Unit-6-Men-and-Animals新编大学英语第二版第三册课文翻译

PAGEPAGE4Unit6MenandAnimalsAggressioninHumansandAnimalsManmustbethemostaggressiveandcruelofalllivingcreatures.Wemaysayaviolentmanisbehaving"likeabeast",but,infact,nobeastbehavesasviolentlyasman.Whenaterritorialanimalorbirdintrudesontheterritoryofanothercreatureofthesamespecies,thelatterwillonlyperformsomehostilegesturestowarnofftheintruder.Nevertheless,shouldafightfollow,neithercreaturewillbebadlyhurt,fortheloserwillsavehimselfbymakingagestureofsubmission.Normallyoneanimalwillonlykillanotherforfood,andrarelydoesananimalkillamemberofitsownspecies.If,however,ananimalfindsitselfinabnormalconditions,itmayshowabnormalaggressiveness.Atigerthatoncecameoutofthejungleintoavillageandattackedamanwaslaterfoundtohaveaninjuredpawthathadevidentlypreventeditfromhuntingitsusualprey.Ifithadnothadthisdisabilityitwouldhaveundoubtedlystayedinthejungleandhuntedforfoodinthecustomaryway.Animalsinzoosarekeptincagesandoftenbecomemoreaggressivethantheywouldbeinthewild.Ifthecagedlion,forexample,werefreetowanderonthegrassyplainsofAfrica,itwouldbecontinuallyactive,rangingoverlongdistances,huntinginfamilygroups.Inthezooitisprobablybetterfedandcaredfor,butitisevidentlyboredandfrustratedforlackofcompany.Somezoologistsandpsychologistscomparemodernmantoacagedlion.Livingconditionsincrowdedcities,theysay,aresimilartothoseofanimalsinazooandmaketheinhabitantsunusuallyaggressive.Ifthehumanpopulationhadnotincreasedsorapidly,peoplewouldhavehadmorespaceandfreedom.Inprehistorictimesagroupofabout60peoplehadmanykilometresofemptylandtowanderandsearchforfoodin.Ifconditionshadremainedthus,manmighthavebeennomoreaggressivethanhisfellowcreatures.Asitis,itispossibleforasmanyas30,000peopletobeworkinginasingleoffice-building.Itisnotsurprisingifintheseconditionspeoplebehaveaggressivelytowardseachother.Infact,itisalmostimpossibleforthemtobehaveotherwise.Manmusthavebecomemoreaggressiveovertheyearsastheworldpopulationhasincreased.However,aggressioninitselfisnotnecessarilyabadthing.Somepsychologistsbelievethataggressionisabasichumaninstinctthatmustbesatisfied.Ifconstructivemeansarenotavailabletosatisfythisinstinct,manwillturntodestructivemeans.Theimpulsetoasserthimselfhasenabledhimtosurviveinadangerousworld,but,ironically,heisnowlikelytodestroyhisownspeciesunlessalternative,non-violentwaysofexpressingaggressioncanbefound.Infact,itisgrowingmoreandmoredifficultforpeopletoassertthemselvesasindividuals,astowns,nationsandorganizationsbecomesteadilybigger,withauthorityincreasinglycentralizedandremote.Amanwhomayoncehavebeenaself-employedcraftsman,masterofhisowntrade,mightnowhaveaboringjobinafactory.Asmallfirmthatonceworkedasateamtoproducehigh-qualitygoodsislikelytobeabsorbedintoavastorganizationwheretheirworkismechanicalandthereisnopossibilityforpersonalexpression.Unableintheseconditionstochanneltheiraggressionintocreativework,peoplewillprobablyexpressitthroughresentmentandanger.Attheinternationallevelanaccumulationofhostileemotionsfinallyfindsexpressioninlarge-scaleimpersonalwarfare.Amanwhowouldhesitatetohitanotherpersoninfrontofhiseyesmaykillthousandsofpeoplebydroppingabombfromaplane;tohimtheyaretooremotetobehumanbeings,butaremerelyfiguresonachartofhisroutinejob.Nevertheless,itmightbepossibleatleasttoimprovethesituation.Theencouragementofcompetitioninallpossiblefieldsshouldtendtodiminishthelikelihoodofwarratherthanincreaseit.InhisbookHumanAggression,AnthonyStorrsuggestedthattheUnitedNationsshouldorganizeinternationalcompetitionsinsportsandalsoforthebestdesignedhouseorhospital,orthesafestcar.Eventheenormousamountofmoneyandenergydevotedtothespaceraceis,hesays,tobewelcomed,forthiskindofcompetitioncanberegardedassimilartotheritualconflictsofanimals.Onlyifhostilityandaggressioncanbeexpressedinconstructiveactivityandnon-violentcompetition,willthehumanracebeabletosurvive.人和动物的好斗性人肯定是所有动物中最好斗和最残忍的。我们会说暴徒的行为“就像野兽”，然而事实上，没有任何一种动物像人类那样残暴。当地盘性的动物或鸟类侵入别的同类动物的领地时，后者只会做一些表示敌意的姿态来吓跑入侵者。而且，万一有争斗，任何一方都不会受重伤，因为败方只要做出姿态表示投降便可保全性命。一般情况下，动物之间只会为了争食而杀戮，同类动物之间自相残杀是极少见的。然而，如果动物发现自己处于异常环境下，它会表现出不同寻常的攻击性。有一只老虎从丛林跑到村庄来，袭击了人。后来人们发现原来它的爪子受了伤，使它显然不能像平时那样去猎食。如果不是受了伤，这只虎毫无疑问还会呆在丛林里，并像往常那样去猎取食物。关在动物园笼子里的动物，往往会比在野外时更加好斗。比如说，关在笼子里的狮子一旦能自由自在地徜徉在非洲的大草原上，那么它会一直活力充沛，长途跋涉，与家族同类一起追捕食物。在动物园里，也许它吃得更好，能得到精心的照料，但是，由于离群索居，它显然会感到倦怠，情绪沮丧。Butcriticswonderifdolphinscanbetrustedtoguardnuclearweapons.Foxworries,forinstance,thattheanimalsmaydecidetotakesurprisebreaksfromtheirduties."Youonlyhavecontroloverthemwhentheyarehungry,"hesays."Oncetheyarefulltheymaystartbeingalittletooplayful."Lt.Woodreportsthattheanimalsobeyorderswell.Andhestandsbyhisclaimthatweneeddolphinstoprotectthecountry.美国海军应该征募海豚吗？最初，他们曾在越南冒着生命危险守卫过美国船只。接着，在波斯湾他们保护美国海军舰队免遭鱼雷和地方蛙人的进攻。现在，他们也许会在华盛顿的普吉湾首位装备着核武器的潜水艇。他们是谁？海豚。美国海军计划征募16只海豚担任水下监视员。该计划引发了一场激烈的争论。美国海军认识到海豚是极其聪明的。他们说，海豚容易培训，并且在防卫敌人潜艇的突然袭击中能起重要作用。但是动物权利保护组织和海豚训练人员却反对这一计划。他们指责说军队征募这种动物是错误的。动物福利进步协会（PAWS）的米切尔·福克斯说，人类在自己的战争中使用动物是不道德的。15个动物权利保护组织联合起来把海军推上了法庭，PAWS是其中之一。这些组织指控海军的计划违背了保护动物不受虐待的联邦法律。福克斯举例说，海军计划使用在墨西哥湾温水海域里捕获的大西洋屏蔽海豚。他说，把这些海豚放入普吉湾冰冷的水里会使它们送命。有一只海豚在到达华盛顿州的海军潜艇基地的11天后就突然死亡了。但是海军部说他们把海豚照料的很好。海军发言人詹姆士·伍德上尉说：“危害他们，虐待他们或者把他们安置在不安全的地方都是很愚蠢的。那只会浪费我们的金钱和经历。”他说，在过去的四年里，海军已经花费了3，200万美元训练海洋哺乳动物。伍德上尉指出，如果海豚不喜欢训练，它们可以很容易地游走。1988年5月，《科学》杂志报道，在圣迭戈海军训练中心，有人把网剪开，这时五只海豚是有机会游走并得到自由的。但是他们就呆在附近。当早上训练员回来时，这些训练有素的海豚又游了回来。圣迭戈海军海豚训练中心的发言人托马斯·拉普什说，对该项目批评的主要原因是我们大家太喜欢海豚了。“海豚很漂亮，”他对《纽约时报》的记者说。“他们很可爱。人们在感情上对他们很依恋。我真希望能用母牛代替他们。这样事情可能就会好办得多。”但母牛无法胜任这项工作。海军部声称，海豚的声纳（通过声音跟踪）系统甚至优于人造跟踪设备。他们闭着眼睛也能确定在船舱底部的一片维生素药片的位置。海豚找东西时先发出咔嗒声或嘘嘘声，这些声音从物体反射回来产生的回声被海豚听到后，海豚就能确定物体的位置。这个系统叫做回声定位。这种会游泳的声纳很便宜。一天20磅鱼以及在鼻子上轻轻拍几下，就是海豚的全部需要。这对海军来说，实在太便宜了。伍德中尉说，真正做一个像海豚那么好的声纳系统会贵好多。但是批评家们怀疑海滩是否能担负起守卫核武器的重任。比如，福克斯很担心动物会擅离职守，突然决定休息。“你只能在他们饥饿时控制他们，”他说。“一旦他们吃饱了，也许会开始调皮捣蛋了。”伍德上尉汇报说动物非常遵守命令，而且坚持说我们需要海豚保家卫国。AnimalsontheJobAnimalsnotonlymakegoodpets,theysometimesmakeperfectworkers—iftheyhavetherighttraitsandtraining.Everymorning,Alliewakesupandaccompaniesherfriendtothewashroom.Sheturnsonthelight,soapsupawashcloth,andbeginscleaningherfriend'sface.IsAllieanextremelydevotedcompanion?Yes!Allieisacapuchinmonkeywhohelpsherdisabledfriendperformeverydaytasks.MonkeyslikeAlliearejustoneofmanykindsofanimalsthathelpimprove—orevensave—humanlives.Butnotallanimalsaresuitedtodoeveryjob.Certainanimalsare"hired"forspecificjobsbasedontheirtraits,orcharacteristics.Byusingdifferentmethodsofconditioning(traininganimalstoactinaparticularwayinresponsetoastimulus,orsignal),humanscanteachanimalstoperformextraordinarytasks.Throughouthistory,humanshavereliedonanimals'traitstogetcertainjobsdone.Forexample,comparedwithhumans,dogsare"farsuperiorattrackingdownodors,"saysMarianBailey,ananimalbehavioristatHendersonStateUniversityinArkansas.That'sbecausedogshavemillionsofolfactoryreceptors,orsmellnerves,intheirnoses.Forthatreason,huntersuseddogstotrackdownpreyeveninancientEgypt.Today,dogsmaybeemployedtosniffoutillegalsubstancesinschoollockersorearthquakevictimsburiedbeneaththerubbleofacollapsedbuildingorhighway.Primatesmaynotbegoodsniffers,buttheycancertainlylendahelpinghand—ortwo.Monkeysareperfecthelpmatesforquadriplegics,peopleparalyzedfromtheneckdownwhoareunabletousetheirownhands(andlegs).Likehumans,explainsBailey,monkeyshaveopposablethumbs—thumbsthatfacethehand'sotherfingers—somonkeyscanpickupobjects.Capuchinslearntoopendoors,cleanupspills,andunscrewbottletops.TheycanevengetasandwichoutoftherefrigeratorandloadyourfavoritetapeintotheVCR.AndspeakingofVCRs,animalsareevenhelpingscientistsmakeavideotape.JenniferHurley,ananimalresearcherattheLongMarineLabinSantaCruz,California,istrainingtwosealionstocarryvideocamerasontheirbackstorecordthenaturalbehaviorofwhales.Hurleycouldneverdivetothedepthsatwhichwhalesswim,shesays.Butsealionscan.Andwhalesbehavenaturallyaroundsealionsbecausethesemammalsarepartofthewhales'naturalenvironment—unlikehumansorsubmarine-likeresearchboats.Sohowdoyougetananimalemployeetodoitsjob?Theanswer:career-training.Trainersteachtheanimalstoobeytheirinstructionsthroughaprocesscalledconditioning.Mosttrainersconditionanimalsbyusingpositivereinforcement,rewardingananimalfordoingsomethingcorrectly,saysanimalbehavioristBailey.Forexample,trainersteachtheirdogshowtosniffoutdrugsbyhidingatowelwiththesmellofdrugs."Dogslovetoretrieveobjectssothetowelbecomesareward,"saysMorrisBerkowitz,whoheadsupacaninedrug-sniffingprograminNewYork.Afterrepeatingthisgameofhide-and-seekmanytimes,thedogbeginsto"associatetheodorwithareward,"saysBerkowitz.Whenhegivesthecommand,orstimulus,thedogseeksoutdrugs.(It'slikelearningtostudyhardforatestinordertogetagoodgradeasareward.)At"HelpingHands—MonkeyHelpersfortheDisabled,"capuchinmonkeysaretrainedtwicebeforebeingteamedwithadisabledhuman.First,monkeysareplacedwithafosterfamilytobecomesocializedtopeople.Forfiveyears,familieshelpthemonkeysadapttoahumanenvironment,sothemonkeyswilltrustandenjoybeingaroundpeople.Takingthemonkeysinwhenthey'refourtosixweeksoldisimportant,saysBailey."That'swhenmonkeysnormallybecomesocializedtoothermonkeys,"shesays.Second,trainersatHelpingHandstrainthemonkeystoperformspecifictaskstoassistaparticularperson.Forexample,amonkeymaybetrainedtoscratchanitch,orslipafloppydiscintoacomputerdrive.Trainersrewardthemonkeysbyusingpositivereinforcement,suchasfood,drink,praise,andaffection.Thisphaseoftrainingcantakeayear.从事工作的动物们动物不仅能成为很好的宠物，有时还能成为干活的好手——只要她们具备合适的特长并训练得当。每天早晨，阿莉醒来后就陪她的朋友到盥洗室。她打开灯，把毛巾打上肥皂，然后开始给她