時間：萬物的歷史與未來 – 重製版：英語精讀講義

Time makes sense in small pieces.

時間在很短的片段裡很容易理解。

But when you look at huge stretches of time,

但當你放眼於極其漫長的歲月時，

it's almost impossible to wrap your head around things. 慣用語

腦海裡就幾乎無法想像了。

So, let's start small with minutes,

所以，讓我們從微小的分鐘開始，

hours, days.

小時、天數。

You probably spent the last 24 hours mostly sleeping and working,

過去 24 小時你多半在睡覺和工作，

and you probably wasted a good chunk of yesterday on the internet. 片語搭配

昨天你也可能把大把時間荒廢在了網路上。

Days become weeks,

日積月累變成了週，

weeks become months,

幾週變成了幾個月，

and then we have a year.

然後就是一整年。

Let's look at 2017.

讓我們回看 2017 年。

France started to train eagles to hunt terrorist drones.

法國開始訓練老鷹來捕捉恐怖分子的無人機。

A Czech nuclear power plant held a bikini contest to pick their new intern,

捷克一家核電廠舉辦了比基尼比賽來挑選新實習生，

and people on the internet made a challenge out of eating bleach. 文法

而網民們則發起了一項吃漂白劑的挑戰。

You know,

你懂的，

the usual stuff. 語氣意圖

都是些常規操作。

Let's go back further. 表達脈絡

讓我們追溯到更早以前。

A kid born in the first year of the 21st century is 18 years old now.

21世紀第一年出生的孩子現在已經 18 歲了。

But the century is still young,

但這個世紀還很年輕，

even if you're not. 文法

即使你已經不再年輕。

It was largely shaped by the attacks on 9/11, 片語搭配

9/11 襲擊在很大程度上塑造了這個世紀，

which led to the war in Afghanistan and the invasion of Iraq. 片語搭配

它導致了阿富汗戰爭和伊拉克入侵。

In March 2011,

2011 年 3 月，

the Syrian Civil War began

敘利亞內戰爆發，

and is still ongoing after seven years.

歷經七年至今仍在繼續。

Most of us were born in the 20th century,

我們大多數人都出生在 20 世紀，

which had the two most devastating wars in human history and the Cold War.

這個世紀經歷了人類歷史上最具破壞性的兩次戰爭，還有冷戰。

For the first time ever, 片語搭配

這是史無前例的第一次，

we could destroy ourselves with nuclear weapons,

我們擁有了用核武器毀滅自己的能力，

and we almost did.

而且差一點就成了真。

But we also had a space race and left Earth for the first time.

但我們也展開了太空競賽，並且首次離開地球。

The internet was also invented,

網際網路也被發明了出來，

which led to memes,

從而誕生了網路迷因，

but also to Facebook and Twitter.

也誕生了 Facebook 和 Twitter。

So, all in all, 表達脈絡

總而言之，

we're not sure if this was a good development.

我們不確定這究竟是不是一個好的發展。

The average human lives about 79 years,

人類平均壽命大約 79 歲，

which covers a good chunk of recent history.

這涵蓋了近代史的很大一部分。

The oldest living person on Earth is currently Celino Jaramillo,

地球上最長壽的在世老人是塞利諾·哈拉米略（Celino Jaramillo），

who was born in 1896,

他出生於 1896 年，

which means that his birth was closer to Napoleon ruling Europe 文法

這意味著他的出生年份距離拿破崙統治歐洲的時間

than to the current day.

比距離今天還要近。

Only 250 years ago,

就在 250 年前，

the Industrial Revolution turned the world into a progress machine. 文法

工業革命將世界變成了一台進步的機器。

Farmers became workers,

農民變成了工人，

and knowledge became easier to distribute.

知識變得更容易傳播。

Around this time,

大約在那個時候，

we started the progress that is causing climate change today.

我們開啟了導致今天氣候變遷的進程。

Not that long ago, actually. 用詞

實際上距離現在並不遙遠。

The theory of evolution changed how we saw ourselves and the world we live in.

演化論改變了我們看待自身和所處世界的方式。

Newton wrote down his theory of gravity. 片語動詞

牛頓寫下了他的萬有引力定律。

We discovered distant stars and very close bacteria.

我們發現了遙遠的恆星和極其微小的細菌。

The 15th century was very eventful.

15 世紀充滿了各種大事件。

Columbus's discovery of America and the fall of Constantinople

哥倫布發現美洲以及君士坦丁堡的陷落，

marked the end of the Middle Ages.

標誌著中世紀的結束。

War was all the rage in the Middle Ages, 慣用語

雖然中世紀時戰爭司空見慣，

but the number one killer was disease.

但頭號殺手其實是疾病。

The Black Death plague killed every third European in just six years. 文法

黑死病在短短六年內就殺死了三分之一的歐洲人。

Around 2,000 years ago,

大約 2000 年前，

we set the arbitrary year one of our calendar 文化背景

我們將日曆隨意設定了元年，

that most of the world follows today.

而這套日曆至今仍被世界大多數國家所使用。

But to a Roman,

但對一個羅馬人來說，

the world was already ancient.

當時的世界就已經很古老了。

The Great Pyramids were constructed 4,500 years ago.

大金字塔建於 4500 年前。

So, to a Roman,

因此，對羅馬人來說，

the Pyramids were older than the Romans are to us today. 表達脈絡

金字塔比今天的羅馬人對我們來說還要古老。

So long ago

歷史如此久遠，

that there were still living mammoths on Earth.

以至於那時地球上還有活著的猛獁象。

A lot of history happened before that even.

在那之前甚至發生過更多的歷史。

Around 7,000 years ago,

大約 7000 年前，

humans began writing things down.

人類開始用文字記錄事物。

About 12,000 years ago,

大約 12000 年前，

human organization exploded.

人類組織爆發式成長。

We built our first temple,

我們建造了第一座神廟，

and around the world mankind began farming,

世界各地的人類開始進行農業耕作，

which enabled the rise of larger communities. 片語搭配

這促成了更龐大社區的崛起。

Our dominance over planet Earth really begins here.

我們對地球的統治權才真正由此開始。

Homo sapiens sapiens, 文法

晚期智人，

the modern human,

也就是現代人類，

evolved at least 200,000 years ago.

至少在 20 萬年前演化而成。

50,000 years ago,

5 萬年前，

the Cognitive Revolution expanded our minds and innovation. 文化背景

認知革命擴展了我們的心智與創新能力。

Back then,

在那時，

we shared Earth with at least five other human species

我們與至少五種其他人種共享地球，

that either died out or were killed by us. 片語動詞

這些人種要麼滅絕了，要麼被我們消滅了。

At least 2 million years ago,

至少在 200 萬年前，

our ancestors already had control over fire 片語搭配

我們的祖先就已經掌握了火，

and constructed tools from wood and stone.

並用木頭和石頭製造了工具。

And 6 million years ago,

到了 600 萬年前，

the last common ancestors of chimpanzees and humans existed.

黑猩猩和人類的最後共同祖先仍還存在。

So,

所以，

this graph is all of human history.

這張圖代表了整個人類歷史。

Our close relative Homo erectus

我們的近親直立人，

survived 10 times longer than we have existed. 文法

存活的時間比我們的存在長了 10 倍。

This tiny part is the human era.

這一小部分才是人類時代。

We have to zoom in a lot 片語動詞

我們必須放大很多，

to even see your lifetime.

才能勉強看到你的一生。

Still, all of human history is not that long.

儘管如此，整個人類歷史其實並沒有那麼長。

65 million years ago,

6500 萬年前，

the age of the dinosaurs ended in an enormous explosion.

恐龍時代在一場巨大的爆炸中終結。

The dinosaurs ruled the Earth for over 165 million years.

恐龍統治地球長達 1.65 億年。

27 times as long as all humans. 文法

是整個人類歷史的 27 倍之長。

That's so long that it means a T-Rex that lived 65 million years ago

這段時間如此漫長，意味著生活在 6500 萬年前的暴龍，

is closer to us today

距離我們今天的時間，

than to a live stegosaurus.

甚至比距離一隻活著的劍龍還要近。

Dinosaurs in the form of mighty chickens 慣用語

恐龍以強大雞形生物的形式，

are still around today. 用詞

至今仍存在於我們身邊。

Animal life on this planet started 600 million years ago.

地球上的動物生命始於 6 億年前。

The earliest animals were fish and other small simple sea creatures.

最早的動物是魚類和其他微小簡單的海洋生物。

Then came insects, 文法

然後出現了昆蟲，

then reptiles,

接著是爬行動物，

and finally, around 200 million years ago,

最終，大約在 2 億年前，

mammals joined the party. 慣用語

哺乳動物加入了這個大家庭。

Life itself began much further back.

而生命本身的起源還要久遠得多。

There is evidence that it appeared up to 4.1 billion years ago. 講解

有證據表明生命在 41 億年前就出現了。

For at least 3.5 billion years,

在至少 35 億年的時間裡，

life consisted only of single-celled organisms. 片語搭配

生命僅僅由單細胞生物組成。

4.5 billion years ago,

45 億年前，

the sun was born from a gigantic imploding gas cloud.

太陽從一團巨大的坍縮氣體雲中誕生。

60 million years later,

6000 萬年後，

Earth formed.

地球形成了。

In those early years,

在那些早期歲月裡，

frequent bombardment by comets and asteroids supplied the Earth with large oceans. 片語搭配

彗星和小行星的頻繁轟擊為地球帶來了廣闊的海洋。

But as far as the whole universe goes, 表達脈絡

但就整個宇宙而言，

our solar system is pretty new. 用詞

我們的太陽系還是相當年輕的。

13.75 billion years ago,

137.5 億年前，

the universe was born,

宇宙誕生了，

and about half a billion years later,

大約 5 億年後，

our own galaxy formed from billions of stars.

我們自己的星系由數十億顆恆星形成。

But what came before the Big Bang?

但在大爆炸之前發生了什麼？

The truth is,

事實是，

we don't know,

我們不知道，

and maybe we never will. 文法

也許我們永遠也不會知道。

And there you have it, 慣用語

那麼這就是，

the past.

過去。

Now, let's take a look at what we know about the future. 片語搭配

現在，讓我們來看看我們對未來的了解。

In roughly 1 billion years,

大約 10 億年後，

the sun will be so hot that life on Earth becomes impossible. 文法

太陽將變得極其炎熱，以至於地球上無法存在生命。

The death of the sun 4 billion years later

40 億年後太陽的死亡，

marks the end of life in the solar system. 片語搭配

標誌著太陽系生命的終結。

If we want to have a chance to survive,

如果我們想要有一線生機，

we need to have ventured to the stars. 文法

就必須已經向星際進發。

And what happens after that?

那之後會發生什麼呢？

In the next 100 billion years,

在接下來的 1000 億年裡，

most of the biggest stars around will die.

周圍大多數最大的恆星都會死亡。

The universe becomes dimmer and dimmer, 文法

宇宙變得越來越暗，

illuminated only by smaller red and white dwarfs.

只被較小的紅矮星和白矮星照亮。

But they too will eventually burn out, 片語動詞

但它們最終也會燃燒殆盡，

and one day the last star in the universe will die.

總有一天，宇宙中的最後一顆恆星將會死去。

The universe will turn dark.

宇宙將陷入黑暗。

And at some point,

而到了某個時刻，

even black holes will evaporate and die.

甚至黑洞也會蒸發並消亡。

When they do, 文法

當它們消亡時，

our universe will reach its final stage, 片語搭配

我們的宇宙將進入其最後階段——

heat death. 文化背景

熱寂。

Nothing changes anymore.

一切都不會再改變。

The universe is dead.

宇宙徹底死了。

Forever.

直到永遠。

Now, you're feeling some pretty weird feelings right now,

此刻，你的心裡肯定五味雜陳，

aren't you? 語氣意圖

對吧？

We are too.

我們也一樣。

It's only natural. 語氣意圖

這是很自然的。

The good news is, 表達脈絡

好消息是，

this is all far, far away.

這所有的一切都還無比遙遠。

The only time that actually matters is now. 文法

真正重要的時間只有現在。

That cute girl or boy you like,

那個你喜歡的可愛女孩或男孩，

ask them out. 片語動詞

去約他們出來吧。

Time is precious.

時間是寶貴的。

Make it count. 慣用語

讓它變得有意義。