“Chinese Joan of Arc, ” Qiu Jin (1875-1907) , was a women’s rights activist and the leader of revolutionary army. She fearlessly challenged traditional gender roles and demanded equal rights and
2 . We think of history as a time line — a series of events stretching thousands of years into the past. It’s time to think bigger. Instead of a line, imagine a web of endless connections interacting over billions of years, linked together to create everything we’ve ever known. From the clothes we wear to the rise and fall of empires (帝国) to the revolution of language, it’s the horse that links them all.
6, 000 years ago, the early people in central Asia spoke an ancient language known as “Proto-Indo-European.” Their words would eventually spread, change and develop, branching into French, Italian, Spanish, Greek Russian, Hindi, German, and English, giving us the languages spoken by nearly half the world. The reason is that these are the first people on earth to ride horses, which creates highway for their words.
2, 000 years ago, Romans traditionally wore tunics, but it’s hard to ride a horse in clothes like this. As Romans moved north to conquer the barbarians (野蛮人), they noticed their enemies wore something different into battle: pants. Pants are warmer and a lot more comfortable to wear on horsebacks The Roman army made the switch and soon so did men everywhere. Horses are a key reason why millions of people around the world wear pants.
For 6, 000 years, horses have been the primary way of conquering, making large empires possible. Horses helped Rome expand from Britain to North Africa. But why didn’t these enormous ancient empires grow even bigger? The evidence suggests a surprising theory that ancient empires have a size limit determined by the horse. If the borders of an empire are more than 14 days’ ride from the capital, it becomes a struggle to continue control. Speed of communications is essential for an empire. You must be able to get messages to and from the border within a reasonable time. If you can’t do that, you can’t respond to attacks.
On the scale of big history, it’s hard to think of any other mammal that’s had such an influence on human history as the horse.
1. What do we know about “Proto-Indo-European”?| A．It was the first language in the world. |
| B．It was spoken only by the horse riders. |
| C．It constructed a highway between France and Germany. |
| D．It developed into languages used by about half the world. |
| A．Ancient empires could grow as big as they wished. |
| B．Horses determined the location of empires’ capitals. |
| C．Horses had little impact on the expansion of ancient empires. |
| D．Timely messages are vital for ancient empires to keep control. |
| A．To express the author’s love for horses. |
| B．To introduce the development of clothes. |
| C．To provide a new way of looking at history. |
| D．To encourage the interaction between animals. |
