时差N小时 好玩的猫咪游戏潜藏致命性

If you have a cat, it's likely that at some point you've seen it do this: while playing with your foot it suddenly dropped to its side, latched¹ on with its front claws and began a coordinated² kicking motion with both back legs.

如果你养猫，在某一时刻你可能会注意到它这样的举动：在脚边玩耍时，猫咪突然猛地下扑，用两只前爪抱住你的脚，两条后腿持续蹬踢。

The cat probably gave you a good four or five swats before letting go. From a human point of view this looks like great fun—a real rough-and-tumble kind of game. But where does it come from?

猫咪不给你来四五个猛击可能不会停手。对人来说看似很好玩，就像一场真正的混战游戏。但是这样的游戏是有由来的。

Before giving an answer, let's think for a second about the kind of thing we can learn even from so commonplace an event. Housepets are not toys; although they are domesticated³ and, in the instance of cats, much smaller than their wild counterparts, it's a mistake to regard them as fundamentally different from wild animals. They share millions of years of evolutionary⁴ history, and their behaviors--even playful ones--are in many cases behavior that was very useful in the wild.

在给出答案之前，花一秒钟来想想从这种最常见的游戏上能学到什么。家养宠物可不是玩具；尽管它们被驯服了，并且比野生的同类体积小许多，但是拿猫来说，如果你认为家猫与野猫有本质的区别，那就大错特错了。它们有着上百万年相同的进化历史。家猫的一些行为，即使很有趣，但对野猫来说是有很用的。

So, think again about that front-claw grab connected with a back-claw kick that your cat does from time to time. You may see it in a new light when you realize that the cat is executing a very effective device for killing⁵ prey⁶ or enemies: hold the other animal's stomach in place while you disembowel it.

所以，再想想你家猫咪那一次又一次，前爪抱后爪踢的动作。以另一种观点来看待的话，你或许会发现猫咪是在执行一种很有效的能杀死猎物或敌人的动作：前爪按住其它动物的胃部，后爪钩出内脏。

Of course, that doesn't mean your cat is really trying to hurt you; but it does show us that playful behavior in animals --and, oftentimes, in humans--is not simply nonsense. In many cases it is a practice run for learning more useful skills--even deadly ones.

当然，这并不表示你的猫咪是在伤害你；但也证明动物之间，或者动物与人之间的一些顽皮行为并不是无用的。在许多情况下，这是在演习更有用的生存本领，即使是致命的本领。

1 latched   

v.理解( latch的过去式和过去分词 )；纠缠；用碰锁锁上（门等）；附着（在某物上）

参考例句：

• The government have latched onto environmental issues to win votes. 政府已开始大谈环境问题以争取选票。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• He latched onto us and we couldn't get rid of him. 他缠着我们，甩也甩不掉。 来自《简明英汉词典》

2 coordinated   

adj.协调的

参考例句：

• The sound has to be coordinated with the picture. 声音必须和画面协调一致。
• The numerous existing statutes are complicated and poorly coordinated. 目前繁多的法令既十分复杂又缺乏快调。 来自英汉非文学 - 环境法 - 环境法

3 domesticated   

adj.喜欢家庭生活的；（指动物）被驯养了的v.驯化( domesticate的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• He is thoroughly domesticated and cooks a delicious chicken casserole. 他精于家务，烹制的砂锅炖小鸡非常可口。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The donkey is a domesticated form of the African wild ass. 驴是非洲野驴的一种已驯化的品种。 来自《简明英汉词典》

4 evolutionary   

adj.进化的；演化的，演变的；[生]进化论的

参考例句：

• Life has its own evolutionary process.生命有其自身的进化过程。
• These are fascinating questions to be resolved by the evolutionary studies of plants.这些十分吸引人的问题将在研究植物进化过程中得以解决。

5 killing   

n.巨额利润；突然赚大钱，发大财

参考例句：

• Investors are set to make a killing from the sell-off.投资者准备清仓以便大赚一笔。
• Last week my brother made a killing on Wall Street.上个周我兄弟在华尔街赚了一大笔。

6 prey   

n.被掠食者，牺牲者，掠食；v.捕食，掠夺，折磨

参考例句：

• Stronger animals prey on weaker ones.弱肉强食。
• The lion was hunting for its prey.狮子在寻找猎物。