Mirror, Mirror on the Wall 魔镜，魔镜……大象最美丽！

 

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Who’s the fairest of them all? Why, an elephant, of course. Researchers have recently discovered that elephants are ___1___ to recognize their own reflections. They can now happily join dolphins, chimpanzees and humans as the only animals able to admire ___2___ in the mirror.

魔镜，魔镜，哪一种动物最美丽？那还用问，当然是大象！研究者最近发现，大象能认出自己的映像。现在，牠们能开心地加入海豚、黑猩猩及人类的行列，成为少数几种能欣赏镜中自己的动物。

 

The ___3___ took place in October 2006 at the Bronx Zoo in New York. Researchers built a giant plastic mirror for three resident female elephants, Patti, Maxine and Happy. At first they worried ___4___ the elephants might try to rip it down. However, they soon realized that the three elephants were much too interested in watching themselves ___5___ that. The elephants quickly recognized the friendly faces ___6___ back at them as their own!

这项实验于2006年10月在纽约「布朗斯动物园」进行。研究者为园内三只母象派蒂、麦可欣和哈比做了一面巨大的塑料镜。一开始，研究人员担心大象可能会扯下镜子；但他们很快就发现，三只大象对镜中的自己太感兴趣而不会这么做。大象很快就认出那回看牠们的友善脸庞就是自己！

 

After seeing their reflections, Patti and Maxine began ___7___ around behind the mirror with their trunks. Next, they posed in front of the mirror and ___8___ their own actions. Finally, they investigated their own bodies in some amusing ways. Happy used her trunk to open her mouth wide, like she was visiting a ___9___. Maxine enjoyed using her trunk to pull her ears forward and examine them in front of the mirror. We can only imagine what these fascinating and ___10__ creatures were thinking, seeing their own beautiful faces for the first time.

看到自己的映像后，派蒂和麦可欣开始用鼻子在镜子后面打探。接着，牠们在镜前摆姿势，并重复自己的动作。最后，牠们以逗趣的方式研究自己的身体：哈比用鼻子将嘴巴撑大，宛如在看牙医；麦可欣喜欢用鼻子将耳朵往前拉，然后在镜前检查耳朵。至于这些迷人又聪明的动物首次看见自己的美貌时在想什么，我们只能全凭想象了。

 

−by Jamie Blackler

 

(A) themselves	(B) to do	(C) intelligent	(D) repeated	(E) that
(F) able	(G) nosing	(H)dentist	(I) experiment	(J) staring

 

Vocabulary

单词发音

 

 

reflection [rɪˋflɛkʃən] n. 映象，倒影

resident [ˋrɛzədənt] adj. 居住的

rip [rɪp] v. 扯

investigate [ɪnˋvɛstə͵get] v. 调查，研究

fascinating [ˋfæsn͵etɪŋ] adj. 迷人的

 

More Information

单词发音

 

 

chimpanzee [͵tʃɪmpænˋzi] n.【动】黑猩猩

admire [ədˋmaɪr] v. 欣赏

nose around 查探 to pry into something; to snoop around something.

trunk [trʌŋk] n. 象鼻

pose [poz] v. 摆姿势

 

 

 

Answer

1. ( F )	2. ( A )	3. ( I )	4. ( E )	5. ( B )
6. ( J )	7. ( G )	8. ( D )	9. ( H )	10. ( C )