Inspired by 湖畔呓语and his efforts to re-read NCE-4, I will start a similar journey, reading [i]The Story of Mankind [/i]and sharing my understanding of this great book with intermediate-level English learners. The focus, naturally, will falls on words, expressions, structures among others. Welcome to join us!
WE live under the shadow of a gigantic question mark.
Who are we?
Where do we come from?
Whither are we bound?
Slowly, but with persistent courage, we have been pushing this question mark further and further towards that distant line, beyond the horizon, where we hope to find our answer.
We have not gone very far.
We still know very little but we have reached the point where (with a fair degree of accuracy) we can guess at many things.
In this chapter I shall tell you how (according to our best belief) the stage was set for the first appearance of man.
If we represent the time during which it has been possible for animal life to exist upon our planet by a line of this length, then the tiny line just below indicates the age during which man (or a creature more or less resembling man) has lived upon this earth.
Man was the last to come but the first to use his brain for the purpose of conquering the forces of nature. That is the reason why we are going to study him, rather than cats or dogs or horses or any of the other animals, who, all in their own way, have a very interesting historical development behind them.
Words & Expressions gigantic: adj. very big, huge or enormous persistent: adj. refusing to give up or let go;
whither: adv. to what place, result, or condition
bound: adj. headed or intending to head in a specified direction bound for: on the way to, heading for. For example, This bus is bound for Broadway. It is also found in a well-known gospel hymn in which the singer is "bound for the land of Canaan." This phrase stems from the 12th-century meaning of bound as "ready" or "prepared."
horizon: n. 1. the apparent intersection of the earth and sky as seen by an observer. 2. the range of one's knowledge, experience, or interest
accuracy: n. precision; exactness
represent: v. to stand for; symbolize, indicate
indicate: v. to serve as a sign, symptom, or token of; signify