考满分 toefl

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

旁白：听一段考古学课程。

1 .<-FEMALE PROFESSOR:->We'll be looking at the original settlement of the Americas next and I'll spend the next few classes talking about the Clovis people.

教授：我们接下来会讲美洲上的原始定居，我会花几节课的时间讲讲克洛维斯人。

2 .And the two big questions archaeologists have about them... the two big questions are: When did the Clovis people arrive in the Americas? And, of course, were they the first people in the Western Hemisphere?

和考古学家们对此提出了两个重要问题。这两个问题是，克洛维斯人是什么时候到达美洲的？当然了，还有一个问题是，他们是西半球的第一批人吗？

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?

我们会讲到那儿的。但今天，我们来看一个不那么经常提及的问题，克洛维斯人的文化是怎样的？我们怎么才能知道呢？

1 .Now again, there is a great debate about when the Clovis people first arrived in the Americas, and I'm not like a lot of archaeologists who want to push the number way back.

重申一遍，关于克洛维斯人最初到达美洲是在什么时候，人们争论不休。我可不像很多想把数字往前推的考古学家，

2 .So let's use a round number... and probably a safe number and say 11,000 years ago.

我们就用个整数吧，且这个数字比较保险，11000年前。

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

克洛维斯人可能在11000年前定居北美洲。先放一放。

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

我们对克洛维斯人的大部分认知都来自于他们的一种工具——克洛维斯石矛头。

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

我们说矛头的时候，我们所指的都是一块被加工成尖头的石块，在这种情况下，很可能是要接在矛上的。

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

克洛维斯石矛头可能是考古学中被分析得最多的器物了。

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-it's thinner toward the base, the part that's attached to the spear.

克洛维斯人的矛头和后期的矛头有些不同，克洛维斯矛头的石基座是薄的。即越接近基座,（接在矛上的一端）越薄。

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

所以一旦人们发现了克洛维斯矛头，通常不会把它和后期别的矛头混起来。

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

在捕猎点和扎营地点都发现了克洛维斯矛头，你们也能猜到。

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

但在另一个有趣的地点也发现了矛头——克洛维斯人的贮藏点。

1 .A cache is just something stored or hidden away... it's also the term for the place where it's hidden.

贮藏物即被储存或藏起来的东西，这个词也可指藏物地点。

2 .The Clovis caches are collections of tools- stone points and other tools made of stone or bone- often at various stages of manufacture... some were left unfinished.

克洛维斯贮藏物是指一系列工具，包括石矛头和其它用石头或骨头做的，完成程度各有不同，有些还未完工。

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

传统的解释是，这些都是紧急物资，是为以后准备的。

4 .Since the Clovis people were highly mobile, it's plausible that they would set up spots along established travel routes where they'd keep a variety of items, either so 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.

由于克洛维斯人经常迁移，有可能他们会在既定的旅行路线上设一些落脚点并存放一些东西。这么做就能省去把所有东西都带上的麻烦，或者能省去他们到了一个地方后从头再造物品的时间。

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

但关于这些贮藏物，还有另一种理论，基于发现的矛头的质量。

2 .Y'see, the points in some caches differ from other points... from points at Clovis campsites, for example.

一些贮藏物的矛头和其它矛头不同，比如说在克洛维斯人的扎营点发现的矛头吧。

3 .For one thing, these cache points are quite large, up to twice as large as regular points.

一方面，这些贮藏物矛头很大，达到普通矛头的两倍大。

4 .So big that you couldn't attach one to a spear, say, and expect to throw the spear accurately over any distance.

这些矛头太大了，以至于你不能将一个矛系在长矛上，并期望在任何距离上精确地掷出长矛。

5 .So what were they for?

那它们有什么用呢？

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

一开始人们认为这些矛头未完工，即有人在做这些矛头途中不得不暂停工作，把这些矛头和别的贮藏物放在一起，以后再接着做。

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

问题是：要做一个矛头，不可能一开始就用和这些贮藏物矛头一样大的石头，因为这意味着要凿开很多石头才行。

3 .A toolmaker start with a smaller piece.

造工具的人会从更小的石块入手。

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

而且实际上，很多矛头根本算不上未完工，它们都展示了杰出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- it seems the cached points are made from the very best pieces of stone.

不仅仅就工艺方面而言，还有原材料方面，这些贮藏物矛头看上去都是用顶好的石头做的。

1 .So we have to ask: could these points have served another purpose? Maybe they weren't just tools. Look at it this way.

那么我们要问了，这些矛头会不会另有用处？也许它们不仅仅是工具。这么看吧。

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

当克洛维斯人刚来到美洲时，对于这个新环境，他们有很多东西要学。

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

经过一段时间，他们会开始意识到，一些地方是比较特别的，较为重要的，出于某些原因。

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

可能那儿通常都有水，或在那儿打猎特别好。

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

所以，可能这些贮藏物是用来标志这个地方很重要的。