2019年经济学人 伪造犀牛角(2)

（单词翻译）

The next task they tackled was making a suitable binding¹ matrix.

他们接下来要解决的任务是制作合适的粘合基质。

This, Dr Vollrath and his coauthor Mi Ruixin made from a fibrous protein-rich glue of the sort produced naturally by spiders and silkworms.

这是由沃拉斯博士和他的合著者Mi Ruixin用一种富含纤维蛋白的胶制成的，这种胶是由蜘蛛和蚕自然产生的。

They bundled the treated horse hairs as tightly as they could in a matrix of this glue, and then left the bundles in an oven to dry.

他们把处理过的马毛尽可能紧紧地捆在这种胶水的基质里，然后把这些马毛放在烤箱里烘干。

The result was a material that, with some polishing, looked like rhino² horn.

结果，经过一些抛光打磨，这种材料看起来就像犀牛角。

Specimens³ on the black market are, however, inspected carefully before sale,

然而，黑市上的标本在出售前都要经过仔细检查，

so for the false horns to be effective they would need to stand up to closer scrutiny⁴ than the naked eye.

因此，为了使假的犀牛角能够以假乱真，它们需要经得起比肉眼更仔细的观察。

To this end, Dr Vollrath and Dr Mi decided⁵ to test their product in detail.

为此，沃拉斯博士和Mi博士决定对他们的产品进行详细的测试。

DNA⁶ analysis would certainly reveal fakes, but such analysis is complicated

DNA分析肯定会发现假货，但这种分析很复杂

and therefore hard to do in the sorts of back rooms in which rhino-horn sales tend to take place.

因此在犀牛角交易的辅助库房内很难做到。

The forgeries⁷ passed other tests with flying colours, though.

不过，这些赝品还是出色地通过了其他测试。

First, fake and real horn looked the same when examined under a scanning electron microscope.

首先，假牛角和真牛角在扫描电子显微镜下看起来是一样的。

Next, they behaved similarly when tested by a technique that compared their capacity to absorb heat.

第二，在进行吸热能力比较技术测试时，它们的表现相似。

Finally, when stressed or strained and then relaxed regularly for long periods, to probe their underlying⁸ mechanical properties,

最后，在经过一段长时间定期挤压放松，对它们的潜在的机械性能进行探测后发现，

the results for real and false horn were indistinguishable.

真角和假角的结果是无法区分的。

Whether using clandestine⁹ means to launch impeccable fakes onto the rhinoceros-horn market

利用秘密手段在犀牛角市场上推出无懈可击的假货

would truly reduce prices and sabotage¹⁰ demand remains¹¹ to be tested. But it might.

是否能真正降低价格并妨碍需求，仍有待检验。但这是有可能的。

It is an old trick in warfare¹² to flood the enemy with forged, worthless money. Something similar may yet help save the rhino.

用伪造的、毫无价值的钱淹没敌人是战争中的一个老把戏。类似的方法可能有助于拯救犀牛。