英语练习短文1

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1、Unit3HumansintheAmazon—ALong-LostHistoryComestoLight1TheAmazonrainforestisoneofthemostsignificantandlargelyintactecosystemsleftontheearth.Itisoftencharacterizedasanessentiallyuntouchednaturalenvironmentinwhichman'spresenceismerelysecondary.However,vastreachesofth

2、erainforesthavebeenlivedinandshapedbyhumanhandsforthousandsofyears. 2  TheAmazonRiverBasinboaststhelargestriversystemonEarthandharborsanecosystemthatistremendouslycomplex.EarlytravelersfromRenaissanceEuropewereoverwhelmedbytheirfirstencounters.In1531,FranciscoPiz

3、arrooverthrewtheIncanempire,removingtheemperorfromhisthroneandtakingforSpaintheIncanimperialtreasures.AdecadelaterhisyoungerbrotherventuredeastfromthehighplateauoftheAndesMountainsinpursuitofthefamouscitiesofgoldandspicesthoughttobehiddeninthejungleforest.Goingdo

4、wntherivertheexpeditionsoonexhausteditssuppliesandasmallgroupwassentaheadtosearchforfood.Eightmonthslater,thisgroupemergedatthemouthoftheAmazon,havingmadewhatwouldprovetobethefirstdescentofthelengthoftheriver. 3 Amissionarywhoaccompaniedthegroupsentaremarkableacc

5、ountoftheiradventurestothePope,includingmentionofthegreatsignaldrumsthatsoundedfromvillagetovillagefarinadvanceoftheirarrival,warningofthecomingoftheEuropeanstrangers.Hismanuscriptrecordsseeinginnumerablesettlementsalongtheriver—ononedaytheypassedmorethantwentyvi

6、llagesinsuccession,andsomeofthesearesaidtohavestretchedforsixmilesormore.Suchreportshaveintriguedscientistseversince,fortheydescribedensepopulationsandlargefederationsoftribeswhich,ifverified,wouldbeentirelyatoddswithmodernstereotypesofhidden,thinlyscatteredtribe

7、sscratchingoutanuncertainexistence.4   Beginninginthelateseventeenthcentury,thesuccessorstothefirstexplorersrecordedandcollectedmanyoftheeverydayobjectsfashionedfromwoodandotherorganicmaterialsthatusuallyrotinatropicalclimate.SuchcollectionshousedinEuropeanmuseum

8、spreservea"window"intoculturesthatweresoontoexperiencehugechangesbroughtaboutbyforeigndiseasesandcruelabuseatthehandsofEuropeans.5   Populationcollapseandmovem