If we were asked exactly what we were doing a year ago，we should probably have to say that we could not remember But if we had kept a book and had written in it an account of what we did each day，we should be able to give an answer to the question.

　　It is the same in history Many things have been forgotten because we do not have any written account of them Sometimes men did keep a record of the most important happenings in their country，but often it was destroyed by fire or in a war.Sometimes there was never any written record at all because the people of that time and place did not know how to Write.For example，we know a good deal about the people who lived in China 4，000 years ago, because they could write and leave written records for those who lived after them.But we know almost nothing about the people who lived even 200 years ago in central Africa. because they had not learned to write.

　　Sometimes.of course，even if the people cannot write，they may know something of the past.They have heard about it from older people，and often songs and dances and stories have been made about the most important happenings，and these have been sung and acted and told for many generations For most people are proud to tell what their fathers did in the past.This we may call ’remembered history’.Some of it has now been written down. It is not so exact or so valuable to us as written history is，because words are much more easily changed when used again and again in speech than when copied in writing.But where there are no written records，such spoken stories are often very helpful.

　　41. Which of the following ideas is not suggested in the passage?

　　A.“Remembered history”，compared with written history，is less reliable

　　B.Written records of the past play the most important role in our learning of the human history.

　　C.A written account of our daily activities helps US to be able to answer many questions.

　　D.Where there are no written records.there is no history.

　　42.We know very little about the central Africa 200 years ago because ___

　　A.there was nothing worth being written down at that time

　　B .the people there ignored the importance of keeping a record

　　C.the written records were perhaps destroyed by a fire

　　D.the people there did not know how to write

　　43.“Remembered history”refers to ___.

　　A.history based on a person’s imagination

　　B .stories of important happenings passed down from mouth to mouth

　　C .songs and dances about the most important events

　　D .both B and C

　　44.“Remembered history”is regarded as valuable only when ____.

　　A. it is written down B .no written account is available

　　C.it proves to be time D.people are interested in it

　　45 .The passage suggests that we could have learned much more about our past than we

　　do now if the ancient people had _____

　　A.kept a written record of every past event B. not burnt their written records in wars

　　C.told exact stories of the most important happenings D.made more songs and dances

　　【答案】41-45 DDDBA

　　【解析】

　　當我們被問起準確的說書一年之前的這個時候我們正在做什么，我們可能不得不承認記不得了。但是，如果我們有個冊子，上面記錄了每天我們做過什么的話，這個問題就不難給出答案了。

　　對于歷史的記錄也是如此。許多事情由于沒有任何書面的記錄而被人遺忘。有時也有人會對于他們國家發(fā)生的重要事件進行記錄，但是這些記錄往往毀于火災或者戰(zhàn)亂。有時也因為那個地方或那個時代的人不會寫字，而根本不會有書面記錄的存在。譬如說，因為中國4千年前的古人會寫字而且給后人留下了很多文獻，所以我們對那個時代的中國人十分了解;但是對于甚至2百年前的中非人，由于他們不會寫字，而使我們對其幾乎一無所知。

　　當然了，有的時候就算人們不會寫字，對于過去的歷史也會多少有些了解。也許是從老一輩的那里聽說的，或者從一些由重大事件編出的歌曲和舞蹈中了解的——這些傳說和歌舞是從很多輩人流傳下來的。很多人都喜歡夸耀他們的父輩在過去的豐功偉績，我們把這個叫做“remembered history”(記憶中的歷史)。現(xiàn)在一些記憶中的歷史已經變成了文字而保留了下來。由于反復經過口頭傳送的歷史遠比書面記錄的歷史變化大，這種歷史不如書面歷史那么精確和有價值。但是，在沒有書面歷史存在的時候，這種口頭流傳的故事就很有幫助了。