(单词翻译:单击)
听力文本
This is Scientific American — 60-Second Science. I'm Karen Hopkin.
Don't mess with a monkey. Because if you do, he's might take revenge—on your family and friends. That's according to a study of Japanese macaques, which shows that monkeys keep track of each's others' associates and make use of that intel when it comes time for payback. The findings are in the Royal Society journal Open Science.
Researchers were interested in the question of how primates suss out social relationships, knowledge that can come in handy for maneuvering within a complex society. To assess how the macaques obtain and make use of such social know-how, the researchers decided to focus on episodes of aggression—a common feature of simian interactions.
They went through more than 500 hours of video recordings showing the exchanges that took place in a group of 57 macaques living in the Rome Zoo—monkeys whose genealogical relationships are well known. And they parsed some 15,000 episodes of aggression, noting the relationships among the individuals involved.
First, they confirmed that monkeys that find themselves at the receiving end of aggression tend to turn around and take it out on a third party. And that retaliation is often directed at a relative of the original aggressor.
But how do the monkeys determine who's kin? Well, one way would be that they've been around long enough to have watched each other grow up. But that doesn't seem to be the case. When researchers looked specifically at conflicts involving older monkeys, it didn't seem that relatives were singled out for revenge.
What does seem to be true is that victims will target their attacker's associates—the other monkeys he hangs around with. If they're not his relatives, they're probably his cronies. So, close enough.
Interestingly, there's a benefit to hitting family members when you're meting out justice. Macaques that sought out the kin of the monkeys they wanted to settle a score with were less likely to be picked on again in the future. Whereas wailing on the friends appeared to offer only present satisfaction, but no such future protection.
Which suggests if you're gonna beat on someone for payback, it should at least be a monkey's uncle.
Thanks for listening for Scientific American — 60-Second Science Science. I'm Karen Hopkin.
参考译文
这里是科学美国人——60秒科学。我是凯伦·霍普金。
不要招惹猴子。因为如果你惹恼了猴子，它可能会报复你的家人和朋友。这是一项关于日本猕猴的研究得出的结论，该研究表明，猴子会记住对方同伴的情况，在采取报复行动时利用这些信息。这项研究结果发表在《英国皇家协会·开放科学》期刊上。
研究人员感兴趣的是，这些灵长类动物是如何弄清楚社会关系的，这种关系是在操纵复杂社会时派得上用场的知识。为了评估猕猴如何获得并利用这种社交技能，研究人员决定集中研究侵略事件——这是类人猿互动的共同特征。
他们查看了500多个小时的视频录像，这些录像记录了罗马动物园中57只猕猴之间的交流，而且他们事先已经掌握了这些猴子之间的系谱关系。研究人员分析了约15000次侵略事件，同时记录了参与事件的个体之间的关系。
首先，研究人员证实，那些发现自己被攻击的猴子，往往会将怒气撒在第三方身上。这种报复通常针对的是原攻击者的亲属。
但是，猴子如何确定谁是攻击者的亲属？一种方式是它们一直在攻击者周围，看着彼此成长。但是，看起来事实并非如此。当研究人员仔细观察年长猴子之间的冲突时，似乎并未发现攻击者的亲属被选为报复对象的情况。
而真相可能是，受害者会把攻击者的同伴当作目标，这些同伴就是一直和攻击者呆在一起的其他猴子。如果这些儿子不是攻击者的亲属，那可能是它的密友。这种关系足够亲密了。
有趣的是，当猴子伸张正义时，攻击袭击者的家庭成员是有好处的。找出攻击者亲属进行报复的猕猴，日后被选中为攻击对象的可能性较小。但是向朋友哭诉的猴子似乎只能获得一时的欣慰，但是未来不会得到保护。
这表明，如果你想击打某人进行报复，那它至少得是猴子的叔叔。
谢谢大家收听科学美国人——60秒科学。我是凯伦·霍普金。
译文为可可英语翻译，未经授权请勿转载！
重点讲解
重点讲解：
1. mess with 干涉；与…有牵连；卷入；
例句：Do you know who you're messing with — do you know who I am?
知道你在跟谁打交道吗——知道我是谁吗？
2. keep track of 跟上…的进展；掌握…的最新消息；
例句：With eleven thousand employees, it's very difficult to keep track of them all.
对于一支 1.1 万人的员工队伍，很难及时了解到所有有人的动态。
3. make use of 使用；利用；
例句：You should fully make use of these materials.
你应该充分利用这些材料。
4. come in handy 派上用场；
例句：That key will come in handy if you lock yourself out.
要是你把自己锁在了屋外，那把钥匙就派上用场了。
5. take out on 拿…出气；向…发泄；
例句：Jane's always annoying her and she takes it out on me sometimes.
简老是惹她生气，她有时就拿我出气。
6. single out 单独挑出；特别选出；
例句：His immediate superior has singled him out for a special mention.
他的顶头上司特别提到了他。
7. mete out 以…方式给予惩罚；
例句：His father meted out punishment with a slipper.
他父亲用一只拖鞋进行惩罚。
8. settle a score with 报复；
例句：Dick settled an old score with Bob by beating him.
迪克痛打鲍勃，以雪旧恨。
9. pick on 挑中；选中；
例句：When you have made up your mind, pick on a day when you will not be under much stress.
你什么时候下决心了，就挑一个压力不大的日子。
