摘要：雅思中國網(wǎng)雅思頻道今天要跟大家分享的雅思閱讀素材叫做“Are cats selfish”，貓自私嗎？喵星人自不自私我還真不知道，很多人都會養(yǎng)一只貓，如果自私的話應(yīng)該不會養(yǎng)吧？還是看看別人怎么說的吧！

A 2007 genetic analysis by Driscoll and his colleagues reveals that all domesticated cats are descended from wildcats that lived in and around the Fertile Crescent, precisely the spot where humans began to settle more than 10,000 years ago.

"These settlements were completely new ecological environments and animals that were plucky(勇敢的)enough to investigate…did very well," says Driscoll. Wildcats were likely one of these species, drawn into an urban niche(位置) by an abundance of easy prey and an absence of big predators.(野貓可能就是這類物種之一，吸引它們進入城市空間的原因是這里有大量的容易捕獲的獵物，同時還沒有大捕食動物存在。)

"All these animals had to do was become behaviourally adept at living with people," says Driscoll. But importantly, "there was no selection against them hunting, or against them finding their own mates, or against them finding places to build their own nests in a rubbish heap." (然而，重要的是，“它們不需要因為獵食，求偶，或者在垃圾堆里找地方筑巢而受自然選擇法則支配”)

This may account for the range of behaviours displayed by the BBC Earth cats. "Some will be more like their wildcat ancestors(祖先)and show [a] much more solitary, independent existence," says Driscoll. "Others, on the other side of the spectrum(譜系), are doting on(寵愛)their human companions."

Given all this variation(變化), it really is hard to give a clear answer to the question of whether cats are selfish. Instead, we'll conclude with the wise words of Gata Bela: "Cats are simply adorable!"

Vocabulary

be not content with… 不滿足于……

stereotype 固定印象;刻板印象

trait 特征

identify with 認可，同意

urinate 小便

altruistic 利他的

generosity 慷慨

calculating 工于算計的

wary 小心翼翼的

self-preservation 自我保護

solitary 孤獨的

domestication 馴養(yǎng)

ancestor 祖先

spectrum 譜系

dote on 寵愛

variation 變化

詞匯大爆炸(8): vary引起的詞匯

vary 與......不同

various 各種各樣的

variety 多樣性

a great variety of...許多種......

variation 變化

variance　變化;分歧

variable 可變化的;變量

本文觀點選自“唐老雅”