一款独一无二的机器人是如何带领研究人员深入金字塔内部的
文章出自《国家地理》（National Geographic）｜ 无境中高考 · 外刊阅读 ｜ 2026 年 10 月 28 日
文章导读：2002 年，一辆绰号“金字塔漫游者”的小型机器人被送进吉萨大金字塔王后墓室上方一条比腊肠犬略宽的斜竖井，工程师们带着十几箱零件、成堆废铝和一台铣床随时改装；当石灰岩板在 210 英尺处拦路时，他们装上钻头继续推进——而最终让整支团队屏住呼吸的，是红赭石上的一串古老刻痕。
一、中考改编版全文
1. In the Great Pyramid of Giza, there is a room called the Queen’s Chamber. From the room, a small opening goes up into the dark pyramid. It was found by a British engineer in 1872. A similar opening was found on the other side of the room. Both were closed with bricks, and no one could see where they led. For more than a hundred years, people asked: where do these openings go?
译文：在吉萨大金字塔里，有一个叫王后墓室的房间。从这个房间，有一个小小的开口通向黑暗的金字塔内部。它于1872年被一位英国工程师发现。房间另一侧也发现了一个类似的开口。两个开口都用砖封住了，没有人知道它们通向哪里。一百多年来，人们一直在问：这些开口通向哪里呢？
2. In 2002, the Pyramid Rover went into the southern opening. The rover was a small robot car made by the company iRobot. It had tracks on top and below, so it could hold on to the floor and the ceiling. Its engineers came to Giza with many boxes of parts, some old aluminum, and a milling machine. They wanted to make changes to the robot at any time.
译文：2002年，金字塔漫游者号进入了南面的开口。漫游者号是一辆由iRobot公司制造的小型机器人小车。它的上下都有履带，所以能同时抓牢地面和天花板。它的工程师们带着许多箱零件、一些旧铝和一台铣床来到吉萨。他们想随时对机器人进行改装。
3. The shaft was not smooth. In some places, the rover could not get through. The team made a new part to put down small ramps for it. Later, a big stone stopped the rover about 210 feet up the shaft. So the engineers put a drill on it to make a small hole.
译文：竖井并不平整。有些地方，漫游者号无法通过。团队做了一个新零件，为它铺设小斜坡。后来，一块大石头在竖井约210英尺处挡住了漫游者号。于是工程师们在它上面装了一个钻头，来钻一个小孔。
4. The job took patience. Every other night, the engineers made new parts at the hotel. In September, the rover went to the end of the shaft again with a small camera. The operators moved it gently into the hole. A small room was shown live on TV. The room was empty. But on the way, the rover found something great: red marks made by workers who built the pyramid long ago.
译文：这项工作需要耐心。每隔一晚，工程师们就在旅馆里制作新零件。9月，漫游者号带着一个小摄像头再次来到竖井尽头。操作人员小心翼翼地将它伸进洞里。一个小房间在电视上直播呈现。房间是空的。但在途中，漫游者号发现了一些了不起的东西：很久以前建造金字塔的工人留下的红色标记。
5. “We were the first people in 4,500 years to see those red marks,” said Weagle. The marks made him feel close to the people who built the pyramid. They showed how the builders thought about hard problems.
译文：“我们是4500年来第一批看到那些红色标记的人，”韦格尔说。这些标记让他感觉离建造金字塔的人更近了。它们展现了建造者们是如何思考难题的。
二、高考改编版全文
1. Hidden in the heart of the Great Pyramid of Giza lies the Queen’s Chamber, a room that has puzzled visitors for centuries. From its walls, a narrow shaft—barely wider than a dachshund—climbs diagonally into darkness, its destination unknown.
译文：在吉萨大金字塔的中心，隐藏着王后墓室，这个房间几个世纪以来一直令参观者困惑不已。从它的墙壁上，一条比腊肠犬宽不了多少的狭窄通道斜着伸入黑暗之中，其终点无人知晓。
2. It was in 1872 that a British engineer first came across the shaft, along with a matching passage on the opposite side of the chamber. Both the southern and the northern shafts had been sealed with bricks, and neither appeared to run all the way through the pyramid, for there were no openings on the outside. Where did the shafts lead? How could anyone explore them? For more than a century, these questions remained unanswered.
译文：1872年，一位英国工程师首次发现了这条通道，同时还在墓室的另一侧发现了一条与之相配的通道。南北两条竖井都被砖块封住，而且似乎都没有贯穿整个金字塔，因为外面没有任何开口。这些竖井通向哪里？人们又如何能探索它们？一个多世纪以来，这些问题一直没有答案。
3. In 2002, the mystery finally began to unfold. National Geographic TV producers sent the Pyramid Rover down the southern shaft. Designed like a scissoring Swiss Army knife, the rover was a crawler whose treads could grip both the floor and the ceiling. Its engineers, who came from the robotics company iRobot, arrived in Giza that summer with dozens of cases of parts, piles of scrap aluminum and a milling machine—ready to make modifications on the fly.
译文：2002年，这个谜团终于开始揭开。国家地理的电视制片人将金字塔漫游者号送入了南部竖井。漫游者号被设计得像一把可伸缩的瑞士军刀，是一种履带能同时抓牢地面和天花板的爬行器。来自机器人公司iRobot的工程师们，那年夏天带着几十箱零件、成堆的废铝和一台铣床抵达吉萨，随时准备进行现场改装。
4. The shaft, however, proved far from smooth. Where the passage became too uneven for the rover to traverse, the team designed and attached a mechanism to deploy small ramps. When a limestone slab halted the robot’s progress about 210 feet up the shaft, the engineers equipped it with a drill to bore a narrow, exploratory hole. Each obstacle was met with a new piece of equipment, built overnight in a hotel room.
译文：然而，竖井远非平坦。当通道变得过于崎岖、漫游者号无法通过时，团队设计并安装了一个装置来铺设小斜坡。当一块石灰岩板在竖井约210英尺处挡住机器人的去路时，工程师们为它配备了钻头，以便钻出一个狭窄的探测孔。每一个障碍都对应一件新设备，而这些设备都是连夜在酒店房间里赶制出来的。
5. The mission was patient and iterative, with ever deeper journeys into the passageway punctuated by upgrades. “We set up the milling machine at the hotel room on the patio,” recalls Christian Weagle, a former iRobot engineer who traveled to Egypt for the project. “And every other night we would just make new parts.”
译文：这项任务需要耐心，也需要反复迭代，对通道的探索一次次深入，又被一次次升级打断。“我们把铣床架在了酒店房间的露台上，”曾为该项目前往埃及的前iRobot工程师克里斯蒂安·韦格尔回忆道。“每隔一晚，我们就会制作新零件。”
6. By September, after weeks of probing, the rover made another trip to the end of the shaft, this time carrying a fiber-optic camera. Gently, the operators snaked it into the hole they had drilled, revealing a small chamber to a live TV audience. The space was empty, the shaft’s purpose as mysterious as ever. Yet along the way, the rover recorded something extraordinary: masons’ marks in red ocher, dating back to the pyramid’s construction.
译文：到了9月，经过数周的探测，漫游者号再次前往竖井尽头，这一次它携带了光纤摄像头。操作人员小心翼翼地把它蜿蜒伸进他们钻出的孔洞，向电视直播观众展示了一个小密室。密室空无一物，竖井的用途依旧神秘如初。然而在途中，漫游者号记录下了一些非凡之物：可以追溯到金字塔建造时期的石匠赭红色标记。
7. “We were the first people in 4,500 years to see those red pigments,” says Weagle, who still remembers his sense of awe. The ancient marks, he reflects, felt like a link to the original builders—tangible evidence of minds thinking through tremendous challenges.
译文：“我们是4500年来第一批看到这些红色颜料的人，”韦格尔说，他至今仍记得那份敬畏之情。他感慨道，那些古老的印记仿佛是连接最初建造者的一条纽带——是那些头脑在思考巨大挑战时的切实证据。
三、学术原版全文
How a one-of-a-kind robot led researchers deep into the Great Pyramid
译文：一款独一无二的机器人是如何带领研究人员深入金字塔内部的
In the heart of the Great Pyramid of Giza, in a room called the Queen’s Chamber, a mysterious shaft not much wider than a dachshund leads diagonally up and into darkness.
译文：在吉萨大金字塔的中心，一个名为王后墓室的房间里，有一条宽度仅比腊肠犬略宽的神秘通道，它斜向上延伸，消失在黑暗中。
It was discovered by a British engineer in 1872, together with a similar passage on the room’s opposite side.
译文：它于1872年由一位英国工程师发现，同时发现的还有房间另一侧一条类似的通道。南北两条通道都已被砖块封住，而且似乎都没有贯穿整个金字塔，因为外面没有开口。那么这些通道通向哪里呢？又该如何探索它们呢？这些问题持续了一个多世纪。
Both these southern and northern shafts had been bricked over, and neither seemed to extend all the way through the pyramid, as there were no openings on the outside.
译文：
So where did the shafts lead?
译文：
And how to explore them?
译文：
The questions persisted for more than a century.
译文：
In 2002, National Geographic TV producers plumbed the southern shaft using the Pyramid Rover, a scissoring Swiss Army knife of a robo—crawler, with treads to grip both floor and ceiling.
译文：2002年，《国家地理》电视台的制片人使用“金字塔漫游者号”探测了南部竖井。这是一种类似瑞士军刀的可伸缩机器人履带车，其履带能同时抓牢地面和天花板。来自iRobot公司的工程师们于那年夏天带着十几个装着零件的箱子、一堆废铝和一台铣床抵达了吉萨，以便能随时进行改装。当竖井的某些部分被证明过于崎岖、漫游者号无法通过时，团队设计并安装了一个装置来铺设小斜坡。当一块石灰岩板在竖井约210英尺处挡住了机器人的去路时，工程师们为它配备了一个钻头，以便钻一个狭窄的探测孔。
Its engineers, from the company iRobot, arrived in Giza that summer toting a dozen—plus cases of parts, along with piles of scrap aluminum and a milling machine, for making modifications on the fly.
译文：
When sections of the shaft proved too uneven for the rover to traverse, the team designed and attached a mechanism to deploy small ramps.
译文：
When a limestone slab halted the robot’s progress about 210 feet up the shaft, the engineers equipped it with a drill to bore a narrow, exploratory hole.
译文：
The mission was patient and iterative, with ever deeper journeys into the passageway punctuated by upgrades.
译文：这项任务需要耐心且需反复进行，对通道的深入探索会因升级而中断。“我们在酒店房间的露台上安装了铣床，”曾为该项目前往埃及的前iRobot工程师克里斯蒂安·韦格尔回忆道。“每隔一晚我们就会制作新零件。”
“We set up the milling machine at the hotel room on the patio,” remembers former iRobot engineer Christian Weagle, who traveled to Egypt for the project.
译文：
“And every other night we would just make new parts.”
译文：
In September, after weeks of probing, the rover made another trip to the end of the shaft, this time equipped with a fiber-optic camera.
译文：9月，经过数周的探测，探测器再次前往竖井尽头，这次它配备了光纤摄像头。操作人员小心翼翼地将它伸进他们钻好的洞里，向正在观看直播的电视观众展示了一个小密室。里面空无一物，竖井的用途依旧神秘莫测。不过，在这一过程中，探测器确实记录下了一些不同寻常的东西：可以追溯到金字塔建造时期的石匠用赭红色颜料留下的标记。
Gently, the operators snaked it into the hole they’d drilled, revealing a small chamber to a TV audience watching live.
译文：
The space was empty, the shaft’s purpose as mysterious as ever.
译文：
Along the way, though, the rover did record something extraordinary: masons’ marks in red ocher dating back to the pyramid’s construction.
译文：
“We were the first people in 4,500 years to see those red pigments,” says Weagle, who remembers his sense of awe.
译文：“我们是4500年来第一批看到那些红色颜料的人，”韦格尔说，他还记得自己当时的敬畏之情。他说，那些古老的印记就像是与最初建造者的一种联系，是他们应对巨大挑战时思考的证据。
The ancient marks, he says, felt like a link to the original builders—evidence of minds thinking through tremendous challenges.
译文：
四、核心词汇精选
◆ 中考核心词汇精选
lead /liːd/ v. 通向；带领（B1）
语境：where they led（它们通向哪里）
点拨：where they led 通向哪里；lead to 导致；同义 guide 引导；反义 follow 跟随。
smooth /smuːð/ adj. 平整的；光滑的（B1）
语境：The shaft was not smooth（竖井并不平整）
点拨：not smooth 不平整；a smooth surface 光滑的表面；同义 flat 平坦的；反义 rough 粗糙的。
close /kləʊz/ v. 关闭；封住（A2）
语境：Both were closed with bricks（两个开口都用砖封住了）
点拨：closed with bricks 用砖封住；close the door 关门；同义 shut 关闭；seal 封住；反义 open 打开。
◆ 高考核心词汇精选
shaft /ʃɑːft/ n. 竖井；通道（B2）
语境：a narrow shaft（一条狭窄的竖井）
点拨：a narrow shaft 狭窄的竖井；a vertical shaft 垂直竖井；同义 passage 通道。
traverse /trəˈvɜːs/ v. 穿越；横穿（C2）
语境：for the rover to traverse（漫游者号无法通过）
点拨：traverse the passage 穿过通道；traverse a desert 穿越沙漠；同义 cross 穿过。
probe /prəʊb/ v. 探测（C1）
语境：after weeks of probing（经过数周的探测）
点拨：weeks of probing 数周的探测；probe the shaft 探测竖井；同义 explore 探索；反义 ignore 忽视。
◆ 学术英语核心词汇精选
tremendous /trəˈmendəs/ adj. 巨大的；极好的（B2）
语境：thinking through tremendous challenges（应对巨大挑战时思考）
点拨：tremendous challenges 巨大的挑战；tremendous effort 巨大的努力；同义 huge 巨大的；enormous 庞大的；反义 tiny 微小的。
plumb /plʌm/ v. 探测；查明（C2）
语境：TV producers plumbed the southern shaft（制片人探测了南部竖井）
点拨：plumbed the southern shaft 探测了南部竖井；plumb the depths 探测深度；同义 probe 探测；fathom 测深；反义 skim 掠过（不深入）。
evidence /ˈevɪdəns/ n. 证据（B2）
语境：evidence of minds thinking through tremendous challenges（是他们应对巨大挑战时思考的证据）
点拨：evidence of minds thinking 思考的证据；clear evidence 明确的证据；同义 proof 证据；sign 迹象；反义 doubt 怀疑。
五、长难句精选
◆ 中考长难句
Both were closed with bricks, and no one could see where they led.
中文：两条通道都被砖块封住，没有人能看到它们通向哪里。
结构：and 连接两个并列分句；where 引导宾语从句作 see 的宾语；lead 意为“通向”，过去式为 led。
语法：and 连接两个并列分句；where 引导宾语从句作 see 的宾语；lead 意为“通向”，过去式为 led。
It had tracks on top and below, so it could hold on to the floor and the ceiling.
中文：它上下都有履带，所以能牢牢抓住地面和天花板。
结构：so 引导结果状语从句；hold on to 为固定搭配＝紧紧抓住；on top and below 作方位状语。
语法：so 引导结果状语从句；hold on to 为固定搭配＝紧紧抓住；on top and below 作方位状语。
◆ 高考长难句
It was in 1872 that a British engineer first came across the shaft, along with a matching passage on the opposite side of the chamber.
中文：1872 年，一位英国工程师首次发现了这条通道，同时还在墓室另一侧发现了一条与之相配的通道。
结构：It was...that... 强调句式，强调时间状语 in 1872；came across 意为“偶然发现”；along with 连同……一起。
语法：It was...that... 强调句式，强调时间状语 in 1872；came across 意为“偶然发现”；along with 连同……一起。
Where the passage became too uneven for the rover to traverse, the team designed and attached a mechanism to deploy small ramps.
中文：当通道变得过于崎岖、漫游者号无法通过时，团队设计并安装了一个装置来铺设小斜坡。
结构：where 引导地点状语从句（相当于 in the places where）；too...for sb to do 太……以至于某人不能；to deploy 为不定式表目的。
语法：where 引导地点状语从句（相当于 in the places where）；too...for sb to do 太……以至于某人不能；to deploy 为不定式表目的。
The ancient marks, he reflects, felt like a link to the original builders—tangible evidence of minds thinking through tremendous challenges.
中文：他感慨道，那些古老的印记仿佛是连接最初建造者的一条纽带——是那些头脑在思考巨大挑战时的切实证据。
结构：he reflects 为插入语；felt like 感觉像；破折号引出同位语补充说明；minds thinking 为“名词＋现在分词”结构。
语法：he reflects 为插入语；felt like 感觉像；破折号引出同位语补充说明；minds thinking 为“名词＋现在分词”结构。
◆ 学术英语长难句
Its engineers, from the company iRobot, arrived in Giza that summer toting a dozen-plus cases of parts, along with piles of scrap aluminum and a milling machine, for making modifications on the fly.
中文：来自 iRobot 公司的工程师们于那年夏天带着十几个装满零件的箱子、成堆的废铝和一台铣床抵达吉萨，以便随时进行改装。
结构：from the company iRobot 为插入语；toting... 现在分词短语作伴随状语；along with 连同；for making 表目的。
语法：from the company iRobot 为插入语；toting... 现在分词短语作伴随状语；along with 连同；for making 表目的。
When sections of the shaft proved too uneven for the rover to traverse, the team designed and attached a mechanism to deploy small ramps.
中文：当竖井的某些部分被证明过于崎岖、漫游者号无法通过时，团队设计并安装了一个装置来铺设小斜坡。
结构：when 引导时间状语从句；prove 后接形容词作表语＝证明为；too...for sb to do 太……以至于不能；to deploy 不定式表目的。
语法：when 引导时间状语从句；prove 后接形容词作表语＝证明为；too...for sb to do 太……以至于不能；to deploy 不定式表目的。
Along the way, though, the rover did record something extraordinary: masons’ marks in red ocher dating back to the pyramid’s construction.
中文：不过，在这一过程中，探测器确实记录下了一些不同寻常的东西：可追溯到金字塔建造时期的石匠赭红色标记。
结构：though 作副词表“然而”；did record 用助动词 do 强调谓语；冒号引出同位语说明；dating back to 现在分词作后置定语。
语法：though 作副词表“然而”；did record 用助动词 do 强调谓语；冒号引出同位语说明；dating back to 现在分词作后置定语。
六、本期考点速览
中考 · 细节定位题：文章围绕吉萨大金字塔王后墓室上方的神秘斜竖井展开，多次交代时间与事实细节（1872 年发现通道、2002 年漫游者号首次探入、9 月再次进入），考事实细节定位与时间信息识别。
高考 · 推理判断题：原文「patient and iterative, with new parts made every other night」与「halted the robot's progress about 210 feet up the shaft」等表述相互印证，考从任务过程推断团队工作方式的因果推理。
学术 · 段落主旨题：第三段集中描写团队如何根据竖井情况改造漫游者号（可攀爬、中途受阻、装钻头、设坡道），考段落中心句识别与细节归拢。
模拟真题（源自本期文章）：
中考英语·完形填空（语境词）
The shaft was not smooth. In some places, the rover could not get ______.
A. through
B. over
C. back
D. out
参考答案：A
点拨：考查动词短语辨析：get through 通过、穿过，与上文“竖井不平整、漫游者号难以前进”的语境呼应。 语境推断法：先抓住“不平整→无法前进”的因果链，再匹配“穿过通道”这一动作，锁定 get through。
高考英语·阅读理解·细节题
What did the engineers do when a limestone slab stopped the rover about 210 feet up the shaft?
A. They gave up the mission.
B. They equipped it with a drill.
C. They built a new robot.
D. They opened the shaft from outside.
参考答案：B
点拨：细节定位题。原文“When a limestone slab halted the robot’s progress about 210 feet up the shaft, the engineers equipped it with a drill to bore a narrow, exploratory hole”，工程师为机器人配备钻头钻孔。 定位关键词 limestone slab / 210 feet，回原文找工程师的具体动作 equipped it with a drill，锁定 B。
学术英语·仔细阅读·段落主旨
What is mainly discussed in the third paragraph (beginning with “In 2002, National Geographic TV producers plumbed the southern shaft”)?
A. How the team adapted the rover to explore the shaft.
B. Why the Pyramid Rover was built by iRobot.
C. The history of the Great Pyramid’s construction.
D. How masons’ marks were preserved in the shaft.
参考答案：A
点拨：段落主旨题。该段叙述 2002 年漫游者号进入竖井后，团队面对崎岖路段“设计并安装装置铺设斜坡”、面对石板“配备钻头钻探测孔”，核心是团队如何不断改装机器人以适应探索。 主旨题抓段落主干动作链：遇到障碍→改装→继续探索，概括为 adapt the rover。
完整内容见无境中高考知识星球外刊阅读。
