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The first person who saw it was working overnight.
第一个看到它的人当时正在通宵工作。
The worker, a shovel operator, saw something white as he placed a large amount of dirt into the back of a truck.
这名工人是一名铲工，当他把大量泥土放入一辆卡车的后部时，他看到了白色的东西。
The driver of the truck put the dirt in the road.
卡车司机把泥土倒在路上。
Another worker operating a bulldozer was ready to flatten it.
另一名操作推土机的工人正准备把它压平。
But the worker stopped for a closer look when he, too, saw a piece of white.
但当这名工人停下来仔细观察时，他也看到了一块白色的东西。
Only then did the mining workers realize they had found something special: a 2-meter-long mammoth tusk that had been buried for thousands of years.
直到那时，矿工们才意识到他们发现了一些特别的东西：一根被埋了数千年的2米长的猛犸象象牙。
A mammoth is a kind of animal that lived in ancient times and had very long tusks.
猛犸象是一种生活在古代的动物，有非常长的象牙。
The animal went extinct, or disappeared, about 10,000 years ago in what is now the American state of North Dakota.
大约1万年前，这种动物在如今的美国北达科他州灭绝了。
The miners unearthed the tusk at the Freedom Mine near Beulah, North Dakota.
矿工们在北达科他州比乌拉附近的自由矿场挖出了这根象牙。
The mine produces up to 14.5 metric tons of coal each year.
该矿场每年生产高达14.5公吨煤炭。
"We were very fortunate, lucky to find what we found," said David Straley.
大卫·斯特雷利说：“我们非常幸运，幸运地找到了我们发现的东西”。
He is an executive of North American Coal, which owns the mine.
他是拥有这座煤矿的北美煤炭公司的高管。
After finding the tusk, the workers stopped digging in the area and called in experts.
在发现这根象牙后，工人们停止挖掘该地区，并请来了专家。
The experts estimated the tusk to be anywhere from 10,000 to 100,000 years old.
专家们估计这根象牙有1万到10万年的历史。
Jeff Person is a paleontologist with the North Dakota Geologic Survey.
杰夫·珀森是北达科他州地质调查局的古生物学家。
A paleontologist is an expert on ancient remains.
古生物学家是研究古代遗骸的专家。
Person was one of the experts that examined the tusk.
珀森是检查这根象牙的专家之一。
He said it was "miraculous" that the tusk had not been more damaged, considering the large equipment that miners use at the site.
他说，考虑到矿工们在现场使用的大型设备，这根象牙没有受到更大的破坏就是一个“奇迹”。
Another dig at the discovery site found more bones.
在发现地点的再次挖掘中发现了更多的骨骼。
Experts found more than 20 bones.
专家们发现了20多块骨头。
It is likely the most complete mammoth found in North Dakota, where it is more common to find one mammoth bone, tooth or piece of a tusk.
这可能是在北达科他州发现的最完整的猛犸象，在那里发现一块猛犸象的骨头、一颗牙齿或象牙碎片更常见。
Person said it is not a lot of bones compared to how many make up the animal's skeleton.
珀森说，与构成猛犸象骨骼的数量相比，这些骨头并不多。
But he said, "…it's a lot more than we've ever found of one animal together."
但他说：“这比我们之前发现的猛犸象遗骸总量都要多。”
Mammoths once were found across parts of Africa, Asia, Europe, and North America.
人们曾经在非洲、亚洲、欧洲和北美的部分地区都发现过猛犸象。
Paul Ullmann, a University of North Dakota paleontologist, said mammoth remains have been found throughout the United States and Canada.
北达科他大学古生物学家保罗·乌尔曼说，在美国和加拿大各地都发现了猛犸象的遗骸。
The discovery at the mine is somewhat rare in North Dakota and in the area.
在该矿场发现的遗骸在北达科他州和该地区颇为罕见。
Many remains of the animals alive during the last Ice Age were destroyed by movements of ice sheets, Ullmann said.
乌尔曼说，在上一个冰河时代，许多存在的猛犸象遗骸被冰盖的运动摧毁了。
Other areas have produced more mammoth remains, such as in Texas and South Dakota.
人们在其他地区发现了更多的猛犸象遗骸，如得克萨斯州和南达科他州。
People have even found frozen mammoth bodies in Canada and Russia, Ullmann added.
乌尔曼补充说，人们甚至在加拿大和俄罗斯发现了冷冻的猛犸象尸体。
The tusk weighs more than 22.6 kilograms and can break easily.
这根象牙重逾22.6公斤，很容易断裂。
Experts covered the tusk in plastic in order to control how fast the tusk loses water.
为了控制象牙失水的速度，专家们用塑料包裹象牙。
If it loses water too quickly, the bone could break apart, Person said.
珀森说，如果水分流失得太快，骨头可能会断裂。
The experts covered the other bones in plastic and stored them.
专家们用塑料包裹其他骨头，并将它们储存起来。
The bones will remain in plastic for at least several months until the scientists can get the water out safely.
这些骨头将在塑料中保存至少几个月，直到科学家们能够安全地去除水分。
The paleontologists will identify what kind of mammoth the tusk came from later, Person said.
珀森说，古生物学家之后将会确定这根象牙来自哪种猛犸象。
The mining company plans to donate the bones to the state for educational purposes.
这家矿业公司计划将这些骨头捐赠给国家用于教育目的。
"Our goal is to give it to the kids," Straley said.
斯特雷利说：“我们的目标是把它给孩子们”。
I'm Gregory Stachel.
格雷戈里·施塔赫尔为您播报。
译文为可可英语翻译，未经授权请勿转载！
