The World at a Glance 按图索骥看世界



　　Ages ago, people had little knowledge of faraway lands. Unless1 one had traveled abroad, or spoken with someone who had, places beyond the horizon2 remained a mystery.3 The invention of maps, however, allowed people to hold the whole world in their hands.



　　The oldest maps are clay discs made by the Babylonians around 2300 B.C. They depict4 the world as a flat disc, which shows that the Babylonians thought the earth was flat. Exactly why these maps were made, however, remains unclear to scientists. Later Babylonian maps show streams, valleys, and the layout of towns.



　　The ancient Greeks were the first people to realize that the earth is round. The Greek geographer Ptolemy’s map of the world clearly reflects5 this belief. On his map, the surface of the earth is convex. The map even includes lines of latitude and longitude.



　　Before the invention of printing, maps like Ptolemy’s were rare and expensive because they had to be hand drawn. These early maps were also geographically inaccurate.6 North and South America were missing, and unknown regions were filled with drawings of sea monsters.









The World at a Glance图中世界

　　很久很久以前，人们对于远方的土地所知不多。除非亲自出国旅行，或者和有出国经验的人交谈过，不然地平线另一端的世界对他们而言依旧是个谜。不过，地图的发明使人们得以一手掌握世界的脉络。



　　世界上最古老的地图约在公元前2300年由巴比伦人以泥版制成。他们将世界描绘成一个平面的圆盘，这也显示出巴比伦人认为地球是平的。然而，当初制作地图的确切目的是什么，科学家仍然不清楚。晚期的巴比伦地图标示了河流、山谷以及城镇的分布。



　　古希腊人最先认识到地球是圆的，希腊地理学家托勒密制作的世界地图清楚地反映出这个观念。在他的地图上，地球表面呈圆凸状。这张地图甚至包含了经线和纬线。



　　印刷术发明以前，类似托勒密所制的地图很少见，而且价格不菲，因为当时的地图必须以手工绘制。这些早期的地图就地理学的角度而言并不精确。譬如北美和南美并没有出现在地图上，而在当时尚未为人所知的地区则用海怪的图画代替。



　　Vocabulary



　　1.unless conj. only if (used to talk about what will happen if sth. else does not happen first) 除非



　　Unless the bank lends me money, I won’t be able to pay my college tuition.



　　除非银行肯借我钱，不然我就交不起大学学费了。



　　2.horizon n. the visible line at which the sky and the earth meet 地平线



　　Every evening, Josh enjoys watching the sun sink below the horizon.



　　每天傍晚，乔许喜欢看着太阳缓缓没入地平线。



　　3.mystery n. sth. that is unexplained 谜；神秘不可解的事物



　　Why Bob is acting so strangely is a mystery to me.



　　我完全无法理解为什么鲍伯的行为举止这么怪异。



　　4.depict v. to show sth. in a certain way; to portray 描绘；描写



　　The painting Mona Lisa depicts a young lady from a wealthy family.



　　《蒙娜丽莎》这幅画所描绘的是一位出身显贵的少妇。



　　5.reflect v. to show the characteristics or nature of sb./sth. 表现；反映



　　Cheryl’s willingness to help the poor reflects her kindness.



　　雪柔乐意帮助穷人，此举表现出她的仁慈。



　　6.inaccurate adj. incorrect; giving wrong information 不准确的；不正确的



　　The president is still alive, so reports of his death were inaccurate.



　　总统依然健在，因此有关他已经死亡的报导都是不正确的。



　　More Information 仅供参考，不须强记



　　1.layout n. 配置；排列



　　2.convex adj. 凸圆的；凸面的



　　3.latitude n. 纬度(longitude为经度)

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