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Lesson 1
Findingfossilman 发现化石人
Firstlistenandthenanswerthefollowingquestion.
听录音，然后回答以下问题。
Whyarelegendshandeddownbystorytellersuseful?
Wecanreadofthingsthathappened 5,000 yearsagointheNearEast, wherepeoplefirstlearnedtowrite. Buttherearesomepartsofthewordwhereevennowpeoplecannotwrite. Theonlywaythattheycanpreservetheirhistoryistorecountitassagas -- legendshandeddownfromonegenerationofanother. Theselegendsareusefulbecausetheycantellussomethingaboutmigrationsofpeoplewholivedlongago, butnonecouldwritedownwhattheydid. AnthropologistswonderedwheretheremoteancestorsofthePolynesianpeoplesnowlivinginthePacificIslandscamefrom. ThesagasofthesepeopleexplainthatsomeofthemcamefromIndonesiaabout 2,000 yearsago.
Butthefirstpeoplewhowerelikeourselveslivedsolongagothateventheirsagas, iftheyhadany, areforgotten. Soarchaeologistshaveneitherhistorynorlegendstohelpthemtofindoutwherethefirst 'modernmen' camefrom.
Fortunately, however, ancientmenmadetoolsofstone, especiallyflint, becausethisiseasiertoshapethanotherkinds. Theymayalsohaveusedwoodandskins, butthesehaverottedaway. Stonedoesnotdecay, andsothetoolsoflongagohaveremainedwheneventhebonesofthemenwhomadethemhavedisappearedwithouttrace.