关于动物的14个误解要了解一下哦Word格式.docx

1、误解一：香草冰淇淋和其他食品里有海狸屁股的分泌物。Youve probably heard that a secretion called castoreum, isolated from the anal gland of a beaver, is used in flavourings and perfumes.你大概听说过有一种叫作海狸香的分泌物，这是从海狸的肛腺中分离出来的物质，用于制作调味料和香水。But castoreum is so expensive, at up to $70 per pound of anal gland （the cost to humanely milk

2、 castoreum from a beaver is likely even higher）, that its unlikely to show up in anything you eat.但是海狸香非常昂贵，每磅肛腺价格高达70美元（如果用人道的方式从海狸屁股汲取海狸香花费很可能更高），所以海狸香在你食用的东西里出现是不大可能的。In 2011, the Vegetarian Resource Group wrote to five major companies that produce vanilla flavoring and asked if they use castoreu

3、m. The answer: According to the Federal Code of Regulations, they cant. （The FDA highly regulates what goes into vanilla flavoring and extracts.）2011年，素食资源团体写信给五个生产香草调味料的大公司，问他们是否使用了海狸香。答案是：根据美国联邦法规，他们不能这么做。（美国联邦法规对用于香草调味料和香草精的物质有严格规定。）Its equally unlikely youll find castoreum in mass-marketed goods

4、, either.同样，在大众化商品中找到海狸香也是不太可能的。 Dogs and cats are colourblind.误解二：狗和猫都是色盲。Dogs and cats have much better colour vision than we thought.狗和猫对颜色的辨别力比我们想的强多了。Both dogs and cats can see in blue and green, and they also have more rods the light-sensing cells in the eye than humans do, so they can see bet

5、ter in low-light situations.狗和猫都可以辨别蓝色和绿色，而且它们的视杆细胞（眼睛里的感光细胞）比人类还多，在弱光环境下视力比人类更好。This myth probably comes about because each animal sees colours differently than humans.这个误解很可能是源于每种动物看到的颜色都和人类不同。Reds and pinks may appear more green to cats, while purple may look like another shade of blue.红色和粉色在猫看来可

6、能更绿一些，而紫色也许在猫眼里是另一种蓝色。Dogs, meanwhile, have fewer cones the colour-sensing cells in the eye so scientists estimated that their colour vision is only about 1/7th as vibrant as ours.与此同时，狗的视锥细胞（眼睛里的感色细胞）更少，所以科学家估计狗对颜色的辨别力只有人类的七分之一。 Humans evolved from chimpanzees.误解三：人类是从大猩猩进化而来的。Chimps and humans sha

7、re uncanny similarities, not the least of which is our DNA about 98.8 percent is identical.大猩猩和人类确实是有很多诡异的相似之处，尤其是DNA大约有98.8%是相同的。However, evolution works as incremental genetic changes add up through many generations. Chimps and humans did share a common ancestor between 6 and 8 million years ago b

8、ut a lot has changed since then.但是，进化是经历许多代累积产生的基因改变。大猩猩和人类确实在600万至800万年前拥有同一个祖先，但是自那以后很多事情都发生了变化。Modern chimps evolved into a separate （though close） branch of the ape family tree.现代大猩猩进化成了猿猴大家族的一个独立（尽管关系很近的）分支。 Lemmings jump off cliffs in mass suicides.误解四：旅鼠会集体跳崖自杀。Lemmings do not commit mass sui

9、cide.旅鼠并不会集体自杀。During their migrations, or if they wander into an area they are unfamiliar with, they sometimes do fall off cliffs.在迁徙过程中，如果旅鼠走到了一块不熟悉的地方，它们有时确实会跌下悬崖。No one knows exactly when the myth started, but a 1958 Disney video called White Wilderness, which won an Oscar for best documentary f

10、eature, has emerged over the years as the likeliest suspect.没人知道这个误解是从哪里开始的，但是曾获得奥斯卡奖的1958年迪士尼纪录片白色荒野极有可能是这些年来这种误解的起源。 Bats are blind.误解五：蝙蝠是瞎子。Being blind as a bat means not being blind at all.“和蝙蝠一样瞎”的意思是一点也不瞎。While many use echolocation to navigate, all of them can see.尽管很多蝙蝠用回声定位能力来导航，但所有的蝙蝠都能看得

11、见。 Ostriches hide by putting their heads in the sand.误解六：鸵鸟想躲起来就把头埋在沙子里。Ostriches do not stick their heads in the sand when threatened. In fact, they dont bury their heads at all.鸵鸟在受到威胁的时候不会把头埋在沙子里。事实上，它们根本就不会把头埋起来。When threatened, ostriches sometimes flop on the ground and play dead.在受到威胁时，鸵鸟有时会倒在

12、地上装死。 People get warts from frogs and toads.误解七：人们碰到青蛙和蟾蜍会长疣子。Frogs or toads wont give you warts, but shaking hands with someone who has warts can.青蛙或蟾蜍不会让你长疣子，但是和长疣的人握手会让你长疣子。The human papillomavirus is what gives people warts, and it is unique to humans.让人长疣子的是乳头瘤病毒，这也是人类独有的。 Sharks can smell a dr

13、op of blood from miles away.误解八：鲨鱼在几英里外可以闻到一滴血的气味。This one is a big exaggeration. Jaws is not coming for you from across the ocean if you bleed in the water.这个就太夸张了。如果你在海里流血，鲨鱼不会从海的那一头游过来吃你。Shark have a highly enlarged brain region for smelling odours, allowing some of the fish to detect as little a

14、s 1 part blood per 10 billion parts water roughly a drop in an Olympic-size swimming pool.鲨鱼大脑中有一块特别大的区域和闻气味有关，这让一些鲨鱼能够觉察到100亿份水中的一份血大约相当于奥运会游泳池中的一滴血。But the ocean is much, much, much bigger and it takes a while for odor molecules to drift. On a very good day when the currents are favourable, a shar

15、k can smell its prey from a few football fields away not miles.但是海洋比游泳池要大的多得多，而且气味分子要传过去也需要一段时间。如果天气好，洋流方向又有利的话，鲨鱼可以闻到几个足球场面积以外的猎物但不是几英里。 Giraffes sleep for only 30 minutes a day.误解九：长颈鹿每天只睡30分钟。Giraffes have fairly normal sleeping patterns, as far as diurnal animals go.在白天活动的动物当中，长颈鹿的睡眠模式很正常。To deb

16、unk this one, researchers closely monitored a herd of five adult and three young giraffes for 152 days, counting all of their naps and deep sleeps. The animals typically slept overnight and napped in the afternoon （sound familiar?）.为了破除这个误解，研究人员在152天的时间里密切监视了五头成年长颈鹿和三头幼年长颈鹿，计算了它们打盹和深度睡眠的时间。长颈鹿通常在晚上睡

17、觉，在下午小睡。（听上去是不是很熟悉？In total, each giraffe slept about 4.6 hours every day.总体而言，每头长颈鹿每天大约睡4.6个小时。 There are bugs in your strawberry Frappuccino.误解十：你的草莓星冰乐里有小虫子。This one used to be true but not anymore.以前是这样的，但现在不是了。Before April 2012, Starbucks strawberry Frappuccino contained a dye made from the gro

18、und-up bodies of thousands of tiny insects, called cochineal bugs or Dactylopius coccus.在2012年4月之前，星巴克的草莓星冰乐里含有一种用数千条小虫子身体碾碎做成的染料，这种虫子叫胭脂虫。Farmers in South and Central America make a living harvesting （and pulverising） the bugs that go into the dye. Their crushed bodies produce a deep red ink that i

19、s used as a natural food colouring, which was called cochineal red but is now called carmine colour.美洲南部和中部的农民以抓捕和碾碎胭脂虫做染料为生。胭脂虫磨碎的身体会产生一种深红色的染料，用来做天然的食品着色剂，这种红色过去叫“胭脂虫红”，不过现在叫洋红色。Starbucks stopped using carmine colour in their strawberry Frappuccinos in 2012. But the dye is still used in thousands

20、of other food products from Nerds candies to grapefruit juice. Not to mention cosmetics, like lovely shades of red lipstick.2012年星巴克停止在草莓星冰乐里放胭脂虫染色剂。但是这种染料仍然用在数千种其他食品中从Nerds糖果到葡萄汁。更别提化妆品了，比如各种美丽色调的口红。 Sharks dont get cancer.误解十一：鲨鱼不会得癌症。Back in 2013, researchers reported a huge tumour growing out of

21、 the mouth of a great white shark, and another on the head of a bronze whaler shark.2013年，研究人员曾报告称在一头大白鲨的口中发现一颗巨大的肿瘤，并在另一头短尾真鲨的头上也发现了一颗肿瘤。And those arent the only cases of shark cancers: Other scientists have reported tumours in dozens of different shark species.而且，这并不是鲨鱼得癌症的特例：其他科学家也报告过几十种不同鲨鱼出现的肿瘤

22、。The myth that sharks dont get cancer was reportedly created by William Lane to sell shark cartilage as a cancer treatment.认为鲨鱼不会得癌症的误解据说是威廉莱恩制造的，他试图将鲨鱼软骨作为抗癌食物售卖。 Goldfish cant remember anything for longer than a second.误解十二：金鱼对任何事情的记忆都不超过一秒。Goldfish actually have pretty good memories.金鱼其实记忆力相当好。Th

23、ey can remember things for months, not seconds like many people say.它们对事物的记忆力可长达数月，而不像许多人所说的只有数秒。 Humans got HIV because someone had sex with a monkey.误解十三：人类得艾滋病是因为有人和猴子发生性关系。The human immunodeficiency virus, or HIV, almost certainly didnt jump to humans through human-monkey sex.人体免疫缺损病毒，即艾滋病毒，基本可以

24、肯定不是通过人和猴子的性交传播给人类的。Based on the virus genetic similarity to a strain of simian immunodeficiency virus, or SIV, that infects chimpanzees, most experts think the virus jumped to humans through hunting primates for bush-meat food.基于艾滋病毒与黑猩猩之间传播的一种猿猴免疫缺损病毒的基因相似性，多数专家认为该病毒是通过猎杀灵长类动物以获取野味食物而传播给人类的。This i

25、nteraction may have led to blood-to-blood contact perhaps through an open cut on the hunter and the transfer of a new strain that could silently infect people.在捕猎过程中可能会有血液接触也许是通过猎人身上的一道伤口从而导致人类不知不觉地传染上了这种新疾病。 Any shark that stops swimming will suffocate and die.误解十四：停止游泳的鲨鱼都会窒息而死。You often hear shar

26、ks can breathe only when swimming pushes water over their gills.你经常听说鲨鱼只有在游泳时才能呼吸，因为游起来时水才能从鱼鳃流出。Thats true of a lot of sharks, but many others like bottom-dwelling nurse sharks can pump oxygen-rich water over their gills without swimming.很多鲨鱼都是如此，但也有很多其他鲨鱼比如住在海底的护士鲨就算不游泳，富含氧气的水也可以从鱼鳃流出。All sharks lack swim bladders, however, so if they stop swimming they will sink to the bottom. Luckily a sharks body is incompressible and rapid descents or ascents dont harm them.但是，所有的鲨鱼都没有鱼鳔，所以如果不游泳的话他们就会沉到海底。幸运的是，鲨鱼的身体不会被压缩，迅速的沉降和上浮都不会伤害到它们。