中文

钥匙的存在由来已久。最早的钥匙可追溯到 4000 年前，由古埃及人用木头制成。对钥匙做出了一些改进，改用金属制造。不过自那以后，钥匙差不多就再无变化。

我的译文

The key has a long history, which can be traced back to 4,000 years ago, when it was made out of wood by ancient Egyptians.  Some improvements were made by the Romans with metal. But keys have remained almost the same since then.

经济学人原文

Keys have been around for a long time. The earliest, made from wood, date back 4,000 years, to the ancient Egyptians. The Romans improved them a bit by making them from metal. But there, more or less, they have stayed.

👉around

If someone or something is around, they exist or are present in a place.

You haven't seen my publisher anywhere around, have you?...

Just having lots of people around that you can talk to is important...

You see very little of this wine around these days.

❗️something has been around for…= something has been in existence for...

👉more or less

1.almost

2.approximately