【英语时差8,16】怎样计算狗的年龄（上）

Dogs do have much shorter life spans than we humans do. In an attempt to gauge¹ our pet’s stage in life in a way we can relate to, we often use the popular myth of multiplying their age by seven. One problem with the formula is that it doesn’t consider differences in size or breed. In general, smaller dogs live longer than large ones, but reach adulthood² sooner. It’s fairly common for small dogs to live past sixteen years, so are they really the “age equivalent” of a 112 year old human? On the other hand, for very large dogs to live to sixteen is as rare as humans living to 112, and so the formula may give a closer approximation in that case.

1 gauge   

v.精确计量；估计；n.标准度量；计量器

参考例句：

• Can you gauge what her reaction is likely to be?你能揣测她的反应可能是什么吗？
• It's difficult to gauge one's character.要判断一个人的品格是很困难的。

2 adulthood   

n.成年，成人期

参考例句：

• Some infantile actions survive into adulthood.某些婴儿期的行为一直保持到成年期。
• Few people nowadays are able to maintain friendships into adulthood.如今很少有人能将友谊维持到成年。