A new study shows that roosters can recognize themselves in a mirror. The newscame after roosters did not pass scientists’usual test for this.

一項(xiàng)新的研究表明，公雞可以從鏡子里認(rèn)出自己。這一消息是在公雞沒有通過科學(xué)家的常規(guī)測試之后發(fā)布的。

The “mark3 test” （or “mirror test”） is a way to test whether an animal canrecognize itself. Some scientists believe the mark test doesn’t work well for allanimals. Roosters are a good example. Scientists in Germany recently ran the marktest on roosters. They put a mark on the chest4 of the roosters. But when the roosterslooked in a mirror， they didn’t seem to notice the mark. The scientists needed adifferent way to test whether the roosters could recognize themselves.

“標(biāo)記測試”（或“鏡像測試”）是一種測試動物是否能識別自己的方法。一些科學(xué)家認(rèn)為，標(biāo)記測試并非對所有動物都有效。公雞就是一個很好的例子。德國科學(xué)家們最近對公雞進(jìn)行了標(biāo)記測試。他們在公雞的胸脯上做了一個標(biāo)記。但當(dāng)公雞照鏡子時，它們似乎沒有注意到這個標(biāo)記?？茖W(xué)家們需要一種不同的方法來測試公雞是否能認(rèn)出自己。

First， the scientists let the roosters spend time getting used tobeing in a closed-in room and having a mirror around. Then， theyran several tests by making a hawk5 shadow6 over the bird andwatching what the rooster did.

首先，科學(xué)家們讓公雞花點(diǎn)時間習(xí)慣待在一個封閉的房間里，周圍有一面鏡子。然后，他們進(jìn)行了幾次測試，在這只公雞上方放了一個老鷹的影子，并觀察了公雞的行為。

When there was no mirror， the roosters did things as usual. They called outwhen they were near another rooster， but kept quiet when they were alone.

沒有鏡子的時候，公雞們表現(xiàn)如常。在靠近另一只公雞時它們會發(fā)出鳴叫，但在它們獨(dú)自待著時，就會保持沉默。

But when a rooster was in a room where it could see itself in the mirror， itwasn’t fooled7 into thinking there was another rooster. It kept quiet althoughthere was the hawk shadow. It did this even if there was a rooster hidden8 behindthe mirror.

不過，當(dāng)一只公雞待在一個可以從鏡子里看到它自己的房間里時，它并沒有被愚弄，以為還有另一只公雞。盡管有鷹的影子，它還是保持著安靜。即使鏡子后面藏著一只公雞，它也會這么做。

The scientists say the results show that the roosters knew they were seeingthemselves in the mirror， and not other roosters. That shows that the mark test maynot be a good test of whether an animal can recognize itself.

科學(xué)家們說，研究結(jié)果表明，這些公雞知道從鏡子里看到的是自己，而不是其他公雞。這表明，標(biāo)記測試可能無法很好地測試出動物是否能認(rèn)出自己。

The scientists hope their results will encourage9 other scientists to look forbetter ways of testing self-recognition10 in animals. It may turn out that some kindsof animals are smarter than people thought.

科學(xué)家們希望他們的研究結(jié)果能鼓勵其他科學(xué)家尋找更好的方法來測試動物的自我識別能力。結(jié)果可能會是，有些動物比人們想象的更聰明。