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.
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
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