TED演讲:我们如何研究生活在肠道中的微生物(4)

 　　Now, we did study some other species of primate¹. 我们也研究过其他种类的灵长类动物。

　　What species of primate do you think is even more divergent from the wild primates² than the captive primates? 你觉得哪种灵长类动物比圈养的灵长类更加与野生灵长类不同？

　　Modern humans. These are humans living in developing nations. 是现代人类！图中这些点代表生活在发展中国家的人。

　　So they were more different from the wild primates than those in the zoo. 和物园里的灵长类比起来，他们与野生灵长类更加不同。

　　And the final group that we studied, all the way on the right, is people living in the USA. 我们研究的最后一组在图中最右边，他们是生活在美国的人们。

　　And when I saw this figure, the hairs raised up on the back of my neck, because one way to think about it is, 当我看到这个图时，脖子后面的汗毛都竖起来了，因为一种解释是，

　　"Oh, that's interesting, captive monkeys are sort of on their way to becoming like Americans." “我的妈呀，太有趣了，圈养的猴子快变成美国人了！”

　　But the other way to think about it is that Americans are like super-captive monkeys. 但另一种解读则是，美国人就像超级圈养的猴子。

　　And I was actually looking at this figure on my computer screen 我正看着电脑屏幕上的这个图，

　　when I got the news that four of the red-shanked doucs had died in the zoo of gut-related issues. 当我听到四只动物园白臀叶猴因为肠道疾病而死的消息时。

　　So for some of these animals, having the right microbes living inside them may be a matter of survival. 因此，对这些动物来说，它们体内是否生存着正常的微生物，可能是个生死攸关的问题。

1 primate   

n.灵长类（目）动物，首席主教；adj.首要的

参考例句：

• 14 percent of primate species are highly endangered.14%的灵长类物种处于高度濒危状态。
• The woolly spider monkey is the largest primate in the Americas.绒毛蛛猴是美洲最大的灵长类动物。

2 primates   

primate的复数

参考例句：

• Primates are alert, inquisitive animals. 灵长目动物是机灵、好奇的动物。
• Consciousness or cerebration has been said to have emerged in the evolution of higher primates. 据说意识或思考在较高级灵长类的进化中已出现。