纪录片《大英博物馆世界简史》 003奥杜威手斧（1）

003 : EPISODE 3 - Olduvai handaxe奥杜威手斧

Abstract摘要 :

Olduvai handaxe (made 1.2 - 1.4 million years ago) found in Olduvai Gorge², Tanzania, East Africa

奥杜威手斧，距今约一百二十至一百四十万年前，出土于东非坦桑尼亚奥杜威峡谷

MP3听力原文：

What do you take with you when you travel? Most of us would embark³ on a long list that begins with a toothbrush and ends with excess baggage. But for most of human history, there was only one thing that you really needed in order to travel - a stone handaxe.

当你旅行时随身携带的物品是什么？我们中大多数人会开出一张长长的清单，以牙刷开头，直到用超重的行李包结尾。但是在人类历史上的多数阶段，你旅行中真正需要的可能仅仅是一把石制手斧。

"Pretty sharp, around the edges, isn't it?"

“周边边缘真是锋芒锐利，是吧？”

"I think whoever made this, did it very beautifully and carefully."

“我觉得制造这工具的人，手艺堪称鬼斧天工啊！”

It looks pretty straightforward⁵, but in fact, it is extremely tricky⁶ to make and, for over a million years, it was literally⁷ the cutting edge of technology.

它看起来相对简单，但其实制造一把手斧的工夫却是非常棘手，而且在超过近百万年时光里，这一直领先的前沿工艺。

"And once they'd been invented, if you want to use that word, they just never changed the design ... and I think that is the ultimate compliment to the design of a superb tool."

“一旦它们被发明出来，其名字确认下来，设计再也不曾被修改过。我觉得这种‘从来被模仿，不曾被超过’真是对一种超极工具的终极评价!”

It accompanied our ancestors through half of their history, and was the main reason they spread first across Africa and then across the world.

它伴随着我们老祖宗渡过近一半的人类历史，同时也是他们得以走出非洲，遍布全球的原因。

Olduvai handaxe (made 1.2 - 1.4 million years ago) found in Olduvai Gorge, Tanzania, East Africa

奥杜威手斧，距今约一百二十至一百四十万年前，出土于东非坦桑尼亚奥杜威峡谷

For a million years the sound of making handaxes provided the percussion⁸ of everyday life. Anyone choosing a hundred objects to tell a history of the world would have to include a handaxe. All of this week I'm looking at objects from the very earliest moments of human history.

在将近百万年的时光里，制造手斧的声音宛如人们日常生活里打击乐器的乐声。任何人企图选择百件物品来讲叙一段世界历史的，这石斧肯定是必选之物。本周以来我一直在寻找着一些来自于最早期人类历史的物品。

Every object I've chosen is a document of the world in which it was made, but also marks a critical stage in the process by which we became fully⁴ human. And what I think makes this stone axe¹ so interesting is how much it tells us, not just about the hand, but about the mind that made it.

我所选择的每件物品本身都一份文件，承载着制造它那个世界的信息，同时也标志着让我们成为完整人类过程中的某个关键阶段。我觉得让这把石斧如何有趣，是因为它不仅可以告诉我们其制造者手中的工艺，还有制造者脑里的想法。

I am holding a handaxe now,The Olduvai Gorge handaxe now. It doesn't, of course, look anything like a modern axe - there's no handle and there's no metal blade. It's in fact a piece of grey-green volcanic⁹ rock, a very beautiful grey-green, and it's in the shape of a tear-drop, and it's a lot more versatile¹⁰ than a modern straight axe would be.

 

奥杜威峡谷手斧肯定外表同现代斧头是两回事，既没有手柄，也没有金属刀刃。其实这是一块灰绿色的火山岩石，很漂亮的灰绿色，泪珠状，同时它更比现代斧头更加的多功能多用途。

1 axe   

n.斧子；v.用斧头砍，削减

参考例句：

• Be careful with that sharp axe.那把斧子很锋利，你要当心。
• The edge of this axe has turned.这把斧子卷了刃了。

2 gorge   

n.咽喉，胃，暴食，山峡；v.塞饱，狼吞虎咽地吃

参考例句：

• East of the gorge leveled out.峡谷东面地势变得平坦起来。
• It made my gorge rise to hear the news.这消息令我作呕。

3 embark   

vi.乘船，着手，从事，上飞机

参考例句：

• He is about to embark on a new business venture.他就要开始新的商业冒险活动。
• Many people embark for Europe at New York harbor.许多人在纽约港乘船去欧洲。

4 fully   

adv.完全地，全部地，彻底地；充分地

参考例句：

• The doctor asked me to breathe in,then to breathe out fully.医生让我先吸气，然后全部呼出。
• They soon became fully integrated into the local community.他们很快就完全融入了当地人的圈子。

5 straightforward   

adj.正直的，坦率的；易懂的，简单的

参考例句：

• A straightforward talk is better than a flowery speech.巧言不如直说。
• I must insist on your giving me a straightforward answer.我一定要你给我一个直截了当的回答。

6 tricky   

adj.狡猾的，奸诈的；(工作等)棘手的，微妙的

参考例句：

• I'm in a rather tricky position.Can you help me out?我的处境很棘手，你能帮我吗？
• He avoided this tricky question and talked in generalities.他回避了这个非常微妙的问题，只做了个笼统的表述。

7 literally   

adv.照字面意义，逐字地；确实

参考例句：

• He translated the passage literally.他逐字逐句地翻译这段文字。
• Sometimes she would not sit down till she was literally faint.有时候，她不走到真正要昏厥了，决不肯坐下来。

8 percussion   

n.打击乐器；冲突，撞击；震动，音响

参考例句：

• In an orchestra,people who play percussion instruments sit at the back.在管弦乐队中，演奏打击乐器的人会坐在后面。
• Percussion of the abdomen is often omitted.腹部叩诊常被省略。

9 volcanic   

adj.火山的；象火山的；由火山引起的

参考例句：

• There have been several volcanic eruptions this year.今年火山爆发了好几次。
• Volcanic activity has created thermal springs and boiling mud pools.火山活动产生了温泉和沸腾的泥浆池。

10 versatile   

adj.通用的，万用的；多才多艺的，多方面的

参考例句：

• A versatile person is often good at a number of different things.多才多艺的人通常擅长许多种不同的事情。
• He had been one of the game's most versatile athletes.他是这项运动中技术最全面的运动员之一。