BBC英语六分钟-每天坚持口语How do pets navigate

Howdopetsnavigate?BBC英语六分钟练起来（2023.03.01）Transcript

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transcriptNeilWelcometo6MinuteEnglish,theprogrammewherewebringyouaninterestingtopicandsixusefulwordsorphrases.I'mNeil.DanAndI'mDan.Todaywe'retalkingaboutoneofthelastmysteriesofscience.No,notiftheuniversewillkeepexpandingforever,butthis:howdocatsanddogsfindtheirwayhomeoverlongdistances?NeilWehearincrediblestoriesoflostpetstravellingtensandevenhundredsofmileshome–butscientistsstruggletoexplainhowtheydoit.DanWe'llheartheviewofonescientisttoday.Butbeforethat–Ihavetoaskanimportantquestion:Neil,areyou

acatperson

or

adogperson?NeilOh,that'seasy–I'm

acatperson,forsure.Dogsarejusta…well,theyarehardwork,aren'tthey?DanIfyousayyouare'acatperson'itmeansyouprefercats.'Acoffeeperson'preferscoffee.A'something'personlikesorprefersthatthing,oftenoveranotherthing.NeilBacktothetopic,I'm

acatperson.Butcanyouanswerthis,Dan?Recently,acatcalledOmarmadeheadlinesforbeing,possibly,theworld'slongestcat.HowlongisOmar?Isit…a)120cmb)80cmOrc)180cmDanI'mgonnasayc)180cm.NeilNow,fromlongcatstolong-distancecats.Scientistswere

scratchingtheirheads

acoupleofyearsagowhenalostcatcalledHollytravelled200milestogethome.Howdiditdoit?DanWesayyou'scratchyourhead'whenyouareconfusedaboutsomething.Thereareafewtheoriesabouthowcatsanddogsnavigate–butwedon'tyethavethefullanswer.NeilWell,bothcatsanddogshaveanextremelypowerfulsenseofsmell,ofcourse.Smellsarelikesignposts–theyletyouknowwhereyouare.Visual

landmarks

alsoplayarole,justastheydowithhumans.A

landmark

issomethingveryeasilyrecognised–abigbuildingormountainforexample.DanAndwhataboutthisone:

magnets

arepiecesofmetalwhichattractcertainotherkindsofmetal-forexample,ironorsteel.TheEarthitselfhasa

magnetic

force.NeilBirdsuseittohelpthemnavigateoverthousandsofmiles–ittellsthemwherenorthis.It'sthoughttheyhavesomeironintheirbeaks.DanButsomescientiststhinkmammalsalsohavethiscapability.NeilSowehaveafewideas–smell,

landmarks,

magnetic

forces–butcanweexplainhowonekittytravelledover200milesbyitselfbacktoitshome?DanLet'shearfromcatanddogexpertDrJohnBradshaw.Howdocatsbuildupthemapsintheirheads?INSERTDrJohnBradshaw,SchoolofVeterinarySciences,UniversityofBristolWhattheydowhentheyareinanew

territory

isexploreitinavery

systematic

way.Sotheywillgooutinever-increasingcircles,they'llliterallyconstructamentalmapintheirheads.Andsoacatthat'slostitsterritoryprobablydoesthesamething.They'llrelyontheideathatiftheygooutinever-increasingcirclesorrectanglestheneventuallythey'lleithercomeacrossthe

territory

orthey'llcomeacrossasmellcarriedonthewindoftheterritorythattheyusedtoliveinandthenbeabletogohome.DanCatshavea

systematic

approach–whichmeanstheyusea

system.Whichis:firsttheywalkaroundtheirareainasmallcircle,thenabiggeroneandthenabiggerone–untiltheyhaveastrongmentalmapoftheplace.NeilYes–amentalmapisamapinyourhead–storedinyourmemory.Andtheareacatsexplore–theirhomearea-iscalledtheir

territory.Catsare

territorial

–whichmeanstheir

territory

isveryimportanttothem.DanHavingamapisgreat,butwhathappenswhenacatgetslost?DrBradshawsaysthatagain,itmovesaroundinbiggerandbiggercircles,untilitfindsaclue–whichisa

landmark

orasmell–thattellsitwhereitis.Well,that'sthetheory.ThoughDrBradshawsayswereallystilldon'thaveenoughdata–that'senoughinformationaboutthis.NeilWhenthereisascientificbreakthrough-we'llbringittoyouin6MinuteEnglish,Ihope.Fornow,let'scontentourselveswithOmar,possibly,theworld'slongestcat.Howlong,Dan?DanIsaid180cm.NeilOmarmeasures120cm–that'sovertwothirdsofmyheight–andweighsaheavy14kg.DanWell,onething,Neil,ifOmarevergotlost,he'dbefoundinnotime.NeilHe'sa

landmark

inhimself!Whichremindsme–let'srunthroughtoday'swordsagain.Ifyou're

acatperson,youprefercats.Ifyou're

aneveningperson

–youpreferevenings.DanI'vealwaysthoughtyouwereakindperson,Neil.NeilNiceofyoutosay,butweonlyusethephrasewithnouns,notadjectives!DanIndeed.Wedon'twantthelistenerstobe

scratchingtheirheads.NeilNo,wecan'tconfusethem!Solet'sexplainthenextoneclearly–a

landmark

issomethingeasilyrecognisablethatletsyouknowwhereyouare.ThebridgesinLondonare

landmarks.DanAndcanwesaytheparksare

magnets

insummer?A

magnet

isapieceofmetalthatattractsironandsteel–butwecanalsousethewordmorewidelytodescribethingsthatattractotherthings.Twomorewords:

territory

isanoun–theareaoflandthatananimalconsiderstobeitsown.NeilAnimalswhofeelthisstronglyaredescribedas

territorial.Humanscanbetoo–aboutlandorsubjectstheyfeeltheyownorcontrol.DanAndfinally

systematic:theadjectivefromsystem.Wecantalkabouta

systematicapproach,a

systematic

solution,a

systematic

study…NeilAndwehave

systematically

workedourwaythroughalloftoday'swords!DanVerygood!Whichmeans–it'stimementionourownonline

territory

–ourwebsiteandsocialmediapages.NeilCheckusoutonFacebook,Twitter,InstagramandYouTube,andofcourse!DanByebyefornow.NeilGoodbye!

Vocabularya(cat)person

someonewholikesorprefers(cats)toscratchyourhead(aboutsomething)tobeconfused(aboutsomething)landmarksomethingwhichiseasilyrecognisableandhelpsyoufindyourwaymagnetapieceofmetalwhichattractscertainmetalssystematicdoneaccordingtoasystemterritorytheareaananimalcontrolsTranscript双语版Welcometo6MinuteEnglish,theprogrammewherewebringyouaninterestingtopicandsixusefulwordsorphrases.I’mNeil.欢迎来到6分钟英语，本节目将为您带来有趣的话题以及6个实用单词。我是尼尔。

AndI’mDan.Todaywe’retalkingaboutoneofthelastmysteriesofscience.No,notiftheuniversewillkeepexpandingforever,butthis:howdocatsanddogsfindtheirwayhomeoverlongdistances?

我是丹。今天我们将探索一个科学界的未解之谜。但是如果宇宙继续延伸下去，可能就不算了。但是，猫和狗是怎样从很远的地方找到回家的路的呢？

Wehearincrediblestoriesoflostpetstravellingtensandevenhundredsofmileshome–butscientistsstruggletoexplainhowtheydoit.

我们时常听到这样的故事，很多不慎丢失的宠物能够从几十甚至几百英里意外走回家。但科学家似乎还不能解释它们是怎么找回家的。

We’llheartheviewofonescientisttoday.Butbeforethat–Ihavetoaskanimportantquestion:Neil,areyouacatpersonoradogperson?

今天我们将听到一位科学家观点。但是在那之前，我需要问你一个重要问题，尼尔，你是一个catperson还是dogperson？

Oh,that’seasy–I’macatperson,forsure.Dogsarejusta…well,theyarehardwork,aren’tthey?

简单，我是个猫奴。狗的话有点...不太好处理，不是吗？

Ifyousayyouare’acatperson’itmeansyouprefercats.’Acoffeeperson’preferscoffee.A’something’personlikesorprefersthatthing,oftenoveranotherthing.

如果你说你是个catperson，意思就是你很喜欢猫。“coffeeperson”就是很喜欢咖啡的人。一个“……人”喜欢或偏好某个东西，通常更甚于另外一种。

Backtothetopic,I’macatperson.Butcanyouanswerthis,Dan?Recently,acatcalledOmar

madeheadlinesforbeing,possibly,theworld’slongestcat.HowlongisOmar?Isit…a)120cmb)80cmOrc)180cm

回到原来的话题。我很喜欢猫。但是丹你能回答一下这个问题么？最近一只叫Omar的猫登上头条，原因似乎是它是世界上最长的猫。它有多长呢？A120厘米B80厘米C180厘米

I’mgonnasayc)180cm.

我猜是C180厘米。

Now,fromlongcatstolong-distancecats.ScientistswerescratchingtheirheadsacoupleofyearsagowhenalostcatcalledHollytravelled200milestogethome.Howdiditdoit?

现在我们要从身体很长的猫谈到长途猫了。几年前一只叫Holly的猫丢在离家200英里外的地方，但它最后成功找到回家的路。科学家对此很费脑筋。它究竟是如何做到的呢？（Holly）Wesayyou’scratchyourhead’whenyouareconfusedaboutsomething.Thereareafewtheoriesabouthowcatsanddogsnavigate–butwedon’tyethavethefullanswer.

当你说到“scratchyourhead”，你的意思是对某事感到困惑。关于猫狗如何导航回家，有许多理论研究。但是都没有得到圆满的答案。

Well,bothcatsanddogshaveanextremelypowerfulsenseofsmell,ofcourse.Smellsarelikesignposts–theyletyouknowwhereyouare.Visuallandmarksalsoplayarole,justastheydowithhumans.Alandmarkissomethingveryeasilyrecognised–abigbuildingormountainforexample.

猫和狗够具有强大的嗅觉能力。嗅觉就相当于指示牌，可以让他们知道自己在哪。看得见的地标也有重要作用，就像对人类的作用一样，地标很容易被认出来，比如一幢大楼或一座山。

Andwhataboutthisone:magnetsarepiecesofmetalwhichattractcertainotherkindsofmetal-forexample,ironorsteel.TheEarthitselfhasamagneticforce.

那这个呢：磁铁属于金属的一部分，但它可以吸引另一种金属，比如铁或者钢。地球本身也存在磁力。

Birdsuseittohelpthemnavigateoverthousandsofmiles–ittellsthemwherenorthis.It’sthoughttheyhavesomeironintheirbeaks.

鸟儿们根据磁力飞行数千英里——因此磁力可以告诉它们哪边是北方。有人认为它们的嘴里带有铁质物质。

Butsomescientiststhinkmammalsalsohavethiscapability.

但有些科学家认为哺乳类动物同样有这种能力。

Sowehaveafewideas–smell,landmarks,magneticforces–butcanweexplainhowonekittytravelledover200milesbyitselfbacktoitshome?

那么我们有点思路了，嗅觉、路标、磁力——但是怎么解释一只猫能够独自徒步200多英里回到家呢？

Let’shearfromcatanddogexpertDrJohnBradshaw.Howdocatsbuildupthemapsintheirheads?

来听听猫犬专家约翰·布拉德肖博士怎么说。猫咪是如何在大脑中构建地图的？

Whattheydowhentheyareinanewterritoryisexploreitinaverysystematicway.Sotheywillgooutinever-increasingcircles,they’llliterallyconstructamentalmapintheirheads.Andsoacatthat’slostitsterritoryprobablydoesthesamething.They’llrelyontheideathatiftheygooutinever-increasingcirclesorrectanglestheneventuallythey’lleithercomeacrosstheterritoryorthey’llcomeacrossasmellcarriedonthewindoftheterritorythattheyusedtoliveinandthenbeabletogohome.

们在陌生领域会用一种非常系统化的方式探索周围环境。因此它们会以自己为中心不断扩大活动范围，在头脑中构建一张虚拟地图。一只猫离开自己领地可能也会做同样的事情。它们会有一种想法：如果将活动范围以圆圈或矩形逐渐扩大，或许它们会偶然找回曾经住过的地方，或者凭借风中传来的气味找回家。

Catshaveasystematicapproach–whichmeanstheyuseasystem.Whichis:firsttheywalkaroundtheirareainasmallcircle,thenabiggeroneandthenabiggerone–untiltheyhaveastrongmentalmapoftheplace.

猫有一种系统的方式，也就是说它们利用一种系统。首先，它们会在脑海中将自己周围圈起来，然后将圆圈不断扩大直到在头脑中勾画出这个地方的地图。

Yes–amentalmapisamapinyourhead–storedinyourmemory.Andtheareacatsexplore–theirhomearea-iscalledtheirterritory.Catsareterritorial–whichmeanstheirterritoryisveryimportanttothem.

是的，心理地图是指你头脑中的地图，保存在你的记忆中。猫所探索的地区，也就是它们的家所在的地区，就是它们的领地。猫是很有领土意识的，领地对它们来说非常重要。

Havingamapisgreat,butwhathappenswhenacatgetslost?DrBradshawsaysthatagain,itmovesaroundinbiggerandbiggercircles,untilitfindsaclue–whichisalandmarkorasmell–thattellsitwhereitis.Well,that’sthetheory.ThoughDrBradshawsayswereallystilldon’thaveenoughdata–that’senoughinformationaboutthis.

能有地图是一件很棒的事，但要是一只猫走丢了呢？布拉德肖博士也说了，猫会不断扩大活动范围，直到发现线索——一个路标，或一种气味，明白自己现在的位置。就是这个理论。就是这个理论。即使布拉德肖博士表示还缺乏足够的数据，但这些信息足以回答那个问题了。

Whenthereisascientificbreakthrough-we’llbringittoyouin6MinuteEnglish,Ihope.Fornow,let’scontentourselveswithOmar,possibly,theworld’slongestcat.Howlong,Dan?

如果有重大科学突破，我们希望会在6分钟英语节目中告知您。现在，我们来谈谈Omar，这只传说中世界最长的猫。它有多长呢？丹？

Isaid180cm.

我说的是180厘米。

Omarmeasures120cm–that’sovertwothirdsofmyheight–andweighsaheavy14kg.Omar身长120厘米，是我身高的三分之二了。它重达14公斤。(Omar)Well,onething,Neil,ifOmarevergotlost,he’dbefoundinnotime.

哇，这样的话，尼尔，要是Omar走丢了，它一定立刻就能被找到。

He’salandmarkinhimself!Whichremindsme–let’srunthroughtoday’swordsagain.Ifyou’re

acatperson,youprefercats.Ifyou’reaneveningperson–youpreferevenings.

它自己本身就是个标志物。这个词提醒我了，我们来回顾一下今天的单词。如果你是个catperson，说明你更喜欢猫，如果你是个eveningperson，说明你更喜欢夜晚。

I’vealwaysthoughtyouwereakindperson,Neil.

尼尔，我一直觉得你是个善良的人。

Niceofyoutosay,butweonlyusethephrasewithnouns,notadjectives!

很高兴听到这句话，但是我们只有名词这么用，不是形容词！

Indeed.Wedon’twantthelistenerstobe

scratchingtheirheads.

确实。我们不想让听众抓头皮。

No,wecan’tconfusethem!Solet’sexplainthenextoneclearly–a

landmark

issomethingeasi