考满分 toefl

1 .Listen to part of a lecture in an archaeology class.

听一段考古学课程的演讲

1 .We will be looking at the original settlement of the Americas next, and I'll spend the next few classes talking about the Clovis people and the two big questions archaeologists have about them.

下面我们会看在美洲的原始移民。我会用几节课的时间来讲克洛维斯人和考古学家关于他们的两大疑问。

1 .The two big questions are, when did the Clovis people arrive in the Americas?

这两大疑问是，克洛维斯人什么时候来到美洲的？

2 .And of course, were they the first people in the Western hemisphere.

当然还有，他们是不是西半球最早的民族？

3 .And we'll get to that. But for today, let's try to get an idea about, well, a question that's not addressed as much as the others and that's - what was their culture like, and how do we figure that out?

我们之后会提到它。但是今天我们试图探讨另一个没有像其他问题一样被频频提到的问题，那就是他们的文化是什么样的？以及我们如何得到答案的？

1 .Now, again, there's a great debate about when the Clovis people first arrived in the Americas.

好，再说一下，关于克洛维斯人什么时候第一次到达美洲大陆有一个激烈的争论。

2 .And I am not like a lot of archaeologists who want to push the number way back, so let's use a round number and probably a safe number and say 11,000 years ago.

而我不像其他一些考古学家，他们试图把年代说的很久远。那我们四舍五入，一个有把握的数字是一万一千年前。

3 .The Clovis people were likely settling North America 11,000 years ago. And leave it at that for now.

克洛维斯人在一万一千年前可能就在南美洲居住了。我们目前就用这个数字。

1 .Now, most of what we know about the Clovis people comes from one of their tools - the Clovis point.

好的，我们对克洛维斯人的大多数了解来源于他们的工具，克洛维斯矛头

2 .When we talk about a point we are referring to a piece of stone that's worked to a sharp point, in this case probably to be attached to a spear.

我们说矛头，是指一块被做成锋利的尖头的石块，在这儿可能是被插在矛上。

3 .The Clovis point may be the most analyzed artifact in archaeology.

在考古学中，克洛维斯矛头可能是被分析最深入的物件了。

4 .And the point used by Clovis people differs slightly from later points, in the way that the base of the stone is thinned, uh, it's thinner toward the base, the part that's attached to the spear.

克洛维斯人使用的矛头和后面的矛头有所不同，在石头基础的方面更薄，更薄的那面朝向基础，那个和矛连接的地方

5 .So when one is found, it's usually not confused with points made by later groups.

当一个被发现后，常常不会和后来的团体制作的矛头弄混

1 .Clovis points have been discovered at both hunting grounds and camp sites, which you might expect.

克洛维斯矛头在打猎处和营地都被发现过，也许你预料到了。

2 .But another fascinating place we find them is in Clovis caches.

但是我们发现矛头的另一个有趣的地方是克洛维斯人的储藏地。

3 .A cache is just something stored or hidden away.

Cache就是被储藏或藏好的东西。

4 .It's also the term for the place where it's hidden.

它还有储藏地的意思。

1 .The Clovis caches are collections of tools, stone points and other tools made of stone or bone, often at various stages of manufacturing, some were left unfinished.

克洛维斯储藏地收藏了工具，矛头和其他有石或骨头，而且通常是在制造的不同阶段，有些没有完成。

2 .The traditional explanation is that these were emergency supplies, uh, meant to be used at a later time.

对此的传统解释是这些是应急用的，被留到稍后再用的。

3 .Since the Clovis people were highly mobile, it's plausible that they would set up spots along established travel routes where they keep a variety of items, either so that they wouldn't have to carry everything with them or so they could save time once they arrived at a site by not having to make stuff from scratch.

由于克洛维斯人喜爱迁移，很有可能他们在路途中会设置一些存放物品的地方，不是为了减少携带的东西，就是为了免去从头制造物品从而节省时间。

1 .But there's another theory about the caches based on the quality of some of the points we've found.

但是基于我们发现的矛头的质量，还有另一个关于储藏地的理论

2 .You see, the points in some caches differ from other points, from points at Clovis camp sites for example.

你看一些储藏地的矛头与其他的矛头不一样，比如克洛维斯露营地的。

3 .For one thing, these cache points are quite large, up to twice as large as regular points, so big that you couldn't attach one to a spear say, and expect to throw the spear accurately over any distance.

一是，这些储藏地的矛头很大，是普通的两倍。特别大以致于，比如你不可能把它插在矛上还能把矛准确的扔出去。

4 .So what were they for?

那么他们是干什么用的呢？

1 .Well, it was originally thought that they were unfinished, that someone was working away a point, then had to stop and put it aside in one of these caches to work on later.

一开始我们认为这些矛头是未完成的，一个人加工矛头时中途需要停下，就把它放在一个储存处地，为了之后完成它。

2 .The problem is: it's unlikely that a point would have started out as large as the points in these caches, that would be a lot of stone to chip away.

问题是，矛头一开始不可能像储藏地那儿的这么大，这需要削掉大量的石头。

3 .A toolmaker starts with a smaller piece.

通常制造者用更小的一块石头做矛头。

4 .And actually, far from being unfinished, a lot of these points really show excellent craftsmanship and attention to detail.

而且，其实不仅不是未完成的，很多矛头体现了高超的工艺和对细节的关注。

5 .And not just with respect to the skill, but also with respect to the raw material.

不但就工艺而言，从原材料来看，

6 .It seems that cached points are made from the very best pieces of stone.

储藏地的矛头像是用最好的石头做成的。

1 .So we have to ask: could these points have served another purpose?

那么我们要问的是，这些矛头有没有其他用途？

2 .Maybe be they weren't just tools.

也许他们不仅石工具。

3 .Look at it this way.

你要这么来想

4 .When the Clovis people first arrived in the Americas, they had a lot to learn about their new environment.

当克洛维斯人第一次到达美洲的时候，他们要学习新环境中的很多东西。

5 .Over time, they would have begun to recognize some places as special, important for some reason.

时间一长，他们会开始意识到一些地方因为某些原因很特殊，很重要

6 .Maybe there was always water available there, or the hunting was especially good.

也许那儿有水，或者有利于狩猎。

7 .So maybe the cache was a way to mark the place as significant.

所以也许这些储藏地是一种标记重要地点的方式。