原文標(biāo)題：
Animal behaviour
Bumblebees have a ball
Playfulness is not restricted to mammals and birds
動(dòng)物行為
大黃蜂可以玩球
玩興并非哺乳動(dòng)物和鳥類獨(dú)有

Bumblebees like ball games
大黃蜂喜歡球類游戲

[Paragraph 1]
ANIMALS LIKE to play. Well, some do.
有些動(dòng)物就是喜歡玩。

Lots of mammals and birds, particularly when young, engage in behaviour that, to use a common check-list: provides no obvious adaptive outcome such as access to food, shelter or a mate; is voluntary, spontaneous and rewarding in and of itself; is repeated, but not stereotypically; and appears to be pleasant and conducted when the animal is relaxed.
許多哺乳動(dòng)物和鳥類，尤其是這類動(dòng)物幼崽所做的行為，用一個(gè)檢查清單可以列出共同點(diǎn)：行為不是為了明顯的生存原因，例如獲得食物、住所或配偶；自愿自發(fā)、本身值得；重復(fù)但不刻板；當(dāng)動(dòng)物放松時(shí)，他們的行為似乎是愉快且有組織的。

[Paragraph 2]
But bumblebees? Apparently they play too, according to work just published in Animal Behaviour by Hiruni Samadi Galpayage Dona and Lars Chittka of Queen Mary University, in London.

但是大黃蜂呢？根據(jù)倫敦大學(xué)瑪麗皇后學(xué)院的希魯尼·薩馬迪·加爾帕亞吉·多納和拉爾斯·奇特卡在《動(dòng)物行為》雜志上發(fā)表的研究成果，顯然大黃蜂也會(huì)玩。

Specifically, if given the opportunity, they will play a type of football. Admittedly, their version of this is not a team game. And the balls involved are pretty-much the same size as the insects.

具體來(lái)說(shuō)就是，如果有合適機(jī)會(huì)，它們會(huì)踢一種足球。不可否認(rèn)，它們這種足球不是團(tuán)隊(duì)比賽。它們玩的球大小與昆蟲本身幾乎相當(dāng)。

But, to a human observer armed with the check-list, they give every impression that they are enjoying the bumblebee equivalent of a kickabout.
但是，如果人類觀察者按照檢查清單上的標(biāo)準(zhǔn)，它們給人類的印象都是，它們?cè)谕娲簏S蜂版球。

[Paragraph 3]
The idea of asking whether bumblebees like to play came to Dr Chittka during a previous study in which he trained them to roll wooden balls around in order to gain access to food.

奇特卡博士在之前的一項(xiàng)研究中提出了一個(gè)疑問(wèn)，大黃蜂是否喜歡玩耍。他在之前的研究中訓(xùn)練大黃蜂滾動(dòng)木球以獲取食物。

He noticed that, during this experiment, they would often roll the balls for no apparent reason. They just seemed to enjoy it.
他注意到，在這個(gè)實(shí)驗(yàn)中，他們經(jīng)常會(huì)無(wú)緣無(wú)故地滾球。它們似乎很喜歡玩球。

[Paragraph 4]
A perfect PhD project, then, for an aspiring student. And Ms Galpayage Dona stepped up to the mark.

對(duì)于一個(gè)有志向的學(xué)生來(lái)說(shuō)，這是一個(gè)完美的博士項(xiàng)目。而加爾帕亞吉·多納女士達(dá)到了標(biāo)準(zhǔn)。

She created an arena, baited it with pollen and sugar solution to lure the bees in, and connected it via a plastic tunnel to a bumblebee nest in Dr Chittka’s laboratory.
她創(chuàng)建了一個(gè)場(chǎng)所，用花粉和糖溶液引誘大黃蜂進(jìn)入，并通過(guò)塑料管將其連接到奇特卡博士實(shí)驗(yàn)室的大黃蜂巢。

[Paragraph 5]
Her playpen contained 18 wooden balls coated with clear plastic, so that they could be cleaned every day of any scent picked up.

她的游戲場(chǎng)里有18個(gè)包裹著透明塑料的木球，這樣研究者每天都可以把木球上的氣味清理干凈。

In one part of the arena, nine of the balls were fixed to the floor. In another, the remainder could be rolled around.

在游戲場(chǎng)的一角，將9個(gè)球固定在板面上。在另一角，其他球均可滾動(dòng)。

Ms Galpayage Dona tagged 45 bees, between one and 23 days old, so that they could be followed as individuals.

加爾帕亞吉·多納女士標(biāo)記了45只大黃蜂，日齡在1到23天之間，這樣研究者可以追蹤這些個(gè)體。

She then opened the door to the arena for three hours a day for 18 days and recorded on video what happened.
然后，她每天打開游戲場(chǎng)的門3個(gè)小時(shí)，這樣持續(xù)18天，并用視頻記錄情況。

[Paragraph 6]
The recordings suggested that the bees did indeed enjoy this experiment.

視頻表明大黃蜂確實(shí)喜歡這個(gè)實(shí)驗(yàn)。

They would start by touching a ball with their forelegs, then grab it with all six legs and rotate it towards themselves while moving across the floor backwards.Then they would dismount.

它們會(huì)先用前腿觸碰一下球，然后用六條腿抓住球，然后朝著自己旋轉(zhuǎn)，與此同時(shí)大黃蜂在板面上向后移動(dòng)。然后它們會(huì)放下球。

All of the tagged bees rolled a ball at least once during the experiment. Most did so many times. One particular enthusiast managed 117 rolls.

在實(shí)驗(yàn)過(guò)程中，所有被標(biāo)記的蜜蜂至少滾了一次球。大多數(shù)黃蜂滾了多次。一只特別愛(ài)玩的黃蜂滾球117次。

Overall, the camera recorded 910 incidents of ball-rolling by tagged insects, discounting those involving unmarked bees.
總的來(lái)說(shuō)，攝像機(jī)記錄了標(biāo)記黃蜂的滾球過(guò)程910次，不包括那些沒(méi)有標(biāo)記的黃蜂。

[Paragraph 7]
Re-enforcing the idea that the bees just wanted to play, they quickly learned to ignore the part of the arena where the balls were glued down.

這再次強(qiáng)化了“黃蜂只想玩”的觀點(diǎn)，它們很快知道了游戲場(chǎng)上固定的球不好玩。

Also, as with birds and mammals, young bees played more often than old ones.

此外，與鳥類和哺乳動(dòng)物一樣，小黃蜂比老黃蜂玩的頻率更高。

All they need now, it seems, is some goalposts and a refer(b)ee, and bumblebee social behaviour will take off to the next level.
它們現(xiàn)在需要一些球門柱和一名裁判蜂，而大黃蜂的社交行為將上升到一個(gè)新的階段。

（恭喜讀完，本篇英語(yǔ)詞匯量507左右）
原文出自：2022年10月29日《TE》Science & technology版塊。

精讀筆記來(lái)源于：自由英語(yǔ)之路
本文翻譯整理: Irene

本文編輯校對(duì): Irene
僅供個(gè)人英語(yǔ)學(xué)習(xí)交流使用。

【補(bǔ)充資料】（來(lái)自于網(wǎng)絡(luò)）
倫敦大學(xué)瑪麗皇后學(xué)院（Queen Mary University of London ,QMUL）的科學(xué)家們發(fā)現(xiàn)，大黃蜂經(jīng)過(guò)訓(xùn)練后能把小球移動(dòng)到指定位置，就像足球運(yùn)動(dòng)員會(huì)射門得分一樣。這一發(fā)表在《科學(xué)》雜志上的研究展現(xiàn)了昆蟲前所未有的強(qiáng)大學(xué)習(xí)能力，并表明那些在生活中需要較強(qiáng)學(xué)習(xí)能力的物種在生態(tài)壓力下能夠 get 到新技能。QMUL 生物與化學(xué)科學(xué)學(xué)院的 Lars Chittka 教授表示，之前人們認(rèn)為由于腦容量過(guò)小，昆蟲只能擁有十分有限的行為靈活性和極為簡(jiǎn)單的學(xué)習(xí)能力，但現(xiàn)在他們的研究推翻了這一觀點(diǎn)。

【重點(diǎn)句子】（3?個(gè)）
He noticed that, during this experiment, they would often roll the balls for no apparent reason. They just seemed to enjoy it.
他注意到，在這個(gè)實(shí)驗(yàn)中，他們經(jīng)常會(huì)無(wú)緣無(wú)故地滾球。它們似乎很喜歡玩球。

The recordings suggested that the bees did indeed enjoy this experiment.
視頻表明大黃蜂確實(shí)喜歡這個(gè)實(shí)驗(yàn)。

Also, as with birds and mammals, young bees played more often than old ones.
此外，與鳥類和哺乳動(dòng)物一樣，小黃蜂比老黃蜂玩的頻率更高。