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Lesson 51 Dolphins
第51課：海豚
Some people think that dolphins have a real language and that if we could learn their language,we could eventually start talking to them and discussing the important news of the day.
有些人認為海豚有真正的語言，如果能學會它們的語言，我們就能最終和它們交談，談論當今重要的新聞。
Sadly, this is only a dream. They may have very big brains and they may make lots of strange noises, but they do not, if we are honest about it, have a true language. It is nice to think they do, but it is simply not the case.
可惜的是，這只是一個夢想。海豚擁有很大的大腦，能夠發出許多奇怪的聲音，但是老實講，它們并不擁有真正的語言。能這樣認為固然不錯，但這不是事實。
They do, however, have a very special talent for using their noises to find their way about the oceans and to locate shoals of fish. This is a kind of sonar - an echo-location system. What happens is that the dolphin swims along, chirping and squeaking, and these very high-pitched sounds spread through the water until they hit some solid object. Then the sound-waves bounce back to the dolphin. The animal can tell how far away the object is by checking how long it takes for the sound to reach him. This feature of sound detection is copied by human beings onto some devices used in submarines, helping them to locate objects and avoid collisions.
然而，海豚確實有特殊的才能，可以利用它們發出的聲音在大海里探路和確定魚群的位置。這是一種聲納裝置，一種回聲定位系統。具體來講，海豚邊游動邊發出嘁嘁喳喳的聲音，這些音調很高的聲音在水里傳播，碰上堅硬的物體后，聲波就返回到了海豚。通過聲音返回所需的時間，海豚就能確定物體有多遠。人類模仿海豚這種聲音探測的特征發明了一些潛水艇用的定位和避免碰撞的裝置。
With all its special qualities, it is easy to see why we find the dolphin so attractive. It has graceful movement, it is intelligent, it is helpful to those in trouble, it has a playful character and it has a face that always looks happy.These are all qualities we admire in human beings, so it is not surprising that we are so fond of the dolphin.
海豚具有如此多獨特的品質，那就不難理解它為什么那么惹人喜愛了。它動作優雅，聰明伶俐，樂于幫助處于危難之中的人，它生性好玩，還有一張看上去總是很快樂的臉。這些都是我們人類崇尚的品質，所以我們如此喜歡海豚就一點也不奇怪了。
