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转眼间春天又踏着温暖的阳光而来，一时间春风吹绿梢，身旁莺歌燕舞、百鸟争鸣。画眉“呖呖”、斑鸠“咕咕”、燕子呢喃、云雀高唱入云……宛如一支鸟类交响乐。“蜂蜜”们对鸟儿的歌声早已熟悉，那么大家有兴趣听听鸟儿喝醉后的歌声吗？Let’s go～
Arun Rath （Host）： A new study looked at how alcohol affects communication—bird communication. Christopher Olson and his colleagues at Oregon Health and Science University got a bunch of 1）zebra finches drunk and singing in the name of science. I asked him what they were expecting to happen， and why give alcohol to birds in the first place？
Christopher Olson： Well， we wanted to study how alcohol affects the production of bird song， because we use the zebra finch as a model to study human 2）vocal learning in the first place. And that’s the process that allows humans to learn how to communicate with language. And that’s a fairly unique 3）trait that we have. So we， as humans—we learn to speak by hearing other people talk， and birds have a very similar process. And we all know that alcohol affects human speech， so...
（Laughter）
Rath： Now， how did you get the birds drunk？
Olson： Well， we just showed up in the morning and mixed a little bit of juice with six percent alcohol and put it in their water bottles and put it in the cages. And， you know， at first， we were thinking that they wouldn’t drink on their own because， you know， a lot of animals just will not touch the stuff. But they seem to tolerate it pretty well， and be somewhat willing to 4）consume it.
Rath： And how 5）tipsy—how 6）intoxicated did the birds get？ How do you （laughter）—how do you measure that？ Olson： Well， we can take a small blood sample， and we have yet to invent the bird 7）breathalyzer， but...（Laughter）...which would be easy. But we can take a blood， a small blood sample， and what we see is blood 8）ethanol 9）concentrations in the range of 0.05 to 0.08 percent. And so， you know， 0.08 is the legal limit to drive， just to give you a 10）baseline. They’re just underneath that.
Rath： And so， well， let’s get to the effects of alcohol on the birdsong. So the first we’re going to hear—this is the normal zebra finch song. （Soundbite of zebra finch song） And this is the drunk song. （Soundbite of zebra finch song） Now， Chris， I know that birds can hear a lot more detail in sound than we do， which is good because I can’t really tell a difference between these two.
Olson： Yeah. It’s probably hard. So you can’t really judge it on big structural differences in the song. But if you take smaller 11）syllables out and slow them down， you start to hear the difference. Rath： So let’s bring this down to a level that humans can 12）perceive. So first we’ll have the slowed-down normal zebra finch song.（Soundbite of zebra finch song） And then this is the slowed-down drunken song. （Soundbite of zebra finch song） It sounds a little bit 13）sloppier.
Olson： A little sloppier. Well， the main effects that we see are it’s a little bit quieter. And then， also， the ones that had been consuming alcohol are a bit less organized in their sound production.
Rath： Christopher Olson， very interesting stuff. Thank you.
Olson： Sure. Thank you for having me on.
（Soundbite of song， “Rockin’ Robin”）
阿伦·拉斯（主持人）：这是一项关于酒精如何影响鸟类沟通交流的新研究。俄勒冈健康与科学大学的克里斯多夫·奥尔森与他的同事为了进行科学研究，把一群斑胸草雀灌醉后让它们唱歌。我问他，他们期待怎样的结果，一开始为什么把鸟类作为酒精（测试的对象）？
克里斯多夫·奥尔森：好吧，我们想要研究酒精是如何影响鸟类唱歌的。因为我们一开始是用斑胸草雀作为模型来研究人类发声的习得。这是人类学习如何运用语言来交流的过程——这是我们非常独特的一种特质。因此，我们，作为人类——我们通过听别人交谈而学习说话，而鸟类（语言的学习）跟我们有着非常相似的过程。我们都知道酒精影响人类的语言能力，因此……
（笑）
拉斯：那么你是怎样灌醉那些鸟儿的？
奥尔森：好吧，我们只是在早上把一点果汁混入到浓度为6%的酒精里，然后把这种液体放入困有斑胸草雀的笼子内的水瓶里。但是，你知道的，刚开始我们认为它们自己不会去喝那些液体，因为，你懂的，许多动物都不会触碰这类东西。但是它们看起来很愿意接受它，也很乐意品尝。
拉斯：那么这些鸟儿喝得有多醉？你怎么……（笑）你怎么去测量？
奥尔森：好吧，我们可以采集一小部分血样，我们还没发明鸟类的呼气测醉器，但是……（笑）……如果有的话就会方便得多。但是我们可以采集一小部分血样，我们所看到的血液里的酒精浓度是在0.05%至0.08%。所以，你知道的，0.08%是驾车的法定限制，只是给你一个底线。而鸟儿们血液中的酒精浓度低于这一底线。
拉斯：那么，好吧，让我们来说说酒精对鸟类唱歌的影响。那么我们首先将要听到的是——斑胸草雀在正常情况下的歌声。（斑胸草雀的歌声）而这是喝醉后的歌声。（斑胸草雀的歌声）现在，克里斯，我知道鸟类能比我们听到更多声音里的细节，这很好，因为我分不出这两个声音的区别。
奥尔森：嗯，这也许有难度。所以你真的很难辨别这些歌声中结构上有什么大的不同。但是如果你把较小的音节拿出来放慢它们的速度，你就开始能听出差别。
拉斯：那么让我们把声音（的速度）调到人们能察觉的一个水平。因此首先我们来听放慢速度后斑胸草雀正常的歌声。（斑胸草雀的歌声）然后这是放慢速度后斑胸草雀喝醉了的歌声。（斑胸草雀的歌声）这听起来有点含糊不清。
奥尔森：有一点含糊不清。好吧，我们观察到的主要影响是声音变得更轻了，喝酒后斑胸草雀的歌声没有那么规律。
拉斯：克里斯多夫·奥尔森，这是一项非常有趣的研究。谢谢你。
奥尔森：是的。谢谢你邀请我。
（歌曲《摇滚知更鸟》的声音）
Arun Rath （Host）： A new study looked at how alcohol affects communication—bird communication. Christopher Olson and his colleagues at Oregon Health and Science University got a bunch of 1）zebra finches drunk and singing in the name of science. I asked him what they were expecting to happen， and why give alcohol to birds in the first place？
Christopher Olson： Well， we wanted to study how alcohol affects the production of bird song， because we use the zebra finch as a model to study human 2）vocal learning in the first place. And that’s the process that allows humans to learn how to communicate with language. And that’s a fairly unique 3）trait that we have. So we， as humans—we learn to speak by hearing other people talk， and birds have a very similar process. And we all know that alcohol affects human speech， so...
（Laughter）
Rath： Now， how did you get the birds drunk？
Olson： Well， we just showed up in the morning and mixed a little bit of juice with six percent alcohol and put it in their water bottles and put it in the cages. And， you know， at first， we were thinking that they wouldn’t drink on their own because， you know， a lot of animals just will not touch the stuff. But they seem to tolerate it pretty well， and be somewhat willing to 4）consume it.
Rath： And how 5）tipsy—how 6）intoxicated did the birds get？ How do you （laughter）—how do you measure that？ Olson： Well， we can take a small blood sample， and we have yet to invent the bird 7）breathalyzer， but...（Laughter）...which would be easy. But we can take a blood， a small blood sample， and what we see is blood 8）ethanol 9）concentrations in the range of 0.05 to 0.08 percent. And so， you know， 0.08 is the legal limit to drive， just to give you a 10）baseline. They’re just underneath that.
Rath： And so， well， let’s get to the effects of alcohol on the birdsong. So the first we’re going to hear—this is the normal zebra finch song. （Soundbite of zebra finch song） And this is the drunk song. （Soundbite of zebra finch song） Now， Chris， I know that birds can hear a lot more detail in sound than we do， which is good because I can’t really tell a difference between these two.
Olson： Yeah. It’s probably hard. So you can’t really judge it on big structural differences in the song. But if you take smaller 11）syllables out and slow them down， you start to hear the difference. Rath： So let’s bring this down to a level that humans can 12）perceive. So first we’ll have the slowed-down normal zebra finch song.（Soundbite of zebra finch song） And then this is the slowed-down drunken song. （Soundbite of zebra finch song） It sounds a little bit 13）sloppier.
Olson： A little sloppier. Well， the main effects that we see are it’s a little bit quieter. And then， also， the ones that had been consuming alcohol are a bit less organized in their sound production.
Rath： Christopher Olson， very interesting stuff. Thank you.
Olson： Sure. Thank you for having me on.
（Soundbite of song， “Rockin’ Robin”）
阿伦·拉斯（主持人）：这是一项关于酒精如何影响鸟类沟通交流的新研究。俄勒冈健康与科学大学的克里斯多夫·奥尔森与他的同事为了进行科学研究，把一群斑胸草雀灌醉后让它们唱歌。我问他，他们期待怎样的结果，一开始为什么把鸟类作为酒精（测试的对象）？
克里斯多夫·奥尔森：好吧，我们想要研究酒精是如何影响鸟类唱歌的。因为我们一开始是用斑胸草雀作为模型来研究人类发声的习得。这是人类学习如何运用语言来交流的过程——这是我们非常独特的一种特质。因此，我们，作为人类——我们通过听别人交谈而学习说话，而鸟类（语言的学习）跟我们有着非常相似的过程。我们都知道酒精影响人类的语言能力，因此……
（笑）
拉斯：那么你是怎样灌醉那些鸟儿的？
奥尔森：好吧，我们只是在早上把一点果汁混入到浓度为6%的酒精里，然后把这种液体放入困有斑胸草雀的笼子内的水瓶里。但是，你知道的，刚开始我们认为它们自己不会去喝那些液体，因为，你懂的，许多动物都不会触碰这类东西。但是它们看起来很愿意接受它，也很乐意品尝。
拉斯：那么这些鸟儿喝得有多醉？你怎么……（笑）你怎么去测量？
奥尔森：好吧，我们可以采集一小部分血样，我们还没发明鸟类的呼气测醉器，但是……（笑）……如果有的话就会方便得多。但是我们可以采集一小部分血样，我们所看到的血液里的酒精浓度是在0.05%至0.08%。所以，你知道的，0.08%是驾车的法定限制，只是给你一个底线。而鸟儿们血液中的酒精浓度低于这一底线。
拉斯：那么，好吧，让我们来说说酒精对鸟类唱歌的影响。那么我们首先将要听到的是——斑胸草雀在正常情况下的歌声。（斑胸草雀的歌声）而这是喝醉后的歌声。（斑胸草雀的歌声）现在，克里斯，我知道鸟类能比我们听到更多声音里的细节，这很好，因为我分不出这两个声音的区别。
奥尔森：嗯，这也许有难度。所以你真的很难辨别这些歌声中结构上有什么大的不同。但是如果你把较小的音节拿出来放慢它们的速度，你就开始能听出差别。
拉斯：那么让我们把声音（的速度）调到人们能察觉的一个水平。因此首先我们来听放慢速度后斑胸草雀正常的歌声。（斑胸草雀的歌声）然后这是放慢速度后斑胸草雀喝醉了的歌声。（斑胸草雀的歌声）这听起来有点含糊不清。
奥尔森：有一点含糊不清。好吧，我们观察到的主要影响是声音变得更轻了，喝酒后斑胸草雀的歌声没有那么规律。
拉斯：克里斯多夫·奥尔森，这是一项非常有趣的研究。谢谢你。
奥尔森：是的。谢谢你邀请我。
（歌曲《摇滚知更鸟》的声音）