolphins as young as seven months will pose, twirl, and put their eye right up against the mirror to stare at their faces. Only humans are known to express dismay when looking at their reflections.

我们是个特殊群体的成员，即能在镜子里认出自己面孔的动物。除了我们之外，类人猿、亚洲象、欧亚喜鹊和宽吻海豚是唯一能认出自己的几种动物。7个月大的海豚会摆姿势、旋转，把眼睛对着镜子盯着自己的脸。只有人类在看到自己的倒影时才会表示出沮丧情绪。

As we scrutinize² our own faces for wrinkles and flaws, we can fail to notice what a marvelous organ the face is. Our faces are the most distinctive³ part of our visible body, a mysterious mosaic⁴ of the physical and the psychical⁵. Faces are the body's workaholics: They confer and confirm identity, express emotion, communicate meaning, perform basic functions necessary for life, and enable us to experience the world through our senses.

当我们仔细审视自己脸上的皱纹和瑕疵时，我们可能不会注意到这张脸是多么神奇的器官。脸是我们可见的身体中最独特的部分，是身体和心理的神秘镶嵌图案。面部表情是身体的代表，它们交流和确认身份、表达情感、传达意义、执行生活中必要的基本功能，使我们能够通过感官体验世界。

We are born seeking faces. Newborns turn toward them during their first moments out of the womb. Babies observe, respond to, and mimic⁶ our expressions as though it's their job. And in a way, it is. This close study of faces is the way we all begin to understand the curious business of being human. Faces, in evolutionary⁷ terms, helped us become social animals.

我们生来就在寻找各种脸。新生儿在出娘胎的第一时间转向它们。婴儿观察、回应和模仿我们的表情，就好像这是他们的工作一样。在某种程度上，确实如此。这种对脸孔的密切研究是我们开始理解人类好奇的方式。从进化的角度来看，脸孔可以帮助我们成为社会动物。

1 magpies   

喜鹊（magpie的复数形式）

参考例句：

• They set forth chattering like magpies. 他们叽叽喳喳地出发了。
• James: besides, we can take some pied magpies home, for BBQ. 此外，我们还可以打些喜鹊回家，用来烧烤。

2 scrutinize   

n.详细检查，细读

参考例句：

• Her purpose was to scrutinize his features to see if he was an honest man.她的目的是通过仔细观察他的相貌以判断他是否诚实。
• She leaned forward to scrutinize their faces.她探身向前，端详他们的面容。

3 distinctive   

adj.特别的，有特色的，与众不同的

参考例句：

• She has a very distinctive way of walking.她走路的样子与别人很不相同。
• This bird has several distinctive features.这个鸟具有几种突出的特征。

4 mosaic   

n./adj.镶嵌细工的，镶嵌工艺品的，嵌花式的

参考例句：

• The sky this morning is a mosaic of blue and white.今天早上的天空是幅蓝白相间的画面。
• The image mosaic is a troublesome work.图象镶嵌是个麻烦的工作。

5 psychical   

adj.有关特异功能现象的；有关特异功能官能的；灵魂的；心灵的

参考例句：

• Conclusion: The Liuhe-lottery does harm to people, s psychical health and should be for bidden. 结论：“六合彩”赌博有害人们心理卫生，应予以严禁。 来自互联网

6 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。

7 evolutionary   

adj.进化的；演化的，演变的；[生]进化论的

参考例句：

• Life has its own evolutionary process.生命有其自身的进化过程。
• These are fascinating questions to be resolved by the evolutionary studies of plants.这些十分吸引人的问题将在研究植物进化过程中得以解决。