核心词汇 (Target Vocabulary)
学习 5B 远洋航海与探索先驱核心生词，点击语音按钮可听纯正美音发音，掌握核心释义与真题例句。
analogous
[əˈnæləɡəs]
adj.
Similar in a way that allows a comparison to be made; comparable.
类似的；可比拟的
"Early Polynesian open-ocean voyaging is analogous to landing astronauts on the moon."
clue
[kluː]
n.
A piece of evidence or information used in solving a mystery.
线索；提示
"Ancient Lapita pottery shards offer vital clues about the chronology of Pacific colonization."
disrupt
[dɪsˈrʌpt]
v.
To interrupt or prevent the normal continuation or flow of something.
扰乱；打断；破坏
"Shifting El Niño weather patterns likely disrupted traditional maritime sailing routes."
horizon
[həˈraɪzn]
n.
The line where the earth's surface and the sky seem to meet.
地平线；视野
"Navigators read cloud reflections and swell patterns hovering near the distant horizon."
intact
[ɪnˈtækt]
adj.
Complete and not damaged, broken, or changed.
完好无损的；完整的
"A cemetery of pristine Lapita skeletons was discovered virtually intact on the island of Efate."
interval
[ˈɪntəvl]
n.
A period between two events or times; an intervening space.
间隔；间隙
"There was a long interval of a thousand years before voyagers resumed colonizing East Polynesia."
phenomenon
[fəˈnɒmɪnən]
n.
A remarkable fact or event in nature or society that can be observed.
现象；奇观
"Bioluminescent ocean swells are an optical phenomenon used by mariners for nighttime steering."
stretch
[stretʃ]
v./n.
To extend over an area or period of time.
延伸；广阔的一段水域/陆地
"The vast Polynesian triangle stretches thousands of kilometers across the open Pacific."
stubborn
[ˈstʌbən]
adj.
Difficult to move, cure, or deal with; persistently resisting solution.
难以解决的；顽固的
"How ancient sailors navigated against prevailing trade winds remains a stubborn historical riddle."
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Fantastic Voyage
大洋寻踪：古拉皮塔人与波利尼西亚航海先驱如何凭星辰征服无垠太平洋
Paragraph A
It is mid-afternoon on the island of Borabora in French Polynesia. Thousands of cheer-expectators crowd the shore to see the end of the Hawa-Kinui-Va-A, a challenging 130-kilometer Polynesian canoe race that virtually stops the nation. This is our heritage, says Montetoea Owen, a former canoe champion and a hero on his home island of Hohinui. Our people came from over the sea by canoe. Sometimes when I'm out there competing, I try to imagine what they must have endured and the adventures they had crossing those huge distances.
Paragraph B
Pioneers of the Pacific Montetoea Owen's ancestors colonized nearly every island in the South Pacific. This was a remarkable feat of human navigation, comparable with humans going to the moon. Only recently, have scientists begun to understand where these amazing voyagers came from and how, with simple canoes and no navigation equipment, they reached hundreds of islands scattered across an ocean that covers nearly a third of the globe. This expansion into the Pacific was accomplished by two extraordinary civilizations, the Lapita and the Polynesians. From about 1300 to 800 BC, the Lapita people colonized islands that stretch over millions of square kilometers, including the Solomon Islands, Vanuatu, Fiji, New Caledonia, and Samoa.
Paragraph C
Then for unknown reasons they stopped. There was an interval of around 1,000 years before the Polynesian civilization descendants of the Lapita launched a new period of exploration. They outdid the Lapita with unbelievable feats of navigation. They expanded the boundaries of their world until it was many times the size of that explored by their ancestors. Their colonies included the Cook Islands, French Polynesia, Hawaii, and Easter Island, eventually reaching South America around AD1000.
Paragraph D
How did they do it? There is one stubborn question for which archaeology has yet to provide any answers. How did the Lapita and early Polynesian pioneers accomplish a feat that is analogous to a moon landing? Little evidence remains to help us understand their remarkable sailing skills. Unfortunately, no one has found an intact Lapita or early Polynesian canoe that might reveal the sailing techniques used. Nor do the oral histories and traditions of later Polynesians offer any insights as to how their ancestors navigated areas of open ocean thousands of kilometers wide without becoming lost. All we can say for certain is that the Lapita had canoes that were capable of ocean voyages and they had the ability to sail them. Says Jeff Irwin, a professor of archaeology at the University of Auckland. Nonetheless, scientists have some theories about the secrets of these explorers' successes. Sailors have always relied upon the so-called trade winds, winds that blow steadily, and in predictable directions over the ocean's surface. Irwin notes that the Lapita's expansion into the Pacific was eastward against steady trade winds.
Paragraph E
Sailing against the wind, he argues, may have been the key to their success. They could sail out for days into the unknown, secure in the knowledge that if they didn't find anything, they could turn around and catch a swift ride home on the trade winds. For returning explorers, successful or not, the geography of their own archipelagos provided a safety net. It ensured that sailors wouldn't sail too far and become lost in the open ocean. Vanuatu, for example, is a chain of islands 800 kilometers long with many islands within sight of each other. Once sailors hit that string of islands, they could find their way home.
Paragraph F
Irwin hypothesizes that once out in the open ocean, the explorers would detect a variety of clues to follow to land. This included seabirds and turtles that need islands on which to build their coconuts and twigs carried out to sea and the clouds that tend to form over some islands in the afternoon. It is also possible that Lapita sailors follow the smoke from distant volcanoes to new islands. Helped by El Niño? These theories rely on one unproven point that the Lapita and early Polynesians had mastered the skill of sailing against the wind using a technique called tacking. Rather than give all the credit to their bravery and technique, Afal Anderson of the Australia National University, thinks that they might also have been lucky, helped by a weather phenomenon known as El Niño. El Niño occurs in the Pacific Ocean when the surface water temperature is unusually high. It disrupts world weather in a variety of ways. One of its effects is to cause trade winds in the South Pacific to weaken or to reverse direction and blow to the east. Scientists believe that El Niño phenomena were unusually frequent around the time of the Lapita expansion and again between 1200 and 1600 years ago when the early Polynesians began their even more distant voyages. Anderson believes that the Lapita may have taken advantage of trade winds blowing east instead of west, thereby voyaging far to the east without any knowledge of tacking techniques. The success of the Lapita and their descendants may have been due to their own sailing skills to reverse trade winds or to a mixture of both, or it may even have been due to facts still unknown. But it is certain that by the time Europeans came to the Pacific, nearly every piece of land hundreds of islands in all had already been discovered by the Lapita and the Polynesians. Exactly why these ancient peoples set out on such giant migrations remains a mystery. However, as Professor Erwin puts it, whatever you believe, the really fascinating part of this story isn't the methods they used, but their motives. The Lapita, for example, didn't need to pick up and go, there was nothing forcing them. No overcrowded what was over the horizon.
课文配套练习 (Reading Exercises)
严格对应教材 Page 89–94 官方练习：Before You Read、Reading Comprehension 及 Fact vs Speculation 技能辨析。
1.
Predicting (p.89) Why did early Pacific voyagers sail into the unknown ocean?
2.
Predicting (p.89) How could ancient navigators detect unseen islands over the horizon?
3.
Main Idea (p.93) What is the primary riddle examined in Reading 5B?
4.
Detail (Para B, p.93) Who were the Lapita people?
5.
Detail (Para E, p.93) What was Geoffrey Irwin's key insight regarding sailing against prevailing winds?
6.
Detail (Para C, p.93) What mystery is known as the 'Long Pause' in Pacific archaeology?
7.
Detail (Para B, p.93) What archeological discovery confirmed Lapita maritime skill on the island of Efate?
8.
Evaluating Statements (p.93) The Lapita people reached as far east as Samoa and Tonga.
9.
Evaluating Statements (p.93) The Lapita sailed directly from Africa to Hawaii in a single voyage.
10.
Evaluating Statements (p.93) Polynesian voyagers eventually reached South America by A.D. 1000.
11.
Evaluating Statements (p.93) Ancient Pacific sailors had iron magnetic compasses.
12.
Fact vs Speculation (p.94) 'Ancient Lapita pottery dates back to 1200 B.C.' — This statement is a:
13.
Fact vs Speculation (p.94) 'It is possible that changing El Niño winds encouraged sailors to head east.' — This statement is a:
14.
Fact vs Speculation (p.94) 'Scientists believe the canoes could sail 150 kilometers a day.' — This statement is a:
Critical Thinking · Deep Sea vs Outer Space
Astronauts explore the cosmos, while marine scientists explore ocean abysses.
Would you personally join an expedition to establish human colonies on another planet? Why or why not?