For lovers of whimsy, the 1970s TV show Bagpuss was a delight, not least because it featured mice who sang in falsetto tones.
　　還記得電影《鼠來(lái)寶》中三只天生“K歌之王”的小家伙嗎？又有誰(shuí)抵抗得了他們動(dòng)人的聲線？
　　But it seems those animated rodents were closer to the real world than we imagined.
　　其實(shí)這用電腦動(dòng)畫所營(yíng)造出的效果并非天方夜譚。
　　Scientists have discovered that far from being quiet, mice are actually born with an innate love of singing.
　　科學(xué)家們發(fā)現(xiàn)，老鼠并非天性不愛(ài)出聲，反而它們具有與生俱來(lái)愛(ài)唱歌得本性。
　　When a male comes across a potential mate, he bursts into a complex series of loud chirps and whistles that sound remarkably like birdsong.
　　當(dāng)雄老鼠邂逅有機(jī)會(huì)發(fā)展的對(duì)象時(shí)，他們會(huì)不由自主的發(fā)出一連串嗷嗷聲與口哨，聽(tīng)起來(lái)特別像鳥鳴。
　　Although the ultrasonic calls are too high-pitched for the human ear to pick up, the love songs allow females to weigh up the most suitable father for their offspring.
　　盡管由于這發(fā)出的聲音音頻過(guò)高，人耳無(wú)法聽(tīng)到，然而這樣的“歌聲”卻是為雌鼠提供了尋找最適合哺育后代對(duì)象的重要參考因素。
　　Scientists have previously known that mice emit squeaks that are inaudible to humans. In 2005, U.S.researchers discovered that these noises are made up of repeated phrases just like the songs of birds and whales. 科學(xué)家們?cè)谥鞍l(fā)現(xiàn)了鼠類發(fā)出的聲音是無(wú)法被人類的耳朵所捕捉到的，2005年，美國(guó)科學(xué)家研究出了老鼠的叫聲其實(shí)是一些重復(fù)的“短語(yǔ)”所組成的，這點(diǎn)與鳥類鯨魚很相似。
　　Since then, researchers have been trying to find out whether the songs are programmed into the brains of mice from birth, or whether they learn them from their mothers.
　　之后，科學(xué)家們正努力的找出這些歌聲是自出生起就存在于鼠類的大腦中，還是他們模仿父母的結(jié)果。
　 Now a team of Japanese scientists has found the answer. They used two strains of laboratory mice with distinct songs. Males from each strain were raised in litters of the opposite strain until they were weaned. 現(xiàn)在，有日本科學(xué)家聲稱找到了答案。他們利用了兩組生性不同的小白鼠，將幼崽交于別組的老鼠哺育，直至斷奶。
　　At the age of ten to 20 weeks their calls were recorded and analysed. Dr Takefumi Kikusui, who led the study, told journal PLoS that the mice sang the songs of their biological parents