Question

If we are asked exactly what we were doing a year ago, we should probably have to say that we could not remember. But if we had kept a book and had written it in an account(陳述) of what we did each day, we should be able to give an answer to the question.

It is the same in history. Many things have been forgotten because we don’t have written account of them. Sometimes men did keep a record of the important happenings in their country, but it was often destroyed(破壞) by fire or in a war. Sometimes there was never any written record at all because the people of that time and place did not know how to write. For example, we know a great deal about the people who lived in China 4,000 years ago, because they could write and leave written records for those who lived after them. But we know almost nothing about the people who lived even 200 years ago in central Africa because they had not learnt to write.

Sometimes, even if the people cannot write, they may know something of the past. They have heard about it from older people and often songs and dances and stories have been made about the most important happenings, and those have been sung and acted and told for many generations(代), for most people are proud to tell what their fathers did in the past. This we may call “remembered history”. Some of it has been written history because words are much more easily changed when used again and again in speech than when copied in writing. But where there are no written records, such spoken stories are often helpful.

1.Which of the following ideas is NOT included in the passage?

A. “Remembered history” is less reliable (可靠的) than written history.

B. Written records of the past play an important role in our learning of the human history.

C. A written account of our daily activities helps us to be able to answer many questions.

D. If there are no written records, there is no history.

2.We know very little about the central Africa 200 years ago because ________.

A. there was nothing worth writing down at that time

B. the people there paid no attention to the importance of keeping a record

C. the written records were perhaps destroyed by fire

D. the people there did not know how to write

3.“Remembered history” is considered as valuable only when ________.

A. it is written down B. there is no written account

C. it proves to right D. people are interested in it

4.The passage suggests(暗示) that we could have learnt much more about our past than we do now if the ancient people had ________.

A. kept a record of every past event

B. not burnt their written records in wars

C. told the exact stories of the most important happenings

D. made more songs and dances

Answer 1