2 Study ：Dogs Understand Emotions like Humans 研究 ：狗与人类情感相通

仔细听

Researchers in Hungary have now confirmed what many dog owners already knew.Dogs or canines can understand our feelings.Scientists used a Magnetic Resonance Scanner，or MRI，to learn about dog emotions.The research showed that they are quite similar to the emotions of humans.

匈牙利的研究人员证实了一个许多狗主人已经知道的事实：狗或犬科动物能理解我们的情感。科学家们利用磁共振扫描仪（MRI）研究了狗的情感。研究表明，它们的情感与人类相似。

听力破解：dog owners处的连读需注意；understand，feelings，quite similar的重读说明新闻是介绍狗和人类之间情感相通的相关话题。

词汇宝典：Magnetic Resonance Scanner（MRI）是医学词汇，指“磁共振扫描仪”；canine意为“犬的；犬科动物的”，复数形式 canines可表示“犬齿”。

仔细听

An MRI uses magnetic fields to produce images of the inside of the body.MRIs are painless，and do not require the patient tobe cut open.However，the patient must remain still，and the patient must be awake to record brain activity.

核磁共振成像是一种利用磁场来显示身体内部结构图像的技术。核磁共振成像是无痛的，而且无需开刀。但是，患者必须保持不动，而且必须保持清醒，才能记录大脑的活动。

听力破解：此处brain activity发生了连读现象，读作[breinæk′tiviti]。

仔细听

In the past，dogs have not being good MRI patients.They are not usually calm in a laboratory.But researchers at ELTE University in Hungary petted the dogs and gave them food treats.As a result，the scientists were able to capture images of the dogs' brains.Researcher Attila Andics says the study will help explain therelationships between dogs and humans.

“We have known for a long time that dogs and humans share similar social environment，but now our results show that dogs and humans also have similar brain mechanisms to process social information.”

过去，狗不是核磁共振的理想实验对象。他们在实验室中通常不能安静下来。但匈牙利罗兰大学的研究人员用安抚的方法和喂它们食物使狗平静了下来。结果，科学家们终于捕捉到了狗的大脑图像。研究员阿提拉·安迪克斯说，这项研究将有助于解释狗和人类之间的关系。

“一直以来，我们都知道狗和人类有着相似的社会环境，但现在我们的研究结果显示，狗和人类也有类似的脑机制来处理社会信息。”

听力破解：本段中petted和relationships发生了弱读现象，petted的尾音[d]和relationships的尾音[s]被一带而过，如果不仔细听很容易误解。

词汇宝典：mechanism意为“机制；原理”，如：market mechanism“市场机制”，operating mechanism“操作原理”。

仔细听

Researchers trained 11 dogs to stay completely still while images were taken of their brains.The researchers tested the dogs' reactions to about 200emotional sounds，including crying，playful barking and laughing.Then they compared the dog reactions with reactions from humans in the study.The researchers discovered that the reactions were similar.

研究人员训练了11只能够在拍摄大脑图片时完全安静下来的狗。研究人员测试了狗对大约200种带情感声音的反应，这些带情感的声音包括哭声、嬉玩时的叫声和笑声。之后他们比较了狗的反应和人类的反应。研究人员发现，狗和人类的反应是相似的。

听力破解：本段的数字200被播音员重读，说明实验样本的广泛性，使得新闻具有说服力。

学着说一说

1.cut open给……开刀/剖开……

▶cut open表示“开刀”，如：

First，cut open the fish，separate the fish meat and the main bone.

首先，将鱼剖开，将鱼肉和鱼中骨分离。

The letter was cut open.信被剪开了。

▶口语中常用的 cut 三字经有：

Cut it out.省省吧。

Cut it up.算了吧。

Cut the crap！ 你少说废话了！

2.give...a treat款待/请客

▶treat有“款待”的意思，如：My treat.我请客。

▶give sb.a treat意为“款待你，请你吃饭”，如：

I will give you a treat for lunch at 12 i 00.

中午12点我请你吃午餐。

3.compare with与……相比

▶compare...with...意思是“把……和……比较”，常表示同类相比。

▶compare...to...表示“把……比作……”，常表示异类相比，如：

Let's compare this article with that one.

让我们把这篇文章和那篇文章做一下比较。

The heart is often compared to a pump.心脏常被比作泵。