Flying cats
原文
Lesson 9
Flying cats
How do cats try to protect themselves when falling from great heights?
Cats never fail to fascinate human beings.
They can be friendly and affectionate towards humans, but they lead mysterious lives of their own as well.
They never become submissive like dogs and horses.
As a result, humans have learned to respect feline independence.
Most cats remain suspicious of humans all their lives.
One of the things that fascinates us most about cats is the popular belief that they have nine lives.
Apparently, there is a good deal of truth in this idea.
A cat's ability to survive falls is based on fact.
Recently the New York Animal Medical Centre made a study of 132 cats over a period of five months.
All these cats had one experience in common: they had fallen off high buildings,
yet only eight of them died from shock or injuries.
Of course, New York is the ideal place for such an interesting study, because there is no shortage of tall buildings.
There are plenty of high-rise windowsills to fall from!
One cat, Sabrina, fell 32 storeys, yet only suffered from a broken tooth.
'Cats behave like well-trained paratroopers,' a doctor said.
It seems that the further cats fall, the less they are likely to injure themselves.
In a long drop, they reach speeds of 60 miles an hour and more.
At high speeds, falling cats have time to relax.
They stretch out their legs like flying squirrels.
This increases their air-resistance and reduces the shock of impact when they hit the ground.
译文
第9课
会飞的猫
当猫从高处坠落时，它们会如何保护自己呢？
猫总是能让人类着迷。
它们对人类可能表现出友好和亲昵的态度，但同时也过着充满神秘的生活。
与狗或马不同，猫永远不会变得温顺听话。
因此，人类逐渐学会了尊重猫的独立性。
大多数猫一生都对人类保持警惕。
关于猫最让我们感到好奇的一点，就是人们普遍认为它们有九条命。
事实上，这个说法确实有一定道理。
猫之所以能够在坠落中存活下来，是有科学依据的。
最近，纽约动物医疗中心对132只猫进行了为期五个月的研究。
所有这些猫都有一个共同的经历：它们都从高楼上掉了下来。
然而，只有八只猫因休克或受伤而死亡。
当然，纽约是进行这项研究的理想地点——因为那里的高楼大厦实在太多了。
有足够多的高楼窗台可供坠落！
有一只名叫萨布丽娜的猫从32层楼的高度坠落，却只摔断了一颗牙齿。
“猫的行为就像训练有素的伞兵一样，”一位医生说道。
看起来，猫掉得越远，它们受伤的可能性就越小。
在自由落体的过程中，它们的速度可以达到每小时60英里甚至更高。
高速下落时，猫有时间放松身体。
它们像飞鼠一样伸开四肢。
这会增加它们的空气阻力，但同时也能减少它们落地时所受的冲击力。