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The cat's earliest ancestors probably hunted both on the ground and in the trees. To survive, they needed not only claws, but remarkable balance, an aptitude all cats retain to this day. In keeping with its reputation, the cat usually does land on all fours, and scientists have come to understand how. Slow-motion photography reveals that cats always right themselves in a precise order. The head rotates first based on messages from the eyes and inner ear. Then, the spine twists and the rear quarters align. At the same time, the cat arches its back to reduce the force of impact.
貓最早的祖先可能在地面與樹上神出鬼沒。為了生存,他們需要的不僅僅是爪子,而且卓越的平衡感也是必不可少。后者是所有的貓時至今日還保留著的重要生存技能。為了保持其名譽,貓通常都是四腳著地在地上爬行,科學家已經明白了貓們這樣做的目的。慢動作攝影捕捉到貓總是竭力追求一種精確的順序。頭部旋轉要以眼睛和內耳的訊息為基礎，然后脊柱彎曲,后軀排成一條線。與此同時,貓背拱起減少沖擊力。
Despite its agility, the cat faces particular dangers in today's modern cities. Here although hundreds of feet above the ground, the indoor cat is just as attracted by moving prey as is any other cat. If any thing, it may be a stir-careen through unscreened windows that the phenomenon now has a name,high-rise syndrome. At the Animal Medical Center in New York City, doctors were perplexed when they found that victims of higher falls often had less severe injuries than those that fell a shorter distance.
盡管身手矯捷,但貓在今天的現代城市中卻極其危險。離地面數百英尺高的大樓,室內的貓會像過去一樣被獵物吸引，任何移的其他貓也可以吸引它。任何東西,只要是一種不對勁的能量束都會吸引貓的注意力。很多貓沖向沒有關的窗戶這一現象現在有了一個專有名詞——高空綜合癥。在紐約的動物醫療中心,醫生們對受傷者們感到大惑不解,他們發現更高的距離傷勢反而較輕，較短的距離傷勢反而嚴重。
It's been about a month since you were here, lad. We'd been puzzled by the high-rise syndrome for a long time, the name that we give for cats falling out of windows. A clinical impression is that cats that fall from medium-level stories are hurt much worse than cats that fell from even greater distances. That seemed to defy our logic that cats that would fall farther would be hurt less. So we undertook a study to examine the records on cats that had been admitted here for falling out of windows. And it actually confirmed that our clinical impression was correct. It seems that cats that fall from higher stories have enough time to reach free fall like a parachutist and are relaxed when you experience trauma when you are relaxed, you'll probably avoid injury; when you experience trauma when you are very rigid and very tight, you will attain a maximized injury.
小家伙，你在這里大約有一個月的時間了。我們有很長一段時間困惑于高層綜合癥，這是我們給貓從窗戶掉下去的一種統稱。科學表象為貓從更高的距離落下傷勢較輕，較短的距離傷勢反而嚴重。這似乎不合我們的邏輯,貓可以說是掉下去的樓層越高，受到的傷害越小。所以我們進行了一項研究檢查貓從窗戶掉下去的記錄。實驗實際上證實了我們的科學表象是正確的。那些貓似乎從更高的樓層掉落時有足夠的時間來展開自由落體及放松,就像你經歷創傷后會自我放松一樣,這樣你可能會避免傷害。當你經歷創傷,你表現僵硬，非常緊繃,你就會承受最大化的傷害。
The cat may not have nine lives. But its uncanny abilities to sail through the air is almost certainly responsible for the myth.
這只貓可能沒有九條命。但它駕馭高空的神秘能力或許只有神話才可以解釋。
詞語解釋：
- spine n. 脊柱
- impression n. 印象
- uncanny a. 神秘的，不可思議的
