The Chinese characters, invented by our ancestors several millennia ago, are still being used today. 我们的祖先在几千年前(MA)创造的文字至今仍在使用。
Two millennia ago, when those Wise Men presented the first Christmas gifts to the baby Jesus, money and riches were tangible, physical things : you could touch gold coins, and carry them around, before exchanging them for items such as myrrh. 两千年前(MA),当智者第一次送婴儿耶稣圣诞礼物时,金钱和财富是有形的实物:金币可以触摸、随身携带和交换没药(myrrh)之类的东西。
More than two millennia ago the diligent and courageous people of Eurasia explored and opened up several routes of trade and cultural exchanges that linked the major civilizations of Asia, Europe and Africa, collectively called the Silk Road by later generations. 2000多年前,亚欧大陆上勤劳勇敢的人民,探索出多条连接亚欧非几大文明的贸易和人文交流通路,后人将其统称为丝绸之路。
If anything, such forecasts of an impending ice age were actually understated : new ice sheets should have begun to grow several millennia ago. 事实上,冰期「将到来」预测还说得太含蓄:新的冰原早在数千年前(MA)就应该要开始形成了。
A couple of hours upriver are two more unusual temples, hidden in caves carved out of the cliffs by the Mekong millennia ago. 沿着河流乘船逆行两个小时,就可以来到另外两座非同一般的寺庙,它们建在湄公河边岩壁上凿出的岩洞里,已经有千年历史了。