The notion that children's taste in toys might somehow be genetically determined has long been disparaged by psychologists, pooh-poohed as unscientific, sexist or both.

孩子们对玩具地喜好在某种程度上是由基因决定的，这个说法长期遭到心理学家的鄙视，被认为是不科学的，或是有性别歧视的，或者两者兼而有之。

But a study by researchers in the United States suggests that when it comes to choosing between trucks and cuddly stuffed animals, chromosomes could make a difference. 

但一项由美国研究人员做的研究表明，在选择玩具卡车还是让人禁不住想抱抱的填充玩具时，染色体有可能是会起作用的。

A team of scientists led by Kim Wallen of the Yerkes National Primate Research Center in Atlanta, Georgia decided to offer typical "male" and "female" toys to rhesus monkeys to see if preferences aligned with sex.

在佐治亚州亚特兰大市的耶尔克斯国家灵长类动物研究中心，一队由金•沃伦带领的科学家就决定拿典型的“男性化”玩具和“女性化”玩具让猕猴选择，看看这种偏好到底是不是跟性别有关。

Much to their surprise, they did. The 11 male monkeys headed straight for the wheeled toys, such as dump trucks, leaving the plush toys more-or-less unmolested. 

令他们十分意外的是，这种偏好的确跟性别有关。实验用的11只公猴子直奔翻斗火车等带轮子的玩具，对毛绒玩具几乎置之不理。

"They are not subject to advertising. They are not subject to parental encouragement, they are not subject to peer chastisement," said Wallen.

“它们不会受到广告影响，也不受父母鼓励的影响，也没有同伴的指责。”沃伦说。

The results support an earlier study at Texas A&M University, with vervet monkeys, which also showed a distinct preference among male monkeys for "masculine" playthings.

这项结果支持了之前德克萨斯农工大学的一项研究。那项研究是用长尾猴做的实验，实验结果同样表明了公猴子对“男性化”玩具有着明显的偏好。

（来源：网络 实习生许雅宁 英语点津Jennifer编辑）