【課文】
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 cluesavailable. Even seemingly insignificant remains can shed interesting light on the history of early man.
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.
Historians have long been puzzled by dots, lines and symbols which have been engraved on walls, bones, and the ivory tusk 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.
【課文翻譯】
未來(lái)的歷史學(xué)家在寫(xiě)我們這一段歷史的時(shí)候會(huì)別具一格。對(duì)于逐漸積累起來(lái)的龐大材料，他們幾乎不知道選取哪些好，而且，也不必完全依賴文字材料。電影、錄像、光盤(pán)和光盤(pán)驅(qū)動(dòng)器只是能為他們提供令人眼花繚亂的大量信息的幾種手段。他們能夠身臨其境般地觀看我們做事，傾聽(tīng)我們講話。但是，歷史學(xué)家企圖重現(xiàn)遙遠(yuǎn)的過(guò)去可是一項(xiàng)艱巨的任務(wù)，他們必須根據(jù)現(xiàn)有的不充分的線索進(jìn)行推理。即使看起來(lái)微不足道的遺物，也可能揭示人類早期歷史的一些有趣的內(nèi)容。
歷史學(xué)家迄今認(rèn)為日歷是隨農(nóng)業(yè)的問(wèn)世而出現(xiàn)的，因?yàn)楫?dāng)時(shí)人們面臨著了解四季的實(shí)際需要，但近期科學(xué)研究發(fā)現(xiàn)，好像這種假設(shè)是不正確的。
長(zhǎng)期以來(lái)，歷史學(xué)家一直對(duì)雕刻在墻壁上、骨頭上、古代長(zhǎng)毛象的象牙上的點(diǎn)、線和形形色色的符號(hào)感到困惑不解。這些痕跡是游牧人留下的，他們生活在從公元前約 35，000年到公元前10000年的冰川期的末期，以狩獵、捕魚(yú)為生。歷史學(xué)家通過(guò)把世界各地留下的這種痕跡放在一起究，終于弄懂了這種費(fèi)解的代碼。他們發(fā)現(xiàn)代碼與晝夜更迭和月亮圓缺有關(guān)，事實(shí)上是一種原始的日歷。大家早就知道，畫(huà)在墻上的狩獵圖景并不是單純的藝術(shù)表現(xiàn)形式，它們有著一定的含義，因?yàn)樗鼈円呀咏糯说奈淖中问健Ｓ袝r(shí)，這種圖畫(huà)與墻壁上的刻痕共存，它們之間可能有一定的聯(lián)系?？磥?lái)人類早就致力于探索四季變遷了，比人們想像的要早20,000年。
【詞匯】
calendar n. 歷法，日歷
historian n. 歷史學(xué)家
unique adj. 無(wú)與倫比的
steadily adv. 不斷地
solely adv. 地
video n. 錄像
CD-ROM n. (只讀)光盤(pán)驅(qū)動(dòng)器
bewildering adj. 令人眼花繚亂
deduce v. 推斷，推理
scanty adj. 不足的，貧乏的
clue n. 線索
insignificant adj. 不重要的
shed v. 使流出，瀉
advent n. 出現(xiàn)，到來(lái)，來(lái)臨
agriculture n. 農(nóng)業(yè)
assumption n. 假定，設(shè)想
dot n. 小圓點(diǎn)
symbol n. 符號(hào)
engrave v. 雕刻
ivory n. 象牙制品
mammoth n. (古)長(zhǎng)毛象
phase n. 月相，天相
tusk n. 獠牙，長(zhǎng)牙、象牙
primitive adj. 原始的
nomad n. 游牧民
depict v. 描畫(huà)，描繪
correlate v. 使相互聯(lián)系
【重點(diǎn)詞匯講解】
【unique】
例句：
1. You're unique, you are the only you in the universe.
你是獨(dú)一無(wú)二的。，你是宇宙的你。
2. You no longer think of yourselves as a unique form of life, or that you are God's only creation.
你們不再認(rèn)為你們自己是一種獨(dú)一無(wú)二的生命形式，或者你們是上帝的創(chuàng)造。
【steadily】
例句：
1. The work is progressing steadily.
這項(xiàng)工作不斷取得進(jìn)展。
2. The country is moving steadily closer to fragmentation.
這個(gè)國(guó)家正在逐步的走向分裂。
【solely】
例句：
1. Breeding was once a craft belonging solely to the gardener.
繁育新品種曾經(jīng)是園丁專有的一門手藝。
2. But make no mistake: This cannot solely be America's endeavor.
但必須指出的是，這不僅僅是美國(guó)的事務(wù)。
【bewildering】
例句：
1. The speed of change is rapid, the statistics bewildering.
變化速度之快，令統(tǒng)計(jì)工作手足無(wú)措。
2. He points out that one of the great features of the valley is its bewildering diversity.
他指出，這個(gè)峽谷中有許多特色，其中之一就是它的景物五光十色，令人眼花繚亂。
【deduce】
英英：conclude by reasoning; in logic
例句：
1.On the basis of the evidence we deduce that he is guilty.
根據(jù)這些證據(jù)，我們推論他是有罪的。
2. I deduce from the large crowd that the speaker is very popular.
從聽(tīng)眾很多這一點(diǎn)，我可以推斷，演講者大受歡迎。
3. Because even when you have the facts, you can't always deduce an outcome.
因?yàn)榧词巩?dāng)你知道了事實(shí)，往往也無(wú)法推論出結(jié)果。
【scanty】
例句：
1. I have only a scanty knowledge of world affairs.
我對(duì)于國(guó)際事務(wù)只是一知半解。
2. The farmer 's financial difficulties were caused By a scanty harvest.
這個(gè)農(nóng)民的經(jīng)濟(jì)困難是因?yàn)槭粘刹蛔阍斐傻摹?BR> 【shed】
英英：cause or allow (a solid substance) to flow or run out or over
例句：
1. These discoveries may shed light on the origins of the universe.
這些發(fā)現(xiàn)會(huì)有助于理解宇宙的起源。
2. Better statistics might help to shed light on the nature of galactic evolution.
更精確的統(tǒng)計(jì)數(shù)據(jù)可能會(huì)有助于揭露星系發(fā)展的本質(zhì)所在。
3. The shrewd shipper's remark shed light on why he shrank and shift duties onto others.
這個(gè)精明的托運(yùn)人的話有助于我們理解他為何退縮并把責(zé)任推卸給別人。
【advent】
例句：
1. The advent of the golden autumn, I do not see many gains.
金色的秋天來(lái)臨，我卻沒(méi)有看到太多的收獲。
2. Since the advent of jet aircraft, travel has been speeded up.
自從噴氣式飛機(jī)出現(xiàn)以來(lái)，旅行的速度大為提高。
【correlate】
英英：bring into a mutual, complementary, or reciprocal relation
例句：
1. Research workers find it hard to correlate one set with the other.
研究人員發(fā)現(xiàn)很難使這兩組數(shù)字之間產(chǎn)生聯(lián)系。
2. Results in the natural sciences seldom seem to correlate with those in art.
自然科學(xué)的成果似乎很少與藝術(shù)發(fā)生關(guān)聯(lián)。
3.Crop yield correlates closely with annual rainfall.
農(nóng)作物的收成與年降雨量有密切關(guān)系。
【常用表達(dá)】
【our own times】我們的時(shí)代
【what is more】而且
【as it were】可以說(shuō)，就像
【in action】活靈活現(xiàn)
【be faced with】面對(duì)，面臨
【shed light on】闡明，使清楚
【up to now】目前為止
【come into being】形成，產(chǎn)生
【make an effort】作出努力
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 cluesavailable. Even seemingly insignificant remains can shed interesting light on the history of early man.
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.
Historians have long been puzzled by dots, lines and symbols which have been engraved on walls, bones, and the ivory tusk 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.
【課文翻譯】
未來(lái)的歷史學(xué)家在寫(xiě)我們這一段歷史的時(shí)候會(huì)別具一格。對(duì)于逐漸積累起來(lái)的龐大材料，他們幾乎不知道選取哪些好，而且，也不必完全依賴文字材料。電影、錄像、光盤(pán)和光盤(pán)驅(qū)動(dòng)器只是能為他們提供令人眼花繚亂的大量信息的幾種手段。他們能夠身臨其境般地觀看我們做事，傾聽(tīng)我們講話。但是，歷史學(xué)家企圖重現(xiàn)遙遠(yuǎn)的過(guò)去可是一項(xiàng)艱巨的任務(wù)，他們必須根據(jù)現(xiàn)有的不充分的線索進(jìn)行推理。即使看起來(lái)微不足道的遺物，也可能揭示人類早期歷史的一些有趣的內(nèi)容。
歷史學(xué)家迄今認(rèn)為日歷是隨農(nóng)業(yè)的問(wèn)世而出現(xiàn)的，因?yàn)楫?dāng)時(shí)人們面臨著了解四季的實(shí)際需要，但近期科學(xué)研究發(fā)現(xiàn)，好像這種假設(shè)是不正確的。
長(zhǎng)期以來(lái)，歷史學(xué)家一直對(duì)雕刻在墻壁上、骨頭上、古代長(zhǎng)毛象的象牙上的點(diǎn)、線和形形色色的符號(hào)感到困惑不解。這些痕跡是游牧人留下的，他們生活在從公元前約 35，000年到公元前10000年的冰川期的末期，以狩獵、捕魚(yú)為生。歷史學(xué)家通過(guò)把世界各地留下的這種痕跡放在一起究，終于弄懂了這種費(fèi)解的代碼。他們發(fā)現(xiàn)代碼與晝夜更迭和月亮圓缺有關(guān)，事實(shí)上是一種原始的日歷。大家早就知道，畫(huà)在墻上的狩獵圖景并不是單純的藝術(shù)表現(xiàn)形式，它們有著一定的含義，因?yàn)樗鼈円呀咏糯说奈淖中问健Ｓ袝r(shí)，這種圖畫(huà)與墻壁上的刻痕共存，它們之間可能有一定的聯(lián)系?？磥?lái)人類早就致力于探索四季變遷了，比人們想像的要早20,000年。
【詞匯】
calendar n. 歷法，日歷
historian n. 歷史學(xué)家
unique adj. 無(wú)與倫比的
steadily adv. 不斷地
solely adv. 地
video n. 錄像
CD-ROM n. (只讀)光盤(pán)驅(qū)動(dòng)器
bewildering adj. 令人眼花繚亂
deduce v. 推斷，推理
scanty adj. 不足的，貧乏的
clue n. 線索
insignificant adj. 不重要的
shed v. 使流出，瀉
advent n. 出現(xiàn)，到來(lái)，來(lái)臨
agriculture n. 農(nóng)業(yè)
assumption n. 假定，設(shè)想
dot n. 小圓點(diǎn)
symbol n. 符號(hào)
engrave v. 雕刻
ivory n. 象牙制品
mammoth n. (古)長(zhǎng)毛象
phase n. 月相，天相
tusk n. 獠牙，長(zhǎng)牙、象牙
primitive adj. 原始的
nomad n. 游牧民
depict v. 描畫(huà)，描繪
correlate v. 使相互聯(lián)系
【重點(diǎn)詞匯講解】
【unique】
例句：
1. You're unique, you are the only you in the universe.
你是獨(dú)一無(wú)二的。，你是宇宙的你。
2. You no longer think of yourselves as a unique form of life, or that you are God's only creation.
你們不再認(rèn)為你們自己是一種獨(dú)一無(wú)二的生命形式，或者你們是上帝的創(chuàng)造。
【steadily】
例句：
1. The work is progressing steadily.
這項(xiàng)工作不斷取得進(jìn)展。
2. The country is moving steadily closer to fragmentation.
這個(gè)國(guó)家正在逐步的走向分裂。
【solely】
例句：
1. Breeding was once a craft belonging solely to the gardener.
繁育新品種曾經(jīng)是園丁專有的一門手藝。
2. But make no mistake: This cannot solely be America's endeavor.
但必須指出的是，這不僅僅是美國(guó)的事務(wù)。
【bewildering】
例句：
1. The speed of change is rapid, the statistics bewildering.
變化速度之快，令統(tǒng)計(jì)工作手足無(wú)措。
2. He points out that one of the great features of the valley is its bewildering diversity.
他指出，這個(gè)峽谷中有許多特色，其中之一就是它的景物五光十色，令人眼花繚亂。
【deduce】
英英：conclude by reasoning; in logic
例句：
1.On the basis of the evidence we deduce that he is guilty.
根據(jù)這些證據(jù)，我們推論他是有罪的。
2. I deduce from the large crowd that the speaker is very popular.
從聽(tīng)眾很多這一點(diǎn)，我可以推斷，演講者大受歡迎。
3. Because even when you have the facts, you can't always deduce an outcome.
因?yàn)榧词巩?dāng)你知道了事實(shí)，往往也無(wú)法推論出結(jié)果。
【scanty】
例句：
1. I have only a scanty knowledge of world affairs.
我對(duì)于國(guó)際事務(wù)只是一知半解。
2. The farmer 's financial difficulties were caused By a scanty harvest.
這個(gè)農(nóng)民的經(jīng)濟(jì)困難是因?yàn)槭粘刹蛔阍斐傻摹?BR> 【shed】
英英：cause or allow (a solid substance) to flow or run out or over
例句：
1. These discoveries may shed light on the origins of the universe.
這些發(fā)現(xiàn)會(huì)有助于理解宇宙的起源。
2. Better statistics might help to shed light on the nature of galactic evolution.
更精確的統(tǒng)計(jì)數(shù)據(jù)可能會(huì)有助于揭露星系發(fā)展的本質(zhì)所在。
3. The shrewd shipper's remark shed light on why he shrank and shift duties onto others.
這個(gè)精明的托運(yùn)人的話有助于我們理解他為何退縮并把責(zé)任推卸給別人。
【advent】
例句：
1. The advent of the golden autumn, I do not see many gains.
金色的秋天來(lái)臨，我卻沒(méi)有看到太多的收獲。
2. Since the advent of jet aircraft, travel has been speeded up.
自從噴氣式飛機(jī)出現(xiàn)以來(lái)，旅行的速度大為提高。
【correlate】
英英：bring into a mutual, complementary, or reciprocal relation
例句：
1. Research workers find it hard to correlate one set with the other.
研究人員發(fā)現(xiàn)很難使這兩組數(shù)字之間產(chǎn)生聯(lián)系。
2. Results in the natural sciences seldom seem to correlate with those in art.
自然科學(xué)的成果似乎很少與藝術(shù)發(fā)生關(guān)聯(lián)。
3.Crop yield correlates closely with annual rainfall.
農(nóng)作物的收成與年降雨量有密切關(guān)系。
【常用表達(dá)】
【our own times】我們的時(shí)代
【what is more】而且
【as it were】可以說(shuō)，就像
【in action】活靈活現(xiàn)
【be faced with】面對(duì)，面臨
【shed light on】闡明，使清楚
【up to now】目前為止
【come into being】形成，產(chǎn)生
【make an effort】作出努力