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高级英语视听说教程3 文本 unit1、2、3、4

APPENDIX A: AUDIOSCRIPTS

Unit One

Chapter 1

Anthropology:

The Evolution of Human Endeavor

Anthropology: The Study of Human Beings and Their Creations

oA. Orientation Listening Script

The Greek word for "man" is "anthropos" and the word anthropology has been in the English language for centuries. But just what does the word mean? Literally anthropology means "the study of man." How- ever, as British philosopher Alfred North Whitehead noted, "It is a well- founded historical generalization that the last thing to be discovered in any science is what the science is really about." And as Paul Bohannan, renowned anthropologist, pointed out a number of years ago, "Each science that deals with people has its own definitions of human. An Economist," he explains, "defines a human as a choice-making animal. Philosophers define man as a rationalizing animal. . . ." Anthropology attempts to be all-inclusive-the study of human behavior in all places and throughout time. It specializes in the description of humanistic, sci- entific, biological, historical, psychological, and social views of humans. To paraphrase Barbara Miller's statement in her textbook, Cultural Anthropology, the popular impression of anthropology is basedmainly on movies and television shows that depict anthropologists as adven- turers and heroes. Some do have adventures and discover treasures in Egyptian tombs and elsewhere, but mostly, their work is less glam- orous and involves repetitive and tedious activities. Until around the middle of the nineteenth century, anthropology was a term used for all humanists. My lecture today explains the fields and branches of anthropology. We're going to begin by stating that anthropology is the study of human behavior in all places and at all times.

Western civilization takes credit for the development of anthropol- ogy, which, as a matter of fact, was a relatively late science. Earlier Greek and Roman philosophers were more interested in speculating about the ideal society rather than describing those known to them. After the onset of the Age of Exploration, which included the discovery of the Americas, as well as travel to other distant places, the study of non-Western people began in earnest. In modern day, anthro- pology is a recognized social science with two broad fields and several branches or subfields.

The two broad fields are physical anthropology and cultural anthropology. Let me give you a brief description of each. Physical anthropology is concerned with the development of man as a mammal. Related subjects are anatomy, biology, and paleontology. Physical an- thropologists study the evolution of the human species. One way they

do this is by the comparative analysis of fossils-preserved remnants

132 APPENDIX Aof oncelliving creatures and living primates, which include human beings or Homo sapiens. Common fossils are shells, bones, and molds

or imprints. These are found buried in the earth or permanently frozen

in glaciers. Living primates are analyzed in order to study the mechan-

ics of evolution and genetic differences among human populations.

Next let's talk about cultural anthropology. This field is the study

of learned behavior in human societies. Most cultural anthropologists

limit themselves to a few geographic areas, for example, Margaret

Mead in Samoa and New Guinea, and Clyde Kluckhohn with the

Navajo Indians in the Southwestern United States. I should mention

that Kluckbohn's work Mirror for Man is considered one of the best in- troductions to anthropology. Cultural anthropology and the scientific

study of human culture will be discussed in more detail in our next

lecture. The subfields of cultural anthropology are archaeology, linguis-

tics, and ethnography.

Archaeology is the study of different cultures through material

sources rather than direct interviews or observations of the group

under study. One example of a famous archaeological site discovered

in the past century was King Tut's Tomb near Luxor, Egypt, in 1922. Linguistics, as you probably know, is the study of language as com-

munication among humans. Culture is learned and transmitted

primarily through language.

Ethnography is the systematic description of human societies,

mostly based on firsthand fieldwork. Based on ethnographies, anthro-

pologists provide ethnologies or explanations of the behavior of differ-

ent peoples. A second subfield of ethnography is social anthropology.

Social anthropology is concerned with people as social beings. A

related subject is, of course, sociology.

Let me also mention briefly psychological anthropology, which

deals with human personality and feelings. These are greatly influ-

enced by an individual's biological and mental characteristics, as well

as physical surroundings and personal experiences. Related subjects are psychology and psychiatry.

It is important to note that there are several universals common

among all societies; for example, the basic similarities in human biol-

ogy and the existence of two sexes. Another of these is education-

either formal or informal or both. Education is necessary to provide the

young with the skills and attitudes needed to carry on as adults.

So, you might ask, what are the practical applications for such a

broad field? The answer is that anthropology helps us plan the future and

helps us contribute to the solution of human problems. This newest area

of the study of man is applied anthropology. Formerly, anthropology was

limited to the academic field. Anthropologists were teachers or museum

curators. But for the past several decades large numbers of "anthro" grad-

uates have been employed in fields such as urban planning and adminis-

tration, health care, and international development. Most important is

that although anthropologists have taken up the task of documenting the

processes and changes of cultures past and present, they also provide the

necessary insights into where the human species is heading.

AUDIOSCRIPTS 133Chapter 1 Anthropology: The Study of Human Beings and Their Creations oB. Listening and Notetaking Script

The Greek word for "man" is "anthropos" and the word anthropology

has been in the English language for centuries. But just what does the

word mean? Literally anthropology means "the study of man." How-

ever, as British philosopher Alfred NorthWhitehead noted, "It is a well-

founded historical generalization that the last thing to be discovered in

any science is what the science is really about." And as Paul Bohannan,

renowned anthropologist, pointed out a number of years ago, "Each

science that deals with people has its own definitions of human. An

Economist," he explains, "defines a human as a choice-making animal.

Philosophers define man as a rationalizing animal.. .." Anthropology at-

tempts to be all-inclusive-the study of human behavior in all places

and throughout time. Itspecializes in the description of humanistic, sci-

entific, biological, historical, psychological, and social views of humans.

Let's review some of the information you just heard to help you

with your notetaking. Check your notes and fill in any information

you didn 't have time to take down the first time you heard it. If you

didn't get a chance to write down all that you wanted to write

down, did you at least make some notations so that you could

review the notes later and complete the missing information. Let's

see. The lecturer began with the Greek word for man. Did you get

the spelling of anthropos! It's a-n-t-b-t-o-p-o-s. So what is the meaning

of anthropology! Literally, it is the study of man. What was the

name of the British philosopher! Did you get his full name! Alfred

North Whitehead. What was his message about science! He said the

last thing to be discovered in any science is what it is really about.

Is Paul Bohannan a physical or social anthropologist! You're correct

if you wrote social. Now let's return to the lecture.

To paraphrase Barbara Miller's statement in her textbook, Cultural

Anthropology, the popular impression of anthropology is based mainly

on movies and television shows that depict anthropologists as adven-

turers and heroes. Some do have adventures and discover treasures in

Egyptian tombs and elsewhere, but mostly, their work is less glam-

orous and involves repetitive and tedious activities. Until around the

middle of the nineteenth century, anthropology was a term used for all

humanists. My lecture today explains the fields and branches of

anthropology. We're going to begin by stating that anthropology is the

study of human behavior in all places and at all times.

Western civilization takes credit for the development of anthropol-

ogy, which, as a matter of fact, was a relatively late science. Earlier

Greek and Roman philosophers were more interested in speculating

about the ideal society rather than describing those known to them.

What year did Barbara Miller publish Cultural Anthropology?

Was it 1899 or 1999! According to her, what is the impression of

anthropology based on! How are anthropologists depicted! Prior to

134 APPENDIX Athe 1850s what was the term "anthropology" used for! What is the lecturer's definition! Who takes credit for the development of an-

thropology! What were the ancient philosophers interested in! Is

this information in your notes! Now let's continue.

After the onset of the Age of Exploration, which included the dis -

covery of the Americas, as wcll as travel to other distant places, the

study of non-Western people began in earnest. In modern day, anthro-

pology is a recognized social science with two broad fields and several

branches or subfields.

The two broad fields are physical anthropology and cultural

anthropology. Let me give you a brief description of each. Physical

anthropology is concerned the development of man as a mammal.

Related subjects are anatomy, biology, and paleontology. Physical an- thropologists study the evolution of the human species. One way they

do this is by the comparative analysis of fossils-preservcd remnants

of once-living creatures and living primates, which include human

beings or Homo sapiens. Common fossils are shells, bones, and molds

or imprints. These arc found buried in the earth or permanently frozen

in glaciers. Living primates are analyzed in order to study the mechan-

ics of evolution and genetic differences among human populations.

What was the period of travel and discovery ofnewplaces called!

Did you write down the phrase: the Age ofExploration! Do you have

the descriptions of the two main branches of anthropology! What are

the related subjects of physical anthropology! What are fossils! Did

you take down three kinds that were mentioned! What was another

word formolds! Where are fossils found! Check your notes.

Next let's talk about cultural anthropology. This field is the study of

learned behavior in human societies. Most cultural anthropologists limit themselves to a few geographic areas, for example, Margaret Mead in

Samoa and New Guinea, and Clyde Kluckhohn with the Navajo Indians

in the Southwestern United States. I should mention that Kluckhohn's

work Mirror for Man is considered one of the best introductions to anthropology. Cultural anthropology and the scientific study of human

culture will be discussed in more detail in our next lecture. The subfields

of cultural anthropology are archaeology, linguistics, and ethnography. Archaeology is the study of different cultures through material

sources rather than direct interviews or observations of the group

under study. One example of a famous archaeological site discovered

in the past century was King Tut's Tomb near Luxor, Egypt, in 1922. Linguistics, as you probably know, is the study of language as communication among humans. Culture is learned and transmitted primarily through language.

Ethnography is the systematic description of human societies,

mostly based on firsthand fieldwork. Based on ethnographies, anthro- pologists provide ethnologies or explanations of the behavior of different peoples. A second subfield of ethnography is social anthropol- ogy. Social anthropology is concerned with people as social beings. A related subject is, of course, sociology.

AUDIOSCRIPTS 135Unit One

Chapter 2

Let me also mention briefly psychological anthropology, which

deals with human personality and feelings. These are greatly influ- enced by an individual's biological and mental characteristics, as well

as physical surroundings and personal experiences. Related subjects are psychology and psychiatry.

There were a lot of details in this part of the lecture. Let 's back-

track a bit. Let me spell the last names of the two anthropologists

just mentioned. Margaret Mead-that 's M-e-a-d-and Clyde

Kluckhohn-K-l-u-c-k-h-o-h-n. Did you write down the three

subfields of cultural anthropology that the speaker mentioned!

They were archaeology, linguistics, and ethnography. To save time,

you can check the spelling later. Note the mention of psychologi-

cal anthropology. What is it concerned with! What are the related subjects! Nowlet's see what the speaker talks about next.

It is important to note that there are several universals common

among all societies, for example, the basic similarities in human biol- ogy and the existence of two sexes. Another of these is education- either formal or informal or both. Education is necessary to provide the young with the skills and attitudes needed to carry on as adults.

So, you might ask, what are the practical applications for such a

broad field? The answer is that anthropology helps us plan the future and helps us contribute to the solution of human problems. This newest area of the study of man is applied anthropology. Formerly, anthropology was limited to the academic field. Anthropologists were teachers or museum curators. But for the past several decades large numbers of "anthro" grad- uates have been employed in fields such as urban planning and adminis- tration, health care, and international development. Most important is that although anthropologists have taken up the task of documenting the processes and changes of cultures past and present, they also provide the necessary insights into where the human species is heading.

What were the universals mentioned! What are the practical

applications of the field! Where did we mostly find cultural

anthropologists in the past! Did you take down all the job areas

mentioned! What were they! Right-urban planning, health care,

and international development. Finally, according to the lecturer,

what valuable insight does the anthropologist provide!

Anthropology:

The Evolution of Human Endeavor

The Concept of Culture: Understanding One Another

QA. Orientation Listening Script

Let me begin the lecture today by asking, "What exactly is culture?"

This question has been approached by anthropologists in many differ-

ent ways. Murdock, for example, in Outline of World Cultures,

136 APPENDIX Aproduced what many have called the ultimate laundry list of things cultural by naming 900-odd categories of human behavior. I won't

attempt to go into these at this time. Another less lengthy list is the

famous "grocery list" of Edward B. Tyler. He wrote, "Culture

is that complex whole which includes knowledge, belief, art, morals,

custom, and any other capabilities and habits acquired by man as a

member of society." But another definition of culture that many find

useful is, "the totality of learned, socially transmitted behavior." Obvi-

ously this definition leaves out much if we feel obligated to include all

the ways of life that have been evolved by people in every society.

A particular culture, then, would mean the total shared way of life

of a given group. This would include their ways of thinking, acting, and

feeling as reflected in their religion, iaw, language, art, and customs, as

well as concrete things such as houses, clothing, and tools. Cultural

anthropology is the study of cultures-living and dead. In its totality,

it includes linguistics, the study of speech forms, archaeology (the

study of dead cultures), and ethnology, which is the study of living cul-

tures or those that can be observed directly.

Why study cultural anthropology? One reason noted by Ruth Bene-

dict, another well-known anthropologist, is that the story of humanity

from the Stone Age to the present is such a fascinating one of cultural

growth. Interestingly, every society has gone through three stages or

steps of cultural growth. These are savagery, barbarism, and finally,

civilization. The last is, of course, to varying degrees.

We are often reminded of another compelling reason to learn about

different cultures-to learn and use a foreign language effectively. Most

of us realize that just knowing the language of another culture is not

enough for meaningful communication. You can ask anyone who has

tried to use their high school Spanish inside a Spanish-speaking country.

Ned Seelye, in his 1993 book Teaching Culture, lists six skills to

nurture and support intercultural communication:

Number 1: Cultivate curiosity about another culture and empathy toward its members.

Number 2: Recognize that different roles and other social variables such as age, sex, social class, religion, ethnicity, and place of resi- dence affect the way people speak and behave.

Number 3: Realize that effective communication requires discov- ering the culturally conditioned images of people when they think, act, and react to the world around them.

Number 4: Recognize that situational variables and conventions shape people's behavior in important ways.

Number 5: Understand that people generally act the way they do because they are exercising the options their society allows for satisfying basic physical and psychological needs.

And, finally, number 6: Develop the ability to evaluate the truth of

a generalization about the target culture and to locate and organize AUDIOSCRIPTS 137Chapter 2

information about the target culture from books, mass media, peo- ple, and personal observations.

Culture and society must coexist. Without living together people cannot create a culture or way of life. If a group or society is small, isolated, and stable, it might also share a single culture. For example, think of the Tasaday, allegedly a Stone Age people in the Philippine rain forest, who were discovered by anthropologists back in 1971. A side note is that due to their supposed isolation, they had no weapons or known words in their language for "enemy" or "war." In your read- ing after the lecture, you'll learn more about the Tasaday and the con- troversy surrounding them up to the present time.

It is important to remember, however, that large societies, such as those in Canada, the United States, India, or Egypt, are multicultural or "pluralist" societies. They also tend to have many subcultures. In the long history of human life, multiculturalism is a fairly recent phe- nomenon. Those of us in multicultural environments must remember that discovering similarities among people from different cultures is as important as identifying differences. For example, in classrooms on just about every university campus in the world, we find students from many different social and ethnic backgrounds. What are some of the "universals" that you and other international students have all experi- enced in your earlier educational life?

One common universal is that all cultures use rewards and punish- ments to encourage correct behavior. Another example is that societies withhold certain information from the young. This might include faults in our leaders or sexual taboos. A third universal is the effort by the controlling group in a culture to educate the young to strengthen and secure its dominant position. In the majority of contemporary so-

cieties this control is reached through political means in contrast to

the military actions of earlier times, such as the Roman Conquests and

the Moorish invasions.

In closing this lecture on societies and culture, let me remind you

not to forget the contributions of thoughts and actions of the individ-

ual person in a group. Note the observation of Edward Sapir, another

famous anthropologist: "It is always the individual that really thinks

and acts and dreams and revolts." Obviously the concept of culture

will be argued by anthropologists for years to come.

The Concept of Culture: Understanding One Another

nB. Listening and Notetaking Script

Let me begin the lecture today by asking, "What exactly is culture?"

This question has been approached by anthropologists in many differ-

ent ways. Murdock, for example, in Outline of World Cultures.

produced what many have called the ultimate laundry list of things

cultural by naming 900-odd categories of human behavior. I won't

attempt to go into these at this time. But another less lengthy list is

138 APPENDIX Athe fakous "groccry listII of Edward B. Tyler. He wrote, "Culture is that complex whole which includes knowledge, belief, art, morals, cus-

tom, and any other capabilities and habits acquired by man as a mem-

ber of society.II Another definition of culture that many find useful is,

lithe totality of learned, socially transmitted behavior. II Obviously this

definition leaves out much if we feel obligated to include all the ways

of life that have been evolved by people in every society.

The lecturer has given us a lot of information and a lot to think

about in these opening lines. How many categories did George P.

Murdock name in his book! Did you get the name of the book! It

was Outline of World Cultures. What did she call Tyler's definition

of culture!

A particular culture, then, would mean the total shared way of life

of a given group. This would include their ways of thinking, acting, and

feeling as reflected in their religion, law, language, art, and customs, as

well as concrete things such as houses, clothing, and tools. Cultural

anthropology is the study of cultures-living and dead. In its totality,

it includes linguistics, the study of speech forms, archaeology (the

study of dead cultures), and ethnology, which is the study of living

cultures or those than can be observed directly.

Why study cultural anthropology? One reason noted by Ruth Bene-

dict, another well-known anthropologist, is that the story of humanity

from the Stone Age to the present is such a fascinating one of cultural

growth. Interestingly, every society has gone through three stages or

steps of cultural growth. These are savagery, barbarism, and finally,

civilization. The last is, of course, to varying degrees.

We are often reminded of another compelling reason to learn about

different cultures-to learn and use a foreign language effectively.Most of us realize that just knowing the language of another culture is not enough for meaningful communication. You can ask anyone who has tried to usc their high school Spanish inside a Spanish-speaking country. Did you get the three. steps of cultural growth or development!

They are savagery, barbarism, and civilization. Savagery is a form

of primitive behavior; barbarism refers to an uncivilized condi-

tion. To the Greeks and Romans, it was a term for foreigners. Civi- lization is social organization with government and cultural complexity. The learning of a foreign language was mentioned

next. Did you iot down the phrase, "meaningful communication"!

Ned Seelye, in his 1993 book Teaching Culture, lists six skills to nurture and support intercultural communication:

Number 1: Cultivate curiosity about another culture and empathy toward its members.

Remember to use abbreviations to keep up with the lecturer.

For example culture can be shortened to cult. That 's c-u-l-t period.

As the lecture continues you should get better at developing your

own system. It's important, however, that you have no problem understanding your abbreviations.

AUDIOSCRIPTS 139140 APPENDIXA

Number 2: Recognize that different roles and other social variables such as age, sex, social class, religion, ethnicity, and place of resi- dence affect the way people speak and behave.

Number 3: Realize that effective communication requires discov-

ering the culturally conditioned images of people when they think, act, and react to the world around them.

Number 4: Recognize that situational variables and conventions

shape people's behavior in important ways.

Number 5: Understand that people generally act the way they do because they are exercising the options their society allows for satisfying basic physical and psychological needs.

And, finally, number 6: Develop the ability to evaluate the truth of

a generalization about the target culture and to locate and organize information about the target culture from books, mass media, peo- ple, and personal observations.

In writing down the six points in your notes did you use abbre- viations and omit many of the unnecessary structure words such

as the articles the, a or an? In the first rule did you write down the

key words : curiosity; empathy, other cultures. Let me summarize

the others:

Rule 2: Recognize different roles and behavior determined by

sex, age, social class, religion, ethnicity, place of residence.

Rule 3: Effective communication requires knowing how to

recognize how and why people think, act, and react to the

world around them.

Rule 4: Situation variables and conventions or customs shape

people's behaviotin important ways.

Rule 5: People in different societies act they way they do

because of the options their society offers them.

And Rule 6: We must learn to get at the truth about the target

culture we are trying to understand. Books, mass media,

people, and personal observation are all used in this process.

Let's continue with the lecture.

Culture and society must coexist. Without living together people

cannot create a culture or way of life. If a group or society is small,

isolated, and stable, it might also share a single culture. For example,

think of the Tasaday, allegedly a Stone Age people in the Philippine

rain forest, who were discovered by anthropologists back in 1971. A

side note is that due to their supposed isolation, they had no weapons

or known words in their language for "enemy" or "war." In your read-

ing after the lecture, you'll learn more about the Tasaday and the con-

troversy surrounding them up to the present time.IWhat did the lecturer say is necessary for a group or society to

have one culture! She mentioned theymust be small, isolated, and

stable. In what year were the Tasaday people discovered in the

Philippines! Right, it was in 1971. The lecturer said they had no

weapons or words for enemy or war. Let 's be sure to spell Tasaday

correctly: It 's 'I-a-s-a-d-a-y . Let's hear more of the lecture.

It is important to remember, however, that large societies such as

those in Canada, the United States, India, or Egypt, are multicultural

or "pluralist" societies. They also tend to have many subcultures. In

the long history of human life, multiculturalism is a fairly recent phe-

nomenon. Those of us in multicultural environments must remember

that discovering similarities among people from different cultures is as

important as identifying differences. For example, in classrooms on

just about every university campus in the world, we find students from

many different social and ethnic backgrounds. What are some of the

"universals" that you and other international students have all experi-

enced in your earlier educational life?

One common universal is that all cultures use rewards and punish-

ments to encourage correct behavior. Another example is that societies

withhold certain information from the young. This might include

faults in our leaders or sexual taboos. A third universal is the effort by

the controlling group in a culture to educate the young to strengthen

and secure its dominant position. In the majority of contemporary

societies this control is reached through political means in contrast to

the military actions of earlier times, such as the Roman Conquests and

the Moorish invasions.

The last topic was multicultural or pluralistic societies. There

were several countries given as examples. Did you write them

down! They were Canada , the United States, India, and Egypt.

Did you abbreviate the names! But after mentioning multicul- turalism the lecturer discussed universals-in other words, things

that are common to different people all over the world. What were

the three examples! First, she said we all use rewards and punish- ments to encourage correct behavior. The second universal was

that we hold back certain information from our young people. Let's repeat the examples. They include weaknesses or faults in our political leaders and sexual taboos. The third was that the people

in power or in control use education to strengthen and secure their own security and position. Now let's hear the rest of the lecture.

In closing this lecture on societies and culture, let me remind you

not to forget the contributions of thoughts and actions of the individ- ual person in a group. Note the observation of Edward Sapir, another famous anthropologist: "It is always the individual that really thinks and acts and dreams and revolts." Obviously the concept of culture will be argued by anthropologists for years to come.

Let me repeat the words of Edward Sapii-i-that's S-a-p-i-r: He

said, "It is always the individual that really thinks and acts and AUDIOSCRIPTS 141UnitlWo

Chapter 3

dreams and revolts." Did you write down individual-s-tbinks,

acts, dreams, revolts! Do you understand what anthropologists

(Did you abbreviate this wotdl} will continue to argue about! History:

The Passing of TIme and Civilizations

The Egyptian Pyramids: Houses of Eternity

g A. Orientation Listening Script

To many people throughout the world, some of the most remarkable and puzzling monuments of ancient times are the pyramids of ancient Egypt. You know, almost nothing at all remains of the great cities of the kings of Egypt, the pharaohs. Time and weather have been really hard on ancient Egypt's cities and towns, but several of the temples, statues, and, most important of all, the pyramids have survived. Even though many of the pyramids are in ruins, they still give us some idea of the magnificence of ancient Egypt's civilization-a civilization that, after all, lasted for more than 3,000 years. Remember, when we're talk- ing about ancient Egypt, we're talking about at least thirty consecutive dynasties. A dynasty is a series of kings or queens of the same royal family-something like the Romanovs of Europe, the Ming dynasty of China, or the Al-Sauds of Saudi Arabia.

As many of you probably already know, the pyramids were con-

structed as tombs or burial places for the Egyptian kings and their fam-

ily members. You see, the ancient Egyptians passionately believed in

life after death. IIIfact, their entire culture revolved around that belief.

The kings, queens, and state officials often spent an entire lifetime

preparing for their life after death. They did this by collecting posses-

sions or "grave goods," by building tombs, and so forth. The Egyptians

believed that they could be assured of an afterlife only if their bodies

could be preserved from decay or destruction. So when a person died,

and especially when a pharaoh died, in order to ensure his etemallife,

he had his body embalmed or mummified. In other words, he had his

corpse dried out and wrapped in linen to preserve it from decay. Then

he had his mummy hidden. This whole idea may seem quite strange

today, but the ancient Egyptians really believed that if one's mummy

was destroyed, then his or her soul would be destroyed, and if, on the

other hand, the mummy-the dead body-was preserved, the soul

would be immortal. Let me repeat that. If one's mummy was

preserved, the soul would go on living.

For another thing, the ancient Egyptians believed that the dead per-

son could take his or her earthly possessions along to the next world-

this is just the opposite of theWestern idea that "you can't take it with

you when you go." Anyway, the dead person was provided with food,

clothing, furniture, weapons, and even servants. It was not at all

142 APPENDIX Aunusual for the pharaoh's slaves to be put to death so that they could serve him in his afterlife.

So you can see why the pharaohs wanted to have their bodies and

their possessions hidden to protect them from grave robbers. Before

they died, they had special tombs built for this purpose-to hide their

bodies and their treasures. In the early years of ancient Egypt, these

tombs were the pyramids-the vast burial chambers that were built to

fool the grave robbers. Unfortunately, the grave robbers almost always

outsmarted even the most powerful and the most careful of pharaohs.

They broke into most of the pyramids or tombs and stole the food and

other treasures they found. They even desecrated and destroyed the

mummies of the dead. Needless to say, they would not bother a poor

person's grave. These grave robbers even banded together into organi-

zations or brotherhoods. Just imagine, 'a grave robbers' union!

Now, as for the actual construction of the mighty pyramids, it was

during the First and Second Dynasties that the kings and nobles of

Egypt began to construct the type of tomb called the "mastaba." The

First and Second Dynasties lasted from about 3100 until 2665 B.C.E.

Mastaba, by the way, comes from an Arabic word meaning "bench" or

"long seat." A mastaba looked like a low, flat-topped rectangle-

something like a low bench or a shoebox. Essentially, the pointed

pyramid was no more than an extension upward of the flat-topped mastaba.

The first "typical" pyramid (or, at least what most people generally

think a pyramid looks like) was built during the Third Dynasty (which lasted roughly from about 2664 until 2615 B.C.E.) This pyramid was for King Zoser (that's spelled Z-o-s-c-r) in about 2650 B.C.E. It was built by an architect named Imhotep [I-m-h-o-t-e-p]. This pyramid was con - structed as a series of giant steps or stairs. It, along with others of its type, is called the Step Pyramid. Itwas really simply a pile of mastabas, each step smaller and higher than the one before. The Step Pyramid of King Zoser was different from the later pyramids because it was never covered with stone to give it a smooth surface.

Actually, it was not until the Fourth Dynasty that the most famous pyramids were built. The three great pyramids of Giza belong to the Fourth Dynasty pyramids. {The Fourth Dynasty covered the period

from 2614 to 2502 B.C.E.1They are located near the town of Giza, on the west bank of the Nile River, just outside the capital city of Egypt- Cairo. The Great Pyramids are really the very best preserved of all the Egyptian pyramids . The largest of these pyramids is known as the Great Pyramid. And great it is! It was built for King Khufu (that's K-h·u-f-u], (Khufu was called Cheops [Cvh-e-o-p-s] by the Greeks, and so the pyramid is sometimes called the pyramid of Cheops.) It has been esti- mated that 2.3 million blocks of limestone were used to build the

Pyramid and calculated that the mass of stone in the pyramid could be used to build a wall three meters high by 0.3 meters thick around the entire country of France. In terms of height, the pyramid was originally 147 meters high, but today the top 10 meters are missing, and the

entire outer limestone covering has been stripped away. It seems that local builders and conquerors found it convenient to strip off the lime- stone from the pyramids and use it to build with.

The Great Pyramid ofKhufu is considered a wonder of ancient archi- tecture.When you look at it, you immediately wonder how on earth the ancient Egyptians ever managed to build such a structure with only basic mathematics, with no modem machinery (such as cranes, bulldoz- ers, and so forth), and with no iron tools. They had to cut the big lime- stone blocks with tools made of copper, which is a rather soft metal. But they managed to do it. The ancient-Greek historian, Herodotus (that's

H-e-r-o-d-o-t-u-sl-Herodotus said that 400,000 men worked for twenty years to build the Great Pyramid. Archaeologists today doubt these

figures, but, of course, the true statistics cannot ever really be deter-

mined. It is thought, though, that at least 100,000 people worked to

build any single pyramid. Most of these workers were slaves. They

worked on the tombs during times when the Nile River overflowed its

banks and covered the fields. The Nile's flooding made farming impossi-

ble and made transportation of the stone to the pyramid site easier.

The Second and Third Pyramids of Giza were built by Khufu's suc-

cessors. The tomb of Khafre is the Second Pyramid of Giza. (Khafre is

spelled K-h-a-f-r-e.) It was originally three meters lower than the Great Pyramid; however, today it is only 0.8 meters lower. Its present height

is 136.2 meters. The Third Pyramid, built for Menkaure, covers only

half the area occupied by the Great Pyramid, and it is only 62.5 meters

high. [Menkaureis spelledM-e-n-k-a-u-r-e.)

None of the later pyramids that were built during the next thirteen

or fourteen centuries were nearly as large or as magnificent as the Pyra-

mids of Giza. And even though pyramid building continued right up

into the Eleventh and TWelfth Dynasties (that was up through about

1786 B.C.E.), it was becoming increasingly clear to the pharaohs and the nobles of Egypt that the pyramid method of burial provided very little

or no protection at all for their royal corpses. The pyramids were, of

course, impressive and lasting monuments, but they were all too

visible. They invited grave robbers to try to break into them. And so eventually, one of the pharaohs, King Thutmose I, decided to sacrifice publicity for safety in the construction of his House of Eternity. I don't

need to spell Thutmose for you, do 11 Instead of ordering the construc-

tion of a pyramid, Thutmose had his tomb dug out of the rock of a

valley far from the Nile River and far from Cairo. The spot he chose

was some eleven kilometers from the river on its west bank. The area

is now known as the Valley of the Kings . Many pharaohs followed

Thutmose's example. After him, most of the pharaohs abandoned

above-ground pyramid construction in favor of underground hiding

places as the burial places for their precious royal bones. And yet, whatChapter 3 is so ilonic is that even these tombs did not escape the attacks of the

grave robbers-persistent devils that they were!

I'll end this discussion by pointing out that, when the ancient

Greeks first saw the Great Pyramids of Egypt, the pyramids were al-

ready 2,000 years old. The Greeks called them one of the Seven Won-

ders of the World. Almost nothing remains of the other six Wonders-

the Hanging Gardens of Babylon, the Temple of Diana, and so on-but

the three mighty Pyramids of Giza, as well as thirty-two other recog-

nizable pyramids, still stand. These pyramids of Egypt are monuments

to a great and ancient civilization and to people's endless search for

eternal recognition and eternal life.

The Egyptian Pyramids: Houses of Eternity

" B. Listening and Notetaking Script

To many people throughout the world, some of the most remarkable and puzzling monuments of ancient times are the pyramids of ancient Egypt . You know, almost nothing at all remains of the great cities of the kings of Egypt, the pharaohs. Time and weather have been really hard on ancient Egypt's cities and towns, but several of the temples, statues, and, most important of all, the pyramids have survived. Even though many of the pyramids are in ruins, they still give us some idea of the magnificence of ancient Egypt's civilization-a civilization that, after all, lasted for more than 3,000 years. Remember when we're talk- ing about ancient Egypt, we're talking about at least thirty consecutive dynasties. A dynasty is a series of kings or queens of the same royal family-something like the Romanovs of Europe, the Ming dynasty of China, or the Al-Sauds of Saudi Arabia.

OK. The introduction to the lecture was just that . . . An intro- duction to the general topic of the lecture, the remarkable

pyramids of Egypt. The lecturer notes that almost nothing remains

of the once-great cities, but the great pyramids have survived, though many are in ruins. The lecturer did mention howlong the civilization ofEgypt lasted. Did you note down the figure! Did you also note down howmany dynasties or royal families ruled for the

3,000 years mentioned! I wonder ifyou felt the need to write down

in your notes the names of the famous dynasties the lecturer men- tioned. Why or why not! In a sentence, can you sum up the introductorymessage of the lectutet

Let's continue taking notes. The lecturer opened this part of the lecture with an evident fact-that the pyramids were constructed

as tombs. You might want to abbreviate the word tomb with the

letter t and every time you hear the lecturer mention information about tombs in this lecture, you can use the letter t to save you notetaking time. You'll be taking notes for a longer period of time now, so try to capture the ideas and the details so you can recon- struct the information you hear at a later time.

AUDIOSCRIPTS 145146 APPENDIX A

As many of you probably already know, the pyramids were con- structed as tombs or burial places for the Egyptian kings and their fam- ily members. You see, the ancient Egyptians passionately believed in life after death. In fact, their entire culture revolved around that belief. The kings, queens, and state officials often spent an entire lifetime preparing for their life after death. They did this by collecting posses- sions or "grave goods," by building tombs, and so forth. The Egyptians believed that they could be assured of an afterlife only if their bodies could be preserved from decay or destruction. So when a person died,

and especially when a pharaoh died, in order to ensure his eternal life,

he had his body embalmed or mummified. In other words, he had his

corpse dried out and wrapped in linen to preserve it from decay. Then

he had his mummy hidden. This whole idea may seem quite strange

today, but the ancient Egyptians really believed that if one's mummy

was destroyed, then his or her soul would be destroyed, and if, on the

other hand, the mummy-the dead body-was preserved, the soul

would be immortal. Let me repeat that. If one's mummy was

preserved, the soul would go on living.

For another thing, the ancient Egyptians believed that the dead

person could take his or her earthly possessions along to the next

world-this is just the opposite of the Western idea that "you can't

take it with you when you go." Anyway, the dead person was provided

with food, clothing, furniture, weapons, and even servants. It was not

at all unusual for the pharaoh's slaves to be put to death so that they

could serve him in his afterlife.