科学美国人60秒 如何让暴躁狮子变成温顺小猫咪?(3)

But even more dramatic was the third test--in which the researchers played an audio recording¹ of an unfamiliar² lion’s roar.

但更引人注目的是第三个测试——在这个测试中，研究人员会播放一段陌生狮子咆哮的音频。

Which can be as unnerving as it sounds.

这听起来很令人不安。

It’s like having a stranger in your bedroom saying I own this place, right?

这就像一个陌生人在你的卧室里说我是这里的主人，对吧?

Now, in the control conditions, in which lions got spritzed with a simple saline solution about half of them roared in return, maybe 50 or 60 times.

现在，在控制条件下，向狮子喷洒简单的盐水溶液，大约有一半的狮子会咆哮，可能会咆哮50或60次。

That’s about right.

这是对的。

So half of the lions are gonna actually roar and the other half are gonna be looking, probably standing³ behind the guy that’s roaring, and just looking and watching.

一半的狮子会咆哮，另一半狮子则会看着，可能会站在吼叫的狮子身后，仅仅是看着、瞧着。

But when the lions were dosed with oxytocin…

但当狮子被注射催产素后…

There were zero. I mean, zero. They completely did not roar. That was astounding⁴.

零头狮子。我的意思是零头狮子。它们完全不会咆哮。这个结果是令人震惊的。

You could just see this difference in demeanor⁵.

你可以看到这种行为上的差异。

So they just laid there and they looked, they turned their heads, they were curious and they watched.

它们只是躺在那里看，它们转转头，即使它们很好奇，但也只是看看。

But they’re not getting up, puffing⁶ up, scent⁷ marking, and roaring, roaring, roaring.

但它们没有站起来，没有弓起身子，没有标记气味，也没有不停地咆哮。

With the oxytocin it was like, huh, strangers. No big deal.

狮子吸入了催产素，就像陌生人一样。没什么大不了的。

And in some cases it seemed they were more interested in head rubbing with each other rather than worrying about the stranger.

在某些情况下，它们似乎对互相摩擦头部更感兴趣，而不是担心陌生人的举动。

The results give the team hope that oxytocin could provide a more effective way to introduce new lions into sanctuaries⁸ or reserves.

这一结果给了团队希望，催产素可以提供一种将狮子引入保护区的更有效的方法。

Because getting animals to become used to and accept strangers in their midst is an enormous challenge.

因为让动物们习惯并接受陌生人是一项巨大的挑战。

That would be a big boost for conservation efforts.

这将大大促进保护工作。

And very key to using oxytocin to actually make a difference in the world.

这是使用催产素来改变世界的关键。

A world with more tolerance⁹ and less roaring.

一个更多宽容，更少咆哮的世界。

It sounds darn near purr-fect.

这听起来接近完美。

For Scientific American’s 60-Second Science, I’m Karen Hopkin.

谢谢大家收听科学美国人——60秒科学。我是凯伦·霍普金。

So lions will do these sequences where they’re like, roar, roar, uhh, uhh, uhh, and then they do grunts¹⁰.

狮子会发出一连串的声音，它们会像这样，吼叫，吼叫，嗷，嗷，嗷，然后它们会发出咕噜声。

1 recording   

n.录音，记录

参考例句：

• How long will the recording of the song take?录下这首歌得花多少时间？
• I want to play you a recording of the rehearsal.我想给你放一下彩排的录像。

2 unfamiliar   

adj.陌生的，不熟悉的

参考例句：

• I am unfamiliar with the place and the people here.我在这儿人地生疏。
• The man seemed unfamiliar to me.这人很面生。

3 standing   

n.持续，地位；adj.永久的，不动的，直立的，不流动的

参考例句：

• After the earthquake only a few houses were left standing.地震过后只有几幢房屋还立着。
• They're standing out against any change in the law.他们坚决反对对法律做任何修改。

4 astounding   

adj.使人震惊的vt.使震惊，使大吃一惊astound的现在分词)

参考例句：

• There was an astounding 20% increase in sales. 销售量惊人地增加了20%。
• The Chairman's remarks were so astounding that the audience listened to him with bated breath. 主席说的话令人吃惊，所以听众都屏息听他说。 来自《简明英汉词典》

5 demeanor   

n.行为；风度

参考例句：

• She is quiet in her demeanor.她举止文静。
• The old soldier never lost his military demeanor.那个老军人从来没有失去军人风度。

6 puffing   

v.使喷出( puff的现在分词 )；喷着汽（或烟）移动；吹嘘；吹捧

参考例句：

• He was puffing hard when he jumped on to the bus. 他跳上公共汽车时喘息不已。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》
• My father sat puffing contentedly on his pipe. 父亲坐着心满意足地抽着烟斗。 来自《简明英汉词典》

7 scent   

n.气味，香味，香水，线索，嗅觉；v.嗅，发觉

参考例句：

• The air was filled with the scent of lilac.空气中弥漫着丁香花的芬芳。
• The flowers give off a heady scent at night.这些花晚上散发出醉人的芳香。

8 sanctuaries   

n.避难所( sanctuary的名词复数 )；庇护；圣所；庇护所

参考例句：

• The designation of special marine reserves and marine sanctuaries shall be subject to the State Council for approval. 海洋特别保护区、海上自然保护区的确定，须经国务院批准。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• After 1965 he acquiesced when they established sanctuaries on that soil. 1965年以后，他默认了他们在那块土地上建立庇护所。 来自辞典例句

9 tolerance   

n.宽容；容忍，忍受；耐药力；公差

参考例句：

• Tolerance is one of his strengths.宽容是他的一个优点。
• Human beings have limited tolerance of noise.人类对噪音的忍耐力有限。

10 grunts   

（猪等）作呼噜声( grunt的第三人称单数 )； （指人）发出类似的哼声； 咕哝着说； 石鲈

参考例句：

• With grunts of anguish Ogilvie eased his bulk to a sitting position. 奥格尔维苦恼地哼着，伸个懒腰坐了起来。
• Linda fired twice A trio of Grunts assembling one mortar fell. 琳达击发两次。三个正在组装迫击炮的咕噜人倒下了。