Were an extraterrestrial to be shown a room full of gold ingots, a stack of twenty-dollar bills or a row of numbers on a computer screen, he might be puzzled as to their function.

• 如果把一屋子金锭或者一大堆二十美元的钞票堆到外星人面前亦或是他在电脑屏幕前看到一长串数字，他可能茫然不知所措这些东西有何用处。