Next time you find yourself tending to your flower garden, you may want to stay quiet. The flowers are listening.
下次，当你发觉自己在照料花园时，你可能想保持安静。因为花在倾听。
The latest news comes out of Israel where scientists in the zoology and plant sciences departments at Tel Aviv University discovered how plants respond to the buzzing of bees. The plants hear bees approaching and attempt to lure them in with sweeter nectar.
以色列特拉维夫大学的动物学系和植物学系的科学家们发现了植物是如何对蜜蜂的嗡嗡声做出反应的。这些植物听到蜜蜂靠近，就会用更甜的花蜜引诱它们。
In several experiments, they found that playing audio recordings of buzzing bees around certain flowers will cause the sugar concentration in the nectar to rise by about 20% in less than five minutes. Such a rapid reaction by plants to sound had never previously been reported.
在几次实验中，他们发现，在某些花的周围播放蜜蜂嗡嗡叫的录音，可以在不到五分钟内使花蜜中的糖浓度提高20%左右。植物对声音的反应如此迅速，以前从未报道过。
Just to compare, the researchers also tried a higher frequency noise—like that made by a mosquito or a bat—and the flowers did not respond. The study was conducted in both a quiet environment in a laboratory and, for comparison, on a Tel Aviv beach with lots of ambient noise. Flowers in the lab were also tested with and without a sound-proof glass on top of them.
仅仅为了比较，研究人员还尝试了类似蚊子或蝙蝠发出的更高频率的噪音，但花对此没有反应。这项研究既在一个安静的实验室里进行，也在一个周围噪音很大的特拉维夫海滩上进行，以供比较。而且，在实验室里，还测试了花在其顶部有、无隔音玻璃时的反应。
The authors point out that the behavior is actually in line with the natural order of things, considering that a plant's ability to sense its environment and respond to it is critical for its survival. So, it would seem, plants have some sort of consciousness.
作者们指出，这种行为实际上符合事物的自然规律，鉴于植物感知环境并对环境做出反应的能力，对其生存至关重要。所以，看起来，植物有某种意识。
Can plants actually hear? Well, this is not the first time that they've reacted to what they're hearing around them. In a 2009 study, Britain's Royal Horticultural Society found that women's voices help make plants grow faster. In that experiment, tomato plants were found to grow up to two inches taller when they were tended to by a female gardener. "The findings vindicate comments made by Prince Charles that he talks to his plants, although they suggest that for maximum results he would be better off recruiting the Duchess of Cornwall," wrote The Telegraph at the time.
植物真的能听到声音吗？这已经不是他们第一次对所听到的内容做出反应了。在2009年的一项研究中，英国皇家园艺学会发现，女性的声音有助于植物生长得更快。在那项实验中，研究人员发现，在女性园丁的照料下，番茄植株会长高两英寸。当时的《每日电讯报》写道："这项研究的发现证实了查尔斯王子的说法，即他会和自己的植物对话。不过研究人员建议，他最好还是动员康沃尔公爵夫人来做此事，以达到最佳效果。"
More recently, a 2017 Australian study found that some flowers were able to sense noises, such as the flow of water through a pipe. "Sound vibrations could trigger a response of the plant via mechanoreceptors—these could be very fine, hairy structures, and anything that could work like a membrane," biologist Michael Schöner told Scientific American magazine.
最近，2017年澳大利亚的一项研究发现，一些花能够感知噪音，比如水管里的水流声。生物学家迈克尔·舍纳在接受《科学美国人》杂志采访时表示："声音振动可以通过触觉感应器触发植物的反应——这些触觉感应器可以是非常精细的、毛茸茸的结构，也可以是任何能像细胞膜一样工作的结构。"
The ability of inanimate objects to hear what's around them may seem like something out of a science fiction novel, but it's real. What if we told you that a potato chip bag left on the floor of a break room could listen in on office gossip? You'd think we were crazy, right? Think again.
无生命物体能够听到周围事物的声音，这听起来像是科幻小说里的情节，但却是真实存在的。如果我们告诉你，放在休息室地板上的薯片袋可以偷听办公室里的闲言碎语？你会觉得我们疯了，对吧？再想一想。
It's possible thanks to a team at MIT, Microsoft and Adobe. They found that as people were talking around the potato chip bag, they were sending teeny-tiny sound vibrations into the air. Those vibrations then hit inanimate objects around the room. Now imagine if you had a camera that was zoomed in on one of those objects extremely closely. In theory, you could actually see the object (like a potato chip bag) move along with the vibrations. You could then feed that video into a computer program that could decipher the vibrations and—voila!—you can play back the audio of the conversation that just took place. You're basically turning everyday objects into visual microphones.
这可能要感谢麻省理工学院、微软和Adobe的一支团队。他们发现，当人们在薯片袋周围说话时，他们会向空气中发出非常微小的声音振动。这些震动会撞击到房间周围的无生命物体。现在想象一下，如果你有一部相机，将其中一个物体非常近地放大。理论上，你可以看到该物体（像薯片袋）随着震动而移动。然后，你可以把这个视频输入电脑程序，电脑程序可以破译振动信号——瞧！——你可以回放刚刚发生的对话音频。你基本上把日常物品变成了可视麦克风。
So the next time you're at the botanical gardens or in a grocery aisle, careful what you say. Someone—or something—might be listening.
所以，下次当你在植物园里或在杂货店的过道上时，说话要小心。也许有什么人或什么东西在偷听。
知识积累：
1. find v. to discover sb/sth/yourself doing sth or in a particular situation, especially when this is unexpected 发现，发觉（处于某状态、在做某事）
2. nectar n.[U] a sweet liquid that is produced by flowers and collected by bees for making honey 花蜜
3. concentration n.[ C; U] the amount of a substance in a liquid or in another substance 浓度；含量
4. previously adv. at some time before the period that you are talking about 先前地；以前；以往
5. for comparison 以供比较
6. ambient adj. [only before noun] ( technical 术语) relating to the surrounding area; on all sides 周围环境的；周围的
7. actually adv. used to show a contrast between what is true and what sb believes, and to show surprise about this contrast （表示想法与事实不一致因而惊奇）居然，竟然
8. considering prep.& conj. used to show that you are thinking about a particular fact, and are influenced by it, when you make a statement about sth 考虑到；就……而言；鉴于
9. vindicate v. to prove that sth is true or that you were right to do sth, especially when other people had a different opinion 证实；证明有理
10. be better off (doing sth) used to say that sb is/would be happier or more satisfied if they were in a particular position or did a particular thing （在某情况下）更幸福，更满意
11. mechanoreceptor n. a sensory receptor, as in the skin, that is sensitive to a mechanical stimulus, such as pressure 触觉感应器
12. membrane n.[ C; U] a very thin layer found in the structure of cells in plants （植物的）细胞膜
13. listen in [phrase v.] If you listen in to a private conversation, you secretly listen to it. 偷听；窃听
14. voila exclamation there it is; there you are 瞧；那就是
本文英文选自fromthegrapevine，已选入《快捷英语 活页英语时文阅读理解 高考18》，参考译文由"快捷英语"提供。转载需注明出处。
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