A BRIEF HISTORY OF HUMANKIND
PART ONE
The Cognitive Revolution
Animals much like modern humans first appeared about 2.5 million years ago
最像现代人类的动物首次出现于250万年前。
The most important thing to know about prehistoric humans is that they were insignificant animals with no more impact on their environment than gorillas, fireflies,or jellyfish.
了解史前人类，最重要的事情就是要知道它们是对生态环境无足轻重的动物，和大猩猩，萤火虫和水母差不多。
Animals are said to belong to the same species if they tend to mate with each other, giving birth to fertile offspring.
据说如果动物和彼此交配，养育后代，它们就属于同种类。
Species that evolved from a common ancestor are bunched together under the heading " genus" (plural genera).
由一个共同祖先进化来的种类都被归类于“属”。
Presumably, everyone reading this book is a Homo sapiens---the species sapiens(wise) of the genus Homo(man).
据说，在读这本书的各位都是智人——人属的智人种。
All members of a family trace their lineage back to a founding matriarch or patriarch.
一个科的所有成员的血统都可回溯至女族长和男族长建立之时。
Homo sapiens, too , belongs to a family. This banal fact used to be one of history's most closely guarded secrets.
智人，也属于一个科。这个听着耳朵都要起茧的事实曾经是历史上被最严密保守的秘密之一。
Like it or not, we are members of a large and particularly noisy family called the great apes.
不管你喜不喜欢，我们都属于一个庞大且特别热闹的家族，“巨猿”。
The chimpanzees are the closest. Just 6 million years ago, a single female ape had two daughters. One became the ancestor of all chimpanzees, the other is our own grandmother.
大猩猩是和我们最接近的了。就在600万年前，一个单身的母猿生下了两个女儿。一个成为了所有大猩猩的祖先，另一个就成了我们共有的祖母。
Skeletons in the Closet
Yet the real meaning of the word human is"an animal belonging to the genus Homo," and there used to be many other species of this genus besides Homo sapiens.
单词“人类”的真正意思是“属于‘人‘属’的一个动物”，除了智人外还有其他许多种类。
Humans first evolved in East Africa about 2.5 million years ago from an earlier genus of apes called Australopithecus, which means "Southern Ape."
About two millions years ago, some of these archaic men and women left their homeland to journey through and settle vast areas of North Africa, Europe, and Asia.
250万年前的东非，人类首次由早期猿种进化而来，叫南猿，意思是南方的猿。
大概200万年前，一些古人类离开了他们的家乡踏上了前往北非、欧洲和亚洲的旅途，并大范围的定居下来。
Human in Europe and Western evolved into Homo neanderthalensis("Man from the Neander Valley"), popularly referred to simply as " Neanderthals."
Neanderthals, bulkier and more muscular than us Sapiens, were well-adapted to the cold climate of ice-age western Eurasia.
在欧洲和西边的人类进化成了尼安德特人（从尼安德峡谷来的人），通常简单的指尼安德人。
尼安德人比我们智人块头更大，肌肉更多，能更好的适应西方欧亚大陆冰河时代的寒冷气候。
The more eastern regions of Asia were populated by Homo erectus, " Upright Man", who survived there for close to two million years, making it the most durable human species ever.
直立人定居在大部分的东边亚洲地区，直立人生活在更接近200万年前的时候，是延续最持久的人种。
On the island of Java, in Indonesia, lived Homo soloensis, "Man from the solo Valley, " who was suited to life in the tropics.
在印度尼西亚的爪哇岛上住着梭罗人，“从梭罗峡谷来的人，”他们适应了热带生活。
On another Indonesian island---the small island of Flores---archaic humans underwent a process of dwarfing.
Humans first reached Flores when the sea-level was exceptionally low, and the island was easily accessible from the mainland.
在另一个印度尼西亚岛上——弗洛里斯岛——古人类经历了矮化病。
人类轻易的就从内陆首次到达了弗洛里斯岛，这时候海平面还很低。
When the seas rose again, some people were trapped on the island, which was poor in resource.
Big people, who need a lot of food, died first. Smaller fellows survived much better. Over the generations, the people of Flores became dwarves.
当海水再次涨高时，一些人就被困在了这个物资匮乏的岛上。
需要更多食物的大个头最先死。相对矮小的家伙活得更好。几代下来，弗洛里斯的人们变成了矮子。
The unique species, known by scientists as Homo floresiensis, reached a maximum height of only one meter and weighed no more than 25 kilograms.
They were nevertheless able to produce stone tools, and even managed occasionally to hunt down some of the island's elephants---though ,to be fair, the elephants were a dwarf species as well.
这一奇特种族，被科学家称为弗洛里斯人，身高最高仅达1米，体重不超过25千克。
然而他们能制作石器，甚至偶尔能猎杀一些岛上的大象——当然，说实话，是矮品种大象。
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