Text 1

Ancient history

The history of our country and other countries began handreds of thousands years ego

In those far-off times there were no cities, no villages, no cultivated fields on our planet. Small groups of prehistoric people vandared about the woods. They had nothing but sticks and stones in their hands. No clothes, no dwellings.

History will tell you where and when people lived; how their labour transformed the face of the earths; how and why their mode of life gradually changed, and how it reached its present state. Ancient people worked hard to cultivate fields, lay roads and build cities. They made important discoveries and inventions. Many of them are still in use. Books, for instance, were created by the joint efforts of different peoples: paper was invented in China; ancient Greeks invented letters; the figures 1 to 10 came from India; books were bound for the first time in Italy.

Ancient history will tell you about the cruel exploitation of working people by the rich and how bravely the oppressed fought against their oppressors. You will learn about popular leaders, outstanding military commanders and famous scientists, about ancient legands and many other things.

How are scientist able to learn about the life of people who died thousand, even many hundreds of thousand years age?

Ansient people left material remains – things they had made and used. Some of these things still exiet. It is not easy to find them. They are usually deep under the earth. Many of of the things had bean put into graves with the dead.

Having discovered where ansient people lived or were buried, scientist begin excavations. By examining the articles unearted, they determine how people lived in those parts, what their occupations were, and what they were able to do. Scientist compane these objects made earlier with those of later periods, and discover in this way how the life of ancient people changed as time went by. Articles made by ancient people are called material remains.

The sciens studying people’s life on the basis of material remains is called archeology. It means «science of antiquities». Scientist carrying out excavations and studying material remaine are called archeologists. The material remains of the life ancient people are preserved and studied in museums.

Nearly 5,500 years ago people living in various countries invented alphabate and learnt to write. They described contemporary wente told about remarkable people of their time, and other matters. They have left much better and fuller material remaines than those who had no written language. Their writings are called writing remaines.

Key words and expressions

ansieent древний

prehistoric people первобытные люди

discoveries and inventions открытия и изобретения

joint efforts совместные усилия

material remaines вещественные источники (находки)

grave могила

excavations раскопки

writing remaines письменные источники

Words for active use

Ansient history, mode of life, prehistoric people, important discoveries and inventions, letters and figures, to carry out excavations, material and writing remaines, archeology.

Assignments

1. Find English equivalents in the text:

Сотни тысяч лет назад, далёкие времена, первобытные люди, бродить в лесах, палки и камни,

жилища, образ жизни, возделывать поля, изобретать, важные открытия и изобретения, жестокая экcплуатация, богатые и бедные, угнетатели, угнетённые, древние легенды, вещественные источники,

глубоко под землёй, сравнивать предметы, знать алфавит, письменные источники.

2. Suggest Russian equivalents to the following:

Cultivated fields, sticks and stones, labour transformed the face of the earth, by joint efforts of different peoples, outstanding military commanders, famous scientist, deep under the earth, be buried, the articles unearthed, material remains, science of antiquities, to carry out excavations, contemporary events remarkable people, to it inhabit in the past, to work hard, to describe smt.

3. Find historical terms in the text, pick them out.

4. Give definitions to the following:

Ancient History, archaeology, archaeologist, material remains, written remains, prehistoric people.

5. Read the text and find some sentences which are used in the Present, Past, or Future Indefinite Tense. Explain their usage.

Interpretation of the text

1. Answer the questions:

1. What period of time does Ancient History cover?

2. What were the most important states of the ancient world?

3. In what way did primitive people differ from us and from our contemporaries?

4. What was the main difference between primitive people and animals?

5. How did primitive people live?

6. What transformed the face of the earth?

7. How do scientists learn about the life of ancient people?

8. What is archaeology?

9. Who is an archaeologist?

10. What are material remains?

2. Divide the text into logically complete parts and find a sentence or two which cover the general idea of each passage (topical sentences).

3. Write compressed version of the text making use of topical sentences.

Topical conversation

1. Speak on the role of labour which transformed the face of the earth and the primitive people themselves.

2. Speak on the importance of archaeology as a science.

Text 2

The first calendar

Future historians will be in a unique position when they come to record the history of our own times. They will hardly know which facts to select from the great mass of evidence that steadily accumulates. What is more, they will not have to rely on the writ­ten word. Films, gramophone records and magnetic tapes will provide them with a bewildering amount of information. They will be able, as it were, to see and hear us in action. But the historian attempting, to reconstruct the distant past is always faced with a large task.

He has to deduce what he can from the few scanty clues available. Even insignificant remains can shed interesting light on the history of early man.

Up to now, historians have assumed calendars came into being with the advent of agriculture, for man was faced with a need to understand something about the seasons. Recent scientific evidence seems to indicate that this assumption is incorrect.

Historians were puzzled by dots, lines and symbols which have been engraved on walls, bones and the ivory tusks of mammoths. The nomads who made these markings lived by hunting and fishing during the lest Ice Age which began about 35,000 B.C. and ended by 10,000 B.C.By correlating markings made in some parts of the world historians have been able to read this difficult code. They found that it la connected with the passage of days and the phases of the moon. It is, in fact, a primitive type of calendar.It has long been known that the hunting scenes depleted on walls were not simple and

artistic expression. They had a definite meaning, they were as near as early man could get to writing. It is possible that there is a definite relation between these paintings and the markings that. , sometimes accompany them. It seems that man was making a real effort to understand the seasons 2O, OOO years earlier than was supposed.

Key words and expressions

B.C.(before Christ) дo нaшей эры

to record the history увековечивать историю

scientific evidence научное доказательство

to rely on полагаться на

to deduce делать заключение, проследить, установить происхождение

scanty clues скудные ключи к разгадке

available доступный

insignificant незначительный

to come into being появиться

the advent of agriculture возникновение сельского хозяйства

assumption предположение

to be puzzled by быть озадаченным, быть поставленным в тупик

to be engraved выгравированный, запечатлённыйй

ivory tusks of mammoth слоновые бивни мамонта

hunting scenes сцены охоты

a definite meaning определённое значение

to be faced with a task сталкиваться с задачей

Words for active use

To record the history, to select facts, scientific evidence, am attempt to reconstruct, available clues, insignificant remains, to shed interesting light, assumption, by hunting and fishing, markings and paintings.

Assignments