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Prairie Dogs: Man’s Closest Friend 语言专家草原犬鼠

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Romping across the vast, wind-rolling prairies of North America and poking their adorable heads out of their underground burrows, prairie dogs have become an enduring symbol of the flatlands. Though half of their name is accurate, considering they do live on the prairie, the latter part is a bit misleading. ___1___ Early settlers in the region, who arrived in the 1700s, took to calling them dogs simply because they thought their cries sounded similar to a dog’s bark. ___2___

在辽阔的北美大草原上迎着风嬉戏，从地底巢穴中探出可爱的头来，草原犬鼠已经成为了这片平原恒久不变的代表。「草原犬鼠」这名字其实只对了一半，因为牠们的确生活在草原上，不过名称的后半部就会使人误解了。牠们事实上和狗没太大关系，反而跟另一种可爱小动物松鼠比较接近。18世纪到此定居的早期居民之所以称呼牠们为「犬」，纯粹是因为牠们的叫声听起来和狗很像。尽管两种生物发出的声音类似，在沟通的复杂性方面，草原犬鼠可是让狗吞了场大败仗。

Surprisingly, prairie dogs have a language that is second in complexity only to our own means of expressing ourselves. ___3___ These could include things such as the size, direction of approach, speed, and type of predator that is drawing near. As prairie dogs mature, their calls gain more nuances and become more varied. ___4___

令人惊讶的是，草原犬鼠的语言复杂性仅次于人类。牠们的叫声，更明确地说是警报声，包含着多种讯息，像是掠食者的体型、逼近的方向、速度以及种类。随着草原犬鼠日渐长成，牠们的叫声会产生越多细微的差异，且发展出更多的变化。相较之下，幼鼠的叫声就如同人类婴儿发出的牙牙学语一般。

Language isn’t the only thing prairie dogs and people have in common. Just like their human counterparts, prairie dogs are also very social creatures. They live together in “towns,” which are collections of prairie dogs families. ___5___ They’re really just touching their front teeth together, which helps them recognize one another. Who knows what further similarities wildlife biologists may find between prairie dogs and people?

语言可不是草原犬鼠和人类唯一的共同之处。草原犬鼠和我们一样，是群居性很强的动物。牠们会有好几个家族一起组成「小镇」比邻而居，成员彼此间打招呼的方式是亲吻对方，不过牠们接吻当然不是要表达爱慕之意。事实上牠们是在互碰门牙，帮助自己辨认对方。谁知道未来生物学家还会发现哪些草原犬鼠与人类的相似之处呢？

−by Joe Henley

(A)   Their barks, specifically their alarm calls, can contain multiple piece of information.

(B)   And when family members greet each other, they do so with a kiss, though in their case it’s not an expression of affection.

(C)   Generally, the prairie dog we obtain from a pet shop may either be a baby caught in the wild or from a breeder.

(D)  They’re not actually a species of dog but are instead related to another cute creature, the squirrel.

(E)   In contrast, the calls of the pups are rather like the babble uttered by human babies.

(F)    The two calls may sound somewhat alike, yet when it comes to sophisticated communication, prairie dogs have real dogs beat.

Vocabulary

单词发音

accurate [ˋækjərɪt] adj. 准确的；精确的

misleading [mɪsˋlidɪŋ] adj. 使人误解的

region [ˋridʒən] n. 地区，地带

take to 开始....to become fond of or attached to

complexity [kəmˋplɛksətɪ] n. 复杂（性）

predator [ˋprɛdətɚ] n. 食肉动物；掠夺者

mature [məˋtjʊr] v. 变成熟

biologist [baɪˋɑlədʒɪst] n. 生物学家

specifically [spɪˋsɪfɪk!ɪ] adv. 特别地；明确地；具体地

multiple [ˋmʌltəp!] adj. 多的; 多种的

species [ˋspiʃiz] n.〔动植物的〕物种﹐种

in contrast 相比之下

utter [ˋʌtɚ] v. 发出（声音等）；说，讲

sophisticated [səˋfɪstɪ͵ketɪd] adj. 复杂的，精密的

More Information

单词发音

romp [rɑmp] v. 蹦蹦跳跳，喧闹地玩耍

rolling [ˋrolɪŋ] adj. 摇晃的﹐摇摆的

prairie [ˋprɛrɪ] n. 大草原；牧场

poke [pok] v. 伸出，突出

adorable [əˋdorəb!] adj.【口】可爱的

burrow [ˋbɝo] n.（兔，狐等的）洞穴，地道

flatland [ˋflætˌlænd] n. 平原 a geographic area composed chiefly of land that varies little in elevation

nuance [ˋnjuɑns] n.（色调，音调，意义，见解等的）细微差别

alarm [əˋlɑrm] n. 警报

greet [grit] v. 问候﹐招呼

breeder [ˋbridɚ] n. 育种者; 饲养者; 繁殖者

squirrel [ˋskwɝəl] n. 松鼠

pup [pʌp] n.（小狐，小海豹等）幼小的动物

babble [ˋbæb!] n. 模糊不清的话；嘈杂声

beat [bit] adj.【口】筋疲力尽的；垂头丧气的 defeated

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