时差N小时 穴居人远比我们想象的聪明(上)

We modern humans tend to look down on our ancient Neanderthal cousins.

现代人常常看不起古代的尼安得特人兄弟。

In our imagination, Neanderthals were brutish, cave dwelling¹ lunks

我们想象中的尼安得特人是粗野的、身居洞穴里的笨蛋，

who couldn't hack² it once we left Africa and set up shop in Neanderthal territory in Europe, Central Asia, and the Middle East.

如果我们离开非洲到欧洲、中亚和中东的尼安得特人领地内开设商铺，他们一定难以应付。

But Neanderthals were more sophisticated than we tend to give them credit for.

但是，尼安得特人并非我们想象中的那么简单。

They had sophisticated tools and almost certainly had some form of spoken language.

他们有复杂的工具，几乎可以肯定他们会说某种语言。

And, according to new research, Neanderthals likely took to the seas long before modern humans.

此外，新的研究显示，尼安得特人可能比现代人更早地掌握航海技术。

1 dwelling   

n.住宅，住所，寓所

参考例句：

• Those two men are dwelling with us.那两个人跟我们住在一起。
• He occupies a three-story dwelling place on the Park Street.他在派克街上有一幢3层楼的寓所。

2 hack   

n.劈，砍，出租马车；v.劈，砍，干咳

参考例句：

• He made a hack at the log.他朝圆木上砍了一下。
• Early settlers had to hack out a clearing in the forest where they could grow crops.早期移民不得不在森林里劈出空地种庄稼。