2020年经济学人 动物行为(1)

Tenants¹ who don't pay the rent are a bane of landlords everywhere.

不付房租的房客让世界各地的房东头疼。

And landlords who use heavy tactics to enforce payment are similarly a bane of tenants.

而使用高压手段强制要求付款的房东同样让租户痛苦。

Nor are these problems confined to human beings.

这些问题并不局限于人类。

Property-owning cichlid fish seem as ruthless about receiving what they are owed

和19世纪纽约下东区任何廉租房业主一样，

as any 19th-century tenement² holder³ in the Lower East Side of New York.

拥有房产的鲷鱼似乎也会为了得到应得的东西而变得冷酷。

The fish in question, Neolamprologus pulcher, inhabit Lake Tanganyika in east Africa.

这种名为美新亮丽鲷的鱼生活在东非的坦噶尼喀湖。

They are co-operative breeders, meaning that dominant⁴ individuals do the breeding and subordinates assist in various ways,

它们是合作繁殖者，也就是说，占优势的个体负责繁殖，而从属的个体则以各种方式提供帮助，

in exchange for immediate⁵ survival-enhancing benefits that may lead to the ultimate prize of becoming dominant themselves.

作为交换，它们可以立即获得提高生存能力的好处，而这些好处最终可能导致它们成为支配者。

In the case of N. pulcher the main benefit is having somewhere to live.

对于美新亮丽鲷而言，主要的好处就是拥有居住地。

Dwellings⁶, in the form of shelters dug out from sand under rocks, are controlled by dominant pairs.

在岩石下用沙子挖出的庇护所形式的住所，是由支配者控制的。

These dominants⁷ permit subordinates to share their accommodation,

这些支配者允许从属分享它们的住处，

and those subordinates pay for the privilege by keeping the property in good repair

这些从属通过保持财产的良好维修和保护支配者的鱼卵

and defending the dominants' eggs and fry against predators⁸.

和鱼苗免受捕食者的侵害来支付自己所能享有的特权。

Though co-operative breeding by vertebrates has evolved several times

尽管脊椎动物的合作繁殖已经进化了好几次

(famous examples include the meerkat mongooses of southern Africa and the scrub jays of Florida),

（著名的例子包括非洲南部的猫鼬猫鼬和佛罗里达的灌丛鸦），

the question of how rental⁹ payments are enforced has never been definitively¹⁰ settled.

但如何执行租金支付的问题从未得到最终解决。

The presumption¹¹ is that dominants punish subordinate defaulters.

有种假设是支配者会惩罚下级违反者。

But it is hard to prove, by observing wild animals, that this is what is happening.

但是通过观察野生动物，很难证明这种假设。

1 tenants   

n.房客( tenant的名词复数 )；佃户；占用者；占有者

参考例句：

• A number of tenants have been evicted for not paying the rent. 许多房客因不付房租被赶了出来。
• Tenants are jointly and severally liable for payment of the rent. 租金由承租人共同且分别承担。

2 tenement   

n.公寓；房屋

参考例句：

• They live in a tenement.他们住在廉价公寓里。
• She felt very smug in a tenement yard like this.就是在个这样的杂院里，她觉得很得意。

3 holder   

n.持有者，占有者；(台，架等)支持物

参考例句：

• The holder of the office of chairman is reponsible for arranging meetings.担任主席职位的人负责安排会议。
• That runner is the holder of the world record for the hundred-yard dash.那位运动员是一百码赛跑世界纪录的保持者。

4 dominant   

adj.支配的，统治的；占优势的；显性的；n.主因，要素，主要的人(或物)；显性基因

参考例句：

• The British were formerly dominant in India.英国人从前统治印度。
• She was a dominant figure in the French film industry.她在法国电影界是个举足轻重的人物。

5 immediate   

adj.立即的；直接的，最接近的；紧靠的

参考例句：

• His immediate neighbours felt it their duty to call.他的近邻认为他们有责任去拜访。
• We declared ourselves for the immediate convocation of the meeting.我们主张立即召开这个会议。

6 dwellings   

n.住处，处所( dwelling的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The development will consist of 66 dwellings and a number of offices. 新建楼区将由66栋住房和一些办公用房组成。
• The hovels which passed for dwellings are being pulled down. 过去用作住室的陋屋正在被拆除。 来自《简明英汉词典》

7 dominants   

n.占优势的( dominant的名词复数 )；统治的；（基因）显性的；高耸的

参考例句：

• The species compeition, distribution and dominants species of soil ciliates in Tianmu Mountains was reported. 报道了天目山土壤纤毛虫的种类组成、分布及优势种类。 来自互联网
• By applying reverse privileges to themselves, they hope to escape punishment from the real dominants. 通过赋予自己“反向特权”，他们希望借此逃避真正统治者的惩罚。 来自互联网

8 predators   

n.食肉动物( predator的名词复数 )；奴役他人者（尤指在财务或性关系方面）

参考例句：

• birds and their earthbound predators 鸟和地面上捕食它们的动物
• The eyes of predators are highly sensitive to the slightest movement. 捕食性动物的眼睛能感觉到最细小的动静。 来自《简明英汉词典》

9 rental   

n.租赁，出租，出租业

参考例句：

• The yearly rental of her house is 2400 yuan.她这房子年租金是2400元。
• We can organise car rental from Chicago O'Hare Airport.我们可以安排提供从芝加哥奥黑尔机场出发的租车服务。

10 definitively   

adv.决定性地，最后地

参考例句：

• None of the three super-states could be definitively conquered even by the other two in combination. 三个超级国家中的任何一国都不可能被任何两国的联盟所绝对打败。 来自英汉文学
• Therefore, nothing can ever be definitively proved with a photograph. 因此，没有什么可以明确了一张照片。 来自互联网

11 presumption   

n.推测，可能性，冒昧，放肆，[法律]推定

参考例句：

• Please pardon my presumption in writing to you.请原谅我很冒昧地写信给你。
• I don't think that's a false presumption.我认为那并不是错误的推测。