第9课

旁白 neutral

Cats never fail to fascinate human beings.

猫总是能吸引人类。

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They can be friendly and affectionate towards humans, but they lead mysterious lives of their own as well.

它们可以对人类友好和亲热，但它们也有自己的神秘生活。

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They never become submissive like dogs and horses.

它们从不像狗和马那样变得顺从。

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As a result, humans have learned to respect feline independence.

结果，人类学会了尊重猫的独立性。

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Most cats remain suspicious of humans all their lives.

大多数猫一生都对人类保持警惕。

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One of the things that fascinates us most about cats is the popular belief that they have nine lives.

关于猫最吸引我们的一点是，人们普遍认为它们有九条命。

旁白 neutral

Apparently, there is a good deal of truth in this idea.

显然，这种说法有相当多的真实性。

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A cat's ability to survive falls is based on fact.

猫从高处跌落后幸存的能力是有事实依据的。

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Recently the New York Animal Medical Centre made a study of 132 cats over a period of five months.

最近，纽约动物医疗中心对132只猫进行了为期五个月的研究。

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All these cats had one experience in common: they had fallen off high buildings,

所有这些猫都有一个共同的经历：它们都从高楼上跌落过，

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yet only eight of them died from shock or injuries.

然而只有八只死于休克或受伤。

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Of course, New York is the ideal place for such an interesting study, because there is no shortage of tall buildings.

当然，纽约是进行这项有趣研究的理想地点，因为那里不缺少高楼大厦。

旁白 neutral

There are plenty of high-rise windowsills to fall from!

有很多高层窗台可供跌落！

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One cat, Sabrina, fell 32 storeys, yet only suffered from a broken tooth.

一只名叫萨布丽娜的猫从32层楼高的地方摔下，却只受了牙齿折断的伤。

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'Cats behave like well-trained paratroopers,' a doctor said.

“猫的行为就像训练有素的伞兵，”一位医生说。

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It seems that the further cats fall, the less they are likely to injure themselves.

猫似乎跌落得越远，受伤的可能性就越小。

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In a long drop, they reach speeds of 60 miles an hour and more.

在长距离跌落中，它们的速度可达每小时60英里甚至更高。

旁白 neutral

At high speeds, falling cats have time to relax.

在高速跌落时，猫有时间放松。

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They stretch out their legs like flying squirrels.

它们像飞鼠一样伸展四肢。

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This increases their air-resistance and reduces the shock of impact when they hit the ground.

这增加了它们的空气阻力，并减少了它们撞击地面时的冲击。