Unit 57

For 30 years, Smithsonian Institution archeologist Dennis Stanford searched in vain for the origins of the first Americans. Every textbook described how mammoth-hunters from Siberia had migrated across the Bering land bridge about 12,000 years ago and had slowly wandered south and east until they filled the New World. In each of their settlements, this theory held, the original Americans left their calling cards: distinctively shaped spear points named after the site in Clovis, N.M., where the stone tips were first unearthed. If this account was right, Stanford reasoned, then Siberia should be littered with similar points. But not a single Clovis point has turned up in Siberia. And now Stanford has a radical new proposal to explain why. Clovis people, he thinks, came from Europe--arriving 15,000 years before Columbus, and by boat. "They were from Iberia, not Siberia," Stanford told startled colleagues at an archeology conference last month.

 

Debate over a European connection has dogged anthropology in recent months, though until now no one of Stanford's stature had stated it so un-equivocally and publicly. But the similarities between the oddly shaped stone points of Clovis and the European culture called Solutrean strongly suggest this conclusion, say Stanford and colleague Bruce Bradley. Moreover, tools recently found beneath Clovis-era layers at a dig in Cactus Hill, Va.--about where European itinerants could have first landed--also resemble Solutrean artifacts. The Solutrean theory poses similar questions to those raised by Kennewick Man, the 8,400-year-old skeleton found in Washington state in 1996 and initially called European by an anthropologist. A new federal study to help determine whether K-Man's remains should be turned over to local tribes just concluded that the body looked more Asian than European, though not Siberian. But it didn't match any modern Indian tribe, a finding that Indians see as the latest scheme to deny tribes the right to repatriate and rebury such remains.

 

Native Americans aren't the only ones dismayed by the Euro theory. Solutrean expert Lawrence Straus, an anthropology professor at the University of New Mexico, dismisses the resemblance between the spear points as an instance of two cultures' arriving at a similar idea independently. "This is a classic case of convergence," says Straus. "And it's not even a tricky case." Moreover, Solutrean culture ended 17,000 years ago, at least 5,000 years before the first evidence of Clovis culture. And there is no evidence that Solutreans had the requisite boats to paddle across the North Atlantic.

 

Many scientists grumble that Stanford should publish his findings in peer-reviewed journals be-fore talking in public. Stanford promises to publish soon, but in the meantime, he says, "I'm trying to get people to think more broadly." No argument there.

 

注（1）：本文选自Newsweek; 11/15/99, p71；

注（2）：本文习题命题模仿对象2004年真题Text 4

 

1.       What does Stanford think of the origins of the first Americans?

 

[A]He thinks that the first Americans came from Clovis, N.M.

[B]He agrees with the common idea that the first Americans came from Siberia.

[C]He thinks that the first Americans came from Europe.

[D]He thinks that it was people from Iberia who first invented the boat and came to America.

 

2.We can learn from the text that Indian tribes regard the results of the federal study as _______.

 

[A]a tricky scheme

[B]convincing enough

[C]a cute trap

[D]unreasonable

 

3. The views of Lawrence Straus and Stanford are _________.

 

[A]identical

[B]similar

[C]complementary

[D]opposite

 

4.According to Lawrence Straus, the spear points __________.

 

[A]show the products makers came from the same culture

[B]do not show any connection between the two cultures

[C]are not the products of the different inhabitants

[D]show the resemblance of the two different cultures

 

5.Which of the following statement is true?

 

[A]K-Man's remains helped to certify Stanford’s assertion.

[B]The first Americans came from Europe by boat.

[C]Anthropologists fail to make such a certain statement as Stanford.

[D]It was the Indian tribes’ rights to rebury the K-Man's remains.

 

答案：CADBC

 

篇章剖析

本文结合古时候遗留下来的矛形刀头，就美国人最早起源问题展开了论述。第一段指出考古学家史丹福对美国人起源问题的新发现；第二段指出史丹福和他的同事的具体看法；第三段指出梭鲁特文化研究专家的不同看法；第四段指出史丹福对同行的抱怨做出的解释。

 

词汇注释

rage[reIdV]vi.大怒, 狂吹, 风行,大流行

sift through v.被筛下, 通过

spear point矛型刀头

shibboleth[5FIbEleW]n.口令

Smithsonian Institution  史密森学会

archeologist[9B:kI`ClEdVIst]n.考古学家

in vain  adv.徒然

mammoth[ `mAmEW ]n.[古生]猛犸, 毛象, 庞然大物

migrate[maI5^reIt; (?@) 5maIgreIt]vi.移动, 移往, 移植, 随季节而移居, (鸟类的)迁徙

unearth[Qn5\:W]v.掘出

radical[5rAdIk(E)l]adj.根本的, 基本的, 激进的

Iberia[aI`bIErIE]n.古西班牙, 伊比利亚

dog[dR^; (?@) dC:^]vt.跟踪, 尾随；困饶，折磨

stature[5stAtjE(r)] n.身高, 身材, (精神、道德等的)高度

Solutrean[ sE`ljU:trIEn ]adj.梭鲁特期的,梭鲁特文化的

VA   abbr. Virginia. 弗吉尼亚

itinerant[aI5tInErEnt]n.巡回者

artifact[5B:tIfAkt]n.人造物品

repatriate[ri:`pAtrIeIt,-`peI-]v.遣返

dismiss sth as sth 对某事物不予理会或不屑一提

convergence[ kEn`v\:dVEns ]n.集中, 收敛

requisite[5rekwIzIt]adj.需要的, 必不可少的, 必备的

paddle[5pAd(E)l]vi.划桨, 戏水, 涉水

grumble[5^rQmb(E)l]vi.抱怨, 发牢骚, 咕哝, 嘟囔, 隆隆响

 

难句突破

The Solutrean theory poses similar questions to those raised by Kennewick Man, the 8,400-year-old skeleton found in Washington state in 1996 and initially called European by an anthropologist.

主体句式：The theory poses similar questions to those …

结构分析：本句是一个简单句。主语是“the Solutrean theory”，谓语是“poses”，宾语是“questions”；在这里需要注意一个词组“similar to”，意思是“与…相似，类似”；“those”后省去了“questions that were”；“8,400-year-old skeleton”是“Kennewick Man”的同位语；“found”和“called”都是谓语动词，前面省去了“which was”; “found in Washington state in 1996 and initially called European by an anthropologist”做定语共同来修饰“skeleton”。

句子译文：梭鲁特学说提出的问题同肯纳威克人引发的问题近似。肯纳威克人是1996年在华盛顿州发现的具有8，400年历史的人类遗骨，一位人类学家最先称之为欧洲人。

 

题目分析

1.答案为C，属事实细节题。从文中“If this account was right, Stanford reasoned, then Siberia should be littered with similar points. But not a single Clovis point has turned up in Siberia.”我们可看出史丹福并不赞同教科书里对美国人最早起源的描写；原文对应信息是“Clovis people, he thinks, came from Europe”。

2.答案为A，属事实细节题。原文对应信息是“a finding that Indians see as the latest scheme to deny tribes the right to repatriate and rebury such remains”。印第安人认为这是剥夺他们要回并重新埋葬遗骨的权利而耍弄的诡计。

3.答案为D，属事实细节题。原文对应信息是“Solutrean expert Lawrence Straus, an anthropology professor at the University of New Mexico, dismisses the resemblance between the spear points as an instance of two cultures' arriving at a similar idea independently.”劳伦斯·史特劳斯认为这只是两种文化独立发展达到近似想法的一个实例，它们之间并没有任何联系。这种观点同史丹福的观点是完全相反的。

4.答案为B，属事实细节题。原文对应信息是“… dismisses the resemblance between the spear points as an instance of two cultures' arriving at a similar idea independently.”可参考试题三的分析。

5.答案为C，属事实细节题。原文对应信息是“Debate over a European connection has dogged anthropology in recent months, though until now no one of Stanford's stature had stated it so un-equivocally and publicly.”，虽然最近几个月来人类学研究一直没有停止争论同欧洲之间的关系，但是到现在为止，还没有人能达到史丹福的思想高度来如此清楚、公开地阐述这一论点。

 

参考译文

三十年来，“史密森学会”的考古学家丹尼斯·史丹福一直寻找美国人的最早起源，结果都是一无所获。所有的教科书记述的都是猛犸猎人在大约12，000年以前如何从西伯利亚越过白令陆桥一路迁徙，缓慢而无目的地朝南、朝东行进，最终占据了这块新大陆。这种学说认为，在每一块居住地，这些早期的美国人都留下了他们的“名片”：以新墨西哥州的克洛维斯地名来命名的形状特殊的矛型刀头。这些石尖就是在这里被挖掘出来的。史丹福是这样推理的：如果这种解释正确的话，那么在西伯利亚也应该留有同样的尖头。但是在西伯利亚连一块克洛维斯尖头都没有发现。史丹福现在提出了一个全新的建议来解释其原因。他认为克洛维斯人来自欧洲——他们比哥伦布早15，000年到达这里，而且他们是乘船来的。“他们来自伊比利亚，而不是西伯利亚。”在上个月的考古学大会上史丹福是这样告诉他吃惊的同行的。

 

虽然最近几个月来人类学研究一直没有停止争论同欧洲之间的关系，但是到现在为止，还没有人能达到史丹福的思想高度来如此清楚、公开地阐述这一论点。但是这种奇形怪状的克洛维斯石尖同被称为梭鲁特文化的欧洲文化之间的相似点有力地说明了这一结论，史丹福和他的同事布鲁斯·布莱德利是这样认为的。而且，最近在弗吉尼亚的仙人掌山——这里可能是那群流动的欧洲人最先登陆的地方——克洛维斯纪元层下面发现的用具也同梭鲁特时期的制造物相类似。梭鲁特学说提出的问题同肯纳威克人引发的问题近似。肯纳威克人是1996年在华盛顿州发现的具有8，400年历史的人类遗骨，一位人类学家最先称之为欧洲人。一项新的帮助决定是否应该把肯纳威克人遗骨交还给当地部落的联邦研究刚刚才得出以下结论：尽管遗骨也不是西伯利亚人,但是它看起来更像亚洲人，而不是欧洲人。它和任何一个现代的印第安人部族都不相符。印第安人把这一发现看作是想要剥夺部落要回并重新安葬遗骨的权利而玩弄的最新伎俩。

 

并不单单只是印第安人对这一欧洲学说感到沮丧。梭鲁特文化研究专家劳伦斯·史特劳斯是新墨西哥大学的人类学教授。他对矛型刀头之间存在的相似之处不予理会，认为这只是两种文化独立发展达到近似想法的一个实例。“这是一个典型的趋同现象，”史特劳斯说，“这个事例不算棘手。”而且，梭鲁特文化在17，000年前结束，至少在能证明克洛维斯文化出现前5，000年就已结束了。并且也没有证据显示梭鲁特人拥有必备的船只可以划过北大西洋。

 

很多科学家都抱怨说史丹福应该把他的研究成果先在供同行评阅的刊物上登载，然后再公之于众。史丹福答应很快就会发表，但同时他是这样说的：“我想让人们思路更开阔些。”这点是不可争辩的。