The baby effect of pandas

2019-01-16江苏东海教师进修学校马连振

疯狂英语·新读写 2019年1期

江苏东海教师进修学校马连振

国宝熊猫在大国外交中客串了许多回友好使者的角色,其明星效应背后或许有一定的原因，国外媒体刊文发现，人们的“颜值控”心理决定了“以貌取人”。熊猫的形象软萌可爱，从而天生具备讨喜气质的“婴儿效应”，所到之处，备受追捧。而其他国家贵为国宝的动物，诸如美国的美洲野牛或俄罗斯的欧亚棕熊则很难让人心生亲近之意。

Germany was overjoyed late last month with news that a long-awaited giant panda pair had arrived at the Berlin Zoo.The zoo had been without a panda since the death of Bao Bao five years earlier， and panda mania（狂热） swept the nation as the public waited to see Meng Meng and Jiao Qing.

On July 5，the day before the new$10 million Chinese-themed enclosure（围场）would open，the zoo held a welcoming ceremony for the pandas.Visiting President Xi Jinping toured the enclosure with German Chancellor Angela Merkel.Merkel was overjoyed with the arrival of the“special envoys（使者）”，telling Xi they were a“symbol for the relationship between our two countries”.

How right she was.“Panda diplomacy” has been around for years.In February 1972，US President Richard Nixon traveled to Beijing，ending Washington's diplomaticcold shouldertoward the New China.Beijing，to stress its goodwill toward the United States，sent two giant pandas to Washington the following month.

It's a gesture that China has often repeated in various countries.In March， for instance， two pandas were sent to the Netherlands.Fourteen foreign countries now have giant pandas，sent as a sign of friendship by the People's Republic of China.

It's such a heartwarming diplomatic gesture.You have to wonder why other countries haven'tfollowed suit.

Sure，after the National Zoo in Washington received the gift in 1972，Nixon returned by sending a pair of Alaskan muskoxen（麝牛）to China.But it's not the same.A muskox just doesn't say “Greetings from the US”.

For that you'd need the bald eagle（秃头鹰）， the US national bird， as seen on dollar bills.Most countries have a national animal，such as Russia's Eurasian brown bear or India's Bengal tiger.One could imagine a pair of any of these creaturesserving asa diplomatic greeting card to a foreign country.

Still，the panda seems to have a mysterious universal charm.In the excitement about the arrival of Xing Ya and Wu Wen at Ouwehands Zoo in the Netherlands，De Volkskrant newspaper in Amsterdam published an explanation of the phenomenon.

According to De Volkskrant，human beings are psychologically connected to feel tenderness for pandas.It's called the “baby effect”.As withhuman babies，the pupils of a panda's eyes appear too big.“The panda's eye patches（眼圈），moreover，sit just right，with the corner of the eye lower，a shape that people associate with subservience（顺从），” psychologist Mariska Kret of Leiden University said.“Turn them the other way around and you get an angry looking face.”“Add the round ears， small nose and head that looks proportionately too big，” De Volkskrant added， “and it's like a baby， lovable.”

I can't imagine saying that about a bald eagle.

Reading Check

1.Why do pandas enjoy popularity among people throughout the world?

2.What does the last paragraph mean?

Language Study

Difficult sentences

1.Germany was overjoyed late last month with news that a long-awaited giant panda pair had arrived at the Berlin Zoo.

翻译：________________________________

【点石成金】be overjoyed with意为“因……而狂喜”。that a long-awaited giant panda pair had arrived at the Berlin Zoo为同位语从句。

2.Merkel was overjoyed with the arrival of the “special envoys”， telling Xi they were a“symbol for the relationship between our two countries”.

翻译：________________________________

【点石成金】telling Xi分词作伴随状语。同时，they were a “symbol for the relationship between our two countries”作telling Xi的直接宾语。