Flying cats

原文

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 Center 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

猫总是能让人类着迷。它们可以对人类友好而亲热，但同时也过着自己神秘的生活。它们从不象狗和马那样顺从。因此，人类学会了尊重猫的独立性。大多数猫一生都对人类保持怀疑。关于猫，最让我们着迷的一点是普遍相信它们有九条命。显然，这个想法有相当的真实性。猫存活于坠落的能力是基于事实的。

最近，纽约动物医学中心对132只猫进行了一项为期五个月的研究。这些猫都有一个共同的经历：它们从高楼上坠落，然而只有八只死于休克或受伤。当然，纽约是进行这样有趣的研究的理想场所，因为那里高楼大厦林立。有很多高层窗台可以坠落！其中一只猫，萨布丽娜，从32层楼坠落，却只弄断了一颗牙。“猫的行为就像训练有素的伞兵，”一位医生说。似乎猫坠落的距离越远，它们受伤的可能性就越小。在长距离坠落中，它们能达到每小时60英里甚至更高的速度。在高速坠落时，猫有时间放松自己。它们像飞鼠一样伸展四肢。这增加了空气阻力，减少了落地时的冲击。

Flying cats

原文

译文

词汇表

fascinate