評論
打印
Now listen to part of a lecture on the topic you just read about.
現在來聽一段有關你剛剛聽到的話題的演講。
None of the three theories presented in the reading passage are very convincing.
閱讀文本中給出的三種理論沒有一個能令人非常信服。
First, the stone balls as hunting weapons, common Neolithic weapons such as arrowheads and hand axes generally show signs of wear,
首先，把石球作為狩獵武器，而常見的新石器時代武器如箭頭和手斧一般有磨損的跡象，
so we should expect that if the stone balls had been used as weapons for hunting of fighting, they, too, would show signs of that use.
所以我們應該期望，如果石球被用作狩獵戰斗的武器，他們也會有使用過的跡象。
Many of the stone balls would be cracked or have pieces broken off.
許多石球都有破裂或破碎的石片。
However, the surfaces of the balls are generally well preserved, showing little or no wear or damage.
但是，石球的表面大體保存完好，只有一點或者沒有磨損或損壞。
Second, the carved stone balls maybe remarkably uniform in size, but their masses vary too considerably to have been used as uniform weights.
第二，鑿好的石球可能在大小上會相當統一，但是它們在質量上變化太大而不能被做成統一的重量。
This is because the stone balls were made with different types of stone including sandstone, green stone and quartzite.
這是因為石頭球是由不同類型的石頭包括砂巖、軟玉和石英巖做成。
Each type of stone has a different density.
每種石頭有不同的密度。
Some types of stone are heavier than others just as a handful of feathers weight less than a handful of rocks.
有一些類型的石頭比其它的更重，就像一把羽毛重量少于一把巖石。
Two balls of the same size are different weights depending on the type of stone they are made of.
兩個相同大小的球有不同的重量，這取決于是由什么類型的石頭做成的。
Therefore, the balls could not have been used as a primitive weighing system.
因此,球不可能被用來作為原始的稱重系統。
Third, it’s unlikely that the main purpose of the balls was as some kind of social marker.
第三，把球的主要目的當做是作為某種社會標記是不可能的。
A couple of facts are inconsistent with this theory.
許多事實與這個理論不一致。
For one thing, while some of the balls are carved with intricate patterns,
首先，盡管其中一些球上刻滿了錯綜復雜的模式，
many others have markings that are extremely simple, too simple to make the balls look like status symbols.
而其他一些球的標記非常簡單，過于簡單以至于不能把球看做是社會地位的象征。
Furthermore, we know that in Neolithic Britain, when someone died, particularly a high-ranking person, they were usually buried with their possessions.
此外，我們知道，在新石器時代的英國，當有人去世時，特別是一個高級的人，他們通常是埋葬他們的財產。
However, none of the carved stone balls have been actually found in tombs or graves.
然而，這些石刻球實際上沒有在墳墓或墓穴中得到發現。
That makes it unlikely that the balls were personal possessions that marked a person’s status within the community.
這使得把石球當做是標志個人在社區里地位的個人財產而不太可能。
