经济学人222:第一只会用工具的熊

 　　Science and technology

　　科学技术

　　The first case of ursine¹ tool use

　　第一只会用工具的熊

　　Ready for my close-up, Dr Deecke

　　Deecke博士，准备给我来张特写吧

　　PRIMATES² apart, few mammals employ tools.

　　除了灵长类动物，会使用工具的哺乳类动物屈指可数。

　　Sea otters³ use rocks to smash clams⁴ open,

　　海獭会在石头上砸开蛤蜊；

　　dolphins wrap sponges around their noses to protect themselves while they forage⁵ on the seabed,

　　海豚在海床上觅食时，会将海绵绑在鼻子上以保护自身；

　　elephants swat insects with branches and humpback whales exhale⁶ curtains of bubbles to trap schools of fish.

　　大象会用树枝拍打昆虫；驼背鲸会呼出阵阵气泡来困住鱼群。

　　Until now, these four examples had been thought the extent of the non-primate mammalian tool-users club.

　　至今，人们仍认为非灵长类动物中只有这四种会使用工具。

　　But a study just published in Animal Cognition, by Volker Deecke of the University of St Andrews, in Britain, has added a fifth and rather surprising one.

　　但英国圣安德鲁大学的Volker Deecke在《动物认知》上刚发表的研究指出了第五种会用工具的动物，而且是令人相当意外的一种。

　　That epitome⁷ of rugged⁸ wildness, the grizzly⁹ bear, seems to be the only species other than humans to have invented the comb.

　　粗犷野性的象征—灰熊，看来是除了人类以外唯一一种发明了梳子的动物。

　　Dr Deecke made this discovery while studying grizzly-bear behaviour from a small boat in Glacier¹⁰ Bay National Park, Alaska, on July 22nd 2010.

　　这一点是Deecke博士于2010年7月22日在阿拉斯加冰河湾国家公园一艘小船上研究灰熊习性时发现的。

　　After a period of play-fighting with another bear and a short bout¹¹ of feeding on a beached whale carcass, a bear of between three and five years of age, sex unknown, waded¹² into the shallows of the bay.

　　一只灰熊在与另一只熊打闹了一阵并吃了一点被冲到沙滩上的鲸鱼尸体后，涉水来到了海湾的浅滩中。

　　Once there, it picked up a fist-sized rock and carefully rotated it for about a minute before dropping it back into the water.

　　在那，它捡起了一块拳头大的石头，小心翼翼地旋转了约一分钟后，将其扔回水中。

　　Moments later, it picked up another, of similar size, and again rotated it.

　　片刻之后，它又捡起了另一块差不多大小的石头旋转起来。

　　This time, rather than discarding the stone, it held it against its muzzle¹³ and started to rub.

　　但这次它没扔掉石头，反而把石头放到口鼻处开始来回磨蹭。

　　Using its left paw to press the rock against its skin and its right paw to support the rock's weight, the bear rubbed away at its muzzle and face for roughly a minute before dropping the stone back into the water.

　　那只熊用左掌将石头按在皮肤上，用右掌托着石头，将石头在口鼻和脸上蹭了大约一分钟后才将石头扔回水里。

　　Then it grabbed a third stone of the same size, rotated it and rubbed its face, muzzle and neck for a further two minutes before discarding it.

　　然后，它捡起第三块同样大小的石头并在旋转后用来磨蹭脸、口鼻和脖子将近两分钟后将其扔掉。

　　This done, it spent two minutes grooming¹⁴ its right paw with its teeth before returning to the whale carcass.

　　做完这些后，它又花了两分钟用牙齿来梳理右掌的毛，之后便回到鲸鱼尸体处。

　　Dr Deecke found, upon close examination of his photographs, that all three rocks were encrusted with barnacles and he reckons these were acting¹⁵ as the functional¹⁶ equivalent of the teeth of a comb.

　　博士Deecke在仔细研究所拍照片后发现，那三块石头上都粘有藤壶，而他认为这些藤壶的功能梳齿一样。

　　He thinks the bear was probably using its makeshift combs for comfort, rather than vanity.

　　Deecke博士认为，那只熊自制梳子可能是想让自己舒服，而不是为了美观。

　　But crucially for the concept of tool-use, the animal's rejection¹⁷ of the first rock it picked up shows a discriminating¹⁸ understanding of what was required to get the right amount of scratching from a comb;

　　但是，那只熊没有用它捡到的第一块石头，这说明它有能力判断子什么样的梳子才好用；

　　which rock, in other words, was the tool for the job.

　　换言之，就是哪块石头可以拿来当梳子。这一点对判断动物是否会使用工具至关重要。

　　An important question from a biological point of view is whether this animal's behaviour is unique.

　　在此，有一个很重要的生物学问题：是不是只有这一只熊会使用工具？

　　Other tool-using mammals are social species.

　　其他会使用工具的哺乳类动物都是群居动物，

　　That means one individual's chance invention is easily copied by others of its group, resulting in a primitive¹⁹ culture.

　　也就是说个体偶然的发明很容易被群体里的其他成员模仿，从而形成原始的文化。

　　Grizzly bears have not been considered particularly sociable²⁰ in the past, but if others in Glacier Bay are seen combing themselves in this way that view might have to change.

　　过去，人们并不认为灰熊具有明显的群居特征，但如果冰河湾有其他灰熊被发现使用这种方法梳理毛发，那上述观点就可能会被推翻。

　　It might, though, be that Dr Deecke's preening²¹ animal is unique.

　　不过，也有可能只是Deecke博士看到的那只梳理毛发的熊比较特别罢了。

　　That would suggest it came up with the idea of using rocks as combs by itself, rather than copying someone else—truly smarter than the average bear.

　　那就意味着这只熊拿石头当梳子是自己的原创，并非模仿——果然是只特别聪明的熊。

　　1.employ v.雇佣；使用

　　They employ casual labor²² to pick the fruit

　　他们雇佣临时工摘水果。

　　2.sponge n.海绵

　　The sponge soaked in the water on the desk.

　　海绵将书桌上的水吸了进去。

　　3.mammalian n.哺乳动物

　　The report is on mammalian thermoregulation.

　　那份报告是有关哺乳动物的体温调节。

　　4.glacier n.冰河；冰川

　　The glacier dislocated the great stones.

　　冰河搬动了巨石。

　　5.rotate v.轮流；旋转

　　Interns²³ have to rotate for a few months.

　　实习医生轮流工作了几个月。

1 ursine   

adj.似熊的，熊的

参考例句：

• A few weeks later a better use of beer was discovered by an innocent ursine in the Pacific Northwest.几周后，美国西北太平洋岸有只无邪的熊，发现了善用啤酒的好方法。
• Accordingly,hare bravery already became ursine bravery substitute.因此，兔胆已成为熊胆替代品。

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。

3 otters   

n.（水）獭( otter的名词复数 )；獭皮

参考例句：

• An attempt is being made to entice otters back to the river. 人们正试图把水獭引诱回河里去。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Otters are believed to have been on Earth for 90 million years. 水獭被认为存活在地球上已经9千多万年。 来自互联网

4 clams   

n.蛤；蚌，蛤( clam的名词复数 )v.（在沙滩上）挖蛤( clam的第三人称单数 )

参考例句：

• The restaurant's specialities are fried clams. 这个餐厅的特色菜是炸蚌。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• We dug clams in the flats et low tide. 退潮时我们在浅滩挖蛤蜊。 来自辞典例句

5 forage   

n.(牛马的)饲料，粮草；v.搜寻，翻寻

参考例句：

• They were forced to forage for clothing and fuel.他们不得不去寻找衣服和燃料。
• Now the nutritive value of the forage is reduced.此时牧草的营养价值也下降了。

6 exhale   

v.呼气，散出，吐出，蒸发

参考例句：

• Sweet odours exhale from flowers.花儿散发出花香。
• Wade exhaled a cloud of smoke and coughed.韦德吐出一口烟，然后咳嗽起来。

7 epitome   

n.典型，梗概

参考例句：

• He is the epitome of goodness.他是善良的典范。
• This handbook is a neat epitome of everyday hygiene.这本手册概括了日常卫生的要点。

8 rugged   

adj.高低不平的，粗糙的，粗壮的，强健的

参考例句：

• Football players must be rugged.足球运动员必须健壮。
• The Rocky Mountains have rugged mountains and roads.落基山脉有崇山峻岭和崎岖不平的道路。

9 grizzly   

adj.略为灰色的，呈灰色的；n.灰色大熊

参考例句：

• This grizzly liked people.这只灰熊却喜欢人。
• Grizzly bears are not generally social creatures.一般说来，灰熊不是社交型动物。

10 glacier   

n.冰川，冰河

参考例句：

• The glacier calved a large iceberg.冰河崩解而形成一个大冰山。
• The upper surface of glacier is riven by crevasses.冰川的上表面已裂成冰隙。

11 bout   

n.侵袭，发作；一次(阵，回)；拳击等比赛

参考例句：

• I was suffering with a bout of nerves.我感到一阵紧张。
• That bout of pneumonia enfeebled her.那次肺炎的发作使她虚弱了。

12 waded   

（从水、泥等）蹚，走过，跋( wade的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• She tucked up her skirt and waded into the river. 她撩起裙子蹚水走进河里。
• He waded into the water to push the boat out. 他蹚进水里把船推出来。

13 muzzle   

n.鼻口部；口套；枪(炮)口；vt.使缄默

参考例句：

• He placed the muzzle of the pistol between his teeth.他把手枪的枪口放在牙齿中间。
• The President wanted to muzzle the press.总统企图遏制新闻自由。

14 grooming   

n. 修饰, 美容，（动物）梳理毛发

参考例句：

• You should always pay attention to personal grooming. 你应随时注意个人仪容。
• We watched two apes grooming each other. 我们看两只猩猩在互相理毛。

15 acting   

n.演戏，行为，假装；adj.代理的，临时的，演出用的

参考例句：

• Ignore her,she's just acting.别理她，她只是假装的。
• During the seventies,her acting career was in eclipse.在七十年代，她的表演生涯黯然失色。

16 functional   

adj.为实用而设计的，具备功能的，起作用的

参考例句：

• The telephone was out of order,but is functional now.电话刚才坏了，但现在可以用了。
• The furniture is not fancy,just functional.这些家具不是摆着好看的，只是为了实用。

17 rejection   

n.拒绝，被拒，抛弃，被弃

参考例句：

• He decided not to approach her for fear of rejection.他因怕遭拒绝决定不再去找她。
• The rejection plunged her into the dark depths of despair.遭到拒绝使她陷入了绝望的深渊。

18 discriminating   

a.有辨别能力的

参考例句：

• Due caution should be exercised in discriminating between the two. 在区别这两者时应该相当谨慎。
• Many businesses are accused of discriminating against women. 许多企业被控有歧视妇女的做法。

19 primitive   

adj.原始的；简单的；n.原(始)人，原始事物

参考例句：

• It is a primitive instinct to flee a place of danger.逃离危险的地方是一种原始本能。
• His book describes the march of the civilization of a primitive society.他的著作描述了一个原始社会的开化过程。

20 sociable   

adj.好交际的，友好的，合群的

参考例句：

• Roger is a very sociable person.罗杰是个非常好交际的人。
• Some children have more sociable personalities than others.有些孩子比其他孩子更善于交际。

21 preening   

v.（鸟）用嘴整理（羽毛）( preen的现在分词 )

参考例句：

• Will you stop preening yourself in front of the mirror? 你别对着镜子打扮个没完行不行？
• She was fading, while he was still preening himself in his elegance and youth. 她已显老，而他却仍然打扮成翩翩佳公子。 来自英汉文学 - 嘉莉妹妹

22 labor   

n.劳动，努力，工作，劳工；分娩；vi.劳动，努力，苦干；vt.详细分析；麻烦

参考例句：

• We are never late in satisfying him for his labor.我们从不延误付给他劳动报酬。
• He was completely spent after two weeks of hard labor.艰苦劳动两周后，他已经疲惫不堪了。

23 interns   

n.住院实习医生( intern的名词复数 )v.拘留，关押( intern的第三人称单数 )

参考例句：

• Our interns also greet our guests when they arrive in our studios. 我们的实习生也会在嘉宾抵达演播室的时候向他们致以问候。 来自超越目标英语 第4册
• The interns work alongside experienced civil engineers and receive training in the different work sectors. 实习生陪同有经验的国内工程师工作，接受不同工作部门的相关培训。 来自超越目标英语 第4册