時差N小時:鳥兒睡覺也唱歌

Don: I was awakened this morning by a flock ofbirds outside my bedroom window. They weresinging up a storm at five in the morning. Somebodyought to blast music in the ears of birds whenthey're sleeping. See how they like it.

唐：今天早上我被臥室窗外的一群鳥驚醒了，才五點鐘它們就開始喧鬧了。人們應該在鳥兒睡覺的時候往它們耳朵里灌些音樂才對——當然了，這些音樂應該是他們自己所喜歡的。

Yael: Well, actually, scientists have done just that, and there's reason to believe birds alreadyhave music on the brain when they're sleeping. Scientists believe that birds dream about theirsongs. The key is a structure in birds' brains that controls the nerves that make singingpossible. Not only does this structure control the bird's singing, but it also responds to sounds.What's interesting is that this structure has been shown to be significantly more responsive tosound, especially to recordings of the bird's own voice, when the bird is asleep. Even whenscientists aren't playing recordings of the bird's own songs to its sleeping brain, this structureshows bursts of activity throughout the duration of the creature's sleep cycle. So it seems thebird is hearing music in its head.

耶爾：哦，實際上，科學家們已經做到了這一點。而且，我們有理由相信，鳥兒即使睡覺時腦袋里也在縈繞著旋律?？茖W家們認為，鳥兒就是睡覺時也在唱歌。其中的關鍵是，鳥兒的腦部具有一種結構，這種結構用來控制歌唱神經。這種結構不但可以控制鳥兒的歌唱，還對各種聲音特別敏感。有趣的是，證明顯示，當鳥兒睡著時，這種結構尤其對鳥兒自己的聲音反應強烈。即使科學家們不向睡著的鳥兒播放它們自己的叫聲，這種結構的陣發(fā)性活動也會貫穿于鳥兒的整個睡眠周期。因此，這如同鳥兒在聆聽它們腦中的音樂一樣。

D: That's peculiar alright, but why would a bird want to dream about what he sings all day?

唐：這太神奇了。但是，鳥兒為何做夢還在唱?他們都唱了一整天了。

Y: The theory is that dreaming about its songs helps the bird learn its songs and possiblyimprove them. As with most activities in life, birds learn to sing by studying and practicing. Tobe good singers they need to listen to songs and reproduce them. Scientists believe that whenthe bird sleeps it might be re-playing songs from the day, possibly memorizing the songs andtrying out variations on the tunes.

耶爾：理論認為，睡夢中唱歌有助于鳥兒學習并提升歌唱技巧。鳥兒生活中的大部分活動都用于學習和練習歌唱。一個好歌手需要不斷地聆聽歌曲并且不斷的做出改進?？茖W家們認為，鳥兒睡覺時腦中可能在重播它們白天所唱的歌曲——可能是在背誦歌曲并嘗試不同的曲調變化。

1. flock n.羊群，一群;大量 vi.群集，聚集，成群

例句：There are many flocks of tourists in the palace. 宮殿里有好幾群游客。

2. respond vi.回答，答復;(to)作出反應，響應

例句：I invited her to dinner but she did notrespond. 我請她吃晚飯，但她未作回答。Many peopleresponded to the call for service in the countryside. 很多人都回應了農村服務的電話。

3. significantly adv.意味深長地, 意義深遠地, 重要地, 較大地

例句：Significantly New York is left out of this list. 意味深長的是紐約這個城市的名字從名單中劃掉了。

4. burst vt.使爆裂 vi.爆炸;擠滿 n.爆炸;爆發(fā)

例句：The police burst through the door. 警察破門而入。

There was a burst of laughter in the next room. 隔壁房間里突然爆發(fā)出一陣笑聲。