TED演讲:货币的未来(1)

 I want to tell you about the future of money. 我今天的话题是关于货币的未来。

Let's start with a story about this culture that lived in Micronesia in the early 1900s, called the Yap. 我们先从一个20世纪早期的故事开始，这个故事发生在密克罗尼西亚联邦里一个叫做雅浦的小岛上。

Now, I want to tell you about the Yap because their form of money is really interesting. 我提到这个雅浦岛的原因是，他们使用的货币非常有趣。

They use these limestone¹ discs² called Rai stones. 他们使用的货币是由石灰岩凿刻出来的圆盘，称为“拉伊石币”。

Now, the Yap don't actually move these Rai stones around or exchange them the way we do with our coins, 不同于我们平时花钱的方式，雅浦人并不随身带着“拉伊”，也不像我们这样兑换硬币，

because Rai stones can get to be pretty massive³. The largest is about four tons and 12 feet across.  因为他们的“拉伊石币”实在太重了！最大的石币可重达4吨，直径达到3.6米。

So the Yap just keep track⁴ of who owns part of what stone. 所以雅浦人只是记录下谁拥有哪些石币的哪个部分。

There's a story about these sailors that were transporting a stone across the ocean when they ran into some trouble and the stone actually fell in. 有一个关于雅浦岛船员的故事，他们在运输一块石币回到岛上的途中，遇上海难而石沉大海。

Now the sailors got back to the main island and they told everyone what had happened. 当船员们回到岛上，把海上所发生的事告诉了大家。

And everyone decided⁵ that, actually, yes, the sailors had the stone and -- why not? -- it still counted. 最后大家一致决定，那些船员丢失的石币仍然是他们财产的一部分，他们确实拥有过那块石币，为什么不算数呢？

Even though it was at the bottom of the ocean, it was still part of the Yap economy⁶. 即使那块石币已经沉入海底，它仍然是雅浦经济的一部分。

Now you might think that this was just a small culture a hundred years ago.  你可能会觉得这只是一百多年前存在于一个小岛上的经济文化。

But things like this happen in the Western world as well, and the Yap actually still use a form of these stones. 但类似的经济文化也存在于欧洲，即使现如今，雅浦人也仍然把石币作为一种交易货币。

1 limestone   

n.石灰石

参考例句：

• Limestone is often used in building construction.石灰岩常用于建筑。
• Cement is made from limestone.水泥是由石灰石制成的。

2 discs   

n.圆盘( disc的名词复数 )；唱片；磁盘；背脊骨间的软骨层

参考例句：

• Laser discs can store prodigious amounts of information. 激光磁盘能够贮存大量信息。
• From this master disc, plastic discs are stamped out cheaply. 从这个总盘很便宜地复制出塑料盘。 来自辞典例句

3 massive   

adj.巨大的，大规模的，大量的，大范围的

参考例句：

• A massive sea search has failed to find any survivors.经过大规模的海上搜救仍未找到幸存者。
• He drank a massive amount of alcohol.他喝了大量的烈酒。

4 track   

n.轨道；足迹；痕迹；磁轨；途径；vt.循路而行；追踪；通过；用纤拉；vi.追踪

参考例句：

• The new race track is nearly six miles in extent.这条新跑道将近六英里长。
• The police are on his track.警察在跟踪他。

5 decided   

adj.决定了的，坚决的；明显的，明确的

参考例句：

• This gave them a decided advantage over their opponents.这使他们比对手具有明显的优势。
• There is a decided difference between British and Chinese way of greeting.英国人和中国人打招呼的方式有很明显的区别。

6 economy   

n.经济；节俭；秩序；机体

参考例句：

• We must do our best to develop the national economy.我们必须努力发展国民经济。
• The country's economy is not very healthy.国家的经济不很景气。