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1、Findingfossilman发现化石人Whyarelegendshandeddownbystorytellersuseful?Wecanreadofthingsthathappened5,000yearsagointheNearEast,wherepeoplefirstlearnedtowrite.Buttherearesomepartsofthewordwhereevennowpeoplecannotwrite.Theonlywaythattheycanpreservetheirhistoryistorec
2、ountitassagas一legendshandeddownfromonegenerationofanother.Theselegendsareusefulbecausetheycantellussomethingaboutmigrationsofpeoplewholivedlongago,butnonecouldwritedownwhattheydid.AnthropologistswonderedwheretheremoteancestorsofthePolynesianpeoplesnowlivingin
3、thePacificIslandscamefrom.ThesagasofthesepeopleexplainthatsomeofthemcamefromIndonesiaabout2,000yearsago.Butthefirstpeoplewhowerelikeourselveslivedsolongagothateventheirsagas,iftheyhadany,areforgotten.Soarchaeologistshaveneitherhistorynorlegendstohelpthemtofin
4、doutwherethefirst'modernmen1camefrom.Fortunately,however,ancientmenmadetoolsofstone,especiallyflint,becausethisiseasiertoshapethanotherkinds.Theymayalsohaveusedwoodandskins,butthesehaverottedaway.Stonedoesnotdecay,andsothetoolsoflongagohaveremainedwheneventhe
5、bonesofthemenwhomadethemhavedisappearedwithouttrace.参考译文我们从书籍中可读到5,000年前近东发生的事情，那里的人最早学会了写字。但直到现在，世界上有些地方，人们还不会书写。他们保存历史的唯一办法是将历史当作传说讲述，由讲述人一代接一代地将史实描述为传奇故事口传下来。人类学家过去不清楚如今生活在太平洋诸岛上的波利尼西亚人的祖先来自何方，当地人的传说却告诉人们：其屮一部分是约在2,000年前从印度尼西亚迁来的。但是，和我们相似的原始人生活的年代太久远了，因此，有
6、关他们的传说既使有如今也失传了。于是，考古学家们既缺乏历史记载，又无口头传说來帮助他们弄清最早的“现代人”是从哪里来的。然而，幸运的是，远古人用石头制作了工具，特别是用燧石，因为燧石较Z其他石头更容易成形。他们也可能用过木头和兽皮，但这类东西早已腐烂殆尽。石头是不会腐烂的。因此，尽管制造这些工具的人的骨头早已荡然无存，但远古吋代的石头工具却保存了下来。Sparethatspider不要伤害蜘蛛Howmuchofeachyeardospidersspendkillinginsects?Why,youmaywonde
7、r,shouldspidersbeourfriends?Becausetheydestroysomanyinsects,andinsectsincludesomeofthegreatestenemiesofthehumanrace・Insectswouldmakeitimpossibleforustoliveintheworld;theywoulddevourallourcropsandkillourflocksandherds,ifitwerenotfortheprotectionwegetfrominsect
8、-eatinganimals.Weowealottothebirdsandbeastswhoeatinsectsbutallofthemputtogetherkillonlyafractionofthenumberdestroyedbyspiders-Moreover,unlikesomeoftheotherinsecteaters,spidersneverdotheha
