爱华网Zoology 动物学
Flight compass逃 离 指 南
Deer use magnetic alignment to know which way to run.狍子使用地磁排列来得知逃跑路线。
翻译
Cora Sun
校对
Jaffic、李季
导读
李季
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导读：
一、集合名词
WHETHER it is a herd of gazelle, a court of kangaroos or a crash of rhinos, the sight of a group of animals turning from a predator and bolting in unison in the same direction is one of the most majestic in nature.
英文中，在表达集合名词的时候，经常会用动物的某种本性和特征来代替a group of，a herd of等千篇一律的方式，如“a pride of lions, a gaggle of geese, a murder of crows”。
但是本句中的a court of kangaroos和a crash of rhinos在各大词典中均找不到出处，花了较长的时间在下面这本专门讲集合名词表达方式的书中找到a court of kangaroos的由来，大意是这个并非是一个专门的表达方式，而是对“kangaroo court”这个习语的调侃。常用的是“a flock of kangaroos和a mob of kangaroos”。
后台回复“集合名词”下载本书，文件为epub格式，大小为68.6MB
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注：袋鼠法庭或者袋鼠审判 （英语：kangaroo court, kangaroo trial）是一个英文独有的名词，用于一些被人认为是不公平的法庭审判或者裁决。袋鼠法庭一词起源于19世纪美国，当时一些法官在偏远地区巡回办案，其收入来自办案数量甚至被告的罚金，因此将这种到处奔跑办案而不重视公正的法庭称为袋鼠法庭。美国最高法院1967年的判决书中也曾使用这个词："Under our Constitution, the condition of being a boy does not justify a kangaroo court."。[1]因为袋鼠可以决定自己的育儿袋中的幼儿，所以用袋鼠法庭一词来隐喻部分国家的法庭中法律没有得到良好贯彻，法律就像袋鼠育儿袋中的幼儿一样被人为地左右。也有释义认为袋鼠法庭是比喻法庭的幼稚可笑，因为在早期人类的眼中，袋鼠是比较可笑的动物。还有人认为袋鼠法庭是民间法庭的代名词，但这一释义没有相关材料支持。在一些发展中国家，法律精神没有得到良好的贯彻，很多国家不是没有法律，而是法律得不到良好的贯彻和落实。
-----摘自维基百科中文版
而a crash of rhinos的解释方式大概是两种，一种认为是犀牛的视力不大好，很有可能会撞在一起；另一种认为是犀牛力大无比，他的攻击可能是相当大的一种重击。以后者的解释居多。
二、长难句分析
Herdsmen and hunters have also long observed that grazing animals often tend to align themselves facing either north or south, which the researchers suspected was in readiness to escape in either of those directions should a threat emerge.
❶ which后面从句的结构要留意一下，这里面涉及到从句里面嵌套从句的情况，后面的非限制性定语从句还原成完整的句子会好懂一些：
The researchers suspected (that) which was in readiness to escape in either of those directions should a threat emerge.
which做了suspected后面宾语从句中的主语，然后再作为关系代词提前，这种句子在词典中比较多。
►If you describe someone as la-di-da, you mean that they have an upper-class way of behaving, which you think seems unnatural and is only done to impress people.
这种情况在涉及到who与whom时会出现选择的难题，因为表面上看上去，代词好像既做了动词的宾语，但同时也做了嵌套从句中的主语，比如下面的句子：
WRONG: Whom should I say is calling?
RIGHT: Who should I say is calling?
但是这里需要注意的是，say真正的宾语并不是who，而是一个它后面的宾语从句。在号称“主编的圣经”《芝加哥格式手册》（The Chicago Manual of Style，CMS or CMOS） 一书中对这种句式做了专门的阐述，摘录如下：
Who and whoever are the nominative forms, used as subjects {Whoever said that?} or predicate nominatives {It was who?}. Whom and whomever are the objective forms, used as the object of a ver b {You called whom?} or a preposition {To whom are you referring?}. Three problems arise with determining the correct case. First, because the words are so often found in the inverted syntax of an interrogative sentence, their true function in the sentence can be hard to see unless one sorts the words into standard subject--verb--object syntax. In this example, sorting the syntax into "I should say who is calling" makes the case easier to determine:
WRONG: Whom should I say is calling?
RIGHT: Who should I say is calling?
Second, determining the proper case can be confusing when the pronoun serves a function (say, nominative) in a clause that itself serves a different function (say, objective) in the main sentence.It is the pronoun's function in its clause that determines its case. In the first example below, the entire clause whoever will listen is the object of the preposition to. But in the clause itself, whoever serves as the subject, and that function determines its case. Similarly, in the second sentence whomever is the object of choose in the clause, so it must be in the objective case even though the clause itself serves as the subject of the sentence.
WRONG: I'll talk to whomever will listen.
RIGHT: I'll talk to whoever will listen.
WRONG: Whoever you choose will suit me.
RIGHT: Whomever you choose will suit me.
As the second example above shows, a further distraction can arise when the who clause contains a nested clause, typically of attribution or identification (here, you choose).
中文译文如下
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❷ 但是还原之后会出现一个小小的问题，那就是which根据主干句的信息以及其后面的“in readiness to escape in either of those directions should a threat emerge.来看，其先行词只能是“grazing animals”，但是偏偏其谓语部分的be动词用的却是“was”，这让人觉得非常费解。
Herdsmen and hunters have also long observed that grazing animals often tend to align themselves facing either north or south, which the researchers suspected was in readiness to escape in either of those directions should a threat emerge.
虽然在毛荣贵先生所著的《新世纪大学英汉翻译教程》中第153页中指出了这种代词与先行词的数不一致的现象并不鲜见，但是一般认为这种情况是一定要避免的。
顺便提一下，复数代词代指单数名词的在英语中有个比较有名的“singular they”，即用they来代指前面单数名词的现象，这个也是大家在写作的时候经常纠结的问题，词典中对此做出了比较详尽的解释，大家要知道这个点。
GRAMMAR
You can use they, them, and their to refer to a single person when you do not want to show that the person is male or female. People do this because they want to avoid suggesting that the person can only be male, or using longer expressions such as 'he or she', 'him or her' etc. 当你不想指明某人性别时可用 they, them 和 their。 人们这么做是想避免暗示此人只可能是男性，也避免用很长的词语如 he or she 或 him or her 等:
•If anyone doesn't like it, they can leave.如果有人不喜欢，可以离开。
•When a friend upsets you, do you tell them? 如果一个朋友使你不愉快，你会告诉他（她）吗？
•Someone has left their coat.有人忘了拿大衣。
However, some people consider this use to be incorrect. You can sometimes avoid the problem by making the subject plural. 但有人认为这么说是错误的，你可以把主语变成复数来避开这个问题:
•If people don't like it, they can leave.如果有人不喜欢，可以离开。
•When friends upset you, do you tell them?如果朋友使你不愉快，你会告诉他们吗？
❸ 句末的“should a threat emerge”如何理解？
Herdsmen and hunters have also long observed that grazing animals often tend to align themselves facing either north or south, which the researchers suspected was in readiness to escape in either of those directions should a threat emerge.
有些语法书可能会把should a threat emerge归类在虚拟语气中进行讲解，这样可能会对一些读者产生误导，认为某种现象是完全没有可能出现的一种表达方式，其实不然，如章振邦所著的《新编英语语法教程》中所述：“在这里，should仅表示一种不太肯定的婉转口气，并不影响条件的真实性”。简单说来就是这种条件是介于条件实现的几率比较大与纯属意淫的条件中的一种中间状态，经常会翻译成“万一”，即“有可能---万一有可能---万万不可能”的一种递变规律，我们以词典中的例句为补充。
7. POSSIBILITY 可能性, used to talk about something that may possibly happen or be true可能〔用于表示某事可能会发生或是真实的〕:
•Naturally, he was nervous in case anything should go wrong.万一出了问题，他自然很紧张。
•What if I should fall sick and not be able to work? 万一我生病无法工作的话怎么办？
should sb / sth do sth
•Should you need any help (=if you need any help) , you can always phone me at the office.
如果你需要什么帮助，可以打我办公室的电话。
POSSIBILITY 可能性
ESSENTIAL formal
■used when referring to a possible event in the future 万一…的话，如果…的话
•If anyone should ask for me, I'll be in the manager's office.万一有人找我，我就在经理办公室。
•Should you (= If you) ever need anything, please don't hesitate to contact me.如果你需要甚么，请直接和我联系吧。
6(formal) used to refer to a possible event or situation （表示可能）假如，万一
If you should change your mind, do let me know.
假如你改变主意的话，一定要告诉我。
In case you should need any help, here's my number.
万一你需要帮助的话，这是我的电话号码。
Should anyone call (= if anyone calls), please tell them I'm busy.
如果有人打电话来，请告诉他我正忙着。
本篇文章英文单词字数共计659个，另外，本公众号推送的第114期双语文章PDF与本期音频、本期纯英文word档已上传至360云盘，请点击导航栏“双语PDF下载”或者后台直接回复“TE”获取下载链接。点击文末“阅读原文”查看本期纯英文版。
1. WHETHER it is a herd of gazelle, a court of kangaroos or a crash of rhinos, the sight of a group of animals turning from a predator and bolting in unison in the same direction is one of the most majestic in nature. It is also one of the least understood. Now a group of researchers think they have come up with the reason why such animals seem instantly to know which way to run and not crash chaotically into one another: they use a sort of compass.
译文：无论是羚羊群、袋鼠群抑或是犀牛群，一群动物遇到捕食者扭头就跑，并协调一致地朝着同一方向逃窜是自然界最蔚为壮观的景象之一。但这也同样是最令人费解的景象之一。现今，一组研究人员认为他们已找到这类动物犹如直觉般得知逃脱路径而不会紊乱地撞到对方的原因：它们使用了某类指南。
2. To investigate this, Petr Obleser, a PhD student at the Czech University of Life Sciences in Prague, and his supervisor, Hynek Burda, studied roe deer commonly found on hunting grounds in South Bohemia and West Moravia in the Czech Republic. That some animals have an innate awareness of Earth’s magnetic field is well known: many use it to guide their migration. Herdsmen and hunters have also long observed that grazing animals often tend to align themselves facing either north or south, which the researchers suspected was in readiness to escape in either of those directions should a threat emerge.
译文：为了调查这一现象，坐落在布拉格的捷克大学生命科学专业博士生Petr Obleser与他的导师Hynek Burda研究了捷克共和国南波希米亚州与西摩拉维亚地区狩猎场内常见的狍子。众所周知，一些动物与生俱来便可察觉地球磁场，：许多动物运用这一本能指引迁徙。牧羊人与猎人在长期观察后也发现：食草类动物常倾向于让它们自己对准南方或是北方。根据研究人员的推测，这一行为是为了万一有威胁出现，动物能充分地准备在这两个方位中的任何一个逃生。
3. And that is largely what the roe deer did, Mr Obleser, Dr Burda and their colleagues report in Behavioral Ecology and Sociobiology. For their experiment, Mr Obleser began the arduous task of slowly walking through the wilderness areas at set times and in set locations for 46 days between April and August 2014.
译文：Obleser先生，Burda博士与他们的同僚在《行为生态学与社会生物学》期刊上发表，称这正是狍子的主要行为。为了这项实验，Obleser先生在2014年4月至8月期间开展了一项艰巨的任务：46天中，他需在特定的时间、特定的地点慢步通过荒野地区）。
4. Whenever he saw a roe deer, he immediately stopped and assessed whether the deer had seen him first by studying where its ears and eyes were directed. If the deer had not yet noticed him, he began recording information on the weather, position of the sun, visibility, light levels, surrounding habitat and if the deer was on its own or in a group. He also used a laser rangefinder to measure the distance between the animal and its nearest source of cover, as well as a compass to determine its geomagnetic orientation. Then he crept closer and closer. When the deer ultimately fled, he measured the direction of its flight. If the monitored deer was with others, which was often the case, the rest of the deer were ignored, so that accurate measurements of just an individual were obtained. In this way he accumulated data on 188 deer.
译文：无论何时，只要他看到狍子，他便立即停下脚步，通过研究狍子耳朵和眼睛所指的方位从而判断它是否在第一时间就注意到他。若狍子并没有注意他的存在，他便开始记录各类信息：天气情况，太阳方位，可见度，光线高度，周边环境，以及狍子是单独还是位于群体之中。他还会使用激光测距仪测量动物与离其最近的遮蔽物之间的距离，他同时也会使用指南针来探明当地的地磁场方向。接着，他蹑手蹑脚的缓慢靠近。当狍子最终逃离时，他测下其逃跑的方位。如若被监测的狍子与其他同类在一起(情况也常会是如此)，那么忽略其他的同类，从而得到单一个体的准确测量样本。通过这种方式，他积累了188头狍子的数据。
5. Mr Obleser found the deer were more likely to orient themselves in a northern or southern direction while standing and that they have a strong tendency to bolt in those directions as well. More specifically, it was found that when the deer were approached from the south, 52% of those studies ran north, 17% to the south and 31% either east or west. The results from northern approaches were not much different, with 67% racing to the south, 12% north and 21% east or west. Yet what proved fascinating were the results from eastern and western approaches. The researchers speculated that coming from the west ought to drive the majority of the deer eastward, but only 42% went that way while 50% headed north or south. An eastern approach caused 40% to go to the west and 43% north or south.
译文：Obleser先生发现狍子站立时更喜欢使自己面向南方或者北方，他同时也发现该动物有从这两个方向逃跑的强烈倾向。更确切地说，当从南方接近这些动物时，52%的被研究对象向北逃窜，17%奔向南方，31%向东西方向逃离。从北部接近所得到的结果也大同小异，向南逃窜的占67%，向北则占12%，向东西方向占21%。而从东西方向靠近该动物所得到的结果却令人瞩目。据研究人员推测：若从西边接近兽群应使大部分狍子向东移动，然而仅有42%的狍子往该方向移动，而向南北的却占50%。从东方接近使得其中的40%向西方逃跑，43%则向南北方逃窜。
6. Intriguingly, the tendency to run north or south did not appear to be related to weather, the position of the sun or any other environmental conditions. Even when the nearest cover was to the east or the west, the deer still preferred to initially bolt north or south before curving around and heading for the safe haven. Moreover, when deer were in a group, their tendency to move along the north-south axis grew stronger. Deer, the researchers argue, are not only sensitive to Earth’s magnetic field but also make use of it when it is time to run away.
译文：有趣的是，朝南北奔跑的趋势似乎与天气、太阳位置或其他任何环境因素没有关联。即便是最近的躲避处位于东西方向，狍子第一反应仍是偏向南北方逃离，接着再蜿蜒迂回跑至安全避难所。此外，当狍子以群体移动时，这种以南北轴方向移动的倾向性也会变大。研究人员表示，狍子不仅对地磁场有敏锐的反应而且当需要逃跑时也会使用这一反应。
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