北大英语精读课文Dream Animal.docx

北大英语精读课文Dream Animal.docx

《北大英语精读课文Dream Animal.docx》由会员分享，可在线阅读，更多相关《北大英语精读课文Dream Animal.docx（17页珍藏版）》请在冰豆网上搜索。

北大英语精读课文DreamAnimal

LESSONTHREE

ACTIVATION

1.Whatisyouropinion?

1）Hashumanevolutionbeenanextremelylongorextremelyrapidprocess?

2）Doesthehumanbraingrowtoitsnormalsizeinsideoroutsideofthemother’sbody?

3）Whohasthelongestchildhood:

aseal,ahuman,amonkey,achimp?

4）Dowediffersignificantlyinourbodyandbrainstructurefrommanof20,000yearsago?

2.Whatbegantomakeuswhatwearetoday?

Whatnowmarkthemoresignificantdifferencesofmanfromapeslikechimps?

speakingagrammaticallanguage,doinglabor,abletomakeandusetools,usingfire,walkingontwofeet,havinganakedandnotahairybody,havingamuchlargerbrain,havingsmallerteethandjawsandasmallerfacebelowratherthaninfrontofthebraincase,amosthelplesschildhood

3.Fillintheblanks:

brain,mind,idea,head,mental

1）Eventhecleverestofanimalsareinferiortohumansasfarastheir__________abilitiesareconcerned.

2）Putour__________togetherandwemayhituponagood__________.

3）Human__________cellsareamongthegreatestwondersnaturehaseverproduced.

4）Thehuman___________hascreatedaninvisibleworldofideas,beliefs,habitsandcustoms.

TEXT

THEDREAMANIMAL

LorenEiseley

AlmostallofwhatweknowabouthumanevolutionisconfinedtotheIceAge.Itwas,particularlytowarditsclose,atimeofgreatextinctions.Someofthehugebeastswhoseintercontinentalmigrationshadlaiddownthefirstpathsalongwhichmanhadtraveled,vanishedtotallyfromtheearth.Mammoths,theTemperateZoneelephants,droppedthelastoftheirheavytusksalongtherecedingfringesoftheice.Thelong-hornedbisonuponwhoseherdsmanhadnourishedhimselfformanyalongcenturyofilliteratewanderings,fadedbackintothepast.Theapewhoseculturalremnantsatthebeginningofthefirstglaciationcanscarcelybedistinguishedfromchancebitsofstonehas,bytheendingofthefourthice,becomeartistandworldrover,penetratorofthefivecontinents,andmasterofall.Itwouldappearthatwithintheverybriefperiodbetweenaboutfivehundredthousandandonehundredfiftythousandyearsago,manacquiredtheessentialfeaturesofamodernbrain.

Howdidthisbrainfirstcome?

Howfastdiditcome?

Probingamongrocksandbatteredskulls,scientistsfindthattheanswersarefew.Therearemanylivingmembersoftheprimateorderthatorderwhichincludesmanwholiveingroups,butshownosignsofbecomingmen.Theirbrainsbearafamilyresemblancetoourown,buttheyarenotthebrainsofmen.

Ifoneattemptstoreadthecomplexitiesofhumanevolution,oneisnotsurprisedthatmanisaloneontheplanet.Rather,oneisamazedandhumbledthatmanwasachievedatall.Forfourthingshadtohappen,andiftheyhadnothappenedsimultaneously,oratleastkeptpacewitheachother,thebonesofmanwouldlieabortiveandforgotteninthesandstonesofthepast:

1.Hisbrainhadalmosttotrebleinsize.

2.Thishadtobeeffected,notinthewomb,butrapidly,afterbirth.

3.Childhoodhadtobelengthenedtoallowthisbrain,divestedofmostofitspreciseinstinctiveresponses,toreceive,store,andlearntoutilizewhatitreceivedfromothers.

4.Thefamilybondshadtosurviveseasonalmatingandbecomepermanent,ifthisoddnewcreaturewastobepreparedforhisadultrole.

Eachoneofthesemajorpointsdemandedamultitudeofminorbiologicaladjustments,yetallofthischangeofgrowthrate,lengthenedage,increasedbloodsupplytothehead,movedapparentlywithrapidity.Somewhereintheglacialmiststhatshroudthepast,Naturefoundawayofspeedingtheproliferationofbraincellsanddiditbytheruthlesseliminationofeverythingnotneededtothatend.Welostourhairycovering,ourjawsandteethwerereducedinsize,oursexlifewaspostponed,ourinfancybecameamongthemosthelplessofanyoftheanimalsbecauseeverythinghadtowaituponthedevelopmentofthatfast-growingmushroomwhichhadsprungupinourheads.

Whenthereleasedpotentialitiesforbraingrowthbegan,theycarriedmanintoanewworldwheretheoldlawsnolongertotallyheld.Witheveryadvanceinlanguage,insymbolicthought,thebrainpathsmultiplied.Itisunlikely,however,thatthepaceofhumanchangewilleveragainspeedattheacceleratedrateitknewwhenmanstroveagainstextinction.ThestoryofEdenisagreaterallegorythanmanhaseverguessed.Foritwastrulymanwho,walkingmemorylessthroughbarsofsunlightandshadeinthemorningoftheworld,satdownandpassedawonderinghandacrosshisheavyforehead.Timeanddarkness,knowledgeofgoodandevil,havewalkedwithhimeversince.Itisthedestinystruckbytheclockinthebodyinthatbriefspacebetweenthebeginningofthefirsticeandthatofthesecond.Injustthatintervalanewworldofterrorandlonelinessappearstohavebeencreatedinthesoulofman.

Forthefirsttimeinfourbillionyearsalivingcreaturehadcontemplatedhimselfandheardwithasudden,unaccountableloneliness,thewhisperofthewindinthenightreeds.Perhapsheknew,thereinthegrassbythechillwater,thathehadbeforehimanimmensejourney.

WORDSANDEXPRESSIONS

humanevolution;survivev.,thestruggleforexistence,laws,holdvi.;modern;

adjustment,bedivestedof,elimination,ruthlessadj.,tothis/thatend;advancen.;

extinction,strive（againstextinction）,vanish（from）,fade（into）;shroudv./n.,abortive,forgotten;

chanceadj.（accidental,unplanned）;

destiny,strike

（dating）billion（109）;lastvi.,confine（to）;theclose,theending;

theIceAge,theice,glacialadj.,glacialmists,glaciation;fringes,receding;

fossil,skull,battered,collection;rocks,sandstone;（cultural）remnants;showsignsof,lie（be/remaininacertaincondition）;

mammoth（猛犸，已绝种的古代长毛象）,bison（pl.bison）（美洲或欧洲的野牛）,theTemperateZoneelephants,herds,tusks,horns

order,family,（alsolearn:

species）;bearresemblance（to）;

primate（orderPrimate）,ape,hairycovering,jaws;creature（s）

biological,womb,infancy,adultrole,mating,sexlife;bloodsupply;nourish（on/upon）;instinctiveresponse;

familybonds,helpless

brain,braincells/paths/growth;head,forehead;mushroom（usedasafigure）;essentialfeatures,acquirev.;memory（memoryless）;

proliferation,multiplyv.;

potentiality,releasev.;

symbolicthought,contemplatev.,store,utilize;

soul,（knowledgeof）goodandevil,Eden,allegory;

loneliness,terror,whisper,journey;

wander/wanderings,travel,migration,lay（downthepaths）;worldrover,penetrator（penetratev.）,continents,intercontinental;

（barsof）sunlight,shade;grass,reeds,chillwater,planet

rate,rapidly,rapidity,brief（period/space）,fast;lengthened;seasonal,permanent,interval;simultaneously;

speedv.,accelerated,lengthen;keeppacewith,placealimitupon;increase,postpone;

treble/reduce（insize）

multitude,immense;major,minor

surprise（d）,amaze（d）;humble（d）;

appear,springup,wait（up）on;

attempt,probe,effectv.,demand,supply,guess;

odd,unaccountable;precise;explain

likely,unlikely

apparently,truly,totally,scarcely,ever,everagain/since

inotherwords

NOTES

1.theIceAge（l.1）;thefirstglaciation（l.8）;thefourthice（l.9）;glacial（l.32）;thefirstice,thesecond（ice）（ll.48）:

1）Geologicallyspeaking,aniceageisa“glacialperiod”or“glacialepoch”inearth’shistorywhenthickicesheets（冰盖）coveredmuchlargerareasoftheearth’ssurfacethanatpresent.

2）Withinamuchlongergeologicaliceagetherewerebriefperiodsofrepeatedadvanceandretreatofice.Suchashorterintervaloftheadvanceoficecanalsobecalledaniceage,ora“glacialstage,”andbetweentwosuchintervalsisaninterglacialstage（间冰期）.

3）Theword“glaciations”alsodescribesthesmaller-scaleiceages（abouttensofthousandsofyears）whenicesheetswereattheirfullestextent.

4）Thecapitalizedterm“IceAge”refersparticularlytotheearth’smostrecenticeage—thePleistocene（更新世）GlacialAge,duringwhichfourmajorglaciationsor“ices”havebeenrecognizedinEurope.

2.Someofthehugebeastswhoseintercontinentalmigrationshadlaiddownthefirstpathsalongwhichmanhadtraveled,vanishedtotallyfromtheearth.（ll.）

1）Animalsmovedfromonecontinenttoanotherwhenconditionswereconvenientforthemtodoso.InNorthAmerica,someoftheIceAgelargeanimalshadcomefromAsiawhenthetwocontinentswererepeatedlyconnected,andmanymigratedfurthertoSouthAmerica.Itwasasiftheanimalmigrationshadopenedupthepathsforlaterhumanmigrationsfromonecontinenttoanother.

2）“Man,”whenusedwithouta/the,usuallyreferstothehumanrace.Inthepresenttextthatprobesintothemysteryoftheriseofthehumankind,thewordreferstoearlymodernhumanslongbeforetherewereanywrittenrecords.

3）Thepronoun“whose”means“ofwhom,”or“ofwhich.”Thus,“whoseintercontinentalmigrations”means“theintercontinentalmigrationsofwhich[=ofthosehugebeasts].”

In“thefirstpathsalongwhichmanhadtraveled,”thepreposition“along”isnecessaryaswehavetosay“manhadtraveledalongthe（same）paths.”

3.Thelong-hornedbisonuponwhoseherdsmanhadnourishedhimselfformanyalongcenturyofilliteratewanderings....（ll.）

1）thelong-hornedbison:

thebisonhaving/withlonghorns

Moreexamplesofadj.orn.-+n.+ed+n.:

small-brainedapes,saber-toothedtigers（剑齿虎）,thelarge-brainedandweak-bodiedcreature

2）uponwhoseherds—（manhadnourishedhimself）upontheherdsofthebison

3）manyalongcentury—manylongcenturies,onelongcenturyafteranother

e.g.manyatime,manyanotherhugebeast