VOA慢速英语2018 一万年前的英国人是黑皮肤蓝眼睛（在线收听）

Tests Suggest 10,000-Year-Old Brit Had Dark Skin, Blue Eyes

Genetic material from a 10,000-year-old skeleton suggests the oldest-known Briton had dark skin and blue eyes.

根据一具1万年前的骨骼中提取的遗传物质表明，人们所知最古老的英国人有着深色的皮肤和蓝色的眼睛。

Scientists from Britain’s Natural History Museum and University College London reported the finding Wednesday after studying the remains of an individual known as “Cheddar Man.”

英国自然历史博物馆和伦敦大学学院的科学家们于周三报道了这一发现，他们研究了一个被称为“切达尔人”的遗骸。

The skeleton was discovered over a century ago.It was found inside a large hole in the Cheddar Gorge area of southwest England.

这具骨架早在一个多世纪前就被人们发现。当时人们在英格兰西南部切达峡谷地区的一个大洞里发现了它。

The researchers cut a hole into the skull of the human remains and removed DNA from bone powder.

研究人员在这个人类遗骸的头骨上挖了一个洞，并从骨粉中提取出了DNA。 

The letters DNA are short for the term deoxyribonucleic acid.Scientists call it the chemical of life.

DNA是脱氧核糖核酸的缩写。科学家称其为生命的化学物质。 

DNA is made up of genes. Genes, like letters in words, carry a huge amount of information. They tell cells how to make all the materials for life.

DNA是由基因组成的。基因，就像单词中的字母，承载着大量的信息。他们告诉细胞如何制作生命所需的原材料。

The British scientists say their tests showed Cheddar Man had dark, wavy hair, blue eyes and "dark to black" skin color.

英国科学家称，他们的测试表明，切达尔人有深色、波浪状的头发、蓝色的眼睛和“深色甚至黑色”的皮肤。

The researchers say the evidence suggests that Europeans’ light skin coloring developed much later than experts had thought.

研究人员说，有证据表明，欧洲人的浅色皮肤进化得比专家们之前认为的要晚得多。 

Cheddar Man overturns people’s expectations of what kinds of genetic qualities go together, said Tom Booth, who worked on the project.

研究该项目的汤姆·布斯说，切达尔人颠覆了人们对基因特性组成类型的预想。 

It seems that pale eyes entered Europe long before pale skin or blond hair, which didn’t come along until after the arrival of farming, he added.

他补充说:“看起来，浅色的眼睛早在白皮肤或金色头发之前就进入了欧洲而白色皮肤和棕色头发直到农业出现之后才出现。”

Some experts believe that ancient humans who lived in extreme northern areas may have developed light colored skin. They note light skin is able to take in more sunlight than darker skin. Sunlight is required for the body to produce vitamin D.

一些专家认为，生活在极端北部地区的远古人类可能已经进化成浅色皮肤。他们注意到浅色皮肤比深色皮肤能吸收更多的阳光。人体需要阳光才能产生维生素D。

Cheddar Man shares genetic similarities with other human remains found in Spain, Hungary and Luxembourg.All those individuals lived in the Mesolithic Period, also known as the Middle Stone Age Period.The group, known as Western Hunter-Gatherers, moved to Europe from the Middle East after the last Ice Age, about 12,000 years ago.

切达尔人与西班牙、匈牙利和卢森堡的其他人类遗骸有基因相似性。这些人都生活在中石器时代。这个被称为西方狩猎采集者的族群，在大约12000年前的最后一个冰河时代之后从中东迁往欧洲。

The Associated Press says Cheddar Man is the oldest complete skeleton found in Britain. Human beings had lived on the island off and on for thousands of years before his time, but they disappeared during periodic ice ages.

美联社说，切达尔人是英国发现的最古老的完整骨骼。人类在切达尔人之前已经在岛上断断续续生活了几千年，但是人类在周期性的冰河时代就消失了。

Cheddar Man would have been one of a very small population of hunter-gatherers in Britain at the time.Scientists, who have been studying his skeleton say he appears to have had a healthy diet but died in his 20s, possibly through violence.

在当时的英国，切达尔人是一个非常小的狩猎采集者族群。一直在研究他的骨骼的科学家们说，他的饮食习惯还比较健康，但在20多岁时就去世了，可能是遭到了暴力。

Words in This Story

powder – n. a very fine, dry substance

pale – adj. lacking in color; not bright

blond – adj. of light color; a golden or yellowish brown color

off and on – adv. now and then