ChinesePod
@ 51437 人類的起源
A: 同學們好！你們知道，人是從哪兒來的嗎？
tóngxuémen hǎo! nǐmen zhīdào, rén shì cóng nǎr lái de ma?
Hello, students! Do you know where people come from?
B: 是從猴子變來的。
shì cóng hóuzi biàn lái de.
From monkeys.
C: 是盤古開天地，女媧娘娘創造了人。
shì Pángǔ kāi tiāndì, Nǚwā niángniang chuàngzào le rén.
It was Pangu who separated the heavens and the earth, and Nuwa who created people.
D: 陳磊，那些都是神話故事。
Chén Lěi, nàxiē dōu shì shénhuà gùshi.
Chen Lei, those are all myths.
A: 那，林峰，你說說，人是從哪兒來的？
nà, Lín Fēng, nǐ shuō shuō, rén shì cóng nǎr lái de?
Then, Lin Feng tell us. Where do people come from?
D: 當然是從媽媽的肚子裡出來的咯。
dāngrán shì cóng māma de dùzi lǐ chūlái de lo.
From our mother's bellies, of course.
A: 感謝林峰同學帶來的笑聲。天熱了，春眠不覺曉。大家打起精神來，不要總想念周公啊！
gǎnxiè Lín Fēng tóngxué dàilái de xiàoshēng. tiān rè le, chūn mián bù jué xiǎo. dàjiā dǎqǐ jīngshén lái, bù yào zǒng xiǎngniàn Zhōugōng a!
Thanks, Lin Feng, for bringing a little laughter to the class. The weather is getting warm, it's spring, and it's hard to wake up. Everyone, muster up some energy. Don't always go missing the Duke of Zhou!
A: 剛才大家提到的這些說法都存在。今天呢，我們要從達爾文的“進化論”的角度來講講人類的起源。達爾文認為，人是由古猿進化而來的。大家想想看，人具有哪些古猿所沒有的特徵？
gāngcái dàjiā tídào de zhèxiē shuōfa dōu cúnzài. jīntiān ne, wǒmen yào cóng Dá'ěrwén de" Jìnhuàlùn” de jiǎodù lái jiǎng jiang rénlèi de qǐyuán. Dá'ěrwén rènwéi, rén shì yóu gǔyuán jìnhuà ér lái de. dàjiā xiǎngxiang kàn, rén jùyǒu nǎxiē gǔyuán suǒ méiyǒu de tèzhēng?
All those ideas that everyone just brought up do exist, but today, we're going to talk about the origins of humanity from the perspective of Darwin's theory of evolution. Darwin thought that people evolved from prehistoric apes. Everyone, think about it a bit; what distinctive features do humans have that prehistoric apes do not?
B: 人能直立行走。
rén néng zhílì xíngzǒu.
We can walk upright.
C: 能使用和製造工具。
néng shǐyòng hé zhìzào gōngjù.
We can use and create tools.
D: 我們還可以用語言進行交流。
wǒmen hái kěyǐ yòng yǔyán jìnxíng jiāoliú.
We can also use language to interact.
A: 說得很好。根據發現的化石，可以推測出古猿生活在距今700萬到800萬年前的森林中。後來氣候環境發生了變化，森林面積大幅減少，出現了大片的草原。那這時候古猿該怎麼辦？
shuō de hěn hǎo. gēnjù fāxiàn de huàshí, kěyǐ tuīcè chū gǔyuán shēnghuó zài jùjīn qībǎi wàn dào bābǎi wàn nián qián de sēnlín zhōng. hòulái qìhòu huánjìng fāshēng le biànhuà, sēnlín miànji dàfú jiǎnshǎo, chūxiàn le dàpiān de cǎoyuán. nà zhèshíhòu gǔyuán gāi zěnme bàn?
Very well-said. According to the fossils that have been discovered, it can be inferred that prehistoric apes lived in forests from 8 million to 7 million years ago. Afterward, the climate changed. Forested areas significantly decreased, and vast grasslands came about. When that happened, what were the prehistoric apes to do?
D: 從樹上到草原上生活。
cóng shùshang dào cǎoyuán shàng shēnghuó.
Move their lives from in the trees to the grasslands.
A: 聰明！但是並不是所有的古猿都這麼聰明。根據“進化論”裡適者生存的規則，其中一些聰明的古猿，它們開始爬下樹嘗試地面生活。
cōngming! dànshì bìngbùshì suǒyǒu de gǔyuán dōu zhème cōngming. gēnjù" Jìnhuàlùn” lǐ shìzhěshēngcún de guīzé, qízhōng yīxiē cōngming de gǔyuán, tāmen kāishǐ pá xià shù chángshì dìmiàn shēnghuó.
Very smart! But, it wasn't that every prehistoric ape was so smart. According to the theory of evolution's rule of survival of the fittest, only some of the smart prehistoric apes started to come down from the trees and attempt life on the ground.
B: 它們能適應嗎？
tāmen néng shìyìng ma?
Were they able to adapt?
A: 剛開始肯定是不適應的。以前它們是用四肢爬樹的。到了地上前肢就可以解放出來，做一些覓食，防禦攻擊敵人的工作。慢慢地，前肢就進化成了手，由後肢獨立承擔起了行走的責任，也就是能直立行走了。
gāng kāishǐ kěndìng shì bù shìyīng de. yǐqián tāmen shì yòng sìzhī pá shù de. dào le dìshang qiánzhī jiù kěyǐ jiěfàng chūlái, zuò yīxiē mìshí, fángyù gōngjī dírén de gōngzuò. mànmàn de, qiánzhī jiù jìnhuà chéng le shǒu, yóu hòuzhī dúlì chéngdān qǐ le xíngzǒu de zérèn, yě jiùshì néng zhílì xíngzǒu le.
At first, they definitely weren't used to it. In the past, they had used all four limbs to climb trees. After arriving on the ground, their front limbs were free to do the job of foraging for food, and defending from enemy attacks. Slowly, their front limbs evolved into arms, which caused the back legs to take the sole responsibility of walking about. This was also the ability to walk upright.
D: 那後來呢？
nà hòulái ne?
And after that?
A: 後來的進化過程就比較順理成章了。有了手，就可以使用工具。當天然的工具不能滿足需求的時候，他們就自己製造工具。腦子是越用越靈活的，這句話很有道理。在做這些事情的時候，他們的腦子也逐漸變發達，跟現代的人越來越接近了。
hòulái de jìnhuà guòchéng jiù bǐjiào shùnlǐchéngzhāng le. yǒu le shǒu, jiù kěyǐ shǐyòng gōngjù. dāng tiānrán de gōngjù bùnéng mǎnzú xūqiú de shíhou, tāmen jiù zìjǐ zhìzào gōngjù. nǎozi shì yuè yòng yuè línghuó de, zhè jù huà hěn yǒu dàolǐ. zài zuò zhèxiē shìqing de shíhou, tāmen de nǎozi yě zhújiàn biàn fādá, gēn xiàndài de rén yuèláiyuè jiējìn le.
The following evolutionary process was quite logical. After having hands, they could use tools. When natural tools couldn't satisfy their needs, they simply built their own tools. 'The mind becomes more and more flexible'; that statement has a lot of truth to it. When they were doing these things, their minds were also slowly developing. They were becoming closer and closer to the people of our time.
D: 真奇妙，原來古猿才是我們的祖先！
zhēn qímiào, yuánlái gǔyuán cái shì wǒmen de zǔxiān!
That's really amazing! Prehistoric apes have been our ancestors all along!
Key Vocabulary
盤古 Pángǔ Pangu [character in Chinese mythology]
女媧娘娘 Nǚwā niángniang Nuwa [character in Chinese mythology]
打起精神 dǎqǐ jīngshén to fight
周公 Zhōugōng Duke of Zhou, God of Dreams
達爾文 Dá'ěrwén Darwin
進化論 Jìnhuàlùn theory of evolution
起源 qǐyuán origin
古猿 gǔyuán prehistoric ape
進化 jìnhuà evolution
直立 zhílì to stand erect
化石 huàshí fossil
推測 tuīcè to infer, to conjecture
距今 jùjīn until now, to date
大幅 dàfú substantially, to a great extent
適者生存 shìzhěshēngcún survival of the fittest
四肢 sìzhī 4 limbs
前肢 qiánzhī forelimbs, forelegs
解放 jiěfàng to liberate
覓食 mìshí to forage
防禦 fángyù defense
攻擊 gōngjī attack
後肢 hòuzhī hind legs
承擔 chéngdān to assume, to understake
順理成章 shùnlǐchéngzhāng as a matter of course
發達 fādá developed
祖先 zǔxiān ancestor
Supplementary Vocabulary
《周公解夢》 Zhōugōng jiěmèng "Duke of Zhou's Dream Interpretation"
小幅 xiǎofú insubstantially, to a small extent
上肢 shàngzhī upper limbs
下肢 xiàzhī lower limbs
尋覓 xúnmì to seek, to look for
------
======