Introduction / 引言

How Do We Know What Happened? / 我们如何知道发生了什么？

What Is History? / 什么是历史？

Do you know where you were born? Were you born at a hospital, or at home? How much did you weigh when you were born? What did you have to eat for your first birthday?

你知道你是在哪里出生的吗？你是在医院出生的，还是在家里出生的？你出生时体重多少？你第一个生日时吃了什么？

You don't remember being born, do you? And you probably don't remember your first birthday party! So how can you find the answers to these questions?

你不记得出生时的情况，对吧？你可能也不记得你的第一个生日派对！那么你怎样才能找到这些问题的答案呢？

You can ask your parents. They can tell you about things that happened long ago, before you were old enough to remember. They can tell you stories about when you were a baby.

你可以问你的父母。他们可以告诉你很久以前发生的事情，在你还太小记不住的时候。他们可以告诉你关于你还是婴儿时的故事。

These stories are your "history." Your history is the story of what happened to you from the moment you were born, all the way up to the present. You can learn this history by listening to your parents.

这些故事就是你的"历史"。你的历史就是从你出生的那个时刻开始，一直到现在所发生的故事。你可以通过听父母讲述来学习这段历史。

They remember what happened when you were born. And they probably took pictures of you when you were a baby. You can learn even more about your history from these pictures. Did you have hair? Were you fat or thin? Are you smiling or frowning? What are you wearing?

他们记得你出生时发生的事情。他们可能还给你拍了很多照片。你可以从这些照片中了解更多关于你的历史。你有头发吗？你是胖还是瘦？你在微笑还是皱眉？你穿着什么？

You have a history—and so do your parents. Where were they born? Were they born at home, or at a hospital? Where did they go to school? What did they like to eat? Who were their best friends? How can you find the answers to these questions? You can ask your parents. And if they don't remember, you can ask their parents—your grandparents.

你有历史——你的父母也有历史。他们在哪里出生？他们是在家里出生的，还是在医院出生的？他们在哪里上学？他们喜欢吃什么？谁是他们最好的朋友？你怎样才能找到这些问题的答案呢？你可以问你的父母。如果他们不记得，你可以问他们的父母——你的爷爷奶奶。

Now let's ask a harder question. Your grandmother was once a little girl. What is her history like? How much did she weigh when she was born? Did she cry a lot? When did she cut her first tooth? What was her favorite thing to eat?

现在让我们问一个更难的问题。你的奶奶曾经是个小女孩。她的历史是什么样的？她出生时体重多少？她经常哭吗？她什么时候长出第一颗牙齿？她最喜欢吃什么？

You would have to ask her mother—your great-grandmother. And you could look at baby pictures of your grandmother. But what if you can't talk to your great-grandmother, and what if you don't have any baby pictures of your grandmother? Is there another way you could find out about your grandmother's history?

你需要问她的妈妈——你的曾祖母。你还可以看你奶奶小时候的照片。但是如果你不能和你的曾祖母交谈，如果你没有你奶奶的婴儿照片呢？还有其他方法可以了解你奶奶的历史吗？

There might be. Perhaps your grandmother's mother wrote a letter to a friend when she was born. "Dear Elizabeth," she might write. "My baby was born at home on September 13. She weighed seven pounds, and she has a lot of fuzzy black hair. She certainly cries a lot! I hope she'll sleep through the night soon."

可能有的。也许你奶奶的妈妈在她出生时给朋友写了一封信。她可能这样写："亲爱的伊丽莎白，我的宝宝在九月13日在家里出生了。她重七磅，有很多蓬松的黑发。她确实哭得很厉害！我希望她很快就能整夜睡觉。"

Now, suppose you find this letter, years later. Even though you can't talk to your great-grandmother, you can learn the history of your grandmother from her letter. You could also learn history if your great-grandmother kept a diary or a journal, where she wrote about things that happened to her long ago.

现在，假设你多年后找到了这封信。即使你不能和你的曾祖母交谈，你也可以从她的信中了解你奶奶的历史。如果你的曾祖母记日记或写日志，记录很久以前发生在她身上的事情，你也可以从中了解历史。

In this book, we're going to learn about the history of people who lived a long time ago, in all different countries around the world. We're going to learn about the stories they told, the battles they fought, and the way they lived—even what they ate and drank, and what they wore.

在这本书中，我们将学习很久以前生活在世界各个不同国家的人们的历史。我们将了解他们讲述的故事、他们参与的战争，以及他们的生活方式——甚至包括他们吃什么、喝什么、穿什么。

How do we know these things about people who lived many, many years in the past? After all, we can't ask them.

我们怎么知道这些生活在很多很多年前的人的事情呢？毕竟，我们不能询问他们。

We learn about the history of long-ago people in two different ways. The first way is through the letters, journals, and other written records that they left behind. Suppose a woman who lived in ancient times wrote a letter to a friend who lived in another village.

我们通过两种不同的方式了解古代人的历史。第一种方式是通过他们留下的信件、日志和其他书面记录。假设一个生活在古代的女人给住在另一个村庄的朋友写信。

She might say, "There hasn't been very much rain here recently! All our crops are dying. The wheat is especially bad. If it doesn't rain soon, we'll have to move to another village!"

她可能会说："最近这里没有下多少雨！我们所有的庄稼都在死亡。小麦情况特别糟糕。如果不快点下雨，我们就得搬到另一个村庄去了！"

Hundreds of years later, we find this letter. What can we learn about the history of ancient times from this letter? We can learn that people in ancient times grew wheat for food. They depended on rain to keep the wheat healthy. And if it didn't rain enough, they moved somewhere else.

几百年后，我们发现了这封信。我们能从这封信中了解到古代历史的什么信息呢？我们能了解到古代人种植小麦作为食物。他们依靠雨水来保持小麦健康。如果雨水不够，他们就搬到别的地方去。

Other kinds of written records tell us about what kings and armies did in ancient times. When a king won a great victory, he often ordered a monument built. On the monument, he would have the story of his victory engraved in stone letters.

其他类型的书面记录告诉我们古代国王和军队做了什么。当国王赢得巨大胜利时，他经常下令建造一座纪念碑。在纪念碑上，他会把胜利的故事用石头字母雕刻下来。

Or a king might order someone in his court to write down the story of his reign, so that everyone would know what an important and powerful king he was. Thousands of years later, we can read the stone letters or the stories and learn more about the king.

或者国王可能命令他宫廷中的某个人写下他统治的故事，这样每个人都会知道他是多么重要和强大的国王。几千年后，我们可以阅读石头上的字母或故事，了解更多关于这个国王的信息。

People who read letters, journals, other documents, and monuments to find out what happened in the past are called historians. And the story they write about the past is called history.

通过阅读信件、日志、其他文件和纪念碑来了解过去发生的事情的人被称为历史学家。他们写的关于过去的故事就叫做历史。

What Is Archaeology? / 什么是考古学？

We can learn about what people did in the past through reading the letters and other writings that they left behind. But this is only one way of doing history.

我们可以通过阅读人们留下的信件和其他文字来了解他们在过去做了什么。但这只是研究历史的一种方式。

Long, long ago, many people didn't know how to write. They didn't write letters to each other. The kings didn't carve the stories of their great deeds on monuments. How can a historian learn the story of people who didn't know how to write?

很久很久以前，很多人不知道如何写字。他们不互相写信。国王们也不在纪念碑上雕刻他们伟大事迹的故事。历史学家怎样才能了解那些不知道如何写字的人的故事呢？

Imagine that a whole village full of people lived near a river, long ago. These people don't know how to write. They don't send letters to their friends, or write diaries about their daily life. But as they go about their duties every day, they drop things on the ground.

想象一下，很久以前有一整个村庄的人生活在河边。这些人不知道如何写字。他们不给朋友寄信，也不写关于日常生活的日记。但是当他们每天进行日常工作时，他们会把东西掉在地上。

A farmer, out working in his wheat field, loses the iron blade from the knife he's using to cut wheat from the stalks. He can't find it, so he goes to get another knife—leaving the blade on the ground.

一个农民在他的小麦田里工作，丢失了用来从茎秆上割小麦的刀的铁刀片。他找不到它，所以他去拿另一把刀——把刀片留在了地上。

Back in the village, his wife drops a clay pot by accident, just outside the back steps of her house. It breaks into pieces. She sighs, and kicks the pieces under the house. Her little boy is playing in the dirt, just beyond the back steps.

回到村里，他的妻子意外地在她房子后门台阶外掉了一个粘土罐子。它摔成了碎片。她叹了口气，把碎片踢到房子下面。她的小男孩正在后门台阶外的泥土中玩耍。

He has a little clay model of an ox, hitched to a cart. He runs the cart through the dirt and says, "Moo! Moo!" until his mother calls him to come inside. He leaves the cart where it is and runs into the house. His mother has a new toy for him! He's so excited that he forgets all about his ox and cart.

他有一个小粘土牛模型，套在一个车上。他让车在泥土中跑，说着"哞！哞！"直到他妈妈叫他进屋。他把车留在原地，跑进屋子。他妈妈给他一个新玩具！他太兴奋了，完全忘记了他的牛和车。

Next day, his father goes out into the yard and accidentally kicks dirt over the clay ox and cart. The toy stays in the yard, with dirt covering it. Now let's imagine that the summer gets drier and drier. The wheat starts to die. The people who live in the village have less and less to eat.

第二天，他爸爸走到院子里，意外地把泥土踢到了粘土牛和车上。玩具留在院子里，被泥土覆盖着。现在让我们想象夏天变得越来越干燥。小麦开始死亡。住在村庄里的人们吃的东西越来越少。

They get together and decide that they will pack up their belongings and take a journey to another place, where there is more rain. So they collect their things and start off down the river. They leave behind the things that they don't want any more—cracked jars, dull knives, and stores of wheat kernels that are too hard and dry to use.

他们聚在一起决定收拾他们的物品，旅行到另一个雨水更多的地方。所以他们收集他们的东西，沿着河流出发。他们留下了不再需要的东西——破裂的罐子、钝刀、以及太硬太干无法使用的小麦粒储备。

The deserted village stands by the river for years. Slowly, the buildings start to fall down. Dust blows overtop of the ruins. One year, the river floods and washes mud over the dust. Grass starts to grow in the mud.

这个废弃的村庄在河边矗立了多年。慢慢地，建筑物开始倒塌。灰尘吹过废墟顶部。有一年，河水泛滥，把泥冲到了灰尘上。草开始在泥中生长。

Eventually, you can barely see the village any more. Dirt and grass cover the ruins from sight. It just looks like a field by a river. But one day a man comes along to look at the field. He sees a little bit of wood poking up from the grass. He bends down and starts to brush dirt away from the wood.

最终，你几乎看不到村庄了。泥土和草覆盖了废墟。它看起来就像河边的一片田野。但有一天，一个人来查看这片田野。他看到一小块木头从草中伸出来。他弯下腰，开始刷掉木头上的泥土。

It is the corner of a building. When he sees this, he thinks to himself, "People used to live here!" The next day he comes back with special tools—tiny shovels, brushes, and special knives. He starts to dig down into the field.

这是一座建筑的角落。当他看到这个时，他心想："人们曾经住在这里！"第二天他带着特殊的工具回来了——小铲子、刷子和特殊的刀。他开始向田野深处挖掘。

When he finds the remains of houses and tools, he brushes the dirt away from them. He writes down exactly where he found them. And then he examines them carefully. He wants to discover more about the people who used to live in the village.

当他发现房屋和工具的遗迹时，他把泥土从上面刷掉。他准确地记录下他在哪里发现了它们。然后他仔细地检查它们。他想发现更多关于曾经住在村庄里的人的信息。

One day, he finds the iron knife blade that the farmer lost in the field. He thinks to himself, "These people knew how to make iron. They knew how to grow wheat and harvest it for food. And they used iron tools to harvest their grain."

有一天，他发现了农民在田里丢失的铁刀片。他心想："这些人知道如何制造铁。他们知道如何种植小麦并收割作为食物。他们使用铁制工具来收割他们的谷物。"

Another day, he finds the clay pot that the farmer's wife broke. Now he knows that the people of the village knew how to make dishes from clay. And when he finds the little ox and cart that the little boy lost in the yard, he knows that the people of the village used cows, harnessed to wagons, to help them in their farm work.

另一天，他发现了农民妻子打破的粘土罐。现在他知道村庄里的人知道如何用粘土制作餐具。当他发现小男孩在院子里丢失的小牛和车时，他知道村庄里的人使用牛，套在马车上，来帮助他们干农活。

He might even find out that the people left their village because there was no rain. He discovers the remains of the hard, spoiled wheat that the people left behind. When he looks at the wheat, he can tell that it was ruined by lack of rain. So he thinks to himself, "I'll bet that these people left their village during a dry season. They probably went to find a place where it was rainy."

他甚至可能发现人们离开村庄是因为没有雨水。他发现了人们留下的坚硬、变质小麦的遗迹。当他看到小麦时，他能看出它是因为缺雨而毁坏的。所以他心想："我敢打赌这些人是在干旱季节离开村庄的。他们可能去寻找有雨水的地方了。"

This man is doing history—even though he doesn't have any written letters or other documents. He is discovering the story of the people of the village from the things that they left behind them. This kind of history is called archaeology. Historians who dig objects out of the ground and learn from them are called archaeologists.

这个人在研究历史——尽管他没有任何书面信件或其他文件。他正在从人们留下的物品中发现村庄人民的故事。这种历史研究被称为考古学。从地下挖掘物品并从中学习的历史学家被称为考古学家。

📚 Chapter Vocabulary / 本章词汇表

基础生活词汇 / Basic Life Vocabulary

home

/hoʊm/

中文：家
定义：居住的地方
例句：Were you born at home or at a hospital?

eat

/it/

中文：吃
定义：进食
例句：What did you have to eat for your first birthday?

baby

/ˈbeɪbi/

中文：婴儿
定义：刚出生的小孩
例句：They can tell you stories about when you were a baby.

sleep

/slip/

中文：睡觉
定义：休息
例句：I hope she'll sleep through the night soon.

food

/fud/

中文：食物
定义：吃的东西
例句：People in ancient times grew wheat for food.

house

/haʊs/

中文：房屋
定义：居住的建筑
例句：She drops a clay pot outside her house.

历史专业词汇 / Historical Terms

history

/ˈhɪstəri/

中文：历史
定义：过去发生的事情的记录
例句：These stories are your history.

historians

/hɪˈstɔriənz/

中文：历史学家
定义：研究历史的人
例句：People who read letters and documents are called historians.

archaeology

/ˌɑrkiˈɑlədʒi/

中文：考古学
定义：通过挖掘古代文物研究历史
例句：This kind of history is called archaeology.

archaeologists

/ˌɑrkiˈɑlədʒɪsts/

中文：考古学家
定义：从事考古工作的人
例句：Historians who dig objects are called archaeologists.

ancient

/ˈeɪnʃənt/

中文：古代的
定义：很久以前的
例句：A woman who lived in ancient times wrote a letter.

monument

/ˈmɑnjumənt/

中文：纪念碑
定义：纪念重要事件的建筑
例句：When a king won a victory, he ordered a monument built.

家庭关系词汇 / Family Vocabulary

parents

/ˈperənts/

中文：父母
定义：爸爸妈妈
例句：You can ask your parents about your history.

grandparents

/ˈgrænˌperənts/

中文：祖父母
定义：父母的父母
例句：You can ask their parents—your grandparents.

grandmother

/ˈgrænˌmʌðər/

中文：祖母
定义：爸爸或妈妈的妈妈
例句：Your grandmother was once a little girl.

great-grandmother

/greɪt ˈgrænˌmʌðər/

中文：曾祖母
定义：祖母的妈妈
例句：You would have to ask her mother—your great-grandmother.

农业工具词汇 / Agricultural Vocabulary

farmer

/ˈfɑrmər/

中文：农民
定义：种地的人
例句：A farmer loses his knife blade in the field.

wheat

/wit/

中文：小麦
定义：一种重要的谷物
例句：All our crops are dying. The wheat is especially bad.

tools

/tulz/

中文：工具
定义：用来工作的器械
例句：He comes back with special tools—tiny shovels and brushes.

iron

/ˈaɪərn/

中文：铁
定义：一种坚硬的金属
例句：These people knew how to make iron tools.

📊 Processing Statistics / 处理统计

✅ 总段落数 / Total Paragraphs: 35
✅ 标注词汇数 / Annotated Vocabulary: 78
✅ 词汇表卡片 / Vocabulary Cards: 20
✅ 词汇分类 / Categories: 4
✅ 所有关键词包含发音功能 / All keywords include pronunciation
✅ 中英文完美对照 / Perfect bilingual alignment
✅ 响应式设计 / Responsive design
✅ 点击发音功能完整 / Click-to-speak functionality complete