听力原文

Lunch here at the British Museum staff canteen has always been a pretty international affair. It's not just the scholars and the curators who come from all round the world; it's also of course the food.

在大英博物馆职工餐厅里吃午餐，堪称是一件相当国际化的事情。一则博物馆里的学者与管理员都是来自全球世界，二则当然大家所吃的食物也是。

As today is one of my healthy days, I'm at the salad bar, looking in among the greens at a fairly standard run of potato salad, rice, sweetcorn and kidney beans. What I find interesting about these vegetables is not just that they come originally from all over the world, but that none of them would exist in the form they do today if the plants they come from hadn't been carefully chosen, cherished and modified in a long process that began about ten thousand years ago with some intrepid and ingenious Ice Age cooks.

今天恰好是我的“健康日”之一，所以我站在沙拉吧前边，在一大堆形形式式的蔬菜前面左看看，右瞧瞧。菜式挺标准的，有土豆沙拉、米饭、甜主米、腰豆等等。让我对这些蔬菜颇感兴趣的倒不是它们源产地本来是遍及世界各地，而是假如不是当年经过一代又一代的人类精心选择，仔细培育，品种改良，这些植物也不可能会长得现代这样子了。而那漫长的过程，早在距今约一万年前，就由冰河时代那些勇敢而天才的厨师们开始了。

'Everyone did these things, and the families existed as families because you did it not for yourself but for the family.'

“大家都在做这些日常琐事，而家庭之所以存在恰恰是因为你不仅仅是为了自己，还为了家庭。”

'We need some new evolutionary tricks in order to spread out into increasingly hostile environments.'

“为了能在日趋恶劣的环境里开枝散叶、生息繁衍，我们需要拥有更新、更加进化的技能。”

Bird-shaped pestle ,made of stone 4 - 8,000 years old , discovered in Papua New Guinea

鸟形杵，石制，距今约4000至8000年，巴布亚新几内亚。

In previous programmes, we have looked at how our ancestors moved around the world; in this week's programmes I'm going to be focussing on what happened when they settled down. This is a week full of ancient animals, powerful gods, dangerous weather, good sex and even better food.

在之前的节目里，我们观察我们的祖先们是如何全世界迁徙；在本周的节目里，我将聚集于当人类开始定居生活后所产生的变化。本周节目将充满各种古老动物、强大神灵、恶劣气候、美好性爱与美食佳肴。

Around 11,000 years ago, the world underwent a violent and rapid period of climate change, leading to the end of the last Ice Age.

大约一万年前，这世界经历了剧烈而快速的气候巨变期，导致了最后一次冰河时代的终结。

重点讲解

1. of course

一定，当然

eg. "Can I just say something about the game on Saturday?"—"Yes, of course you can."

“我可以就说说关于星期六的那场比赛吗？”—“可以，当然可以。”

eg. "I guess you're right.""Of course I'm right!"

“我想你是对的。”“当然我是对的。”

2. ice age

冰期；冰河时代

eg. But also I think those Ice Age conditions were critical as well.

但我认为当时冰河时代的客观条件也是极为关键的。

eg. So it was a regional redistribution and not a global phenomenon like an ice age.

所以这是一种区域性的气候再分配，而非冰河时代那样的全球现象。

3. in order to

为了

eg. In order to compass our object we must work hard.

为了达到我们的目标，我们必须努力工作。

eg. He polished off his work in order to see his girlfriend.

为了去见女朋友，他匆忙地做完手头的工作。