听考研真题|2020年英二阅读1:老鼠会跟机器鼠交朋友

To find out if this extends to non-living beings, Laleh Quinn at the University of California, San Diego, and her colleagues tested whether rats can detect social signals from robotic rats.

【生词】robotic adj.机器人的, 自动的, 像机器人似的, 呆板的

【翻译】为探究这一现象是否也适用于非生物实体，加州大学圣迭戈分校的Laleh Quinn 及其同事进行了实验，旨在验证大鼠是否能够察觉来自机器人大鼠发出的社会信号。

They housed eight adult rats with two types of robotic rat—one social and one asocial—for four days.

The robot rats were quite minimalist, resembling a chunkier version of a computer mouse with wheels to move around and colourful markings.

【生词】minimalist n.极简抽象派, 保守派; adj.极简派风格的

chunkier adj.身体短粗的( chunky的比较级 ), 矮胖的, 小块的, 厚厚的

【翻译】这些机器人大鼠设计极为简约，其外形类似于体型更粗壮的计算机鼠标——配有可移动的轮子以及彩色标记。

During the experiment, the social robot rat followed the living rats around, played with the same toys, and opened cage doors to let trapped rats escape. 

【生词】trapped adj.捕集的, 捕获的, 陷入困境的,

【翻译】在实验过程中，这款社交机器人大鼠跟随活体大鼠活动，与它们共同玩耍，并打开笼门让被困的大鼠逃脱。

Meanwhile, the asocial robot simply moved forwards and backwards and side to side.

【生词】asocial adj.缺乏社交性的，自我中心的，自私的

Next, the researchers trapped the robots in cages and gave the rats the opportunity to release them by pressing a lever.

【生词】lever n.杠杆, 操作杆, 工具; vt.用杠杆撬动

【翻译】随后，研究人员将这些机器人关在笼中，并让大鼠通过按下杠杆来释放它们。

Across 18 trials each, the living rats were 52 per cent more likely on average to set the social robot free than the asocial one. 

【翻译】在各组各开展18项试验的情况下，活体大鼠平均而言比非社交大鼠更倾向于释放社交机器人。

This suggests that the rats perceived the social robot as a genuine social being, says Quinn. The rats may have bonded more with the social robot because it displayed behaviors like communal exploring and playing. 

【生词】genuine adj.真正的, 坦率的，真诚的, 血统纯粹的，纯种的, [医学]真性的

communal adj.公社的, 公民的, 公共的, 公用

【翻译】奎因表示，这表明大鼠将该社交机器人视为一个真实的社交存在。大鼠可能与该社交机器人建立了更紧密的纽带，因为该机器人表现出诸如共同探索和玩耍等行为。

This could lead to the rats better remembering having freed it earlier, and wanting the robot to return the favour when they get trapped, she says.

“Rats have been shown to engage in multiple forms of reciprocal help and cooperation, including what is referred to as direct reciprocity where a rat will help another rat that has previously helped them,”says Quinn.

【生词】reciprocal adj.相互的, 互惠的, 倒数的

【翻译】奎因表示：“研究发现，大鼠会参与多种形式的互惠性帮助与合作行为，其中包括所谓的‘直接互惠性’——即一只大鼠会帮助另一只此前曾帮助过它的大鼠。”

The readiness of the rats to befriend the social robot was surprising given its minimal design.

【生词】readiness n.准备就绪, 愿意，乐意

【翻译】尽管该社交机器人设计极为简单，但实验大鼠愿意与之建立友好关系这一现象令人惊讶。该机器人与普通大鼠大小相当，外观上类似于一个带轮子的简易塑料盒子。

The robot was the same size as a regular rat but resembled a simple plastic box on wheels. 

【翻译】该机器人与普通大鼠大小相当，外形类似于一个装有轮子的简易塑料箱。

“We’d assumed we’d have to give it a moving head and tail, facial features, and put a scent on it to make it smell like a real rat, but that wasn’t necessary,”says Janet Wiles at the University of Queensland in Australia, who helped with the research.

【生词】scent n.香味，气味, 嗅觉,

【翻译】“我们原以为必须为其配备活动头部与尾部、赋予面部特征，并喷上气味使其闻起来像一只真正的老鼠，但实际上并非如此，”参与这项研究的澳大利亚昆士兰大学的珍妮特·威尔斯说道。

The finding shows how sensitive rats are to social cues, even when they come from basic robots. says Wiles. 

【翻译】这一发现表明，大鼠对社会性线索非常敏感，即使这些线索来自基础机器人，Wiles如是说。

Similarly, children tend to treat robots as if they are fellow beings, even when they display only simple social signals. 

【翻译】同样地，儿童往往将机器人视为与自己同类的存在，即便这些机器人仅表现出简单的社交信号。

“We humans seem to be fascinated by robots, and it turns out other animals are too,”says Wiles.