考满分 toefl

1 .<-NARRATOR:->Listen to part of a lecture in an anthropology class.

旁白：请听人类学课上的部分内容。

1 .<-FEMALE PROFESSOR:->So, we've been talking about early civilizations—how they developed...and early agriculture—and it's believed that agriculture arose independently in a few areas of the world about 10,000 years ago, and then spread from those areas to the rest of the world.

教授：所以，我们一直在讨论早期的文明，它们是如何发展的，以及早期的农业---人们相信农业大约1万年前在世界上几个地区独立出现，然后再从那些地区传播到了世界上其他地区。

2 .Those cradles of agriculture include [listing] the Middle East, China and Southeast Asia, and parts of the Americas.

那些农业的摇篮包括中东、中国、东南亚和美洲部分地区。

1 .Now, for many years archaeologists have speculated that agriculture also arose independently in another center, too—New Guinea, which is just north of Australia, in the South Pacific Ocean.

多年以来，考古学家推测农业还在另一个中心独立出现了，那就是新几内亚，位于南太平洋，就在澳大利亚北边。

2 .You can see it on this map.

你们可以在这张地图上看到它。

1 .So... it'd been assumed for a long time that New Guinea...that domesticated plants and animals—the practice of agriculture generally—had been introduced from Southeast Asia about 3,500 years ago—had come south, essentially.

所以...在很长一段时间里，人们都认为新几内亚......驯化的植物和动物，这些典型的农业的实践，本质上是3500多年前从东南亚向南传入的。

2 .Then, in the nineteen sixties and seventies, research was conducted at sites in New Guinea to explore the possibility of independent agricultural development—but unfortunately the evidence gathered at that time was inconclusive.

接着在二十世纪60年代和70年代，他们在新几内亚的几个地点进行了调查，探究独立农业发展的可能性---但不幸的是，那时收集到的证据并不足以下定论。

3 .For instance, although evidence was found of deforestation—you know, cutting down trees—from at least 7,000 years ago—that is, long before we had thought previously—it was unclear whether the forest had been cleared by farmers to plant fields or by hunter-gatherers so they could hunt more easily.

比如，虽然发现了森林开伐的证据，也就是砍伐树木的证据，至少来自7000年前---这比我们之前以为的时间要早得多---但是森林是农民为了种地而清除的，还是采集狩猎的人为了更容易狩猎而清除的尚不清楚。

4 .And many plant remains, like seeds and fruits, don't preserve well in swampy soils, in humid environments like you often find in New Guinea, so really, the proof was limited.

而且很多植物的剩余物，比如种子和果实，在湿软的土壤中不好保存，在新几内亚那种潮湿的环境。所以真的，那时的证据很有限。

1 .But, recent research has turned up some pretty convincing support.

但是在最近的调查中出现了一些特别有说服力的支持。

2 .A group of archaeologists returned to a site that had been previously examined—Kuk Swamp, which is in a mountain valley in the highlands of what is now Papua New Guinea.

一群考古学家回到了之前检测过的一个地点---Kuk Swamp，它位于现新几内亚Papua高地的一个山谷里。

1 .Based on their findings, they identified a succession of phases of agricultural development in the wetlands there, with several of these phases predating the earliest known agricultural influence from Southeast Asia.

根据他们的发现，他们辨认出了那里湿地农业发展的一系列阶段，其中好几个阶段在日期上都早于最早已知的从东南亚传来的农业影响。

1 .At the site in Kuk, they used an array of modern archaeological methods to analyze sediment samples from the soil.

在Kuk的地点，他们用了一系列现代考古学手段来分析从土壤中取到的泥沙试样。

2 .From the oldest soil layer, dating back 10,000 years, they found evidence of pits, stake holes, and ditches.

从最古老的土层中，日期能追溯到1万年前的土层中，他们发现了地坑、桩洞和渠沟的痕迹。

3 .Now, these all indicate that crops were being planted...plants are tied to stakes and ditches are... for drainage—eh, proof of a very early first phase of agricultural development.

这些都显示那时已经种植了庄稼。植物被绑在木桩上，渠沟用来排水，这是证明很早期的农业发展最初阶段的证据。

1 .For the second phase, which they identified from a higher layer of soil, featured regularly distributed mounds.

第二阶段中，他们从更浅层一些的土壤中辨认出，有按规律分布的护堤。

2 .Mounds were constructed to plant crops that can't tolerate very wet soil, such as bananas, because remember, Kuk is a swampy wetland, and bananas wouldn't ordinarily grow well there...

护堤被建来种植那些无法忍受非常湿润的土壤的作物，比如香蕉，因为别忘了，Kuk是一个很湿润的湿地，香蕉一般不会在那儿好好生长。

3 .And, in the layer from Kuk's third phase, they found evidence of an extensive network of ditches and drainage channels—indicating a further refinement of wetland cultivation.

在Kuk第三阶段的土层中，他们发现了一个广阔的沟渠和排水通道的网络存在的证据，这表明了湿地耕作的一个更进一步的完善。

1 .Because they had more advanced techniques than were available to earlier researchers, the archaeologists also were able to identify actual plant remains, microfossils, in the soil—from banana plants—and... and also grains of starch from taro on the edges of stone tools that date from about 10,000 years ago.

因为他们比之前的研究人员拥有更先进的技术，这些考古学家还辨认出了真实的植物残余，土壤中来自于香蕉植物的微化石，还有存在于距今1万年前的石器边缘的芋头淀粉的颗粒。

2 .Finding the taro remains was very important, because it meant that it must have been planted there—brought from the lowlands, because taro doesn't grow naturally in the highlands.

发现了芋头遗留物是非常重要的，因为这说明它一定是被从低地带过来种植在那儿的，因为芋头不会自然生长在高地上。

1 .And as for the bananas, researchers also found a high percentage of fossils from banana plants in sediment samples dating from about 7,000 years ago—proof that bananas were deliberately planted.

至于香蕉，研究人员还在距今7000年前的泥沙样本中发现了高比例的香蕉植物化石，证明香蕉是被刻意种植的。

2 .Because where bananas grow naturally, the concentration of the plant fossils is lower—bananas don't naturally grow so densely.

因为在香蕉自然生长的地方，植物化石的集中率较低，香蕉不会自然生长得那么密集。

3 .As a matter of fact, recent genetic research—genetic comparisons of banana species—suggest that the type of banana grown in New Guinea was domesticated there and then brought to Southeast Asia.

事实上，最近的基因研究，对香蕉品种的基因对比，发现生长在新几内亚的香蕉的品种是在那里驯化的，然后才被带到了东南亚。

1 .So, not sure where I'm going with this?

不知道我要用这个表达什么？

2 .Well, usually we expect to see that certain social changes are brought about by the development of agriculture—structural changes in the society, like rapid population growth, different social classes... but, New Guinea, it's largely unchanged... it's remained an egalitarian and rural society, so what does that tell us about the usual assumption?

通常我们会看到社会的某些变化是由农业的发展引起的——社会结构的变化，比如人口的快速增长，社会阶层的不同……但是，新几内亚，基本上没有变化……它仍然是一个平等主义和农村社会，那么这告诉我们什么是通常的假设?