考满分 toefl

1 .<-NARRATOR:->Listen to part of a lecture in a linguistics class. The professor has been discussing Animal communication systems.

旁白：请听一段语言学课上的演讲。教授一直在讨论动物交流体系的问题。

1 .<-FEMALE PROFESSOR:->OK, so last time, we covered the dances honey bees do to indicate where food can be found and the calls and sounds of different types of birds.

教授：好的，上次我们讲到蜜蜂的舞蹈是为了指出食物藏在什么地方，我们还谈到不同种鸟的相互呼唤和发出的各种声音。

2 .Today, I'd like to look at some communication systems found in mammals, particularly in primates, such as orangutans, chimpanzees, gorillas... Yes, Thomas?

今天，我想讲一下哺乳动物身上发现的某些交流体系，特别是灵长类动物，像猩猩，黑猩猩和大猩猩……好的,托马斯？

1 .<-MALE STUDENT:->Excuse me, Professor. But when you talk about gorilla language, do you mean like, those experiments where humans taught them sign language or a language like...

学生：不好意思老师，当你讲到大猩猩的语言时，你是说像人类进行的教会大猩猩手语或其他语言的实验吗？

1 .<-FEMALE PROFESSOR:->OK, wait just a minute.

教授：嗯，你先等一下

2 .Now, who in this class heard me use the word "language"? No one I hope.

在座的有听到我用了“语言”这个词吗？我想没人吧。

3 .What we're talking about here, are systems of communication, all right?

我们这里讲的是，交流的体系是吧？

1 .<-MALE STUDENT:->Oh, sorry, communication, right.

学生：哦，对不起，交流，对。

2 .But could you maybe, like, clarify with the differences?

但你能否，将两者区分一下？

1 .Of course, that's a fair question.

当然，这问题合情合理。

2 .OK, well, to start with, let's make it clear that language is a type of communication, not the other way around.

好的，嗯，首先，我们需要清楚语言是一种交流方式，而不能反过来说。

3 .OK, so all communication systems, language included, have certain features in common.

那么所有的交流体系，包括语言，都有共同的特征。

4 .For example, the signals used to communicate from the bee's dance movements, to the word and sentences found in human languages.

比如说，从蜜蜂做出的跳舞动作的信号，到人类语言中的单词和句子。

5 .All these signals convey meaning.

所有这些信号都传递出某些信息。

6 .And all communication systems serve a purpose, a pragmatic function of some sort.

而所有的交流体系都是有目的的，某种实用主义的功能。

7 .Warning of danger perhaps or offering other needed information.

也许是对出现危险的警告或提供其他需要的信息。

1 .But there're several features peculiar to human language that have, for the most part, never been found in the communication system of any other species.

但是在人类语言中有几种特征，在其他任何物种的交流体系中从来没有发现过。

1 .For one thing, learn ability.

一方面，学习能力。

2 .Animals...animals have instinctive communication systems.

动物有本能的交流体系。

3 .When a dog, a puppy gets to certain age, it's able to bark.

当一只小狗长到一定岁数的时候，它便能够吠。

4 .It barks without having to learn how from other dogs, it just barks.

它不用从其他狗身上学什么就会吠了。

5 .But much of human language has to be learned from other humans.

然而，人类语言很多都需要从他人那里习得。

1 .What else makes human language unique?

还有什么其他特征让人类语言独一无二呢？

2 .What makes it different from animal communication? Debber?

什么让动物交流与众不同呢？Debber？

1 .How about grammar? Like having verbs, nouns, adjectives?

语法？比如有动词名词形容词之分？

1 .OK, that's another feature. And it's a good example...

好的，这是另一种特征。是个好例子……

1 .I mean I mention this cause like in my biology class last year, I kind of remember talking about a study on prairie dogs, where, I think the researchers claimed that the warning cries of prairie dogs constitute language, because they have this, different parts of speech.

就像我去年在生物课上说到的，我记得当时讲到一次关于草原犬鼠的研究。我想研究人员宣称草原犬鼠发出的警告声构成了语言，因为它们这种不同的说话的能力。

2 .You know, like nouns, to name the type of predator they spotted, adjectives to describe its size and shape, verbs..., but now it seems like...

你知道，像名字，说出它们发现的捕猎者的类型，描述大小和外形的形容词，动词等……但现在似乎……

1 .All right, hold on a moment.

好的,等等

2 .I'm familiar with the study you're talking about.

我对你说的研究很是熟悉

3 .And for those of you who don't know, prairie dogs are not actually dogs.

而你们中可能有人不知道,草原犬鼠不是狗

4 .They're type of rodent who burrow in the ground and the grasslands of the west United States and Mexico.

它们是藏在美国西部和墨西哥洞穴和草原中的啮齿类动物.

1 .And in this study, the researchers looked the high-pitched barks a prairie dog makes when it spots predator.

而在研究中,研究人员研究的是当它们发现捕猎者时,发出的高亢的吠叫声.

2 .And from this they made some pretty... well, they made some claims about these calls qualifying as an actual language, with its own primitive grammar.

而从中他们会发出一些挺…呃,他们发出的呼唤宣称了这是一种真实的语言，运用他们自己原始的语法。

3 .But actually, these warning calls are no different from those found among certain types of monkeys.

但事实上，这些警告声与在某一种类猴子上发现的别无他样。

4 .And,Well, let's not even get into the question whether concepts like noun and verb can be meaningfully applied to animal communication.

嗯，我们不要卷入这样的问题：像名词或动词的概念是否会被有意义地运用在动物的交流中。

1 .Another thing that distinguishes a real language is a property we call "discreteness".

另一种我们将真正的语言区分开来的因素是一种我们称为“间断性”的特质。

2 .In other words, messages are built up out of smaller parts, sentences out of words, words out of individual sounds, etc.

换句话说，信息是由各种小部分信息组成的，句子是由各种单词组成的，单词是来自于各个音素组成的，等等。

3 .Now maybe you could say that the prairie dog's message is built from smaller parts, like say for example, our prairie dogs spot a predator, a big coyote approaching rapidly.

而也许你会说草原犬鼠发出的信息是来自更小部分的信息，比如，草原犬鼠发现捕猎者，一只草原狼正在迅速靠近。

4 .So the prairie dog makes a call that means "coyote", then one that means "large", and then another one to indicate "speed".

因此一只草原犬鼠会发出表示“草原狼”和“大只”的信号，而还有另一个信号，表示其靠近速度有多快。

5 .But you really suppose it makes any difference what order these calls come in?

但你会真的认为这些呼唤信号的次序不同意义也不同？

1 .No. But the discrete units that make up language can be put together in different ways.

不，然而这种组成语言的间断的单元不能以不同的方式组合起来。

2 .Those smaller parts can be used to form an infinite number of messages, including messages that are completely novel, that have never been expressed before.

单位小的信息能够用来组成无限数量的信号，包括那些全新的信号抑或那些以前表达过的。

3 .For example, we can differentiate between: "A large coyote moves fast." and say "Move the large coyote fast." or "Move fast, large coyote.", and I truly doubt whether anyone has ever uttered either of these sentences before.

比如，我们可以讲一下两者区分：“一只草原狼快速移动”和“将草原狼移动得快点”或者“动作快点，大只草原狼”。而我真的怀疑是否有人曾经说过以上这些句子。

1 .Human language is productive and open-ended communication system, whereas no other communication system has this property.

人类语言是一种多产而自由开放的交流体系，而其他语言交流体系没有这种特质。

1 .And another feature of language that's not displayed by any form of animal communication is what we call "displacement".

另一种任何动物交流都没有显示过的语言特征叫做“位移”。

2 .That is, language is abstract enough that we can talk about things that aren't present here and now.

那就是，语言是抽象的，我们所讲的东西可以此时此刻此地并不在场的。

3 .Things like "My friend Jo is not in the room." or "It will probably rain next Thursday."

比如“我的朋友Jo 不在房间里”或“下周四很可能下雨”

4 .Prairie dogs may be able to tell you about a hawk that's circling over head right now, but they never show any inclination to describe the one they saw last week.

草原犬鼠也许能够跟你说你的上空有一只老鹰正在盘旋，但是他们从来没有能够描述上周看到的东西。