Ancient Bananas托福听力原文翻译及问题答案

Ancient Bananas托福听力原文翻译及问题答案

一、Ancient Bananas托福听力原文：

NARRATOR:Listen to part of a lecture in an archaeology class.FEMALE PROFESSOR:One of the important aspects of the field of archaeology,uh,one of the things that excites me about the field,is that seemingly insignificant things can suddenly change the way we think about a culture.We are always making new discoveries that have the potential to challenge widely held beliefs.

Take something like the banana,for example.It turns out that this ordinary fruit may be forcing scientists to rewrite major parts of African history!We know the bananas were introduced to Africa via Southeast Asia.And until recently,we thought we knew when they were introduced:about 2,000 years ago.

But discoveries in Uganda,that's in Eastern Africa,are throwing that into question.Scientists studying soil samples there discovered evidence of bananas in sediment that was 5,000 years old.Now,let me explain that it's not easy to find traces of ancient bananas.The fruit is soft and doesn't have any hard seeds that might survive over the ages.So after 5,000 years,you might think there would be nothing left to study.Well,fortunately for archaeologists,all plants contain what are called phytoliths in their stems and leaves.Phytoliths are microscopic structures made of silica,and they do not decay.When plants die and rot away,they leave these phytoliths behind.Because different plants produce differently shaped phytoliths,scientists can identify the type of plant from ancient remains.

So,those scientists in Uganda,dug down to sediments that were 5,000 years old.And what do you think they found?Banana phytoliths!Obviously this meant that we had to rethink our previous notions about when bananas first arrived in Africa.But,well,this discovery had other implications for history.As soon as bananas appear in the archaeological record,we know we have contact between Africa and Southeast Asia.It would appear now that this contact occurred much earlier than previously thought.

Al-although—now here's where the uncertainty comes in—we don't really have any solid evidence of trade between the peoples of these two regions that long ago.Presumably,if people were bringing bananas to Africa,they'd also be bringing other things too—pottery,tools,all sorts of objects made for trade or daily use.But any such evidence is missing from the archaeological record.um,The early appearance of bananas also suggests that agriculture began in this part of Africa earlier than scientists imagined.You see,bananas,at least the edible kind,can't grow without human intervention.They have to be cultivated.People need to plant them and care for them.So if bananas were present in Uganda 5,000 years ago,w-we'd have to assumeth-th-that someone planted them.

But,there are questions about this too.We know that bananas can be a staple food that can support large populations,as they did in Uganda in the more recent past.If bananas were grown thousands of years ago,why don't we see evidence of large populations thriving in the area earlier?

So,we are left with this mystery.We have what appears to be strong biological evidence that bananas were being cultivated in Uganda as early as 5,000 years ago.But we are missing other kinds of evidence that would conclusively prove that this is so.Clearly,more research needs to be done—Perhaps by some young scholars from this university?At least give it some thought.

二、Ancient Bananas托福听力中文翻译：

旁白：在考古学课上听一部分讲座。女教授：考古学领域的一个重要方面，呃，这个领域让我兴奋的一件事是，看似微不足道的事情会突然改变我们对文化的看法。我们总是在做出新的发现，这些发现有可能挑战人们普遍持有的信念。

以香蕉为例。事实证明，这种普通的水果可能正迫使科学家改写非洲历史的主要部分！我们知道香蕉是通过东南亚传入非洲的。直到最近，我们还以为我们知道它们是何时被引入的：大约2000年前。

但在东非的乌干达的发现使这一点受到质疑。科学家们研究了那里的土壤样本，发现了5000年前沉积物中存在香蕉的证据。现在，让我解释一下，要找到古代香蕉的踪迹并不容易。这种水果很软，没有任何坚硬的种子，可以经久保存。所以5000年后，你可能会认为没有什么东西可以学习了。对考古学家来说幸运的是，所有植物的茎和叶中都含有所谓的植硅体。植硅体是由二氧化硅构成的微观结构，不会腐烂。当植物死亡和腐烂时，它们会留下这些植硅体。由于不同的植物产生不同形状的植硅体，科学家可以从古代遗迹中识别出植物的类型。

因此，乌干达的科学家们挖掘了5000年前的沉积物。你认为他们发现了什么？香蕉植硅体！显然，这意味着我们必须重新思考我们之前关于香蕉何时首次抵达非洲的概念。但是，这个发现对历史还有其他的意义。一旦香蕉出现在考古记录中，我们就知道非洲和东南亚之间有联系。现在看来，这种接触比以前想象的要早得多。

阿尔：虽然现在不确定性来了，但我们并没有任何确凿的证据证明这两个地区的人民很久以前就进行了贸易。据推测，如果人们把香蕉带到非洲，他们也会带其他东西——陶器、工具、各种贸易或日常用品。但考古记录中没有任何这样的证据。嗯，香蕉的早期出现也表明非洲这一地区的农业比科学家想象的要早。你看，香蕉，至少是可食用的那种，没有人类的干预就无法生长。它们必须被培养。人们需要种植和照顾它们。因此，如果5000年前乌干达就有香蕉，我们不得不假设是有人种植的。

但是，这方面也有问题。我们知道，香蕉可以成为一种可以养活大量人口的主食，就像最近在乌干达所做的那样。如果香蕉是几千年前种植的，为什么我们看不到早期该地区大量人口繁衍的证据？

所以，我们只剩下这个谜了。我们有强有力的生物学证据表明，早在5000年前，乌干达就开始种植香蕉。但我们缺少其他类型的证据来确凿地证明这一点。很明显，也许这所大学的一些年轻学者需要做更多的研究？至少想一想。

三、Ancient Bananas托福听力问题：

Q1:1.What is the lecture mainly about?

A.The history of archaeology in Africa

B.Traditional methods of archaeological research

C.Controversial new archaeological findings

D.The study of archaeology in Southeast Asia

Q2:2.What excites the professor about the field of archaeology?.

A.Established theories can be challenged by new evidence.

B.The technology used in archaeology is always improving.

C.Archaeology deals with basic issues of human societies.

D.Archaeologists often work in interesting parts of the world.

Q3:3.According to the professor,what can scientists learn by examining ancient phytoliths?

A.The nutrients a plant took in

B.The age of a certain sediment layer

C.What a plant was used for

D.What type of plant produced them

Q4:4.What are the implications of the theory that bananas arrived in Africa 5,000 years ago?[Click on 2 answers].

A.Agriculture developed in Africa earlier than previously assumed.

B.Contact between Africa and Asia occurred earlier than previously assumed.

C.People have inhabited Southeast Asia longer than previously assumed.

D.The banana plant is a more ancient plant than was previously assumed.

Q5:5.What does the professor consider a weakness of the study on bananas in Africa?

A.It did not produce accurate data.

B.Its results are of little importance.

C.Its conclusions are not supported by other studies.

D.It does not make good use of advanced technology.

Q6:6.Why does the professor say this?

A.To announce her intentions to continue the study herself.

B.To encourage her students to do archaeological research.

C.To discredit the recent research on bananas and phytoliths.

D.To highlight the university’s reputation in archaeology.

四、Ancient Bananas托福听力答案：

A1:正确答案：C

A2:正确答案：A

A3:正确答案：D

A4:正确答案：AB

A5:正确答案：C

A6:正确答案：B