8个并非真实的动物“真相”：英语精读讲义

Number eight,

第八个，

let's talk about lemmings.

我们来聊聊旅鼠。

When you hear the word lemmings,

当你听到“旅鼠”这个词时，

you might think of two things:

你可能会想到两件事：

this video game and some sort of small creature that suicidally leaps off cliffs

这个电子游戏，以及某种会在种群数量过大时

when its population grows too large.

自杀式地跳下悬崖的小型生物。

In case you didn't know, 短語搭配

以防你不知道，

lemmings are real and adorable and not suicidal.

旅鼠是真实存在的，非常可爱，而且不会自杀。

The origin of this myth is a bit unclear,

这个谣言的起源有些模糊，

but the video game Lemmings may have done a lot to convince a younger generation 語法

但电子游戏《Lemmings》可能很大程度上让年轻一代相信

that lemmings are willfully suicidal and extremely frustrating to micromanage,

旅鼠是故意自杀的，且管理起来极其令人抓狂，

thus deserving of mass extermination.

因此活该被大批量消灭。

Number seven,

第七个，

daddy longlegs.

盲蛛。

These wispy-looking things have earned the reputation as the most poisonous of any spider,

这些看起来纤弱的小东西被认为是所有蜘蛛中最毒的，

but they're also pretty common,

但它们也很常见，

so you might wonder why more people don't die of daddy longlegs bites every year.

所以你可能会纳闷，为什么每年没有更多人死于盲蛛的咬伤。

Like a good conspiracy theory,

就像一个好的阴谋论一样，

this myth covers its own tracks by saying that their fangs are too small to penetrate human skin. 講解

这个谣言通过声称它们的毒牙太小无法刺透人类皮肤，来掩盖自己的漏洞。

You could score one for team human except that this misconception is a triple whammy of wrongness. 習語

你本可以为人类队赢下一分，可惜这个误解是错上加错的三重打击。

One,

第一，

daddy longlegs don't have fangs

盲蛛没有毒牙；

because two,

因为第二，

they don't produce venom because three,

它们不产生毒液；因为第三，

they aren't even spiders.

它们甚至都不是蜘蛛。

Number six,

第六个，

ostriches.

鸵鸟。

Let's review the properties of these flightless birds,

让我们来回顾一下这些无飞能力鸟类的特点，

shall we? 語氣意圖

好吗？

They're up to 9 ft tall,

它们高达9英尺，

up to 340 lb,

重达340磅，

aggressive with sharp beaks and long claws.

具有攻击性，有着尖锐的喙和长长的爪子。

Essentially,

基本上，

an ostrich is the closest thing to a living raptor you're ever going to see. 語法

鸵鸟是你所能见到的最接近活体猛龙的生物了。

That is, 表達脈絡

也就是说，

until our genetic engineering technology gets better.

直到我们的基因工程技术变得更好之前。

Come on, dino apocalypse.

来吧，恐龙末日。

Anyway, keeping these facts in mind, 短語搭配

总之，记住这些事实，

if you decide to threaten an ostrich,

如果你决定去威胁一只鸵鸟，

do you really think it's going to stick its head in the sand and wait to die? 習語

你真的认为它会把头埋进沙子里等死吗？

No, of course not.

不，当然不会。

If you're lucky, 語法

如果你走运，

it'll run away at 40 mph and if you're not,

它会以40英里的时速跑开；如果不走运，

it's fatality time for you.

那就是你的死期了。

Ostriches have no reason to hide and especially not in the stupidest way ever.

鸵鸟没有理由躲藏，尤其不会用有史以来最蠢的方式。

If they did,

如果它们真这么做，

they would have survived about as long as another species of flightless bird. 語法

它们存活的时间大概只能和另一种不会飞的鸟差不多。

While we're talking about flightless birds, 表達脈絡

既然我们在讨论不会飞的鸟，

number five,

第五个，

baby birds.

雏鸟。

A mother bird won't abandon her baby because you've touched it

鸟妈妈不会因为你摸了它的宝宝就抛弃它，

any more than a human mother would abandon her baby if a bird touched it. 語法

就像人类妈妈不会因为一只鸟摸了她的宝宝就抛弃他一样。

If you find a baby bird and can easily reach its nest,

如果你发现了一只雏鸟，并且能轻易够到它的窝，

it's perfectly fine to put it back. 語氣意圖

把它放回去是完全可以的。

Number four,

第四个，

goldfish memory.

金鱼的记忆。

Goldfish do have memories longer than 3 seconds or 7 seconds

金鱼的记忆确实比3秒或7秒长，

or whatever other made up number always accompanies this fact. 短語動詞

或者任何其他总是伴随这个事实而捏造出来的数字。

They can actually be trained and will remember what they've learned for months,

它们其实是可以被训练的，并且能记住它们几个月前学到的东西，

which is more than can be said for many humans. 習語

这比许多人类都要强。

On an unrelated note, 表達脈絡

顺便说一件无关的事，

goldfish are also delicious.

金鱼也很美味。

Number three,

第三个，

dog vision.

狗的视觉。

Poor dogs, forever living in their sad monochrome worlds.

可怜的狗狗们，永远生活在它们悲惨的黑白世界里。

Except they don't. 表達脈絡

但其实它们并非如此。

Dogs do see color, 語法

狗确实能看到颜色，

but not quite like us.

只是跟我们不太一样。

Most humans see three primary colors,

大多数人类能看到三种原色，

red, blue, and green,

红、蓝、绿，

but dogs are limited to two.

但狗仅限于两种。

They can see blues,

它们能看到蓝色，

but the rest of the color spectrum they can't tell apart, 短語動詞

但光谱上的其他颜色它们无法区分，

which they don't mind until you buy them a red toy

它们本来也不介意，直到你给它们买了个红色玩具，

and throw it into the green grass and act like they're stupid for not finding it.

扔进绿草地里，还因为它们找不到而觉得它们蠢。

It's easy for you to see because your ancestors spent several million years foraging for red objects on a green background

你很容易就能看到，因为你的祖先花了几百万年时间在绿色背景上寻找红色物体，

and so got quite good at it,

所以变得相当擅长，

unless they didn't, 語法

除非他们没练好，

which in that case they died.

在那种情况下，他们就死掉了。

But canine eyes are not monkey eyes and so to your dog,

但犬类的眼睛不是猴子的眼睛，所以对你的狗来说，

if it isn't blue,

如果它不是蓝色的，

it's all the same color.

那就全是一样的颜色。

So next time you're at the pet store,

所以下次去宠物店时，

get Rover a blue toy.

给你的狗狗买个蓝色玩具吧。

And while we're talking about vision,

既然我们在讨论视觉，

let's talk about bats,

让我们来聊聊蝙蝠，

which if you've ever looked at one,

如果你曾经看过蝙蝠一眼，

it should be immediately obvious that they're not blind

应该立刻就能明显地看出它们不是瞎子，

because they look right back at you with their eyes that they use to see things.

因为它们会用来看东西的眼睛直勾勾地盯着你。

But they do one better by having an additional sense called echolocation 習語

但它们更胜一筹，有一种叫做回声定位的额外感官，

that allows them to navigate the world in complete darkness, 語法

能让它们在完全黑暗中导航，

something you can't do.

这是你做不到的。

So from the bat's perspective, 表達脈絡

所以从蝙蝠的角度来看，

you're the blind one.

你才是那个瞎子。

Number one,

第一个，

you can boil a frog to death if you do it very slowly.

如果你非常缓慢地加热，你可以把一只青蛙活活煮死。

This one is true,

这个倒是真的，

sort of. 語氣意圖

某种程度上。

Friedrich Goltz demonstrated that a frog will remain blithely in a pot of water brought to boil

弗里德里希·戈尔茨证明了，一只青蛙会无忧无虑地待在烧开的水锅里，

if the temperature is raised slowly enough.

只要温度上升得足够慢。

However, the rather salient fact that is often left out of the retelling 講解

然而，这个在传闻中经常被遗漏的相当突出的事实是，

is that Goltz cut out the frog's brains before placing them in the pot,

戈尔茨在把青蛙放进锅里之前，把它们的大脑切除了，

which rather puts the frog at a disadvantage. 短語搭配

这让青蛙相当处于劣势。

Goltz also showed that if you don't lobotomize the frog first,

戈尔茨还证明了，如果你不先对青蛙进行脑叶切除术，

then surprise,

那么惊喜来了，

it jumps out of the pot.

它会跳出锅子。

It seems likely,

看起来似乎如此，

but please don't try this at home, 語氣意圖

但请不要在家里尝试，

that removing the brain of any animal would rather hinder their instinct of self-preservation 講解

摘除任何动物的大脑都会阻碍它们的自我保护本能，

and also make them more gullible about common misconceptions. 語法

并且也会让它们对普遍的误解更容易轻信。