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Many cat owners argue that it's quite difficult to please their cats.
很多养猫人都觉得，要想讨好自家的“猫主子”要费一番劲。
Cats have a bit of a reputation for standoffishness, especially compared with dogs.
和狗狗相比，猫咪“高冷”、不爱搭理人的形象更是深入人心。
But if you find your feline friend is a little hard to bond with, maybe you're just not speaking their language.
但如果你发现你的猫咪朋友有点难以相处，也许只是你不会说它们的语言。
Maybe you are doing it in a wrong way.
或许是你用错了方法。
Research shows that it's actually not so difficult.
研究表明，要想和猫互动沟通其实并不难。
You just need to smile at them more.
你需要多对它们笑一笑。
Not smile in the human way, by baring your teeth, but the cat way: by narrowing your eyes and blinking slowly.
但这可不是我们人类寻常的咧嘴笑，而是要像猫一样，微眯着眼，然后缓慢眨一眨。
If you've spent any time around cats, you've probably seen their "partially closed eyes" facial expression, accompanied by slow blinking.
如果你和猫一起相处过，就不难发现它们时常半闭双眼，然后缓慢地眨眼。
It's similar to how human eyes narrow when smiling, and usually occurs when puss is relaxed and content.
和人类会笑眯了眼一样，猫在放松和满足的时候，也会做出这个动作。
The expression is interpreted as a kind of cat smile.
这个动作被认为是“猫咪的微笑”。
In a study published in 2020, scientists observed cat-human interactions, and were able to confirm that this act of blinking slowly makes cats – both familiar and unfamiliar animals – approach and be receptive to humans.
在2020年的一项研究中，科学家们观察了人与猫之间的互动，证实了缓慢眨眼这一动作能够让猫亲近并接受人类，无论二者之前是否接触过。
"As someone who has both studied animal behavior and is a cat owner, it's great to be able to show that cats and humans can communicate in this way," psychologist Karen McComb of the University of Sussex in the UK explained when the results of the study were published.
来自英国萨塞克斯大学的心理学家凯伦·麦库姆发表研究结果时说：“作为一个既研究动物行为又养过猫的人来说，很高兴能够证明猫和人类可以通过这种方式进行沟通。”
Jackson Galaxy, cat behavior expert, says there are some pretty strong feelings behind the cat slow blink. He calls it the "I Love You Blink."
猫行为专家杰克森·盖勒克西表示，猫缓慢眨眼的背后，蕴含着十分强烈的情感，他将其称为“表达爱意的眨眼”。
Galaxy says the cat slow blink is when cats and people are wholly opening up to one another in sharing affection because when the cat closes his eyes he is allowing himself to be vulnerable to his person.
盖勒克西说，当猫咪和人类都全身心地接受对方，表现出喜爱时，猫就会缓慢地眨眼。如果猫闭上眼睛，就意味着它对面前的人毫无防备之心。
In order to test whether humans can communicate with cats and show friendliness by imitating cat smiles, researchers designed two experiments to observe whether cats react differently to humans who slow-blink at themselves.
为了验证人类是否能够通过模仿“猫咪的微笑”，与猫进行沟通并表现友好，研究人员设计了两组实验，观察猫是否会对向自己慢慢眨眼的人类有不同的反应。
In the first experiment, owners slow-blinked at 21 cats from 14 different households.
14个家庭参与了第一组实验，共计有21只猫。
Once the cat was settled and comfy in one spot in their home environment, the owners were instructed to sit about a meter away and slow-blink when the cat was looking at them.
猫咪们在家里的固定地点放松下来，紧接着，猫主人被要求站在距离猫1米远的位置，与其对视并缓慢眨眼。
The camera recorded the facial expressions of the owner and the cat, and compared the image with that of cat when it was not interacting.
摄像机全程记录下了主人和猫的面部表情，并将该画面与猫没有进行互动时的画面进行了对比。
The comparison showed that cats were more likely to respond with the same slow blink after their owners gave their pets a slow blink compared to no interaction at all.
对比结果表明，与没有进行任何互动相比，在主人对自家宠物缓慢眨眼后，猫咪更有可能以同样的缓慢眨眼进行回应。
The second experiment included 24 cats from eight different households.
第二项实验则包括了来自8个家庭的24只猫。
This time, it wasn't the owners doing the blinking but the researchers, who'd had no prior contact with the cat.
但这一次，对猫眨眼的不是其主人，而是与猫完全陌生的研究人员。
The researchers performed the same slow-blink as the first experiments, while holding out a hand.
研究人员进行了与第一组实验相同的缓慢眨眼，同时还伸出了一只手。
As a control, they stopped blinking and then reached out to the cats again.
作为对照，研究人员停止眨眼，然后再次向猫咪伸手。
They found that not only were the cats more likely to blink back, but that they were more likely to approach the human's hand after the human had blinked.
他们发现，面对人类的眨眼，猫咪们不但通过慢眨眼进行回复，而且更愿意靠近他们伸出的手。
"This study is the first to experimentally investigate the role of slow blinking in cat-human communication," McComb said.
麦库姆说：“这项研究首次通过实验证明了缓慢眨眼在人与猫交流中的作用。”
Dr Tasmin Humphrey, the animal behaviour scientist at the University of Sussex, said: "Understanding positive ways in which cats and humans interact can enhance public understanding of cats, improve feline welfare, and tell us more about the socio-cognitive abilities of this under-studied species."
萨塞克斯大学动物行为学家塔斯明·汉弗莱博士说：“了解猫与人之间的积极交流方式可以增进公众对猫的了解，改善猫的福利。对于猫这个物种的研究还尚显不足，我们能够通过这个方式了解更多猫的社会认知能力。”
"Our findings could potentially be used to assess the welfare of cats in a variety of settings, including veterinary practices and shelters."
“我们的发现可用于评估猫在各种环境中的福利，其中包括兽医诊所和收容所。”
