『新东方在线托福听力』为托福考生准备了ETS托福TPO/Official 8 Lec 3听力练习：What is the lecture mainly about?原文题目答案解析，TPO/Official 8 Lec 3听力原文范文音频翻译。

托福TPO/Official 8 Lec 3听力原文What is the lecture mainly about?【新东方在线】

旁白：听一段历史学课堂讲座。

Narrator: Listen to part of a lecture in a History class.

教授：我们一直在谈论印刷术，它是如何改变了人们的生活，使得每个人都可以读书。

Pro: So, we’ve been talking about the printing press, how it changed people’s lives, making books more accessible to everyone.

更多的书，就意味着有更多的阅读，对吧？

但是正如你所知道的那样，不是每个人都有很好的视力。

But, as you know, not everyone has perfect vision.

通过阅读，文化层次变得更高，也增加了对眼镜的需求。

This increase in literacy, um, in reading, led to an increase in demand for eyeglasses.

有一些事情你们之前可能从来没有想过。

And here’s something you probably haven’t thought of.

对眼镜需求的增加也影响了对眼镜的社会态度。

This increased demand impacted societal attitudes towards eyeglasses.

让我们先回顾下在印刷术之前的视力矫正是什么样的。

But, first let me back up a bit and talk about vision correction before the printing press.

那些视力弱的人怎么办呢，我是指那些少数的有文化的人。

And, um, what did people with poor vision do, I mean, especially those few people who were actually literate?

在眼镜发明之前他们做些什么？

What did they do before glasses were invented?

他们有很多不同的方法来对付看不清东西。

Well, they had different ways of dealing with not seeing well.

你想想就知道，视力弱不是他们唯一的问题。

If you think about it, poor vision wasn’t their only problem.

我是指，考虑到他们所生活的时代的条件，那时候房子暗，有的还没窗户，蜡烛是唯一的灯光来源。

I mean, um, think about the conditions they lived in: houses were dark; sometimes there weren’t any windows; candles were the only source of light.

所以在有些地方，例如古希腊，富有的人们可以让别人读给他们听，只要能付得起钱，这很好解决。

So, in some places, um, like ancient Greece, for example, the wealthiest people with poor vision could have someone else read to them--easy solution if you could afford it.

另外的一种解决办法是一种被称之为“阅读石头”的东西。

Another solution was something called a “reading stone”.

大概在公元1000年左右，欧洲僧侣们会拿一块清澈的石头，一般都是拿石英，放在阅读材料的上面。

Around 1000 C.E., European monks would take a piece of clear rock, often quartz, and place it on top of the reading material.

这个石头能放大字体，让字看起来大一些。

The clear rock magnified the letters, making them appear larger.

Um, well, it’s like what happens when a drop of water falls on something.

水下面不管是什么都看起来要大一些，对吧？

Whatever’s below the drop of water appears larger, right?

这跟阅读石头的工作原理是一样的。

Well, the “reading stone” works in a similar way.

但是像石英这样的石头，具有光学性能的石英并不便宜。

But rocks like quartz, well, quartz of optical quality weren’t cheap.

13 世纪后期，意大利的玻璃制造商想出了一个更便宜的替代品。

Late in the 13th century, glass makers in Italy came up with a less expensive alternative.

They made reading stones out of clear glass.

这些玻璃的阅读石头演变成了今天我们所知道的眼镜。

And these clear glass reading stones evolved into the eyeglasses we know today.

所以我们很明确的知道眼镜是在12世纪后期才发明出来的，比印刷术早了一百多年。

So we’re pretty sure that glasses were invented about the late 1200’s, well, over a hundred years before the printing press.

但是不知道到底是谁发明的眼镜，也不知道具体是哪年发明的。

But it’s not clear who exactly invented them first or exactly what year.

但是有记录表明欧洲和中国同时发明出了眼镜。

But record showed that they were invented in both Europe and China at about the same time.

顺便说一下，我们称它为独立的发明。

By the way, we call this “independent discovery”.

独立的发明的意思是说某个东西在不同的地方同时被发明出来，而且它并不像它听起来那么特别。

Independent discovery means when something is invented in different parts of the world at the same time and it’s not as unusual as it sounds.

你们可以看看教科书后面的时间表，看看不同文化背景下同一时间发明的东西，就知道我所说的了。

You can look at the timeline charts in the back of your textbook to see when things were invented in different cultures at about the same time to see what I’m talking about.

现在我们把这个跟我之前所说的对眼镜的社会态度结合起来看看。

So now let’s tie this to what I’ve said before about societal attitudes towards glasses.

起初在中国和欧洲的某些部分，眼镜被视为智慧和聪明的象征。

Initially, in parts of Europe and in China, glasses were a symbol of wisdom and intelligence.

这个从那个时期的艺术品中就能看出来。

This is evident in the artwork from the period.

欧洲的画作中医生或者法官通常是带着眼镜的。

European paintings often portrayed doctors or judges wearing glasses.

因此，眼镜除了代表智慧，也代表了影响力、财富。

So in addition to intelligence, they also symbolize affluence, um, wealth.

14世纪的中国，描绘对象戴的眼镜越大，就代表他越有钱也越聪明。

In 14th-century Chinese portraits, the bigger the glasses, the smarter and wealthier the subject was.

所以在世界上的某些地方眼镜一直是地位的象征。

So glasses were a status symbol in some parts of the world.

现在我们回头来说一下1440年印刷术的发明。

Now let’s get back to the invention of the painting press in 1440.

突然，很多人都有书看了，而且更多的人想看书。

Suddenly, books became readily available and more people wanted to read.

因此，对眼镜的需求，特别是对能买得起的眼镜的需求，极大的增加。

So the need, oh well, actually not only the need but the demand for more affordable glasses rose drastically.

最后，便宜的眼镜生产出来了，后来，人人都能用得上眼镜了。

Eventually, inexpensive glasses were produced, and then glasses were available to everyone.

人们可以很容易就从小贩那儿买到眼镜。

People could purchase them easily from a traveling peddler.

According to the professor, what was an advantage of using clear glass instead of quartz to make reading stones?

What does the professor imply about the invention of eyeglasses?

Which sentence best describe eyeglasses before the invention of the printing press?

Put the events in the order that they happened. Click on a sentence. Then drag it to the space where it belongs.

What does the professor imply when she says this:

Pro: So we’ve been talking about the printing press, how it changed people’s lives, making books more accessible to everyone. More books meant more reading, right? But, as you know, not everyone has perfect vision. This increase in literacy, um, in reading, led to an increase in demand for eyeglasses. And here’s something you probably haven’t thought of. 
This increased demand impacted societal attitudes towards eyeglasses. 
But, first let me back up a bit and talk about vision correction before the printing press. And, um, what did people with poor vision do, I mean, especially those few people who were actually literate? What did they do before glasses were invented? Well, they had different ways of dealing with not seeing well. If you think about it, poor vision wasn’t their only problem. I mean, um, think about the conditions they lived in: houses were dark, sometimes there weren’t any windows; candles were the only source of light. So in some places, um, like ancient Greece for example, the wealthiest people with poor vision could have someone else read to them- easy solution if you could afford it. 
Another solution was something called a “reading stone”. Around 1000 C.E. European monks would take a piece of clear rock, often quartz, and place it on top of the reading material. The clear rock magnified the letters, making them appear larger, um, well, it’s like what happens when a drop of water falls on something, whatever’s below the drop of water appears larger, right? Well, the “reading stone” works in a similar way. 
But rocks like quartz, well, quartz of optical quality weren’t cheap. Late in the 13th century, glass makers in Italy came up with a less expensive alternative. They made reading stones out of clear glass. And these clear glass reading stones evolved into the eyeglasses we know today. 
So we’re pretty sure that glasses were invented about the late 1200’s, well, over a hundred years before the printing press. But it’s not clear who exactly invented them first or exactly what year. But record shows that they were invented in both Europe and China at about the same time. By the way, we call this “independent discovery”. Independent discovery means when something is invented in different parts of the world at the same time and it’s not as unusual as it sounds. You can look at the timeline charts in the back of your textbook to see when things were invented in different cultures at about the same time to see what I’m talking about. 
So now let’s tie this to what I’ve said before about societal attitudes towards glasses. Initially in parts of Europe and in China, glasses were a symbol of wisdom and intelligence. This is evident in the artwork from the period. European paintings often portrayed doctors or judges wearing glasses. In China, glasses were very expensive. So in addition to intelligence, they also symbolize affluence, um, wealth. In 14th-century Chinese portraits, the bigger the glasses, the smarter and wealthier the subject was. So glasses were a status symbol in some parts of the world.
So we’re pretty sure that glasses were invented about the late 1200’s, well, over a hundred years before the printing press. But it’s not clear who exactly invented them first or exactly what year. But record shows that they were invented in both Europe and China at about the same time. By the way, we call this “independent discovery”. Independent discovery means when something is invented in different parts of the world at the same time and it’s not as unusual as it sounds. You can look at the timeline charts in the back of your textbook to see when things were invented in different cultures at about the same time to see what I’m talking about. 
So now let’s tie this to what I’ve said before about societal attitudes towards glasses. Initially in parts of Europe and in China, glasses were a symbol of wisdom and intelligence. This is evident in the artwork from the period. European paintings often portrayed doctors or judges wearing glasses. In China, glasses were very expensive. So in addition to intelligence, they also symbolize affluence, um, wealth. In 14th-century Chinese portraits, the bigger the glasses, the smarter and wealthier the subject was. So glasses were a status symbol in some parts of the world. 
Now let’s get back to the invention of the painting press in 1440. What happened? Suddenly, books became readily available and more people wanted to read. So the need, oh well, actually not only the need but the demand for more affordable glasses rose drastically. Eventually, inexpensive glasses were produced, and then glasses were available to everyone. People could purchase them easily from a traveling peddler. 
What did they do before glasses were invented? Well, they had different ways of dealing with not seeing well. If you think about it, poor vision wasn’t their only problem. I mean, um, think about the conditions they lived in: houses were dark, sometimes there weren’t any windows; candles were the only source of light. So in some places, um, like ancient Greece for example, the wealthiest people with poor vision could have someone else read to them- easy solution if you could afford it.

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