SSS 2008-07-18
时间：2019-01-08 作者：英语课 分类：Scientific American(七)月
This is Scientific American's 60-Second Science, I am Karen Hopkin.This'll just take a minute.
Counting is one of the first things we teach our kids. I mean, every parent’s probably said, “You had better be in that bed by the time I count to three.” Followed by “One…two…two-and-a-half…” But counting might not be as universal as it seems. Because scientists from M.I.T. have found that a tribe 1 living in the Amazon has no words for numbers. Back in 2004, the M.I.T. team reported that the Piraha people seemed to have terms that described “one,” “two,” or “many.” This was based on asking tribe members to count objects, like sticks or nuts or AA batteries, as the researchers laid them out. This time, the scientists had the subjects count backward as they removed things. And they discovered that tribe members used the word previously 2 thought to mean “two” for as many as five or six objects. And they used the word “one” for anything less than that. So the words don’t stand for numbers, so much as relative amounts. The findings 3 appear in the online edition of the journal 4 Cognition. Although the Piraha people might not need numbers, think of what they’re missing 5. “A large number of trombones led the big parade, with an even larger number of cornets close at hand…”
Thanks for the minute,for Scientific American's 60-Second Science,I'm Karen Hopkin.
- This is a subject tribe.这是个受他人统治的部落。
- Many of the tribe's customs and rituals are as old as the hills.这部落的许多风俗、仪式都极其古老。
- The bicycle tyre blew out at a previously damaged point.自行车胎在以前损坏过的地方又爆开了。
- Let me digress for a moment and explain what had happened previously.让我岔开一会儿，解释原先发生了什么。
- It behoves us to study these findings carefully. 我们理应认真研究这些发现。
- Their findings have been widely disseminated . 他们的研究成果已经广为传播。
- He kept a journal during his visit to Japan.他在访问日本期间坚持记日记。
- He got a job as editor of a trade journal.他找到了一份当商业杂志编辑的工作。