Listen to the tape then answer the question below.
听录音，然后回答以下问题。
How do cats try to protect themselves when falling from great heights?
Cats never fail to fascinate human beings. They can be friendly and affectionate towards humans, but they lead mysterious lives of their own as well. They never become submissive like dogs and horses. As a result, humans have learned to respect feline independence. Most cats remain suspicious of humans all their lives. One of the things that fascinates us most about cats is the popular belief that they have nine lives. Apparently, there is a good deal of truth in this idea. A cat's ability to survive falls is based on fact.
Recently the New York Animal Medical Centre made a study of 132 cats over a period of five months. All these cats had one experience in common: they had fallen off high buildings, yet only eight of them died from shock or injuries. Of course, New Yorkis the ideal place for such an interesting study, because there is no shortage of tall buildings. There are plenty of high-rise windowsills to fall, from! One cat, Sabrina, fell 32 storeys, yet only suffered from a broken tooth. ‘Cats behave like well-trained paratroopers, ’ a doctor said. It seems that the further cats fall, the less they are likely to injure themselves. In a long drop, they reach speeds of 60 miles an hour and more. At high speeds, falling cats have time to relax. They stretch out their legs like flying squirrels. This increases their air-resistance and reduces the shock of impact when they hit the ground. New words and expressions生词和短语
fascinate（1. 1）/'$fisneit/v．迷住，吸引住
independence（1. 4）/?indi'pend+ns/n．独立，独立性
affectionate（1. 2）/+'fekM+int/adj．充满深情的，柔情的
high-rise（1. 12）/'hairaiz/adj．高层的
windowsill（1. 12）/'wind+(?sil/n．窗槛
mysterious（1. 2）/mi'sti+ri+s/adj．神秘的．难以理解的
paratrooper（1. 13）/'p$r+?tru:p+/n．伞兵
squirrel（1. 16）/'skwir+l/n．松鼠
submissive（1. 3）/s+b'misiv/adj．服从的，顺从的
air-resistance（1. 16）/'e+-ri'zist``+ns/n．空气阻力
feline（1. 4）/'fi:lain/adj．猫的
impact（1. 16）/'imp$kt/n．冲击力
Notes on the text课文注释
1 Cats never fail to fascinate human beings. 在这句话中有一个否定词 never和一个含有否定意义的动词 fail，这两个否定词就组成了双重否定，而双重否定往往用来表示肯定。这句话可以译成：“猫总能引起人们的极大兴趣。”
2 be based on，在……基础之上。
3 have in common，有共同之处。
4 the further cats fall, the less they are likely to injure themselves，猫跌落的距离越长，它们就越不会伤害自己。“the +形容词或副词比较级…the +形容词或副词比较级”的结构常用来表示比较关系，往往可以译成“越……越……”。 be likely to是“很可能会”的意思。
参考译文
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