Step 1: Intensive reading.
Try to answer the question below while you’re reading:
Question: What is the importance of the dots, lines, and symbols engraved on stone,
bones and ivory?
Vocabulary:
calendar n. 历法， 日历
historian n. 历史学家
unique adj. 无与伦比的
steadily adv. 不断地
solely adv. 唯一地
video n. 录像
CD-ROM n. (只读)光盘驱动器
bewilder v. 令人眼花缭乱
deduce v. 推断，推理
scanty adj. 不足的，贫乏的
clue n. 线索
insignificant adj. 不重要的
shed v. 使流出，泻
advent n. 出现，到来，来临
agriculture n. 农业
assumption n. 假定，设想
dot n. 小圆点
symbol n. 符号
engrave v. 雕刻
ivory n. 象牙制品
mammoth n. （古）长毛象
phase n. 月相，天相
tusk n. 獠牙，长牙、象牙
primitive adj. 原始的
nomad n. 游牧民
depict v. 描画，描绘
correlate v. 使相互联系
Passage:
Future historians will be in a unique position when they come to record the history of
our own times. They will hardly know which facts to select from the great mass of
evidence that steadily accumulates. What is more, they will not have to rely solely on
the written word. Films, videos, CDs and CD-ROMs are just some of the bewildering
amount of information they will have. They will be able, as it were, to see and hear us
in action. But the historian attempting to reconstruct the distant past is always faced
with a difficult task. He has to deduce what he can from the few scanty clues available.
Even seemingly insignificant remains can shed interesting light on the history of early
man.
未来的历史学家在写我们这一段历史的时候会别具一格。对于逐渐积累起来的庞
大材料，他们几乎不知道选取哪些好。而且，也不必完全依赖文字材料。电影、
录像、光盘和光盘驱动器只是能为他们提供令人眼花缭乱的大量信息的几种手段。
他们能够身临其境般地观看我们做事，倾听我们讲话。但是，历史学家企图重现
遥远的过去可是一项艰巨的任务，他们必须根据现有的不充分的线索进行推理。
即使看起来微不足道的遗物，也可能揭示人类早期历史中的一些有趣的内容。
Notes:
1 what is more ，作“而且”、“再者”解，是插入语。
2 CD-ROM，是 compact disc read-only memory 的缩写。
3 as it were，“可以说”，是插入语。
Up to now, historians have assumed that calendars came into being with the advent of
agriculture, for then man was faced with a real need to understand something about
the seasons. Recent scientific evidence seems to indicate that this assumption is
incorrect.
历史学家迄今认为日历是随农业的问世而出现的，因为当时人们面临着了解四季
的实际需要。但近期科学研究发现，好像这种假设是不正确的。
Historians have long been puzzled by dots, lines and symbols which have been
engraved on walls, bones, and the ivory tusks of mammoths. The nomads who made
these markings lived by hunting and fishing during the last Ice Age which began
about 35,000 B.C. and ended about 10,000 B.C. By correlating markings made in
various parts of the world, historians have been able to read this difficult code. They
have found that it is connected with the passage of days and the phases of the moon. It
is, in fact, a primitive type of calendar. It has long been known that the hunting scenes
depicted on walls were not simply a form of artistic expression. They had a definite
meaning, for they were as near as early man could get to writing. It is possible that
there is a definite relation between these paintings and the markings that sometimes
accompany them. It seems that man was making a real effort to understand the
seasons 20, 000 years earlier than has been supposed.
长期以来，历史学家一直对雕刻在墙壁上、骨头上、古代长毛象的象牙上的点、
线和形形色色的符号感到困惑不解。这些痕迹是游牧人留下的，他们生活在从公
元前约 35 ，000 年到公元前 10，000 年的冰川期的末期，以狩猎、捕鱼为生。
历史学家通过把世界各地留下的这种痕迹放在一起研究，终于弄懂了这种费解的
代码。他们发现代码与昼夜更迭和月亮圆缺有关，事实上是一种最原始的日历。
大家早就知道，画在墙上的狩猎图景并不是单纯的艺术表现形式，它们有着一定
的含义，因为它们已接近古代人的文字形式。有时，这种图画与墙壁上的刻痕共
存，它们之间可能有一定的联系。看来人类早就致力于探索四季变迁了，比人们
想像的要早 20，000 年。
Notes:
4 be faced with，作“面临”、“面对”解。
5 shed light on …，使清楚地显出来，解释。
6 come into being ，产生，形成。
7 Ice Age，冰川时期。
38.2【阅读理解】The first calendar
Step 2: Comprehension questions.
1 Who will be in a unique position when they come to record the history of our own
times? (Future historians.)
2 What is steadily accumulating? (A great mass of evidence.)
3 Will future historians have to rely solely on the written word? (No, they won’t.)
4 What other information will they have? (Films, videos, CDs and CD-ROMs.)
5 What kind of task is any historian faced with? (A difficult task.)
6 Does he have to deduce information from scanty clues? (Yes, he does.)
7 Even insignificant remains are important. Why? (Because they can shed light on the
history of early man.)
8 Up to now, when have historians assumed that calendars came into being? (With the
advent of agriculture.)
9 Does recent scientific evidence indicate that this is correct or incorrect? (Incorrect.)
10 Historians have long been puzzled by dots, lines and symbols, haven't they? (Yes,
they have.)
11 Where have these dots, etc. been engraved? (On walls, bones and ivory tusks.)
12 When did the last Ice Age begin? (About 35,000 B.C.)
13 When did it end? (About 10,000 B.C.)
14 Who lived by hunting and fishing during this period? (Nomads.)
15 What are the marks connected with? (The passage of the days and the phases of the
moon.)
16 What is the code in fact? (A primitive kind of calendar.)
17 Were the hunting scenes just a form of art? (No, they weren't.)
18 Did they have a definite meaning? (Yes, they did.)
19 Is there a relation between the paintings and the markings that accompany them?
(Possibly.)
20 Man was making an effort to understand the seasons much earlier than has been
supposed. How much earlier? (20,000 years earlier.)
38.3【拓展写作】The first calendar
Step 3: Composition
In not more than 250 words describe some of the things future historians will be able
to learn about us. Use the ideas given below. Do not write more than four paragraphs.
Title: Studying the past.
Introduction: The future historian’s sources: films, video, CDs, CD-ROMs.
Development: Social and political history: how we dressed---what we ate---what
houses we lived in---what our cities were like ---the forms of entertainment we
enjoyed ---the news day by day ---the way we fought our wars---great moments in
history---leading figures of the time as well as ordinary people.
Conclusion: Study of history will provide interest and excitement ---the past will be
brought to life.
Key to composition
A possible answer
Studying the past
Future historians will have plenty of sources from which to learn about
twentieth-century man. Not only will they have the written word, they will also have
films, videos, audio cassettes, CDs and CD-ROMs. In fact, they will have so much
source material that they will hardly know where to start!
If they study all the material available, they will be able to build up a complete
social and political history of our time. They will know exactly how we dressed, what
we ate in every different country and they will know exactly what our homes were
like. They will know what our towns and cities were like and what forms of
entertainment we enjoyed. In fact, they will not only learn about our forms of
entertainment, they will be able to enjoy a lot of them, too--our music, plays, musical
shows, video games, our art, our literature, ... And they will be able to read and see
the news day by day as it happened.
They will learn in detail the way we fought our wars, the way we used jet fighters,
helicopters, ships and tanks. They will be able to learn every detail of great moments
in history, and everything about leading figures of the time as well as the lives of
ordinary men and women.
In future, the study of history will provide interest and excitement for a lot of
people, the past will be brought to life and history will no longer be boring.
课外练习：
1 In assuming that calendars came into being with the advent of agriculture, historians
made the mistake of .
(a) relying solely on the written word
(b) disregarding the markings that early man had been responsible for
(c) supposing that nomadic man had no reason to understand the seasons
(d) not connecting the passage of days with the phases of the moon
2 The scientific evidence that has recently come to light is that .
(a) nomads engraved the bones and tusks of the animals they killed
(b) nomads lived by hunting and fishing
(c) nomads travelled widely in various parts of the world
(d) the markings made by various nomadic groups all have a definite pattern
3 The paintings which have been found on the walls of nomadic dwelling places
________.
(a) have taught historians something about the nomadic way of life
(b) have no other content than their artistic merit
(c) are not thought to be connected with an ancient calendar system
(d) are invariably accompanied by odd dots, lines and symbols
4 It as if they could see and hear us in action.
(a) was
(b) were
(c) should be
(d) will be
5 Even seemingly insignificant remains can shed interesting ...
(a) they
(b) which
(c) what
(d) those to
6 Historians are now able to read this difficult code markings made in ...
(a) with correlating
(b) having correlated
(c) which correlates
(d) for they correlate
7 be a definite relation between these paintings and the ...
(a) It could
(b) There can
(c) There may
(d) It might
8 Historians have long tried to dots, lines and …
(a) puzzle
(b) puzzle out
(c) riddle
(d) detect
9 By correlating markings made in parts of the world ...
(a) different
(b) several
(c) many
(d) other
10 -historians have been able to read .
(a) these puzzling signs
(b) this hard law
(c) these difficult signals
(d) this uneasy letter
11 Until recently historians assumed that calendars with the advent of
agriculture.
(a) came to existence
(b) came to existing
(c) came to exist
(d) were existential
12 The people who lived by hunting and fishing during the last Ice Age .
(a) wandered from place to place
(b) lived in villages
(c) first learnt to write
(d) learnt how to farm the land
答案：1b 2d 3a 4d 5c 6b 7c 8b 9a 10a 11c 12a