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第一段
1 .Listen to part of a lecture in an archaeology class.
听一段考古学课程的演讲
第二段
1 .The Great Pyramid of Giza in Egypt might be the most famous building in the world.
埃及的吉萨金字塔可能是世界上最著名的建筑了。
2 .We know exactly when it was built.
我们明确地知道它的建造时间
3 .Construction started in 2547 B.C.E., about 4500 years ago.
公元前2547年开始动工，也就是距今4500年左右。
4 .We know who had it built.
我们知道是谁下令建造的：
5 .That was the pharaoh Khufu.
胡夫法老。
6 .And we know who oversaw its construction - the pharaoh's brother.
们知道是谁监管建造的：法老的兄弟。
7 .We know so many things about it, but the funny thing is: we still don't know exactly how it was built.
我们知道许多关于它的事，但有意思的是，我们仍然不知道它是如何建成的。
第三段
1 .This picture will give you an idea of the size of the Pyramid and the size of the blocks it's made out of.
这张照片能让你们大概了解一下金字塔本身的大小和组成它的石材的大小。
2 .About two million stone blocks were used to build the Great Pyramid and they are incredibly massive.
建造这座金字塔大概用了200万块石材，石材都很巨大
3 .The average weight is two and a half tons.
平均重量达2.5吨。
第四段
1 .The problem that has puzzled scholars for centuries is how were these blocks lifted up the height of this massive structure and then fit into place and without the benefit of modern technology.
困扰了学者们几百年的问题是，在没有现代科技的帮助下，这些石材是如何被举到金字塔那么高的地方并放在指定位置的呢。
2 .Of course, there've been a lot of theories over the centuries.
当然，过去的几个世纪内， 人们提出了诸多理论。
第五段
1 .The oldest recorded one is by the Greek historian Herodotus.
最早记录在案的理论出自古希腊史学家希罗多德。
2 .He visited Egypt around 450 B.C.E., when the Pyramid was already 2000 years old.
公元前450年，在他访问埃及的时候，这座金字塔就已经有2000年的历史了。
3 .His theory was that cranes were used, much like we use cranes today to construct tall buildings.
他的理论是，当时的人们用了起重机，跟现在我们盖高楼用的起重机很像，
4 .And Herodotus may have seen Egyptians using cranes made of wood.
希罗多德之前可能见过埃及人用木质的起重机。
5 .But the problem with this theory has to do with simple mechanics.
。但这个理论的问题出在了简单的机械原理上：
6 .A crane needs a wide and sturdy base to stand on or it will fall over.
起重机需要宽大、厚重的底架来支撑，否则就立不起来。
7 .Well, as you get toward the top of the Pyramid, there's really no place for a crane to stand.
建到金字塔顶部的时候，根本没有地方给起重机放底架
8 .The stone blocks are too narrow to provide a base.
。石材太窄，无法放置底架。
9 .Well, so much for that theory.
所以，这个理论也就这样不攻自破了。
第六段
1 .The next one has to do with the use of a ramp that would allow workers to drag a stone block up the side of the structure.
第二个理论涉及到了直坡路，工人们可以通过直坡路拖拽石材来建造金字塔。
2 .Of course the ramp can't be too steep.
当然直坡路不能太陡了。
3 .It has to have a long gentle slope.
直坡路必须得又长又缓，
4 .And that's the problem.
但问题也在这。
5 .If you build a ramp with a slight slope up to the top of a Pyramid that's over 130 meters high, it would have to be almost two kilometers long.
如果你想要在高达130米的金字塔上建造通到顶端的缓坡直坡路，这条路怎么也要2千米长。
6 .Well, the Pyramid is built on a flat area called the Giza Plateau.
可是，金字塔位于吉萨平原的一块平地上。
7 .The Plateau is simply not big enough to accommodate a two-kilometer-long ramp.
平原本身都不够那么长，根本容不下一条2千米的直坡路
第七段
1 .OK. So what now?
所以，还有呢？
2 .Well, if you've ever driven on a mountain road, you'd know that it has a lot of twists and turns and bends in it because that's how engineers keep the road from having to be too steep.
那么，如果你曾经在山路上开过车的话，你知道山路非常崎岖，经常有转弯，这是因为工程师们想让山路变得不那么险峻。
3 .So why not wrap the ramp around the Pyramid, building the ramp around it as you go?
所以为什么不把直坡路绕着金字塔建呢。
4 .Sounds like a pretty good idea.
听起来是个不错的点子，
5 .Except it's got a serious problem.
但是却有一个严重的漏洞。
6 .See... one of the most remarkable things about the Great Pyramid is how accurate the proportions are.
那么，大金字塔最值得一提的地方就是它的比例之精确。
7 .The dimensions are almost perfect.
尺寸几乎都是完美的
8 .To get that perfection, the engineers must have had to measure it repeatedly during construction.
要达到这种完美，工程师必须在建造过程中不断地去测量。
9 .And the way you'd measure it is from the four corners of the base.
测量的方式则要从金字塔的四个角开始。
10 .Well, if you got a ramp spiraling up from the base of the Pyramid, those corners would be buried by that ramp during construction.
如果有一条直坡路从塔底绕着金字塔的话，这四个角便会在建造过程中被盖住了。
第八段
1 .Well, who says the ramp has to be on the outside of the Pyramid?
那么，谁说直坡路必须建在金字塔外部呢？
2 .And now we get to the latest idea.
们现在就讲讲最新的理论：
3 .If the ramp were on the inside of the Pyramid, the corners at the base would be exposed so the engineers could do their measurements while they were building.
如果直坡路建在了金字塔内部，金字塔的四个角就能够暴露出来，这样工程师就可以在建造过程中进行测量了。
第九段
1 .Well, an architect named Houdin has spent a few years working on making computer models of the building of the Pyramid.
那么，一名叫做霍登的建筑师花了数年时间来研究出模拟金字塔建造过程的电脑模型。
2 .And what Houdin believes is that an exterior straight ramp was used to construct the bottom third of the Pyramid.
霍登认为，金字塔底部的1/3是通过在外部建造一个直坡路来完成的。
3 .This ramp would have been fairly short.
直坡路非常短，
4 .It probably rose less than 50 meters.
大概不到50米
5 .Then the rest of the Pyramid was constructed using an internal ramp that spiraled around the inside of the Pyramid.
然后金字塔的其余部分是通过在内部建造一个旋转直坡路而建造成的。
第十段
1 .But how can we test this idea?
但我们怎么去验证这个观点呢？
2 .Well, there are several ways to look inside the Pyramid.
那么，有好几种来观察金字塔内部的方法。
第十一段
1 .One is called microgravimetry.
其中一个叫做微重力测量法。
2 .Microgravimetry is a technique that's used to detect voids inside a structure.
微重力测量法是一种用来检测建筑内部空隙的方法。
3 .You can then take the data and generate an image that shows any empty spaces in the interior.
通过它，可以获得数据，并通过数据生成显示出内部空隙的图像。
4 .Well, in 1986, French scientists completed a microgravimetric survey of the Pyramid.
那么，在1986年，法国科学家完成了一次对金字塔的微重力测量。
5 .And one of the images they produced showed an empty spiral-shaped space inside it.
他们获得的一个图像就显示出，在金字塔内部有一个空的旋转空间。
6 .The shape of that space corresponds exactly to what Houdin thought the ramp would look like.
。空间的形状跟霍登构想出的直坡路形状完全一致。
7 .I think Herodotus would be convinced.
我认为希罗多德会信服的。
8 .We might very well be at the end of centuries of guessing.
几个世纪的猜想很可能画上了句点。