A History of the World 百件物品中的世界历史

A solar lamp

The script of this programme 本节目台词

Wang Fei: 大家好。欢迎收听都市掠影节目。我是王飞。

Rob: And I'm Rob Carter.

Music

Rob: Hold on a minute, Wang Fei. That piece of music is so familiar… What is it? I can't quiet remember.

Wang Fei: I'll give you a clue.

Music

Rob: Oh yes! A History of the World in 100 Objects, a very popular radio programme on BBC Radio 4. But are you stealing its music Wang Fei?

Wang Fei: No. I'm not stealing its music. I want to introduce this programme to our listeners. 今天我们就来说一说一档英国人喜爱听的广播节目，BBC Radio 4 的 a History of the World in 100 Objects，它通过100件大英博物馆的展品来讲述世界的历史，并且由大英博物馆的馆长 Neil MacGregor 来亲自讲述。

Rob: It's innovative, isn't it?

Wang Fei: 确实很有创意，very innovative.

Rob: Yes definitely, let's hear from Neil MacGregor and find out how he will tell the stories and what objects they will choose.

Insert

In these programmes, I am travelling back in time and across the globe to see how we humans over two million years have shaped our world and been shaped by it. And I am going to tell this story exclusively through the things that humans have made. I've chosen just 100 objects from different points of our journey, from a cooking pot to a golden galleon, from a Stone Age tool to a credit card. And in each programme, I am going to be talking about one object from the British Museum's collection.

Rob: Neil said he is going to tell these stories exclusively through things that humans have made.

Wang Fei: exclusively 全部地、专门地。 他的故事全部都是通过人类制造的东西来讲述的。

Rob: From a cooking pot to a golden galleon, from a Stone Age tool to a credit card.

Wang Fei: 从一个 cooking pot 做饭用的陶罐，到一个 golden galleon 金子做的帆船模型，从一个 Stone Age tool 石器时代的工具，到 credit card 信用卡。真是无所不包。

Rob: But the most difficult thing might be which objects to actually choose, especially for the last object, the 100th object, which will be a symbol of 21st century life.

Wang Fei: 对，第100件物品是代表21世纪的，那大英博物馆会选择哪件物品来代表21世纪人类进步的历史呢？

Rob: Wang Fei, the British Museum shortlisted 5 objects chosen from a public survey.

Wang Fei: What are they?

Rob: The first one is a Chelsea football shirt.

Wang Fei: 第一件是一件切尔西足球队的队服

Rob: a mobile phone

Wang Fei: 手机

Rob: a solar powered lamp

Wang Fei: 太阳能灯

Rob: an Antarctic suit

Wang Fei: 南极服装

Rob: and a mortar and pestle.

Wang Fei: 做饭用的石杵和石臼

Rob: Which one would you choose Wang Fei?

Wang Fei: I think I would probably choose the mobile phone.

Rob: Good Choice, well, Neil MacGregor unveiled the 100th object last week. Let's listen to a BBC journalist interviewing him and see if you can hear why he chooses it.

Insert

Neil MacGregor: It is the solar powered lamp with charger.

Journalist: But complicating it, there is a mobile phone in there too.

Neil MacGregor: There is a mobile phone inside it because in a way we wanted to cheat. And we wanted - you will not be surprised – we wanted to have the solar power for the lamp, which we're going to talk about in a moment, but also the charger that gives mobile phones to the world. What the solar power does is give a whole range of people power over their lives. In a way that the tool gave us all power over our lives two million years ago.

Rob: So the answer is …

Wang Fei: A solar powered lamp with charger 太阳能灯和充电器

Rob: Many people might have chosen the mobile phone which is very important, but without power it can't work.

Wang Fei: So the charger can charge the lamp and the mobile phone with solar energy.

Rob: And more importantly solar energy is clean and sustainable. Our ancestors used tools to get extra power and now in the 21st century humans are still trying to use natural solar energy to get power around the world. It's a very good choice, isn't it?

Wang Fei: 我们的祖先学会使用工具从而找到了生活的力量，在21世纪，人类还在努力把清洁的太阳能作为一种生活的工具，所以从这个程度上来讲，大英博物馆选择了solar powered lamp 作为第100件物品，代表21世纪的人类发展。

Rob: Yes. I hope you like the programme a History of the World in 100 Objects. that I recommended. And you've enjoyed our programme and there are a lot more On the Town programmes to enjoy on our website. It's www.bbcukchina.com. Bye bye for now!

Wang Fei: Bye.