💬 新概念英语第四册

Lesson 18 Porpoises

In 1928 some porpoises were photographer working like beavers to push ashore a waterlogged mattress.

1928年，有人拍摄到了海豚像海狸一样把浸透水的床垫推上岸的情景。

Lesson 18 Porpoises

If, as has been reported, they have protected humans from sharks,

正如报道中所说，如果海豚保护人不受鲨鱼侵害，

Lesson 18 Porpoises

it may have been because curiosity attracted them and because the scent of a possible meal attracted the sharks.

那么它们可能是出于好奇；而鲨鱼可能是闻到了可以美食一顿的香味。

Lesson 18 Porpoises

Porpoises and sharks are natural enemies.

海豚和鲨鱼是天然仇敌，

Lesson 18 Porpoises

It is possible that upon such an occasion a battle ensued, with the sharks being driven away or killed.

双方可能随之发生搏斗，搏斗结果是海豚赶走或咬死鲨鱼。

Lesson 18 Porpoises

Whether it be bird, fish or beast, the porpoise is intrigued with anything that is alive.

海豚对凡是活的东西都感兴趣，不管是鸟、是鱼，还是野兽。

Lesson 18 Porpoises

They are constantly after the turtles, who peacefully submit to all sorts of indignities.

它们经常追逐海龟，海龟则温顺地忍受着各种侮辱。

Lesson 18 Porpoises

One young calf especially enjoyed raising a turtle to the surface with his snout and then shoving him across the tank like an aquaplane.

一只小海豚特别喜欢用鼻子把海龟推到水面，然后像滑水板一样把海龟从水池的这一边推到那一边。

Lesson 18 Porpoises

Almost any day a young porpoise may be seen trying to turn a 300-pound sea turtle over by sticking his snout under the edge of his shell and pushing up for dear life.

几乎每天都可以看到一只小海豚把鼻子顶入一只300磅重的海龟的硬壳下面，拼命地把它翻过来。

Lesson 18 Porpoises

This is not easy, and may require two porpoises working together.

这并非易事，可能需要两只海豚合伙干才行。

Lesson 18 Porpoises

In another game, as the turtle swims across the oceanarium, the first porpoise swoops down from above and butts his shell with his belly.

在另一场游戏中，当海龟游过水族馆时，第一只海豚从上方猛扑下去，用腹部撞击龟壳。

Lesson 18 Porpoises

This knocks the turtle down several feet.

这一下子把海龟撞下去好几英尺。

Lesson 18 Porpoises

He no sooner recovers his equilibrium than the next porpoise comes along and hits him another crack.

海龟刚恢复平衡，第二只海豚又冲过来猛击一下。

Lesson 18 Porpoises

Eventually the turtle has been butted all the way down to the floor of the tank.

这只海龟最终被撞到池底。

Lesson 18 Porpoises

He is now satisfied merely to try to stand up, but as soon as he does so a porpoise knocks him flat.

此时的海龟，只要能站起来就满足了，但它刚站起来，就被一只海豚击倒。

Lesson 18 Porpoises

The turtle at last gives up by pulling his feet under his shell and the game is over.

海龟终于屈服了，将4条腿缩进壳内。

Lesson 19 The stuff of dreams

It is fairly clear that sleeping period must have some function,

很清楚，睡眠必然具有某种作用。

Lesson 19 The stuff of dreams

and because there is so much of it the function would seem to e important.

睡眠占去那么多时间，所以其作用似乎还是很重要。

Lesson 19 The stuff of dreams

Speculations about is nature have been going on for literally thousands of years,

人们对睡眠作用的种种猜测，确实有数千年之久。

Lesson 19 The stuff of dreams

and one odd finding that makes the problem puzzling is that it looks very much as if sleeping is not simply a matter of giving the body a rest.

一项使人对这个问题感到困惑的奇怪的发现是，睡眠在很大程度似乎并不仅仅是为了使身体得到休息。

Lesson 19 The stuff of dreams

'Rest', in terms of muscle relaxation and so on, can be achieved by a brief period lying, or even sitting down.

“休息”，从使肌肉得到放松等方面来看，只要稍微躺一躺，甚至坐一坐就能达到。

Lesson 19 The stuff of dreams

The body's tissues are self-repairing and self-restoring to a degree, and function best when more or less continuously active.

人体组织在一定程度上有自我修补和自我恢复的能力，有张有弛地连续活动时，其功能最佳。

Lesson 19 The stuff of dreams

In fact a basic amount of movement occurs during sleep which is specifically concerned with preventing muscle inactivity.

事实上，睡眠状态下仍有着基本的活动量，以防止肌肉活动停止。

Lesson 19 The stuff of dreams

If it is not a question of resting the body, then perhaps it is the brain that needs resting? This might be a plausible hypothesis were it not for two factors.

如果睡眠的功能不是在于使身体得到休息，那么也许是让大脑得以休息？若不是下面两点，这种假使似乎是有道理的。

Lesson 19 The stuff of dreams

First the electroencephalograph (which is simply a device for recording the electrical activity of the brain by attaching electrodes to the scalp) shows that while there is a change in the pattern of activity during sleep,

第一点，脑电图记录仪（不过是一种把电极接到头皮上记录脑电活动的仪器）显示，人在睡眠时大脑活动的方式有变化，

Lesson 19 The stuff of dreams

there is no evidence that the total amount of activity is any less.

但没有迹象表明，其活动总量有任何减少。

Lesson 19 The stuff of dreams

The second factor is more interesting and more fundamental.

第二点更有意思，也更重要。

Lesson 19 The stuff of dreams

Some years ago an American psychiatrist named William Dement published experiments dealing with the recording of eye-movements during sleep.

前些年，美国一位精神病学者发表了一篇报告，报告中记录了眼球在睡眠时的活动情况。

Lesson 19 The stuff of dreams

He showed that the average individual's sleep cycle is punctuated with peculiar bursts of eye-movements,

他指出，平常人的睡眠周期中不时伴有一阵阵奇怪的眼球队活动，

Lesson 19 The stuff of dreams

some drifting and slow, others jerky and rapid.

这些活动有的飘忽而缓慢，有的急剧而快速。