加州科学展探索人类与狗狗的友谊

California Science Show Explores the Dog-Human Friendship

Did people decide to fall in love with dogs or did dogs choose people? And why do these two species¹ seem to think so much alike, act so much alike and get along so well?

The California Science Center has spent the past five years finding the answer to those and many other questions about dogs. Answers came with the recent opening of a show called "Dogs! A Science Tail."

And, yes, real dogs will be there.

"It's really not...just dogs and science. It's really about how dogs and humans are both social animals…because we are both social animals, we've learned to work together," said Jeffrey Rudolph. He is the center's president and a dog lover who worked for years to put this show together.

As he spoke² just before the show opened, he stopped at a representation³ of a fire hydrant. Next to it is a button. When pushed, it lets visitors smell what a dog smells.

Rudolph said that while humans would just smell dog urine, “a dog can tell what dog was there, what time they were there and actually which direction they were going."

It is one of the ways dogs can decide how safe the area is. It is also how they tell time.

"They have an amazing ability to learn information," continues Rudolph. He says that dogs have 300 million sensory⁴ receptors in their noses while humans have just 6 million.

Nine similar places in the show permit people to see like a dog does --- not a very colorful display. And, visitors can learn how dogs hear sounds that humans cannot.

They can hear termites⁶ eating in the wall, Rudolph says.

In the museum, people could watch Garmin, a 2-year-old golden Labrador retriever who is about to complete guide-dog school. He demonstrates his skill with visitors with covers over their eyes. Garmin guides them around barriers in the path.

But do dogs really love us?

"If you look a dog in the eye, a dog will look back at you and you will produce oxytocin," said Diane Perlov. She is the center's senior vice⁷ president for exhibitions. Oxytocin is the chemical known as the love hormone⁸ because of the feelings it causes in people.

"And," she adds, "the dog will produce oxytocin in his own body from looking back at you.”

A chimpanzee, on the other hand, will just look away.

So how did the love between dogs and humans begin? Why are there dogs in more than 60 million American houses?

Scientists are not sure. They know dogs came from wolves and that wolves and people crossed paths more than 10,000 years ago, said Perlov. They learned they partnered well in the hunt for food. Could that be the beginning of love?

"It is…our ability to understand each other that forms the basis of our relationship," Perlov says.

I’m Susan Shand.

Words in This Story

species - n. a group of animals or plants that are similar and can produce young animals or plants

hydrant - n. a pipe usually in the street that provides water especially for putting out fires

urine - n. waste liquid that collects in the bladder before leaving the body

actually - adv. used to refer to what is true or real

amazing - adj. causing great surprise or wonder :

receptor - n. a nerve ending that senses changes in light, temperature, pressure, etc., and causes the body to react in a particular way

termite⁵ - n. a kind of soft, white insect that lives in groups, eats wood, and causes a lot of damage to wooden structures

oxytocin - n. a chemical in the body that causes a sense of love or a bond

1 species   

n.物种，种群

参考例句：

• Are we the only thinking species in the whole of creation?我们是万物中惟一有思想的物种吗？
• This species of bird now exists only in Africa.这种鸟现在只存在于非洲。

2 spoke   

n.（车轮的）辐条；轮辐；破坏某人的计划；阻挠某人的行动 v.讲，谈（speak的过去式）；说；演说；从某种观点来说

参考例句：

• They sourced the spoke nuts from our company.他们的轮辐螺帽是从我们公司获得的。
• The spokes of a wheel are the bars that connect the outer ring to the centre.辐条是轮子上连接外圈与中心的条棒。

3 representation   

n.表现某人（或某事物）的东西，图画，雕塑

参考例句：

• The painting is a representation of a storm at sea.这幅画描绘的是海上的暴风雨。
• All parties won representation in the national assembly.所有政党在国民大会中都赢得了代表资格。

4 sensory   

adj.知觉的，感觉的，知觉器官的

参考例句：

• Human powers of sensory discrimination are limited.人类感官分辨能力有限。
• The sensory system may undergo long-term adaptation in alien environments.感觉系统对陌生的环境可能经过长时期才能适应。

5 termite   

n.白蚁

参考例句：

• The termite control was also probed into further in this text.本文还进一步探讨了白蚁的防治方法。
• Termite often destroys wood.白蚁经常破坏树木。

6 termites   

n.白蚁( termite的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Termites are principally tropical in distribution. 白蚁主要分布在热带地区。 来自辞典例句
• This spray will exterminate the termites. 这种喷剂能消灭白蚁。 来自辞典例句

7 vice   

n.坏事；恶习；[pl.]台钳，老虎钳；adj.副的

参考例句：

• He guarded himself against vice.他避免染上坏习惯。
• They are sunk in the depth of vice.他们堕入了罪恶的深渊。

8 hormone   

n.荷尔蒙，激素，内分泌

参考例句：

• Hormone implants are used as growth boosters.激素植入物被用作生长辅助剂。
• This hormone interacts closely with other hormones in the body.这种荷尔蒙与体內其他荷尔蒙紧密地相互作用。