长臂猿为何二重唱？ Why do gibbons sing duets?

Hello and welcome to 6 Minute English. I’m Rob...
大家好，欢迎收听六分钟英语。我是罗伯。
And hello! I’m Neil.
大家好，我是尼尔。
Hi there Neil. Have you ever had a close encounter with a monkey or an ape?
嗨，尼尔。你曾经近距离接触过猴子或猿吗？
Well I’m sitting right next to you, Rob?
有啊，我这不就坐在你旁边吗？
Very funny. Neil is referring to the fact that all humans are descended from apes, and apes and monkeys belong to a group of animals called primates.The difference is that monkeys have tails, and apes don’t.
好吧，有意思。尼尔在说人都是猿进化而来的，猿和猴子都属于一种动物种类，叫做灵长类。不同的是猴子有尾巴，而猿没有。
Well, I didn’t know that.On a serious note… I had a close shave with some monkeys once in Bali.
这一点我不知道。言归正传，我曾经在巴厘岛从一群猴子中侥幸逃生。
A close shave is where you only just manage to avoid a dangerous situation.So Neil, what happened?
侥幸逃生是指在危险境地中脱险。发生什么了，尼尔？
I was walking up a mountain on my own and suddenly a bunch of monkeys jumped out of nowhere, blocking my path.
当时我独自一人爬山，突然一群猴子跳了出来，挡住了我的路。
Oh goodness! OK. So what did you do?
天啊，那你是怎么做的？
After standing there for ages while the monkeys screeched at me, I turned round and walked back the way I came.
我们对峙了很久，猴子们冲着我尖叫，我赶忙转身往回走。
OK. If you screech at someone it means to make a loud, high and unpleasant sound.So the monkeys won that face-off, then!
冲一个人尖叫是指发出刺耳令人不悦的声响。所以，猴子在对峙获胜了！
Absolutely! Yes, they did! And a face-off, by the way, means an argument or fight.
没错，确实如此。对峙，是指发生口角或打斗。
Well, today’s show is about gibbons and the different sounds they make. Gibbons are small apes that live in Southeast Asia.And while Neil’s monkeys screech unpleasantly, gibbons sound like they are singing.
今天的节目是关于长臂猿，以及他们发出的不同声音。长臂猿是生活在东南亚，个头较小的猿类。尼尔遇见的猴子发出的尖叫很刺耳，而长臂猿的叫声就像是在唱歌。
Musical apes – that’s nice! So how about today’s quiz question, Rob?
懂音乐的猿类，很有意思！那么今天的问题是什么呢？
OK, good idea.How far can a gibbon’s voice travel through the forest?Is it…a) 500mb) 1kmor c) 5km?
好吧。今天的问题是，长臂猿的声音能够在森林中传播多远？a) 500米b) 1千米还是c) 5千米?
Hmm. Well, I have to guess and I’m going to say b) 1km.
好吧，我猜是b) 1千米。
You’ve never heard one.
你从来没有听过是吧？
Never heard one…
从来没有。
OK. We’ll find out later on in the programme whether you’re right or wrong.Now let’s listen to what a gibbon really sounds like.
好的，节目的最后再看你回答得是否正确。我们听听长臂猿的声音是怎么样的。
Let’s just hear this.That’s an absolutely wonderful, evocative sound, isn’t it?Beautiful sound.And what are they doing there then?That is … I said talking to each other.
我们来听听这个。声音非常美妙，令人回味，不是吗？很美妙的声音。他们在做什么呢？他们在彼此交流。
Well this is their… They’re singing together.So a male and a female, when they hold a territory together, will sing every morning what they call a duet.
他们在一起唱歌。一只公的，一只母的，当他们占领一片区域后，每天早上他们都会二重唱。
What we call a duet.
将之称为二重唱。
Yes, absolutely. And they’ll all sing together at the same time, and the whole forest will be alive with this cacophony of song.
是的，他们同时歌唱，整个森林都回荡着这种高昂刺耳的叫声。
So the gibbons make an evocative sound.If something is evocative it brings strong feelings or memories to mind.
长臂猿发出的叫声令人回味。如果说一个东西令人回味，是指在脑中留下深刻的感情或记忆。
And something that is evocative is usually pleasant, Rob.
令人回味的东西通常是令人愉悦的。
It is. And what’s also interesting is that the apes are singing in pairs – one male and one female.They are singing duets together.So a duet is a song sung by two people – or in this case, sung by two gibbons!
没错，有意思的是，这些猿通常是一公一母一起歌唱。他们一起二重唱。二重唱是指两个人一同合作唱的歌，这里是两只长臂猿一起二重唱。
And a lot of gibbons are singing duets at the same time – which Dr Clarke describes as a cacophony.Cacophony means a mix of loud noises, which often sound out of tune.
很多长臂猿一同二重唱，克拉克教授称之为刺耳的声音。这是指很多噪音混合在一起，通常是走调不和谐的声音。
And that could easily describe us singing together!
这可以形容我们两个一起唱歌。
Let’s not do that.
我们千万别这样。
But what’s the reason for the gibbon duets, Neil?
为什么长臂猿会二重唱呢？
Well, the songs advertise the relationship between the male and the female.And they also help to make clear which territory – or bit of land – belongs to a pair or group of gibbons.
这种二重唱向外宣告了一公一母两只长臂猿之间的关系。同时借此声明这片领域，也就是这片土地属于这一对长臂猿。
Gibbons also use different sounds to alert – or warn – other gibbons about danger from predators – these are animals that eat other animals.The gibbons use a quiet ‘hoo hoo’ call to communicate that a leopard is nearby, and an even quieter ‘hoo hoo’ call for an eagle.
长臂猿发出不同的声音警告或提醒其他长臂猿潜在的危险，即捕食者，也就是以其他动物为食的动物在靠近。长臂猿发出轻微的“呼呼”声响，提醒同类猎豹在附近；发出更加轻微的“呼呼”声表示秃鹰来了。
You’re very good at that Rob.
这方面你很擅长嘛。
Thank you.
谢谢夸奖。
Now let’s hear more from Dr Clarke about this.How does she describe language?
我们听听克拉克教授就此的观点。她是怎么描述这种语言的？
Yes, so the idea is that if we find things like context-specific calling in non-human primates,it suggests that way back in time the ancestor that we shared with them also had context-specific callingso basically it just gives us some clues [as] to the evolutionary roots of complex communication like language.
如果我们在非人灵长类动物里发现类似于包含特定情境的叫声，这暗示了我们的祖先也曾与他们一样，有过这种包含特定情境的信息传递，这给了我们关于语言这种复杂的交流方式的进化线索。
Dr Clarke says that if we go far enough back in time humans and other primates such as monkeys and apes have the same ancestor.
克拉克教授表示如果我们追溯到很久很久之前，人类和其他灵长类，如猴子或猿类拥有相同的祖先。
Right. And ancestor means an animal – or human – from the past that a modern animal or human has descended from.So if this common ancestor used context-specific calls like modern gibbons – then it could have passed on this ability to humans a long time ago.
没错。祖先是指动物或人类进化为现代动物和人类之前的原始状态。相同的祖先使用现代长鼻猴类似的包含特定情境的信息传递，这种能力也会在很久之前传承到人类身上。
Context-specific calling means different calls for different situations, for example one call for ‘leopard’ and another for ‘eagle’.
特定情境的信息传递是指在不同情境下发出不同的声音，例如提醒“猎豹”和“秃鹰”到来时发出的声音不同。
And evolutionary means a gradual process of change or development.
进化的是指发展变化的渐进过程。
OK, let’s have the answer to the quiz question.Earlier I asked: How far can a gibbon’s voice travel through the forest?Is it: a) 500m b) 1km or c) 5km?
好的，我们回到节目开头的问题。之前我问你：长臂猿的声音能够在森林中传播多远？a) 500米 b) 1千米还是 c) 5千米?
And I said b) 1km.
我猜是b) 1千米。
And you were right! A good guess!Perhaps you do know a lot about gibbons. So well done!Now, can we hear today’s words again maybe in a gibbon’s voice Neil?
回答正确！猜得不错！也许你真的很了解长臂猿。做得好！我们再来听一下今天提到的单词吧，也许你可以用长臂猿的声音说出来。
I’m not sure about that.I’ll do it in a human voice.
我不确定我能发出这种声音。我还是好好说话吧。
primates
灵长类
a close shave
侥幸脱险
screech
尖叫
face-off
对峙
Gibbons
长臂猿
evocative
令人回味的
duet
二重唱
cacophony
刺耳的音调
territory
领域
alert
警告
predators
捕食者
ancestor
祖先
evolutionary
进化的
Thank you.Well, that’s the end of today’s 6 Minute English.You can hear more 6 Minute English programmes on our website at bbclearningenglish.com.Please join us again soon.
谢谢。今天的六分钟英语就到这里。登陆我们的网站bbclearningenglish.com可以查看更多节目。下次节目再会！
Bye.
再见。