NT_021
听力音频：
One of the oldest known games played by moving pieces on a board, called the passing game, was invented in Egypt roughly five thousand years ago. Ancient Egyptians continued playing the game for three thousand years. However, the game never spread outside of Egypt during that time. Scholars have proposed several explanations for Why the game was never adopted by ancient cultures outside of Egypt
Religious meaning
Some historians believe that the passing game had a religious significance for the ancient Egyptians. As evidence, they point to images of birds and other Egyptian religious symbols that decorate ancient passing game boards. It is possible that the game represented a story from Egyptian mythology or that participants meditated on religious themes while playing. This could explain why the passing game was not adopted outside of Egypt: a game closely related to the Egyptian religion Would have been meaningless to cultures with different religions
Poor game design
Some game experts have suggested that the passing game s design made it boring to play. They point out that the game relied mostly on luck and chance rather than skill and strategy, offering little that could hold someones interest. Players threw sticks and moved their game pieces across the board according to the result of the throw. While the ancient Egyptians may have kept playing it by tradition for thousands of years, the lack of strategic skills involved may have made the passing game rather boring, preventing it from spreading outside of Egypt
Egyptian cultural attitude
A third possible explanation lies in the way the ancient Egyptians ran their empire. Egypt was a great power in the ancient world sometimes conquering other areas. But, unlike many other ancient kingdoms, Egypt did not try to impose its own culture, religion, or language on the conquered areas. The failure of the passing game to spread could be due to the fact that the Egyptians were not interested in exporting their culture, including board games
教授
This week, we will be discussing space exploration. Some people think that it is a waste of money for governments to fund space exploration. Others disagree with this view arguing that space exploration is a valuable and necessary investment for our future. They think that it is worthy for governments to fund space exploration. I want to know what you think about this topic. Do you think that governments should fund space exploration? Why or why not?
Kelly:
I don’t think that governments should fund space exploration because it will be too costly to build spaceships and develop related technologies. Though space exploration tech costs billions, it doesn’t offer direct benefits to most people, which makes its funding a controversial issue.
Andrew:
Personally, I do think that all the costs will be worth it. The potential scientific discoveries and technological advancements could have far-reaching impacts that justify the initial investment. Imagine the new inventions that might come from this exploration. Such technology could greatly improve our everyday lives.
答案请付费后查阅：
