[00:00.70]Lesson 9
[00:02.62]Flying cats
[00:10.02]How do cats try to protect themselves when falling from great heights?
[00:17.34]Cats never fail to fascinate human beings.
[00:21.77]They can be friendly and affectionate towards humans, but they lead mysterious lives of their own as well.
[00:29.47]They never become submissive like dogs and horses.
[00:33.63]As a result, humans have learned to respect feline independence.
[00:39.36]Most cats remain suspicious of humans all their lives.
[00:43.91]One of the things that fascinates us most about cats is the popular belief that they have nine lives.
[00:51.86]Apparently, there is a good deal of truth in this idea.
[00:57.69]A cat's ability to survive falls is based on fact.
[01:03.18]Recently the New York Animal Medical Centre made a study of 132 cats over a period of five months.
[01:13.00]All these cats had one experience in common: they had fallen off high buildings,
[01:17.88]yet only eight of them died from shock or injuries.
[01:24.07]Of course, New York is the ideal place for such an interesting study, because there is no shortage of tall buildings.
[01:33.79]There are plenty of high-rise windowsills to fall from!
[01:38.48]One cat, Sabrina, fell 32 storeys, yet only suffered from a broken tooth.
[01:46.89]'Cats behave like well-trained paratroopers,' a doctor said.
[01:52.15]It seems that the further cats fall, the less they are likely to injure themselves.
[01:59.16]In a long drop, they reach speeds of 60 miles an hour and more.
[02:05.01]At high speeds, falling cats have time to relax.
[02:09.23]They stretch out their legs like flying squirrels.
[02:13.69]This increases their air-resistance and reduces the shock of impact when they hit the ground.
猫总能引起人们的极大兴趣。它们可以对人友好，充满柔情。但是，它们又有自己神秘的生活方式。它们从不像狗和马一样变得那么顺从。结果是人们已经学会尊重猫的独立性。在它们的一生中，大多数猫都对人存有戒心。最使我们感兴趣的一件事情就是一种通俗的信念——猫有九条命。显然，这种说法里面包含着许多真实性。猫在跌落时能够大难不死是有事实作为依据的。
最近，纽约动物医疗中心对132只猫进行了为期5个月的综合研究。所有这些猫有一个共同的经历：它们都曾从高层建筑上摔下来过，但只有其中的8只猫死于震荡或跌伤。当然，纽约是进行这种有趣的试验的一个理想的地方，因为那里根本不缺乏高楼大厦，有的是高层的窗槛从上往下坠落。有一只叫萨伯瑞的猫从32层楼上掉下来，但只摔断一颗牙。“猫就像训练有素的跳伞队员，” 一位医生说。看起来，猫跌落的距离越长，它们就越不会伤害自己。在一个长长的跌落过程中，它们可以达到每小时60里甚至更快的速度。在高速下落中，猫有时间放松自己。它们伸展四肢，就像飞行中的松鼠一样。这样就加大了空气阻力，并减少了它们着地时冲击力带来的震动。