美国学生人类历史第70期:小结(1)

 　　Chapter 21

　　第21章

　　A Summary

　　总结

　　A short Summary of Chapters 1 to 20

　　有关文明起源的小结

　　Thus far, from the top of our high tower we have been looking eastward¹. But from this time on, the history of Egypt and Mesopotamia is going to grow less interesting and I must take you to study the western landscape.

　　以前我们站在历史的高度看到了很多世界的东部发生的故事。但是从这个时期起，埃及和米索不达米亚地区的历史将会变得不再那么重要和突出，我将要带你去研究以一下世界西部的风土人情。

　　Before we do this, let us stop a moment and make clear to ourselves what we have seen.

　　在我们做这件事之前，我们先暂停一下来弄清楚我们在过去的几章中都看到了什么。

　　First of all I showed you prehistoric² man-a creature very simple in his habits and very unattractive in his manners. I told you how he was the most defenceless of the many animals that roamed through the early wilderness³ of the five continents, but being possessed⁴ of a larger and better brain, he managed to hold his own.

　　首先，我向你们展示了史前人类。史前人类是一种有着非常简单的生活习惯和枯燥的规矩的物种。我告诉了你这些在早期地球上生存的物种中最没有攻击力但是却拥有这更强大更聪明的大脑的史前人类是如何成功的把握住自己的命运的。

　　Then came the glaciers⁵ and the many centuries of cold weather, and life on this planet became so difficult that man was obliged to think three times as hard as ever before if he wished to survive.

　　然后来到了冰河世纪，那是好几个世纪的寒冷的天气，在这个星球上生活的物种的日子变得很难熬，于是他们如果想生存下来，必须花费比以前多两倍的脑力去想办法。

　　Since, however, that"wish to survive" was (and is) the mainspring which keeps every living being going full tilt⁶ to the last gasp⁷ of its breath, the brain of glacial man was set to work in all earnestness.

　　由于想活下来的念头已经成为他们主要而且特别强烈的念头，冰川时期的人类的大脑必须无休止的运转着，

1 eastward   

adv.向东；adj.向东的；n.东方，东部

参考例句：

• The river here tends eastward.这条河从这里向东流。
• The crowd is heading eastward,believing that they can find gold there.人群正在向东移去，他们认为在那里可以找到黄金。

2 prehistoric   

adj.（有记载的）历史以前的，史前的，古老的

参考例句：

• They have found prehistoric remains.他们发现了史前遗迹。
• It was rather like an exhibition of prehistoric electronic equipment.这儿倒像是在展览古老的电子设备。

3 wilderness   

n.杳无人烟的一片陆地、水等，荒漠

参考例句：

• She drove the herd of cattle through the wilderness.她赶着牛群穿过荒野。
• Education in the wilderness is not a matter of monetary means.荒凉地区的教育不是钱财问题。

4 possessed   

adj.疯狂的；拥有的，占有的

参考例句：

• He flew out of the room like a man possessed.他像着了魔似地猛然冲出房门。
• He behaved like someone possessed.他行为举止像是魔怔了。

5 glaciers   

冰河，冰川( glacier的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Glaciers gouged out valleys from the hills. 冰川把丘陵地带冲出一条条山谷。
• It has ice and snow glaciers, rainforests and beautiful mountains. 既有冰川，又有雨林和秀丽的山峰。 来自英语晨读30分（高一）

6 tilt   

v.(使)倾侧；(使)倾斜；n.倾侧；倾斜

参考例句：

• She wore her hat at a tilt over her left eye.她歪戴着帽子遮住左眼。
• The table is at a slight tilt.这张桌子没放平，有点儿歪.

7 gasp   

n.喘息，气喘；v.喘息；气吁吁他说

参考例句：

• She gave a gasp of surprise.她吃惊得大口喘气。
• The enemy are at their last gasp.敌人在做垂死的挣扎。