你相信猫有九条命吗？

　 Some people believe in the superstition that cats have nine lives, because cats can survive falls from high places with few, if any injuries. This gives the appearance that the cats return to life after sustaining a fatal accidents. The ability of the cat to survive these accidents that would kill humans or other animals is not due to multiple lives, but to several advantages they possess：

　 一些人迷信猫有九条命，因为猫从高处摔下来不仅不会死，甚至都很少受伤。这个事实给人的感觉是猫即使是遇到了什么不测也可以起死回生。其实，猫能够逃过一些人类都逃不掉的灾祸，并不是因为它们命大，只是因为它们有一些特殊的优势罢了：

　 1. Their small size and low body weight soften the impact as they make contact with the ground after falling from great heights.

　 玲珑、轻盈的体态在接触地面时起到了很大的缓冲作用。

　 2. The highly developed inner ears of cats equip them with an unusually keen sense of balance. This sense of balance allows a cat falling upside down to right himself by rapidly determining his position, repositioning himself, and making any adjustments necessary to ensure that he lands on all fours. Since cats land on all four paws, the impact from landing on the ground is absorbed by all four.

　 拥有高度发达的内耳以及十分灵敏的平衡感。这种平衡感使得猫在降落的时候能够及时地调整姿势，确保四肢着地。这样撞击地面时的冲击力就被大大扩散了。

　 3. Cats bend their legs when they land, which cushions the impact by spreading the impact, not only through bones that could easily break, but through the joints and muscles as well.

　 猫在着地时腿是弯曲的，因此不仅是骨头，还有关节和肌肉都起到了缓冲、扩散冲击力的作用。

　 Most are surprised to learn that a cat stands a greater chance of survival if it falls from a higher place than from a lower place. New York veterinarians gathered data from their feline patients, which clearly supports this fact. Ten percent of their patients died after falling from 2-6 stories, while only five percent of the fatalities occurred when their patients fell from 7-32 stories.

　 很多人对猫从高的地方跌落比从低的地方跌落有更大存活机会这一点感到惊异。纽约的兽医们用病猫做实验获得了支持这一结论的数据：从2~6层坠落的猫中有10%会遇难，而如果从7~32层坠落，则只有5%的猫会遇难。

　 Laws of physics explain why these survival rates vary. All falling bodies, regardless or their masses, accelerate by 22 miles per hour per second of their falls. The falling object, after traveling a certain distance through the air reaches a final speed, or "terminal velocity," because the object’s friction with the air slows the fall. The smaller the object's mass, and the greater its area, the more it will slow.

　 物理原理能够解释这一现象。所有物体，不论质量，下落时都有22英里/小时的加速度。物体在下落一定距离后由于空气阻力都会达到一个终极速度。物体的质量越小，与空气的接触面积越大，下落速度越慢。

　 A cat falling from a higher floor, after it stops accelerating, spreads its legs into an umbrella shape, which increases the area against which the air must push and increases the friction, thus slowing the cat's fall. Through the cats highly developed sense of balance, he buys more time to maneuver his body in preparation for landing on all fours. A cat falling from a lower height does not have the opportunity to increase its body's area, slow its fall, or position his body to land on all four feet.

　 一只从高处下落的猫在停止加速后会将腿伸展成伞形状，这样它与空气的接触面就增大了，于是增大的摩擦力会减缓下落速度。虽然猫有很发达的平衡感，它们还是需要很多时间来调整身体，为四肢着地做好准备。而从较低的高度下落的猫没有时间伸展身体，增加与空气的接触面，从而减速，也没有足够的时间调整好降落的姿势。