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Not all sounds made by animals serve as language,
and we have only to turn to
that extraordinary discovery of echo-location in bats to see a case
in which the
voice plays a strictly utilitarian role.
To get a full appreciation of what this means we must turn first to
some recent
human inventions. Everyone knows that if he shouts in the vicinity
of a wall or
a mountainside, an echo will come back. The further off this solid
obstruction
the longer time will elapse for the return of the echo. A sound made
by tapping
on the hull of a ship will be reflected from the sea bottom, and by
measuring the
time interval between the taps and the receipt of the echoes the
depth of the
sea at that point can be calculated. So was born the echo-sounding
apparatus,
now in general use in ships. Every solid object will reflect a
sound, varying according
to the size and nature of the object. A shoal of fish will do this.
So it is a
comparatively simple step from locating the sea bottom to locating a
shoal of
fish. With experience, and with improved apparatus, it is now
possible not only
to locate a shoal but to tell if it is herring, cod, or other
well-known fish, by the
pattern of its echo.
A few years ago it was found that certain bats emit squeaks and by
receiving
the echoes they could locate and steer clear of obstacles--or locate
flying insects
on which they feed. This echo-location in bats is often compared
with radar, the
principle of which is similar.
New words and expressions生词和短语
bat
n. 蝙蝠
strictly
adv. 明确地
utilitarian
adj.实用的
appreciation
n. 理解
elapse
v. 障碍物
hull
n. 消逝
interval
n. 船体
receipt
n. 间隔
apparatus
n. 收到
shoal
n. 仪器
herring
n. 鱼群
cod
n. 鳕鱼
squeak
n. 尖叫声
参考译文
动物发出的声音不都是用作语言交际。我们只要看一看蝙蝠回声定位这一极不寻常的发现，就可以探究一下声音在什么情况下有绝对的实用价值。
要透彻理解这句话的意义，我们应先回顾一下人类最近的几项发明。大家都知道，在墙壁或山腰附近发出的喊声，就会听到回声。固体障碍物越远。回声返回所用时间就越长。敲打船体所发了的声音会从海底传回来，测出回声间隔的时间，便可算出该处海洋的深度。这样就产生了目前各种船舶上普遍应用的回声探测仪。任何固体者反射声音，反射的声音因物体的大小和性质的不同而不同。鱼群也反射声音。从测定海深到测定鱼群，这一进展比较容易。根据经验和改进了的仪器，不仅能够确定鱼群的位置，而且可以根据鱼群回声的特点分辨出是鲱鱼、鳕鱼，这是人们所熟悉的其他鱼。
人们发现，某些蝙蝠能发出尖叫声，并能通过回声来确定并躲开障碍物，或找到它们赖以为生的昆虫。蝙蝠这种回声定位常常可与雷达相比较，其原理是相似的。
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