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Now listen to part of a lecture on the topic you just read about.
现在来听一段有关你刚刚听到的话题的演讲。
None of the three theories presented in the reading passage are very convincing.
阅读文本中给出的三种理论没有一个能令人非常信服。
First, the stone balls as hunting weapons, common Neolithic weapons such as arrowheads and hand axes generally show signs of wear,
首先，把石球作为狩猎武器，而常见的新石器时代武器如箭头和手斧一般有磨损的迹象，
so we should expect that if the stone balls had been used as weapons for hunting of fighting, they, too, would show signs of that use.
所以我们应该期望，如果石球被用作狩猎战斗的武器，他们也会有使用过的迹象。
Many of the stone balls would be cracked or have pieces broken off.
许多石球都有破裂或破碎的石片。
However, the surfaces of the balls are generally well preserved, showing little or no wear or damage.
但是，石球的表面大体保存完好，只有一点或者没有磨损或损坏。
Second, the carved stone balls maybe remarkably uniform in size, but their masses vary too considerably to have been used as uniform weights.
第二，凿好的石球可能在大小上会相当统一，但是它们在质量上变化太大而不能被做成统一的重量。
This is because the stone balls were made with different types of stone including sandstone, green stone and quartzite.
这是因为石头球是由不同类型的石头包括砂岩、软玉和石英岩做成。
Each type of stone has a different density.
每种石头有不同的密度。
Some types of stone are heavier than others just as a handful of feathers weight less than a handful of rocks.
有一些类型的石头比其它的更重，就像一把羽毛重量少于一把岩石。
Two balls of the same size are different weights depending on the type of stone they are made of.
两个相同大小的球有不同的重量，这取决于是由什么类型的石头做成的。
Therefore, the balls could not have been used as a primitive weighing system.
因此,球不可能被用来作为原始的称重系统。
Third, it’s unlikely that the main purpose of the balls was as some kind of social marker.
第三，把球的主要目的当做是作为某种社会标记是不可能的。
A couple of facts are inconsistent with this theory.
许多事实与这个理论不一致。
For one thing, while some of the balls are carved with intricate patterns,
首先，尽管其中一些球上刻满了错综复杂的模式，
many others have markings that are extremely simple, too simple to make the balls look like status symbols.
而其他一些球的标记非常简单，过于简单以至于不能把球看做是社会地位的象征。
Furthermore, we know that in Neolithic Britain, when someone died, particularly a high-ranking person, they were usually buried with their possessions.
此外，我们知道，在新石器时代的英国，当有人去世时，特别是一个高级的人，他们通常是埋葬他们的财产。
However, none of the carved stone balls have been actually found in tombs or graves.
然而，这些石刻球实际上没有在坟墓或墓穴中得到发现。
That makes it unlikely that the balls were personal possessions that marked a person’s status within the community.
这使得把石球当做是标志个人在社区里地位的个人财产而不太可能。
