首页
外语
计算机
考研
公务员
职业资格
财经
工程
司法
医学
专升本
自考
实用职业技能
登录
外语
(1)When does history begin? It is tempting to reply "In the beginning", but like many obvious answers, this soon turns out to be
(1)When does history begin? It is tempting to reply "In the beginning", but like many obvious answers, this soon turns out to be
admin
2017-10-17
92
问题
(1)When does history begin? It is tempting to reply "In the beginning", but like many obvious answers, this soon turns out to be unhelpful. As a great Swiss historian once pointed out in another connection, history is the one subject where you cannot begin at the beginning. If we want to, we can trace the chain of human descent back to the appearance of vertebrates, or even to the photosynthetic cells which lie at the start of life itself. We can go back further still, to almost unimaginable upheavals which formed this planet and even to the origins of the universe. Yet this is not "history".
(2)Commonsense helps here: history is the story of mankind, of what it has done, suffered or enjoyed. We all know that dogs and cats do not have histories, while human beings do. Even when historians write about a natural process beyond human control, such as the ups and downs of climate, or the spread of disease, they do so only because it helps us to understand why men and women have lived (and died) in some ways rather than others.
(3)This suggests that all we have to do is to identify the moment at which the first human beings step out from the shadows of the remote past. It is not quite as simple as that, though. We have to know what we are looking for first and most attempts to define humanity on the basis of observable characteristics prove in the end arbitrary and cramping, as long arguments about "apemen" and "missing links" have shown. Physiological tests help us to classify data but do not identify what is or is not human. That is a matter of a definition about which disagreement is possible. Some people have suggested that human uniqueness lies in language, yet other primates possess vocal equipment similar to our own; when noises are made with it which are signals, at what point do they become speech? Another famous definition is that man is a tool-maker, but observation has cast doubt on our uniqueness in this respect, too, long after Dr. Johnson scoffed at Boswell for quoting it to him.
(4)What is surely and identifiably unique about the human species is not its possession of certain faculties or physical characteristics, but what it has done with them—its achievement, or history, in fact. Humanity’s unique achievement is its remarkably intense level of activity and creativity, its cumulative capacity to create change. All animals have ways of living, some complex enough to be called cultures. Human culture alone is progressive: it has been increasingly built by conscious choice and selection within it as well as by accident and natural pressure, by the accumulation of a capital of experience and knowledge which man has exploited. Human history began when the inheritance of genetics and behavior which had until then provided the only way of dominating the environment was first broken through by conscious choice. Of course, human beings have always only been able to make their history within limits. These limits are now very wide indeed, but they were once so narrow that it is impossible to identify the first step which took human evolution away from the determination of nature. We have for a long time only a blurred story, obscure both because the evidence is poor and because we cannot be sure exactly what we are looking for.
According to the author, when should be regarded as the beginning of human history?
选项
A、The appearance of vertebrates.
B、The point when human beings consciously chose to do something.
C、The coming into being of the photosynthetic cells.
D、The origins of the universe.
答案
B
解析
末段第5句中的时间状语从句明确指出作者认为人类历史始于何时,选项B是对该从句的概括因此为本题答案。
转载请注明原文地址:https://kaotiyun.com/show/JNDK777K
0
专业英语四级
相关试题推荐
Fewpeopleexpectluxurywhileflying,butthesedays,eventhebasicsseemtobeinbadshape.It’snotuncommontofindyourt
Fewpeopleexpectluxurywhileflying,butthesedays,eventhebasicsseemtobeinbadshape.It’snotuncommontofindyourt
"Ifinditreallyattractivehowsuccessfulyouare,"mydatesaid,leaninginforakiss.Sure,itsoundslikealine.But
HowtoBuildYourVocabularyEffectivelyVocabularyisthefoundationoflearningalanguage.Withoutit,noneoftheskill
Withtherisksobviousandgrowing,acautiousperson______aninsurancepolicynow.
A、Mechanicaloperationofthebody.B、Absenceofdiseaseorillness.C、Physical,mentalandsocialwell-being.D、Cleanwater,im
MakeYourHolidaysMoreMeaningfulI.Whattodobeforetheholidayseason1)【T1】______aweeklycalendar【T1】______2)starteli
A、Sheisnotallowedtodiveagain.B、Shestillfreaksoutwhendiving.C、Shestillfeelsshamefulaboutthepast.D、Shecannot
A.organsB.beingchangedC.factD.processE.forF.rebornG.toH.shortenI.tochangeJ.recoveredK.ofL.oldM.length
(1)Logistically,itworkedoutbestformetoflyeastfromBostonLogantoLondonHeathrowtoTokyoNarita,atripwhichinvolv
随机试题
Therearemorethan40universitiesinBritain—nearlytwiceasmanyasin1960.During1960seightcompletelynewonesmorefoun
急性糜烂性胃炎的确诊应依据
《全国主体功能区规划》提出,综合利用好河北承德钒钛磁铁矿、冀东铁金矿、海南铁矿,整顿并合理开发利用()铁矿资源。
通路工程中常用的是()类基层。
某多层砖混住宅土方工程:1.土壤类别为三类土;基础为砖大放脚带形基础;垫层宽度为0.92mm;挖土深度为1.8m,弃土运距4km;挖土总长度1500m。2.投标人根据工程地质资料和施工图样确定施工方案。基础挖土工作面宽度各边为0.25m,放
审核输入凭证、记账、月末转账
清帝雍正朱批谕旨说:“山右(今山西)大约商贾居首,其次者犹肯力农,再次者谋人营伍,最下者方令读书。联所悉知,习俗殊可笑。”则关于该说法有误的是()。
科学家对76位心脏病患者进行了研究,他们分别采用“一名志愿者带一只狗前去探望病人”、“一名志愿者前去探望病人”以及“没有志愿者”三种方法分别测试这些病人的反应。结果发现第一种情况下病人的焦虑程度下降了24%,第二种情况下病人的焦虑程度只下降了10%,第三种
1947年7月至9月,在刘少奇主持下,中共中央工作委员会在河北平山县西柏坡召开全国土地会议,制定了()。
下列表述正确的是()。
最新回复
(
0
)