In the world in which we live today, a man may be one thing but appear to be another. This was impossible in Indian society. An Indian's name told the world what he was - a coward, a liar, a thief, or a brave.
When I was young, every Indian had at least three names during his lifetime. His first name was given to him at birth. It described something that had happened at that time.
Each Indian was supposed to keep his birth name until he was old enough to earn money for himself. But his friends would always give him a name of their own. No matter what his parents called him, his childhood friends would use the name they had chosen.
The Indian earned his real name when he was old enough for his first fight against the enemy. His life name depended on how he acted during this first battle. When he returned he would be given his tribal name by the chief. If he had done well, he would be given a good name. But if he had done poorly, he might be given a bad name.
A man was given many chances to improve his name, however. If in a later battle he was very brave in fighting against the enemy, he was given a better name. Some Indians had as many as twelve names - all good and each better than the last.
All names given to one Indian belonged to him for the rest of his life. No one else could use them. Even he himself could not give them away. This was because no man could pass on his name unless the chief and the tribe asked him to do so.
According to passage, Indian names were important because they ______.
A．described the character of a man
B．described the appearance of a man
C．were never used by other people
D．told us his profession
The hunter-gatherer tribes that today live as our prehistoric【M1】______human ancestors con
The hunter-gatherer tribes that today live as our prehistoric 【M1】______
human ancestors consume primarily a vegetable diet supplement- 【M2】______
ing with animal foods. An analysis of 58 societies of modern
hunter-gatherers, including the Kung of southern Africa, re-
vealed that one-half emphasize gathering plant foods, one-third
concentrate on fishing, and only one-sixth are primarily hunters.
Overall, two-thirds and more of the hunter-gatherer's calories 【M3】______
come from plants. Detailed studies of the Kung by the food sci-
entists at the University of London showed that gathering isa
more productive source of food than is hunting. An hour of hunt-
ing yields in average about 100 edible calories, 【M4】______
as an hour of gathering produces 240. Plant foods provide 【M5】______
for 60 percent to 80 percent of the Kung diet, and no one goes 【M6】______
hungry when the hunt fails. Interestingly, if they escape fatal in-
fections or accidents, these contemporary aborigines live to old
ages despite of the absence of medical care. They experience no 【M7】______
obesity, no middle-aged spread, little dental decay , no high
blood pressure, no heart disease, and their blood cholesterol lev-
els are very low (about half of the average American adult). 【M8】______
If no one is suggesting that we return to an aboriginal life style, 【M9】______
we certainly could use their eating habits as a model for healthier 【M10】______
diet.
【M1】
Aristotle, the Greek philosopher, summed up the four chief qualities of money 2,000 years ago. It must be lasting and easy to recognize, to divide, and to carry about. When we think of money today, we picture it either as round, flat pieces of metal which we call coins, or as printed paper notes. But there are still parts of the world today where coins and notes are of no use .A traveler there might starve if he had none of the particular ‘ local money ’.
Among isolated peoples ,who are not often reached by traders from outside ,commerce usually means barter ,which is a direct exchange of goods .Perhaps it is fish for vegetables or meat for baskets .For this kind of simple trading, money is not needed ,but there is often something that everyone wants ,such as salt to flavor food, shells for necklaces ,or iron and copper to make into tools. These things — salt ,shells or metals — are still used as money in out-of-the-way parts of the world today.
Salt may seem rather a strange material to use as money ,but in countries where the food of the people is mainly vegetables ,it is often an absolute necessity .Cakes of salt ,stamped to show their value ,were used as money in Tibet until recent times, and they can still buy goods in parts of Africa.
Cowrie seashells have been used as money at some time or another over the greater part of the Old World. These were collected mainly from the beaches of the Maldive Islands in the Indian Ocean ,and were traded to India and China. In Africa ,cowries were traded right across the continent from East to West .Four or five thousand went for one Maria Theresa dollar ,an Australian silver coin which was once accepted as currency (货币) in many parts of Africa.
Metal was used as money in many parts of the world .Iron ,in lumps ,bars or rings is still used in many countries instead of money .It can either be exchanged for goods ,or made into tools or weapons. The early money of China ,apart from shells ,was of bronze ,often in flat ,round pieces with a hole in the middle ,called ‘ cash ’.The earliest of these are between three thousand and four thousand years old — older than the earliest coins of the eastern Mediterranean.
Nowadays ,coins and notes have supplanted nearly all the more picturesque forms of money ,and although in one or two of the more remote countries people still store it for future use ,primitive money will soon be found only in museums.
1.Nowadays we think of money as() .
A.pieces of metal or metallic paper
B.made of either metal or paper
C.some printed notes and papers
D.round and flat sheets of paper
2.In some parts of the world a traveler might go hungry() .
A.even if his money was of the local kind
B.even if he had no coins or notes
C.if he did not know the local rate of exchange
D.even if he had plenty of ready money
3.What can we infer from the passage？
A.Isolated peoples exchange goods by means of barter.
B.Salt cakes are taking the place of picturesque forms.
C.Seashells could be traded with Maria Theresa dollars.
D.The Chinese were among the earliest users of metal ‘ cash ’.
4.Primitive types of money will be used ().
A.to replace more picturesque forms
B.as exhibits to be shown in public
C.at local country markets and shops
D.as entrance tickets in museums
