To write his own medical text, Li Shizhen referenced over 800 medical texts, countless books on history and geography, and works of literature. He even studied the complete works of many ancient poets, from
After over a decade of field research, Li
Since its first publication in 1596, the book
Today, there are a
A Stone Age bird sculpture uncovered in China could be a “missing link” in our understanding of prehistoric art. Dating back almost 13,500 years, the sculpture is now the oldest known example of three-dimensional art in East Asia.
Described
3 . Jacob and Wilhelm Grimm were two young men from Germany who loved a good story. As university students, they became interested in folktales-traditional stories that people memorized and told again and again. They began to collect traditional folktales from storytellers a over Germany in order to record old German poems and to preserve history. Many were similar to stories told in France, Italy, Japan, and other countries. Between 1812 and 1814, the brothers published two books in German. The collections became known in English as Grimm’s Fairy Tales. It includes some 200 stories, most of which were adopted from oral sources. The best-known tales include “Snow White,” “Little Red Riding Hood,” and “Sleeping Beauty”.
The Grimm brothers’ tales reflected traditional life and beliefs. For example, forests are common in Germany, and this image often appears in the Grimms’ stories. In the past, many people believed forests were dangerous places. In the Grimms’ stories, a forest is the home of evil witches (女巫), talking animals, and other magical beings.
Although most people today think of these stories as fairy tales for children, the brothers first wrote them mainly for adults. Many of their early tales were dark and a little scary. Later, the brothers changed the text of some of the original stories. They “softened” many of the tales and added drawings. Ims made them more appropriate for children. Like the early tales, though, each story still has a moral (道德准则): work hard, be good, and listen to your parents.
The Grimms believed that the most natural and pure forms of culture were based in language and history. Their work influenced other collectors, both inspiring them to collect tales and leading them to similarly believe that the fairy tales of a country were particularly typical of it.
1. What can we know about the Grimm brothers’ tales according to the text?| A．They were originally intended for children. |
| B．They were rewritten to be brighten and less frightening. |
| C．They were collected from stories around the world. |
| D．They were taken from written books of storytellers. |
| A．Traditional life and beliefs. | B．German language and history. |
| C．Magical forests and animals. | D．Famous people and stories. |
| A．A museum guidebook. | B．A social report. |
| C．A book review. | D．A culture magazine. |
Chang’an Tower, also known as the Great Wild Goose Pagoda, is an architectural wonder
Rising to a
Whether it is for experiencing a piece of history
5 . Although literacy appeared independently in several parts of the prehistoric world, the earliest evidence of writing is the cuneiform Sumerian script on the clay tablets of ancient Mesopotamia, which, archaeological detective work has revealed, had its origins in the accounting practices of commercial activity. Researchers demonstrated that preliterate people, to keep track of the goods they produced and exchanged, created a system of accounting using clay tokens as symbolic representations of their products. Over many thousands of years, the symbols evolved through several stages of abstraction until they became wedge-shaped (cuneiform) signs on clay tablets, recognizable as writing.
The original tokens were three-dimensional solid shapes — tiny spheres, cones, disks, and cylinders. A debt of six units of grain and eight head of livestock, for example, might have been represented by six conical and eight cylindrical tokens. To keep batches of tokens together, an innovation was introduced whereby they were sealed inside clay envelopes that could be broken open and counted when it came time for a debt to be repaid. But because the contents of the envelopes could easily be forgotten, two-dimensional representations of the three-dimensional tokens were impressed into the surface of the envelopes before they were sealed. Eventually, having two sets of equivalent symbols — the internal tokens and external markings — came to seem redundant, so the tokens were eliminated, and only solid clay tablets with two-dimensional symbols were retained. Over time, the symbols became more numerous, varied, and abstract and came to represent more than trade commodities, evolving eventually into cuneiform writing.
The evolution of the symbolism is reflected in the archaeological record first of all by the increasing complexity of the tokens themselves. The earliest tokens, dating from about 10,000 to 6,000 years ago, were of only the simplest geometric shapes. But about 3500 B.C.E., more complex tokens came into common usage, including many naturalistic forms shaped like miniature tools, furniture, fruit, and humans.
1. Which of the following is NOT mentioned about clay envelopes?| A．They contained batches of tokens. | B．They could be reused frequently. |
| C．They had markings on the outside. | D．They could be used to record debts. |
| A．Later tokens were made of many different materials, but earlier ones were made only of clay. |
| B．Later tokens often looked like the commodities that they represented, but earlier ones did not. |
| C．Later tokens represented agricultural products, but earlier ones represented finished products. |
| D．Later tokens were based on pictographs, but earlier ones were based on naturalistic forms. |
| A．Sumerian script, the earliest known form of writing among prehistoric writing systems, was first used on clay tablets for accounting purposes. |
| B．Although the earliest Sumerians engaged in commercial activity and practiced accounting, they were not as literate as people in other parts of the prehistoric world. |
| C．Archaeologists have discovered that literacy was developed in several parts of the world, including ancient Mesopotamia. |
| D．Archaeological detective work has revealed the commercial accounting practices of the Sumerians of ancient Mesopotamia and provided a written record of their intense commercial activity. |
| A．Evidence of the Earliest Writing | B．A long history of tokens |
| C．Evolution of the symbolism | D．Origins of the symbols |
Delicate, shining, and soft to the touch. The fabric called silk
The style and texture (质地) of silk are
In the Western Han Dynasty (206 BC—AD 24), with Zhang Qian
As one of the wonders of ancient China, silk is not merely a type of fabric but a cultural symbol and a representative of elegance.
Emperor Qinshihuang united the seven major states into one
Written Chinese has also become an important
Recently, a new exhibition building at the Sanxingdui Museum in Guanghan, Sichuan province, has become an immediate tourist hot spot. The exhibits show the mysterious culture
Tan Ping, one of the producers of Hello Sanxingdui, says it is important
China is well-known for its long and amazing civilization. Many factors make it possible, one of
Starting as a picture-based language, written Chinese dates back several thousand years to the use of longgu—animal bones and shells with
Written Chinese also serves as a great way
As China is becoming stronger and more powerful, recently, the number of international students learning Chinese
Recently, a new exhibition building at the Sanxingdui Museum in Guanghan, Sichuan province, has become an immediate tourist hot spot. The exhibits show the mysterious culture
For those who cannot make
Tan Ping, one of the producers of Hello Sanxingdui, says it is of great importance to inform the public about archaeological
