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听力原文
Researchers say they have identified stone tools that might represent the oldest known evidence of humans in Europe. The recent research suggests that the human ancestors started settling Europe 1.4 million years ago, that is hundreds of thousands of years earlier than previously thought. The stone tools were first discovered in the 1970s near the town of Corolevo, close to Ukraine's borders with Hungary and Romania, but the tools' age had remained unclear.
研究人员表示，他们发现了一些石器，它们可能是人类在欧洲存在的最古老证据。最近的研究表明，人类祖先在140万年前开始定居欧洲，这比之前认为的早了几十万年。这些石器最早是在20世纪70年代在乌克兰与匈牙利和罗马尼亚边境附近的科罗列沃镇附近发现的，但这些石器的年代一直不清楚。
The place of the find is important for understanding how humans first spread into Europe. They moved into the area during warm periods called interglacial periods - those were times in between ice ages, when huge amounts of ice covered Europe. The scientists used a method for estimating the age that identifies the effects of cosmic rays on some kind of minerals. The new method placed the age of the sediment layer containing the stone tools at around 1.4 million years. The researchers believe that the maker of the tools was likely a human ancestor called Homo erectus. That early human species appeared around 2 million years ago and spread across Africa, Asia and Europe before disappearing, perhaps 110,000 years ago.
发现地点对于了解人类最初是如何进入欧洲的很重要。他们在被称为间冰期的温暖时期迁入该地区——那是两个冰河时代之间的时期，当时欧洲被大量的冰覆盖。科学家们使用了一种估算年龄的方法，该方法可以识别宇宙射线对某种矿物的影响。新方法将包含石器的沉积层的年龄定为大约140万年。研究人员认为，这些工具的制造者很可能是直立人的人类祖先。早期人类物种出现于大约200万年前，并遍布非洲、亚洲和欧洲，然后消失，大概在11万年前。
No bones were found at Corolevo, only stone tools, but the age suggests that Homo erectus was the only possible human species at the time. "We know very little about our earliest ancestors. They used stone tools for butchery and probably used fire," said Roman Garba of the Czech Academy of Sciences. Garba was the lead writer of the research published in Nature. Homo erectus was the first member of our evolutionary lineage. Homo erectus had body proportions like our species, Homo sapiens, though with a smaller brain. The tools, made of volcanic rock, were made in a way that is called uldoan. While simple, they represent the beginning of human technology.
在科罗莱沃没有发现任何骨骼，只有石器，但年代表明直立人是当时唯一可能的人类物种。捷克科学院的 Roman Garba 说：“我们对我们最早的祖先知之甚少。他们使用石器进行捕猎，可能还使用火。”Garba 是发表在《自然》杂志上的这项研究的主要作者。直立人是我们进化谱系的第一位成员。直立人的身体比例与我们这个物种智人相似，但大脑较小。这些工具由火山岩制成，制作方式称为uldoan。虽然简单，但它们代表了人类技术的开端。
Until now, the oldest known evidence of humans in Europe was from about 1.2 million years ago, from a place called Atapuerca in Spain. The coral level findings suggest how the first humans might have moved into Europe. Homo erectus fossils from 1.8 million years ago are known from a place in the Caucasus Mountains in Georgia called Domanici.
到目前为止，已知最古老的欧洲人类证据来自大约120万年前，来自西班牙一个叫阿塔普埃尔卡的地方。珊瑚层面的发现表明第一批人类可能是如何迁入欧洲的。在格鲁吉亚高加索山脉的一个名叫多马尼奇的地方，人们发现了180万年前的直立人化石。
听力原文
Researchers say they have identified stone tools that might represent the oldest known evidence of humans in Europe. The recent research suggests that the human ancestors started settling Europe 1.4 million years ago, that is hundreds of thousands of years earlier than previously thought. The stone tools were first discovered in the 1970s near the town of Corolevo, close to Ukraine's borders with Hungary and Romania, but the tools' age had remained unclear.
研究人员表示，他们发现了一些石器，它们可能是人类在欧洲存在的最古老证据。最近的研究表明，人类祖先在140万年前开始定居欧洲，这比之前认为的早了几十万年。这些石器最早是在20世纪70年代在乌克兰与匈牙利和罗马尼亚边境附近的科罗列沃镇附近发现的，但这些石器的年代一直不清楚。
The place of the find is important for understanding how humans first spread into Europe. They moved into the area during warm periods called interglacial periods - those were times in between ice ages, when huge amounts of ice covered Europe. The scientists used a method for estimating the age that identifies the effects of cosmic rays on some kind of minerals. The new method placed the age of the sediment layer containing the stone tools at around 1.4 million years. The researchers believe that the maker of the tools was likely a human ancestor called Homo erectus. That early human species appeared around 2 million years ago and spread across Africa, Asia and Europe before disappearing, perhaps 110,000 years ago.
发现地点对于了解人类最初是如何进入欧洲的很重要。他们在被称为间冰期的温暖时期迁入该地区——那是两个冰河时代之间的时期，当时欧洲被大量的冰覆盖。科学家们使用了一种估算年龄的方法，该方法可以识别宇宙射线对某种矿物的影响。新方法将包含石器的沉积层的年龄定为大约140万年。研究人员认为，这些工具的制造者很可能是直立人的人类祖先。早期人类物种出现于大约200万年前，并遍布非洲、亚洲和欧洲，然后消失，大概在11万年前。
No bones were found at Corolevo, only stone tools, but the age suggests that Homo erectus was the only possible human species at the time. "We know very little about our earliest ancestors. They used stone tools for butchery and probably used fire," said Roman Garba of the Czech Academy of Sciences. Garba was the lead writer of the research published in Nature. Homo erectus was the first member of our evolutionary lineage. Homo erectus had body proportions like our species, Homo sapiens, though with a smaller brain. The tools, made of volcanic rock, were made in a way that is called uldoan. While simple, they represent the beginning of human technology.
在科罗莱沃没有发现任何骨骼，只有石器，但年代表明直立人是当时唯一可能的人类物种。捷克科学院的 Roman Garba 说：“我们对我们最早的祖先知之甚少。他们使用石器进行捕猎，可能还使用火。”Garba 是发表在《自然》杂志上的这项研究的主要作者。直立人是我们进化谱系的第一位成员。直立人的身体比例与我们这个物种智人相似，但大脑较小。这些工具由火山岩制成，制作方式称为uldoan。虽然简单，但它们代表了人类技术的开端。
Until now, the oldest known evidence of humans in Europe was from about 1.2 million years ago, from a place called Atapuerca in Spain. The coral level findings suggest how the first humans might have moved into Europe. Homo erectus fossils from 1.8 million years ago are known from a place in the Caucasus Mountains in Georgia called Domanici.
到目前为止，已知最古老的欧洲人类证据来自大约120万年前，来自西班牙一个叫阿塔普埃尔卡的地方。珊瑚层面的发现表明第一批人类可能是如何迁入欧洲的。在格鲁吉亚高加索山脉的一个名叫多马尼奇的地方，人们发现了180万年前的直立人化石。
