Listening to Birdsong

　　A male zebra finch chirps away to himself. Suddenly he notices a female bird, nearby: He realizes he has an audience and immediately changes his song. Can the female tell the difference in his performance? According to a new study, the female zebra finch knows. And she prefers the special trills he creates when he sings to her. A male zebra finch changes his song when singing to a female in ways that people can barely detect. But the female finch can tell the difference.

　　Scientists had noticed slight variations in the songs of male zebra finches based on whether they were singing alone or whether there was a female ( and potential mate) nearby. With an audience, the males sped up the pace of their songs and controlled the notes they used.

　　For this Study, researchers Sarah C. Woolley and Allison Doupe at the University of California, San Francisco decided to focus attention on the listening females, which have not been well studied in the past.

　　In the study, Woolley and Doupe set up a long cage with a sound speaker at each end. One broadcast the sound of a male zebra finch singing to himself, like someone singing in the shower. The other speaker broadcast a male performing for a female audience, as if he was giving a concert.

　　Female birds were placed between the two speakers. Some of the birds had mates, others didn't. The females shifted around a bit, and then most of them hopped over to sit beside just one speaker. All the birds that made a clear choice liked songs meant for a female audience, even if they'd never met the male.

　　Mated females also had a chance to listen to two different performance songs, one from an unknown male, and one from their mate. They spent more time listening, to the concert version of their mates' songs. This suggests that after a while, females learn to recognize--and prefer—the songs of their mates.

　　Scientists then studied the brains of the females. They found certain areas of the brain perked up when the birds listened to the concert songs. These brain areas may be involved in recognizing and evaluating the songs, and storing the memories of them.

　　This research deals with what's called directed communication, when the communicator, or sender, focuses the message for a specific audience. One example is the way moms speak to their babies. Mothers around the world use the same sort of high-pitched sing-song chatter, and the babies respond best to those sounds. Songbirds are one of the only other species known to learn their communication, in this case their songs.

　　词汇：

　　finch n. 雀科鸣鸟 perk v. 使振作，使活跃

　　chirp v. (鸟)鸣 morn n. 妈妈(等于英国英语mum)

　　trill n. (鸟的)啭音;颤音 chatter v.

　　注释：

　　1. zebra finch: 斑胸草雀

　　2. chirp away: 吱喳而鸣。away有continuously和steadily的意思。

　　3. perk up : 活跃起来，振作精神

　　4. high-pitched: 活跃起来，振作精神

　　练习：

　　1. What does the first paragraph say about zebra finches?

　　A)Male zebra finches like to sing to female zebra finches.

　　B)Male zebra finches sing louder than female zebra finches.

　　C)Male zebra finches change their songs in female zebra finches' presence.

　　D)Male zebra finches like to listen to female zebra finches sing.

　　2. What did the researchers fred in their study of female zebra finches?

　　A)Female finches liked songs male finches sang for them.

　　B)Female finches only liked songs male finches sang for their mates.

　　C)Female finches liked to listen to songs from both speakers.

　　D)Female finches chose the best male singers as their mates.

　　3. What is meant by "concert songs" in the seventh paragraph?

　　A)Songs sung by zebra finches at a concert.

　　B)Songs sung by male finches for female finches.

　　C)Songs sung by female fmches for male finches.

　　D)Songs sung by male fmches to many female finches.

　　4. What is NOT true of directed communication?

　　A)The sender of a message has a specific audience.

　　B)Male zebra finches sing to female finches.

　　C)Mothers talk to their babies,

　　D)Male zebra finches sing to themselves.

　　5. Which of the following can best reflect the theme of the passage?.

　　A)Chirping away.

　　B)Birdsongs as communication.

　　C)Zebra finches and their life.

　　D)Enjoying birdsongs.

　　答案与题解：

　　1. C 文章第一段的第二句告诉我们，雄性斑胸草雀只要注意到有雌性斑胸草雀听他唱歌便会改变声调。其他选项均不是该段所表达的意思。

　　2. A 选项B、C、D 都不是答案，因为文章的第五段说，有配偶的雌性胸草雀更喜欢她们配偶的歌声，而没有配偶的喜欢的听雄性斑胸草雀为雌性斑胸草雀的歌。

　　3. B 第四段提到…a male performing for a female audience, as if he was giving a concert. 所以，第七段中的concert songs 即指雄性斑胸草雀为雌性斑胸草雀的歌。

　　4. D 文章的最后一段解释了什么是directed communication,即，when the communicator, or sender, focuses the message for a specific audience. 该段又举了母亲对婴儿说话的例子，说明这与雄性斑胸草雀为雌性斑胸草雀的歌同属directed communication。

　　5. B 文章所涉及的研究旨在发现雄性斑胸草雀歌声是否会在不同的情况下发生变化，其结果是，它们在为雌性斑胸草雀唱歌时，会改变声调和速度。这就是说，它们的歌声实际上是一种交流方式。所以应选择B。

　　译文：

倾听鸟鸣

　　一只雄性斑胸草雀对着自己吱喳而鸣。突然间，他注意到不远处有一只雌性斑胸草雀。他意识到自己有了一位听众并立即改变了自己的声调。那只雌性斑胸草雀能发现他的不同吗?根据一项新的研究结果显示，答案是可以的。并且那只雌性斑胸草雀更喜欢当雄性斑胸草雀为她歌唱时所制造的特殊颤音。人类很难发觉雄性斑胸草雀对着雌性斑胸草雀鸣叫时所做出的改变，但是雌性胸斑草雀可以发现其中的不同。

　　科学家们根据雄性斑胸草雀是否在独自歌唱或者根据其周围是否有一只雌性斑胸草雀(潜在配偶)在场，发现了他们歌声中的略微不同。当有听众在场的时候，雄性斑胸草雀就会加快他们呜叫的速度并且控制其所用的鸣音。

　　为了此项研究，加州大学旧金山分校的两位研究员：萨拉?C?伍利和艾莉森?杜普决定关注倾听者——雌性斑胸草雀，而雌性斑胸草雀在过去并没有被仔细研究过。

　　．在研究中，伍利和杜普建了一个很长的笼子，笼子两边分别装有一个扬声器。其中一边播放的是雄性斑胸草雀对着自己演唱时所发出的鸣叫声，好似一个人在洗澡时所唱的歌。另一边播放的则是雄性斑胸草雀向另一只雌性观众表演时的所发出的鸡叫声，仿佛他是在举行一场音乐会。

　　雌鸟被放置在两个扬声器之间。这些雌鸟中有的已经有了配偶，有的还没有。她们徘徊了一会，便大多飞向并暂栖在了其中的一个扬声器旁边。所有的鸟都选择了为了雌鸟而发出的表演性鸣叫声，即使她们从未见过那只发音的雄性胸斑草雀。

　　有了配偶的雌性胸斑草雀还可以听到两个不同的表演性鸣叫声，其中一个来自未知的雄鸟，另一个则来自她们的配偶。她们花了更多的时间倾听自己配偶的歌声。而这表明雌鸟在经过一段时间后可以识别出并且更加喜爱自己配偶的歌声。

　　科学家们继而研究了雌鸟的脑部。他们发现当雌鸟听到表演性鸣叫声的时候，这些鸟的脑部的特定区域会变得活跃起来。而这些区域可能同识别、评价和储存歌声有关。

　　这项研究所关注的就是所谓的“指向性交流”，即当传播者或信息发送者所发送的信息就是为了特定的观众。其中一个例子就是母亲向婴儿说话的方式。全世界的母亲都采用同样一种方式：高声调的歌咏式的喋喋不休。婴儿对这种声音的反应最好。而鸣鸟是其他已知物种中唯一可以获知这种指向性交流的物种，而在这种情况下，则是他们的歌声。

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