世界上最早的骰子

近日，一项新研究表明，美国西部的原住民早在1.2万多年前就发明了“骰子”，这比专家此前认定的要早数千年。

今天你练听力了吗？

🤔️小作业：

1. Based on the passage, approximately how many years earlier than previously known dice were the newly discovered dice made?

A. 5,500 years

B. 6,000 years

C. 8,000 years

D. 12,000 years

无注释原文：

The oldest known dice date back about 12,000 years in North America

From: Science News

The oldest known dice in the world are roughly 12,000 years old and from western North America, a new study suggests. Before the discovery, the oldest dice recorded were from Mesopotamia, made around 5,500 years ago. That pushes the invention of dice back by about 6,000 years.

Many Native American cultures have rich histories of dice games and still play them today. These games were historically tools for social cohesion, increasingly important as isolated groups of people began to grow and mingle more, says Robert Weiner, an archaeologist at Dartmouth College.

“How are you going to interact with strangers?” he says. Dice games could have helped, but their oldest roots in Native American cultures were fuzzy.

The new study, published April 2 in American Antiquity, presents the first systematic attempt to track down the earliest dice in what is today the mainland United States.

Robert Madden, an archaeologist at Colorado State University in Fort Collins, sifted through existing records of Native American artifacts to look for the oldest dice in the country. He searched for objects that researchers thought were related to gaming or dice.

He then set criteria to sort possible dice. Native American dice are mostly two-sided, called binary lots, so the objects had to be two-sided, of certain shapes, with at least one side marked, that could fit in the hand. The objects also couldn't have any holes, which could indicate they were used for jewelry. 

That search yielded 565 objects that met all the criteria and 94 that were probably dice but need clearer evidence for definitive identification. The items were from 57 archaeological sites across 12 states, all in the Great Plains and western United States. Most were from 2,000 to 450 years ago, but at least 31 were from 8,000 to 2,000 years ago, and at least 14 dated as far back as 12,000 years ago.

Madden traveled the country to examine the oldest of these in person. In some collections, he found plausible dice within the oldest age range that hadn't been documented in the literature or previously identified as related to gaming.

“It was amazing to hold these pieces of deep history in my hand,” Madden says. The in-person examinations confirmed for him that these ancient objects made of bone worn smooth by use and time, with lines carefully etched on one side, were dice. Some had faint traces of red pigment used to differentiate the sides.

They were recognizably the same design as more recent versions, including some modern Native American dice.

“If you took dice from 2,000 years ago and the prehistoric ones and put them in a bag and shook it up, it would be really hard to tell the difference between them,” he says. “They look very similar.”

- ◆ -

注：完整题目见本文开头；中文文本为机器翻译，仅供参考

含注释全文：

The oldest known dice date back about 12,000 years in North America

From: Science News

The oldest known dice in the world are roughly 12,000 years old and from western North America, a new study suggests. Before the discovery, the oldest dice recorded were from Mesopotamia, made around 5,500 years ago. That pushes the invention of dice back by about 6,000 years.

一项新研究指出，目前已知全球最古老的骰子约有12000年历史，源自北美西部。在此之前，考古记录中最古老的骰子来自美索不达米亚（Mesopotamia），距今约5500年。这一发现将骰子的发明时间向前推进了大约6000年。

英式 dice，美式/旧式用法 die，表示“骰子”，英文解释为“a small cube (= object with six equal square sides) with a different number of spots on each side, used in games involving chance”，复数也是dice.

📍roll a die 表示“摇骰子”，英文解释为“Rolling a die means throwing the shape into the air to obtain a certain number to move forward in any game.”

📍God does not play dice with the universe. “上帝不会掷骰子”是物理学家爱因斯坦的一句名言。人们把这句名言当做他断然否定量子力学的证据，因为量子力学把随机性看作是物理世界的内禀性质，但人们其实误解了他。

Many Native American cultures have rich histories of dice games and still play them today. These games were historically tools for social cohesion, increasingly important as isolated groups of people began to grow and mingle more, says Robert Weiner, an archaeologist at Dartmouth College.

许多美洲原住民文化拥有悠久的骰子游戏历史，且至今仍在传承。达特茅斯学院（Dartmouth College）的考古学家罗伯特·韦纳（Robert Weiner）指出，历史上这些游戏是促进社会凝聚力的工具，随着原本孤立的群体逐渐壮大并加强交流，其重要性也日益增加。

cohesion /koʊˈhiːʒn/表示“凝聚（力）；团结”，英文解释为“the situation when the members of a group or society are united”如：social/national cohesion 社会/国家凝聚力。

mingle /ˈmɪŋ.ɡəl/ 1）表示“（使）混合;（使）相混”，英文解释为“to mix or combine, or be mixed or combined”举个🌰：The excitement of starting a new job is always mingled with a certain apprehension. 刚开始一份新工作时兴奋中总是掺杂着些许担忧。

2）表示“（在社交场合）相交往，相往来”，英文解释为“to move around and talk to other people at a social event”举个🌰：You've been talking to her all evening - you really ought to be mingling with the other guests. 你整晚都在和她说话——你真的该和其他客人聊聊。

archaeologist /ˌɑː.kiˈɒl.ə.dʒɪst/ 表示“考古学家”，英文解释为“someone who studies the buildings, graves, tools, and other objects of people who lived in the past”

“How are you going to interact with strangers?” he says. Dice games could have helped, but their oldest roots in Native American cultures were fuzzy.

“你该如何与陌生人互动？”他问道。骰子游戏或许能起到作用，但它们在美洲原住民文化中的最古老起源却一直模糊不清。

fuzzy /ˈfʌz.i/ 1）表示“（图像）模糊不清的；（声音）杂乱的，有干扰的”，英文解释为“(of an image) having shapes that do not have clear edges, or (of a sound, especially from a television, radio, etc.) not clear, usually because of other unwanted noises making it difficult to hear”举个🌰：Is the picture always fuzzy on your TV? 你的电视一直这么不清楚吗？

2）表示“毛茸茸的”，英文解释为“A fuzzy surface feels like short fur.”如：the fuzzy skin of a peach 桃子毛茸茸的表皮。

The new study, published April 2 in American Antiquity, presents the first systematic attempt to track down the earliest dice in what is today the mainland United States.

这项新研究于4月2日发表在《美国古物》（American Antiquity）期刊上，首次系统性地尝试追溯当今美国大陆地区最早的骰子。

antiquity /ænˈtɪk.wə.ti/ 1）表示“（尤指六世纪以前的）古代”，英文解释为“the distant past (= a long time ago), especially before the sixth century”

2）表示“古物；古董；古迹”，英文解释为“an object that was created a very long time ago”举个🌰：Under Greek law, all antiquities that are discovered in Greece belong to the government. 根据希腊法律，在希腊发现的所有古物均归政府所有。

Robert Madden, an archaeologist at Colorado State University in Fort Collins, sifted through existing records of Native American artifacts to look for the oldest dice in the country. He searched for objects that researchers thought were related to gaming or dice.

科罗拉多州立大学（Colorado State University）柯林斯堡（Fort Collins）校区的考古学家罗伯特·马登（Robert Madden）梳理了现有的美洲原住民文物记录，以寻找美国最古老的骰子。他搜寻那些研究人员认为与游戏或骰子相关的物品。

sift /sɪft/ 表示“仔细检查；筛查”，英文解释为“to make a close examination of all the parts of something in order to find something or to separate what is useful from what is not”举个🌰：The police are sifting the evidence very carefully to try and find the guilty person. 警察在非常仔细地检查证据，试图找出罪犯。

美式 artifact 英式 artefact /ˈɑː.tə.fækt/ 表示“（尤指具有史学价值的）人工制品，制造物，手工艺品”，英文解释为“an object that is made by a person, such as a tool or a decoration, especially one that is of historical interest”

He then set criteria to sort possible dice. Native American dice are mostly two-sided, called binary lots, so the objects had to be two-sided, of certain shapes, with at least one side marked, that could fit in the hand. The objects also couldn't have any holes, which could indicate they were used for jewelry.

随后他制定了筛选可能骰子的标准。美洲原住民的骰子大多是两面结构，称为“二元签”（binary lots），因此候选物品必须是两面、特定形状、至少一面有标记，并且能握在手中。此外，物品不能有任何孔洞，因为孔洞可能表明它们曾被用作首饰。

criterion /kraɪˈtɪərɪən/ 表示“（判断的）标准，准则，原则”，复数形式为criteria，英文解释为“A criterion is a factor on which you judge or decide something.”举个🌰：The most important criterion for entry is that applicants must design and make their own work. 参加的最重要标准就是申请人必须设计并制作自己的作品。

That search yielded 565 objects that met all the criteria and 94 that were probably dice but need clearer evidence for definitive identification. The items were from 57 archaeological sites across 12 states, all in the Great Plains and western United States. Most were from 2,000 to 450 years ago, but at least 31 were from 8,000 to 2,000 years ago, and at least 14 dated as far back as 12,000 years ago.

这次搜索共找到565件符合所有标准的物品，以及94件可能是骰子但需要更明确证据才能最终确认的物品。这些物品来自横跨12个州的57个考古遗址，全部位于大平原（Great Plains）和美国西部地区。大多数物品距今2000至450年，但至少有31件距今8000至2000年，至少14件可追溯到12000年前。

yield 作动词，1）表示“出产（作物）；产生（收益、效益等）；提供”，英文解释为“to produce or provide sth, for example a profit, result or crop”举个🌰：Higher-rate deposit accounts yield good returns. 高利率的存款会产生丰厚的收益。

2）表示“（常指被迫）放弃，让出”，英文解释为“to give up the control of or responsibility for something, often because you have been forced to”举个🌰：Despite renewed pressure to give up the occupied territory, they will not yield. 尽管有新的压力要求放弃被占领的土地，他们就是不愿屈服。

作名词，表示“产生；出产；得出”，英文解释为“an amount of something positive, such as food or profit, that is produced or supplied”举个🌰：Crop yields have risen steadily. 农作物产量稳步增长。

Madden traveled the country to examine the oldest of these in person. In some collections, he found plausible dice within the oldest age range that hadn't been documented in the literature or previously identified as related to gaming.

马登走遍美国，亲自检查了其中最古老的物品。在一些收藏中，他发现了属于最古老年代范围的可能骰子，这些骰子此前既未被文献记载，也未被识别为与游戏相关。

plausible /ˈplɔː.zə.bəl/ 表示“貌似真实（或可信）的”，英文解释为“seeming likely to be true, or able to be believed”如：a plausible explanation / excuse 貌似有理的解释 / 借口。

“It was amazing to hold these pieces of deep history in my hand,” Madden says. The in-person examinations confirmed for him that these ancient objects made of bone worn smooth by use and time, with lines carefully etched on one side, were dice. Some had faint traces of red pigment used to differentiate the sides.

“把这些承载着深厚历史的碎片握在手中，真是太神奇了，”马登说道。亲自检查让他确认，这些由骨头制成、因长期使用和岁月流逝而变得光滑、一面刻有精心雕刻线条的古老物品就是骰子。有些骰子上还残留着用于区分两面的红色颜料痕迹。

etch /etʃ/ 表示“（尤指在金属或玻璃上）蚀刻，凿出”，英文解释为“to cut a pattern, picture, etc. into a smooth surface, especially on metal or glass, using acid or a sharp instrument”举个🌰：He etched his name on a piece of glass. 他把自己的名字蚀刻在一块玻璃上。

faint /feɪnt/ 表示“（光、声、味）微弱的，不清楚的”，英文解释为“that cannot be clearly seen, heard or smelt”如：a  faint glow/glimmer/light 微弱的光亮/闪光/光，举个🌰：We could hear their voices growing fainter as they walked down the road. 他们沿路走远时我们听见他们的说话声逐渐模糊。

📍feel faint 表示“虚弱无力；感到眩晕；快要晕倒似的”，英文解释为“to feel weak, as if you are about to become unconscious”举个🌰：She felt faint with hunger. 她饿得头昏眼花。

pigment /ˈpɪɡ.mənt/ 表示“色素；颜料”，英文解释为“a substance that gives something a particular colour when it is present in it or is added to it”举个🌰：Melanin is the dark brown pigment of the hair, skin, and eyes that is present in varying amounts in every human being. 黑色素是头发、皮肤和眼睛中的黑褐色色素，每个人体内或多或少都有这种色素。

They were recognizably the same design as more recent versions, including some modern Native American dice.

这些骰子的设计明显与更近期的版本相同，包括一些现代美洲原住民骰子。

“If you took dice from 2,000 years ago and the prehistoric ones and put them in a bag and shook it up, it would be really hard to tell the difference between them,” he says. “They look very similar.”

“如果你把2000年前的骰子和史前骰子放进一个袋子里摇匀，真的很难区分它们，”他说。“它们看起来非常相似。”

prehistoric /ˌpriː.hɪˈstɒr.ɪk/ 表示“史前的，有文字记载的历史以前的”，英文解释为“describing the period before there were written records”如：prehistoric man/humans/animals 史前人类/动物。

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