2025新牛津译林版高中英语选修三unit3课文原文(word可编辑) .pdfVIP

吾日三省乎吾身。为人谋而不忠乎?与朋友交而不信乎?传不习乎?——《论语》

牛津新教材选修三Unit3

Reading

Chinesecharacters:foundationofaremarkablewritingsystem

Intheyear1899,somemysticalsymbolscarvedonoraclebonesattractedthe

attentionofascholarinBeijing.Thatwaswhenpeoplefirstbegantorealizethe

significanceofthesebeautifulinscriptions.Sincethen,themysterysurrounding

theoriginofChinesecharacters,thefoundationofaremarkablewritingsystem,

hasstartedtoberevealed.

Theseoracleboneinscriptions,theearliestformofChinesecharactersever

foundtothisday,areclearproofthatthehistoryoftheChinesewritingsystem

stretchesbackabout3,500years.Theinscriptionsarehighlycomplex,suggesting

thatearlierformsareyettobediscovered.Allwehaveatthemoment,however,is

thelegendofCangJie,whoissaidtohaveinventedthefirstcharactersabout

5,000yearsago.Legendhasitthathesawanimaltracksintheground,andbegan

drawingpicturesofobjectsinnature,suchasthemoon,thesunandthetrees.

Notsurprisingly,theearliestChinesecharacterswerethefruitsofour

ancestorscarefulobservationandstrikingimagination.TheChinesecharacter

shan,forexample,issimplyadrawingofamountain.However,ourancestors

foundnoteverythingwasconvenienttodrawasaconcreteimage,soanotherway

offormingChinesecharacterswasdevelopedtorepresentabstractconcepts.

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百川东到海，何时复西归?少壮不努力，老大徒伤悲。——汉乐府

Somecharacterswerecreatedbyaddingsymbolslikeadotoralinetoanexisting

pictographiccharactertoindicatethings.Forinstance,thechar