140萬年前的石頭球體

山東 胡延美

1Around 1.4 million years ago, early human relatives crafted mysterious stone spheroids (球體) in the Middle East in attempts to make perfect spheres, a new study found.The finding showed the intention of early humans to impose a symmetry (對稱) on the stones, the researchers suggested.“It's possible these deliberately spherical stones had some sort of functional advantage over naturally rounded stones available in the landscape,”study lead author Antoine Muller, an archaeologist at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, said.“And their tendency to become more spherical as they were made suggested a preference for symmetry and an appreciation of geometry(幾何).”

2Hundreds of stone spheroids, typically made from sandstone, have been unearthed at archaeological sites in Africa, Asia and Europe.The smallest one is just one inch across.The earliest spheroids are up to 2 million years old.But they span the entire era of stone tool-making,and some have been found at the New Stone Age and later sites that are only a few thousand years old.

3The researchers used mathematical analysis to determine that the spherical shape of some of the objects—which range from rough polyhedrons (多面體) to near spheres—was deliberate, likely worked on in stages and not accidental.Muller said,“The ones that were more‘finished’were more spherical, suggesting that this was one task they were aiming for.”

4They noted that earlier studies had seen symmetry in Acheulean bifaces,a type of stone tool dating from1.7million years ago,and this was thought to be the earliest evidence of“early humans imposing a geometric shape and symmetry on their stone tools”.But it now seems that the spheroids, which are older, may have had the same purpose—and perhaps other purposes as well.

5Muller said the study suggested that early humans may have been more cognitively(認 知) advanced than previously suspected.“Our findings suggest that the people who made these spheroids could imagine something as abstract as a sphere and impose that concept in reality by shaping a stone,”he said.“That likely takes a great deal of forethought and flexibility,speaking to their remarkable cognitive and skilful abilities.”

1.Why did early humans add symmetries according to Muller?

A.They had advantages over other living things.

B.They tended to use round items in daily life.

C.They appreciated rounded stones in nature.

D.They desired more abstract knowledge.

2.What does the underlined part“more‘finished’”refer to in paragraph 3?

A.Those near spheres next to perfection.

B.Those accidentally rounded stone tools.

C.Those rough stones waiting to be rounded.

D.Those completed spheres far from perfection.

3.What can Acheulean bifaces be used to prove?

A.Stone tools needed no improvement.

B.Early humans pursued a sense of beauty.

C.Geometric shapes were everywhere then.

D.Spheres were the same as Acheulean bifaces.

4.What does Muller mean according to paragraph 5?

A.Shaping a stone was easy for early humans.

B.Early humans were frequently questioned.

C.Present humans underestimated early ones.

D.Early people skillfully made spheroids.

語篇解碼

本文是一篇關于早期人類在中東制作神秘的石頭球體的文章。研究表明，早期人類可能比以前認為的認知能力更為先進。

語言學習

Ⅰ.語料薈萃

語篇單詞relative n.親戚craft v.精心制作mysterious adj.神秘的impose v.強加deliberately adv.故意地functional adj.功能的available adj.可獲得的tendency n.傾向era n.時代analysis n.分析rough adj.粗糙的accidental adj.偶然的note v.指出previously adv.以前；先前suspect v.懷疑concept n.概念flexibility n.靈活性_____________remar__________________________________________________________________kable_adj.非凡的

（續表）

Ⅱ.語句分析

1.They noted that earlier studies had seen symmetry in Acheulean bifaces, a type of stone tool dating from 1.7 million years ago,and that this was thought to be the earliest evidence of“early humans imposing a geometric shape and symmetry on their stone tools”.他們指出，早期的研究已經在阿舍利雙面器中發現了對稱，這是一種可追溯到170萬年前的石器，這被認為是“早期人類在石器上施加幾何形狀和對稱”的最早證據。

她一走上講臺，下面鴉雀無聲，連窗外的吵鬧聲也沒有了。她用那亮閃閃的大眼睛向下面望了望，開始說話了，嗓音悅耳動聽，真個“美目盼兮，巧笑倩兮”，就像寂靜的山林里飛進一只百靈鳥。她那優美的嗓音，恰如其分的動作，一下子懾住了在場所有人的心。我暗暗對她惋惜起來：她為何不去當演員？她若當電影演員準能賽過劉曉慶。

【點石成金】本句是一個主從復合句，兩個that 引導的都是賓語從句。第一個賓語從句中的dating from 1.7 million years ago是現在分詞作后置定語。

2.“Our findings suggest that the people who made these spheroids could imagine something as abstract as a sphere and impose that concept in reality by shaping a stone,”he said.他說：“我們的研究結果表明，制造這些球體的人可以想象出像球體這樣抽象的東西，并通過塑造石頭將這個概念融入現實?！?/p>

【點石成金】本句中的第一個that引導的是賓語從句，從句中含有一個who引導的定語從句，先行詞是the people，who在從句中作主語。

語言運用

Ⅰ.例句仿寫

1.演講者用一個箴言結束會議，給出了幾個討論題。

The speaker ended the meeting with a motto, _________________________________.

2.但是，現在很受歡迎的節目似乎已經失去了一些老年的觀眾。

But it seems that the program, _______________________________, may have lost some elderly audiences.

Ⅱ.寫作實踐

你校舉辦了主題為“How to protect cultural heritage”的演講比賽。請你為校英文報的“英語天地”欄目寫一篇新聞報道，內容包括：

1.比賽的目的；

2.比賽的過程；

3.比賽的反響。注意：

1.詞數80左右；

2.可以適當增加細節，以使行文連貫。

How to protect cultural heritage