译林版牛津高中英语(必修3):Unit 2 Language-Project(1)

The development of Chinese characters

汉字的演变

The Chinese language differs from Western languages in that, instead of an alohabet, it uses characters which stand for ideas, objects or deeds.

汉语与西方语言不同，区别在于它不使用字母，而是用汉字表达思想、物体和行为。

Chinese words are formed by putting together different characters.

汉语中的词汇是由不同的汉字组合而成的。

In many cases, a single character can also make up a word.

很多情况，一个汉字也可以构成词汇。

The history of the Chinese language can be examined by looking at how these characters developed.

要明白许多汉语词语的来龙去脉，只要考察这些词语中单个汉字的发展过程就可以了。

Chinese writing began thousands of years ago.

汉字起源于数千年前。

According¹ to an ancient story, a man named Cang Jie invented Chinese writing.

根据一个传说，是一个名叫仓颌的人发明了汉字。

One winter day while he was hunting, he saw the tracks² of animals in the snow and observed that the appearance³ of each one was different.

冬季的一天，他在打猎时看到动物在雪地里留下的足印，并注意到每一个足印各有不同。

Then he had the idea that he could use different shapes to represent⁴ different objects.

于是，他想到了利用不同形状来表示不同物体的念头。

1 according   

adj.按照，根据

参考例句：

• According to the Bible we are all the seed of Adam.根据《圣经》所说的，我们都是亚当的后裔。
• We must cut our coat according to our cloth this year.今年我们必须学会量入为出。

2 tracks   

n.小路( track的名词复数 )；跑道；路径；轨道v.跟踪( track的第三人称单数 )；跟踪摄影；留下（脏）足迹；追随（潮流等）

参考例句：

• Tracks led up the mountainside. 小径沿着山坡向上延伸。
• All the tracks have been digitally remastered from the original tapes. 所有的曲子都已经从原始录音带转录到了数码母带上。

3 appearance   

n.出现，露面；容貌

参考例句：

• In appearance, he was a little like his father.他看起来有点像他的父亲。
• She was a young woman of good appearance.她是一位年轻貌美的女子。

4 represent   

vt.表现，表示；描绘，讲述；代表，象征；回忆；再赠送，再上演；vi.提出异议

参考例句：

• I'll represent to him the risk he is running.我要向他指出他所面临的险境。
• We selected her to represent us.我们选她作为我们的代表。