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Official 53 Passage 1
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Question 5 of 10
Which of the following can be inferred from paragraph 3 about the difference between earlier tokens and later tokens?

A.

Later tokens were made of many different materials, but earlier ones were made only of clay.

B.

Later tokens often looked like the commodities that they represented, but earlier ones did not.

C.

Later tokens represented agricultural products, but earlier ones represented finished products.

D.

Later tokens were based on pictographs, but earlier ones were based on naturalistic forms.

Paragraph 3 is marked with an arrow

正确答案:B

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译文

Evidence of the Earliest Writing

最早文字的证据 取消收藏 收藏句子
最早文字的证据

Although literacy appeared independently in several parts of the prehistoric world, the earliest evidence of writing is the cuneiform Sumerian script on the clay tablets of ancient Mesopotamia, which, archaeological detective work has revealed, had its origins in the accounting practices of commercial activity. 虽然读写能力是在史前世界的几个地方分别出现的,但书写的最早证据是古代美索不达米亚泥板上的苏美尔楔形文字,根据考古探查工作揭示,它起源于商业活动的会计实践。 取消收藏 收藏句子 Researchers demonstrated that preliterate people, to keep track of the goods they produced and exchanged, created a system of accounting using clay tokens as symbolic representations of their products. 研究人员证明,没有文化的人为了记录他们生产和交换的商品,创造了一种使用粘土代币作为其产品象征的记账系统。 取消收藏 收藏句子 Over many thousands of years, the symbols evolved through several stages of abstraction until they became wedge-shaped (cuneiform) signs on clay tablets, recognizable as writing. 在数千年的时间里,这些符号经历了几个抽象阶段,直到它们变成了粘土上的楔形符号,可被认出是文字。 取消收藏 收藏句子 虽然读写能力是在史前世界的几个地方分别出现的,但书写的最早证据是古代美索不达米亚泥板上的苏美尔楔形文字,根据考古探查工作揭示,它起源于商业活动的会计实践。研究人员证明,没有文化的人为了记录他们生产和交换的商品,创造了一种使用粘土代币作为其产品象征的记账系统。在数千年的时间里,这些符号经历了几个抽象阶段,直到它们变成了粘土上的楔形符号,可被认出是文字。

The original tokens (circa 8500 B.C.E.) were three-dimensional solid shapes—tiny spheres, cones, disks, and cylinders. 最初的代币(约公元前8500年)是三维实体形状——小球体、圆锥体、圆盘和圆柱体。 取消收藏 收藏句子 A debt of six units of grain and eight head of livestock, for example, might have been represented by six conical and eight cylindrical tokens. 例如,6个单位的谷物和8头牲畜的债务可以用6个圆锥形和8个圆柱形的代币来表示。 取消收藏 收藏句子 To keep batches of tokens together, an innovation was introduced (circa 3250 B.C.E.) whereby they were sealed inside clay envelopes that could be broken open and counted when it came time for a debt to be repaid. 为了把成批的代币放在一起,人们发明了一种新方法(大约在公元前3250年),把代币封在粘土信封里,当需要偿还债务时,粘土信封就会被打开并计数。 取消收藏 收藏句子 But because the contents of the envelopes could easily be forgotten, two-dimensional representations of the three-dimensional tokens were impressed into the surface of the envelopes before they were sealed. 但由于信封里装的内容很容易被遗忘,于是在密封信封之前,人们会把三维代币的二维表现形式压印到信封表面上。 取消收藏 收藏句子 Eventually, having two sets of equivalent symbols—the internal tokens and external markings—came to seem redundant, so the tokens were eliminated (circa 3250–3100 B.C.E.), and only solid clay tablets with two-dimensional symbols were retained. 最终,拥有两套等价的符号——里面的代币和外面的标记——看起来有些冗余,所以代币被淘汰了(大约在公元前3250-3100年),只保留了带有二维符号的固体粘土片。 取消收藏 收藏句子 Over time, the symbols became more numerous, varied, and abstract and came to represent more than trade commodities, evolving eventually into cuneiform writing. 随着时间的推移,这些符号变得越来越多,越来越多样化,越来越抽象,它们不仅仅代表商品贸易,最终演变成了楔形文字。 取消收藏 收藏句子 最初的代币(约公元前8500年)是三维实体形状——小球体、圆锥体、圆盘和圆柱体。例如,6个单位的谷物和8头牲畜的债务可以用6个圆锥形和8个圆柱形的代币来表示。为了把成批的代币放在一起,人们发明了一种新方法(大约在公元前3250年),把代币封在粘土信封里,当需要偿还债务时,粘土信封就会被打开并计数。但由于信封里装的内容很容易被遗忘,于是在密封信封之前,人们会把三维代币的二维表现形式压印到信封表面上。最终,拥有两套等价的符号——里面的代币和外面的标记——看起来有些冗余,所以代币被淘汰了(大约在公元前3250-3100年),只保留了带有二维符号的固体粘土片。随着时间的推移,这些符号变得越来越多,越来越多样化,越来越抽象,它们不仅仅代表商品贸易,最终演变成了楔形文字。

The evolution of the symbolism is reflected in the archaeological record first of all by the increasing complexity of the tokens themselves. 象征符号的演变首先通过代币本身日益增加的复杂性反映在考古记录中。 取消收藏 收藏句子 The earliest tokens, dating from about 10,000 to 6,000 years ago, were of only the simplest geometric shapes. 最早的代币大约在10000年到6000年前,只有最简单的几何形状。 取消收藏 收藏句子 But about 3500 B.C.E., more complex tokens came into common usage, including many naturalistic forms shaped like miniature tools, furniture, fruit, and humans. 大约在公元前3500年,更复杂的代币开始被普遍使用,包括许多像小型工具、家具、水果和人类这样的自然形态。 取消收藏 收藏句子 The earlier, plain tokens were counters for agricultural products, whereas the complex ones stood for finished products, such as bread, oil, perfume, wool, and rope, and for items produced in workshops, such as metal, bracelets, types of cloth, garments, mats, pieces of furniture, tools, and a variety of stone and pottery vessels. 早期的、简单的代币用于对农产品进行计数,而复杂的代币则代表制成品,比如面包、油、香水、羊毛、绳索,以及工坊生产的物品,像金属、手镯、各类布料、服装、垫子、家具、工具以及各种各样的石器和陶器。 取消收藏 收藏句子 The signs marked on clay tablets likewise evolved from simple wedges, circles, ovals, and triangles based on the plain tokens to pictographs derived from the complex tokens. 在粘土片上标记的符号同样也从简单的楔形、圆形、椭圆形和基于简单代币的三角形演变为源自复杂代币的象形文字。 取消收藏 收藏句子 象征符号的演变首先通过代币本身日益增加的复杂性反映在考古记录中。最早的代币大约在10000年到6000年前,只有最简单的几何形状。大约在公元前3500年,更复杂的代币开始被普遍使用,包括许多像小型工具、家具、水果和人类这样的自然形态。早期的、简单的代币用于对农产品进行计数,而复杂的代币则代表制成品,比如面包、油、香水、羊毛、绳索,以及工坊生产的物品,像金属、手镯、各类布料、服装、垫子、家具、工具以及各种各样的石器和陶器。在粘土片上标记的符号同样也从简单的楔形、圆形、椭圆形和基于简单代币的三角形演变为源自复杂代币的象形文字。

Before this evidence came to light, the inventors of writing were assumed by researchers to have been an intellectual elite. 在这一证据被发现之前,研究人员认为书写的发明者是知识精英。 取消收藏 收藏句子 Some, for example, hypothesized that writing emerged when members of the priestly caste agreed among themselves on written signs. 例如,有些人假设,当祭司种姓的成员对书写符号达成一致时,文字就出现了。 取消收藏 收藏句子 But the association of the plain tokens with the first farmers and of the complex tokens with the first artisans—and the fact that the token-and-envelope accounting system invariably represented only small-scale transactions—testifies to the relatively modest social status of the creators of writing. 但是简单代币和早期农民的关联、复杂代币和早期工匠的关联、再加上代币-信封的记账系统总是只代表小规模的交易,这些都是文字创造者的社会地位相对低下的证据。 取消收藏 收藏句子 在这一证据被发现之前,研究人员认为书写的发明者是知识精英。例如,有些人假设,当祭司种姓的成员对书写符号达成一致时,文字就出现了。但是简单代币和早期农民的关联、复杂代币和早期工匠的关联、再加上代币-信封的记账系统总是只代表小规模的交易,这些都是文字创造者的社会地位相对低下的证据。

And not only of literacy, but numeracy (the representation of quantitative concepts) as well. 不仅是读写能力,还有计算能力(定量概念的表示)。 取消收藏 收藏句子 The evidence of the tokens provides further confirmation that mathematics originated in people’s desire to keep records of flocks and other goods. 代币的证据进一步证实,数学起源于人们想要记录羊群和其他物品的愿望。 取消收藏 收藏句子 Another immensely significant step occurred around 3100 B.C. E., when Sumerian accountants extended the token-based signs to include the first real numerals. 另一个意义重大的进步发生在公元前3100年左右,当时苏美尔人的会计师将基于代币的符号扩展到包含第一个实数。 取消收藏 收藏句子 [■] Previously, units of grain had been represented by direct one-to-one correspondence—by repeating the token or symbol for a unit of grain the required number of times. 以前,谷物的单位是由直接的一一对应来表示的——通过重复一单位谷物的代币或符号所需的次数来实现。 取消收藏 收藏句子 [■] The accountants, however, devised numeral signs distinct from commodity signs, so that eighteen units of grain could be indicated by preceding a single grain symbol with a symbol denoting “18.” 然而,会计师们设计了不同于商品符号的数字符号,这样,十八个单位的谷物可以表现为在一个谷物符号前面加上一个表示“18”的符号。 取消收藏 收藏句子 [■] Their invention of abstract numerals and abstract counting was one of the most revolutionary advances in the history of mathematics. 他们发明的抽象数字和抽象计数是数学历史上最具革命性的进步之一。 取消收藏 收藏句子 [■] 不仅是读写能力,还有计算能力(定量概念的表示)。代币的证据进一步证实,数学起源于人们想要记录羊群和其他物品的愿望。另一个意义重大的进步发生在公元前3100年左右,当时苏美尔人的会计师将基于代币的符号扩展到包含第一个实数。以前,谷物的单位是由直接的一一对应来表示的——通过重复一单位谷物的代币或符号所需的次数来实现。然而,会计师们设计了不同于商品符号的数字符号,这样,十八个单位的谷物可以表现为在一个谷物符号前面加上一个表示“18”的符号。他们发明的抽象数字和抽象计数是数学历史上最具革命性的进步之一。

What was the social status of the anonymous accountants who produced this breakthrough. 促成这一突破的匿名会计师的社会地位如何? 取消收藏 收藏句子 The immense volume of clay tablets unearthed in the ruins of the Sumerian temples where the accounts were kept suggests a social differentiation within the scribal class, with a virtual army of lower-ranking tabulators performing the monotonous job of tallying commodities. 苏美尔庙宇遗址中出土的数量巨大的粘土片显示了抄写文字方面的社会分化,实际上是一群等级较低的制表人在从事单调的商品清点工作。 取消收藏 收藏句子 We can only speculate as to how high or low the inventors of true numerals were in the scribal hierarchy, but it stands to reason that this laborsaving innovation would have been the brainchild of the lower-ranking types whose drudgery it eased. 我们只能推测出真正数字的发明者在抄写阶层中的地位有多高或多低,但显而易见的是,这种节省劳力的发明是那些地位较低的人的智慧结晶,他们的苦工因此得以减轻。 取消收藏 收藏句子 促成这一突破的匿名会计师的社会地位如何?苏美尔庙宇遗址中出土的数量巨大的粘土片显示了抄写文字方面的社会分化,实际上是一群等级较低的制表人在从事单调的商品清点工作。我们只能推测出真正数字的发明者在抄写阶层中的地位有多高或多低,但显而易见的是,这种节省劳力的发明是那些地位较低的人的智慧结晶,他们的苦工因此得以减轻。

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