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第1段
1 .<-NARRATOR:-> Listen to part of a lecture in an archaeology class.
旁白：听一段节选自考古学课堂的讲座。
第2段
1 .<-FEMALE PROFESSOR:-> The Great Pyramid of Giza in Egypt might be the most famous building in the world.
教授：埃及吉萨金字塔也许是世界上最著名的建筑。
2 .We know exactly when it was built-construction started in 2547 B.C.E.-about 4,500 years ago.
我们知道建造它的确切时间。始建于公元前2547年，约4500年前。
3 .We know who had it built,that was the Pharaoh Khufu,and we know who oversaw its construction: the Pharaoh's brother.
我们知道是谁建造了它--胡夫法老。而且我们知道谁监督着它的建设--法老的兄弟。
4 .We know so many things about it, but the funny thing is, we still don't know exactly how it was built.
我们知道关于它的很多事情，但有趣的是我们仍不知道它到底是怎么建造的。
第3段
1 .This picture'll give you an idea of the size of the pyramid …and the size of the blocks it's made out of.
这张照片给你介绍了金字塔与建成金字塔的方砖大小。
第4段
1 .About two million stone blocks were used to build the Great Pyramid.And they're incredibly massive-the average weight is two and a half tons.
建造大金字塔用了约200万石块，而且它们极其庞大，平均重量是2.5吨。
2 .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?
几个世纪让学者们困惑的问题是：在不利用现代科技的情况下这些砖块是如何举到这个大型建筑物的高度，然后放到恰当的位置的？
第5段
1 .Of course there have been a lot of theories over the centuries. The oldest recorded one is by the Greek historian Herodotus.
当然几个世纪以来有很多理论存在。最古老的记录是来自希腊的历史学家希罗多德。
2 .He visited Egypt around 450 B.C.E.,when the pyramid was already 2,000 years old.
他在大约公元前450年参观过埃及，这时金字塔已经建造了2000年之久。
3 .His theory was that cranes were used. Much like we use cranes today to construct tall buildings.
他的理论是用到了起重机，就像我们今天用起重机建造高楼一样。
4 .And Herodotus may have seen Egyptians using cranes made of wood. But the problem with this theory has to do with simple mechanics.
希罗多德也许看到埃及人用木制的起重机。但这个理论的问题是与简单的力学有关。
5 .A crane needs a wide and sturdy base to stand on or it will fall over.
一个起重机需要广而结实的底座支撑，否则它将会倒塌。
6 .Well, as you get toward the top of the pyramid, there's really no place for a crane to stand. The stone blocks are too narrow to provide a base.
当你到金字塔的顶端时，那里确实没有留给起重机的空间。石块太窄无法为底座让位。
第6段
1 .Well, so much for that theory.
那么，这个理论就讲到这里。
2 .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.
下一个与坡道使用有关，它允许工人从建筑的一侧将石块拉上去。
3 .Of course, the ramp can't be too steep. It has to have a long, gentle slope. And that's the problem.
当然坡道不能太陡。它应该有一个长长的缓坡，而这就是问题。
4 .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!
如果你要建造一个抵达金字塔顶130多米高的缓坡坡道，那么它几乎是两公里长！
5 .Well, the pyramid is built on a flat area called the Giza Plateau.
金字塔建在吉萨平原，这个平坦的地区。
6 .The plateau is simply not big enough to accommodate a two-kilometer long ramp.
这个平原没有足够大的地方容纳一个两公里长的坡道。
第7段
1 .OK, so what now?
好的。那么现在怎样？
2 .Well, if you've ever driven on a mountain road, you 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.
如果你曾在山路上开过车，你会知道山路上有很多迂回曲折的弯路，因为工程师以此防止道路过陡。
3 .So why not wrap the ramp around the pyramid-building the ramp around it as you go?
那么为什么不用坡道环绕在金字塔周围？按照你想的在它的周围建造坡道。
4 .Sounds like a pretty good idea. Except it's got a serious problem.
听起来是个好主意。但它有一个严重的问题。
5 .See, one of the most remarkable things about the Great Pyramid is how accurate the proportions are. The dimensions are almost perfect.
你看……大金字塔最为非凡的一件事是它的比例十分精确。尺寸几乎完美。
6 .To get that perfection, the engineers must have had to measure it repeatedly during construction.
为了达到这种完美，工程师必须在建造过程中不断的测量。
7 .And the way you'd measure it is from the four corners of the base.
你测量它的方式是从底座的四个角开始。
8 .Well, if you've got a ramp spiraling up from the base of the pyramid, those corners would be buried by that ramp during construction.
如果你从金字塔底部修建一个盘旋而上的坡道，那么在建造中那些拐角就会被坡道埋没。
第8段
1 .Well, who says the ramp has to be on the outside of the pyramid? And now we get to the latest idea.
那么谁说坡道必须得在金字塔的外面呢？现在我们得出了最新的观点。
2 .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.
如果坡道在金字塔内，底座拐角就会暴露出来，所以工程师就能在建造中测量了。
3 .Well, an architect named Houdin has spent a few years working on making computer models of the building of the pyramid.
一个名叫乌丹的建筑师花了几年时间制作金字塔的电脑模型。
第9段
1 .And what Houdin believes is that an exterior straight ramp was used to construct the bottom third of the pyramid.
乌丹认为外部垂直的坡道用于建造金字塔底部的三分之一，
2 .This ramp would've been fairly short-it probably rose less than 50 meters.
这条坡道十分的短，可能少于50米。
3 .Then the rest of the pyramid was constructed using an internal ramp that spiraled around the inside of the pyramid.
然后剩下的金字塔用盘旋而上的内部坡道建造。
4 .But how can we test this idea?
但是我们如何检验这个想法呢？
第10段
1 .Well, there are several ways to look inside the pyramid. One's called microgravimetry.
有几种方法探究金字塔内部。其中一个叫做微重力测量。
第11段
1 .Microgravimetry's a technique that's used to detect voids inside a structure.
微重力测量这种技术被用来检测建筑内部的孔隙率。
2 .You can then take the data and generate an image that shows any empty spaces in the interior.
你可以记录数据，生成图像，它能展示内部任何空间。
3 .Well, in 1986,French scientists completed a microgravimetric survey of the pyramid.
在1986年，法国科学家们完成了一个对金字塔的微重力测量研究。
4 .And one of the images they produced showed an empty spiral-shaped space inside it.
他们生成的其中一幅图像显示里面有一个空的螺旋状地带。
5 .The shape of that space corresponds exactly to what Houdin thought the ramp would look like.
那个地带的形状与乌丹认为的坡道形态十分吻合。
6 .I think Herodotus would be convinced. We might very well be at the end of centuries of guessing.
我认为希罗多德也会信服。我们很可能结束了几个世纪的猜想。