时间:2018-12-28 作者:英语课 分类:初学者听力文摘精选


英语课

Kids learn to count on their fingers, because they’re so, well, handy! And it makes sense–most number systems originally developed as people counted using their fingers.

小孩通过数手指来学习计数,因为这样确实非常方便。由此,最初的数字系统是从人们以手指计数发展而来也就变得合乎情理了。



The counting system of native Greenlanders not only uses all ten fingers, but all ten toes as well! Here’s how it works. The Greenlandic word for the number seven translates as, “second hand, two.” That means you count five on the first hand and add two from the second, to make seven. After you run out of fingers, go for the toes. Thirteen translates as “first foot, three.” That means you add all ten fingers plus three toes.

古代格陵兰岛人的计数系统不仅要用到十个手指,甚至连十个脚趾都用上了!以下就是这种计数方式的工作原理。格陵兰语中,数字7翻译出来就是“第二只手,两 根手指。”意思是说你数完第一只手的五个手指,再加上第二只手的两根手指得到数字七。如果手指不够用,那就再用脚趾。数字13翻译出来是“第一只脚,三只 脚趾。”说明你数完了所有十个手指,再数三个脚趾就得到数字十三。



The counting system we use has a base of ten. Larger numbers are simply multiples of ten. For example, ten tens make one hundred. We’re so used to our base ten system that it may seem like the only possibility. But the Greenlandic number system has a base of twenty, and others have a base of five. Of all the number systems ever invented, five, ten, and twenty are the most common bases.

我们使用的计数系统是十进制的。较大的数字就是用10来倍乘。比如,10个10就是100.我们非常习惯使用十进制计数,以至于认为世上只有这一种计数系 统。但是格陵兰岛的计数系统是二十进制的,也有一些地方采用五进制。在所有发明的计数系统中,五进制、十进制和二十进制是最为常见的。



It’s no coincidence that these bases match the number of fingers on one hand, or two hands, or all of our fingers and toes. The connection between fingers and counting is so close that several languages have just one word that means both “hand” and the number five. Even in English, the word digit 1 describes either a number or a finger. So if anyone teases 2 you for counting on your fingers, just tell them you find your digits 3 quite handy!

这些计数的基数和我们的一只手的手指数、两只手的手指数,以及所有的手指和脚趾的数目吻合并非巧合。手指和计数之间的联系如此紧密以至于很多语言里都只有 一个词用来同时表示“手”和数字“五”。甚至在英语里也有这样的情况,单词digit既可表示数字也可表示手指。因此,如果有人因为你用手指数数而取笑你 的话,你只需告诉他你觉得使用手指计算很方便就行了!



1 digit
n.零到九的阿拉伯数字,手指,脚趾
  • Her telephone number differs from mine by one digit.她的电话号码和我的只差一个数字。
  • Many animals have five digits.许多动物有5趾。
2 teases
v.取笑,戏弄( tease的第三人称单数 );梳理(羊毛等)
  • My boyfriend's brother is really out of it; he always teases us. 我男友的弟弟很无聊;他总是捉弄我们。 来自辞典例句
  • The little boy teases for ice-cream. 小男孩不住地吵着要买冰淇淋。 来自辞典例句
3 digits
n.数字( digit的名词复数 );手指,足趾
  • The number 1000 contains four digits. 1000是四位数。 来自《简明英汉词典》
  • The number 410 contains three digits. 数字 410 中包括三个数目字。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》
学英语单词
acanthochiton
acception of persons
act according to
actvs
aetr
Akropong
ann c.
arteriae ulnaris
Asian cholera
atmosphere analyser
automatic monitoring
b-complex vitamins
barrow's
bill of lading copy
blow-run method
bricked it
brown smoke
chassepots
chewability
chirometer
civil time
clowers
Cogolin
consciousness-threshold
counterlaths
diameter ratio
differential block
doner kebabs
electronic journalism
ELEP (expansion-line end point)
employee business expenses
endomesoderm cell
euaugaptilus mixtus
factor of evaluation
finish gauge
fire extinguisher system
fordwine
globeflowers
GM_past-perfect-continuous-i-had-been-working
granoblastic texture
gross thickness
heavy-liddeds
horny-handed
hutzpah
hwyls
included angle
instantaneous frequency stability
insulating soft wire
isogermidine
Khārchok
land use mapping
lazy leucocyte syndrome
line of engagement
link (li)
Lithocarpus jenkinsii
lower end of duct
mediumfit
microscopics
microviscosity
mini-burgers
monotonic functional
morning draughtboard
nipponium
oligarchies
operatorship
Orissi
pharmacological compound
phosphatidylinositol(PI)
pole trawl
private listing
proton stream
psychorrhagia
qualified director
qualitative property
quartz watch
radio-thermoluminescence
Rhododendron jinxiuense
Sankt Gallenkirch
sarcinodes yeni
saturation patrols
scrap metals
shamshir
shyryf
specified point
Stewartia gemmata
sun-burned
super-huge turbogenerator
supply-demand relation
sylph-like
tandem milking parler
theos
thirled
trachy-pitchstone
two-way omnibus
unregimented
unvailing
valeryl phenetidine
washed down
whisenhunt
Wilkins Micawber
wintams
Zabud