61．Why does the writer use the example of the Greek scientist who calculated the distance around the——青夏教育精英家教网—

摘要：61．Why does the writer use the example of the Greek scientist who calculated the distance around the world? A．He wants to show it is an ancient Greek scientist that calculated the distance around the world． B．He wants to give an example of something which later scientists greatly improved. C．He wants to show that science has not been developing significantly. D．He wants to give an example of scientific knowledge available to early explorers.

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阅读理解

　　In the opinion of many Americans and Europeans, we only began to really explore (探索) our world in the sixteenth century. According to them, the sailors of the ancient world didn't explore distant parts of the world, they did not have the necessary skills for long sea journeys. However, the people who have the opinion are forgetting two important facts of history.

　　First, sometimes early scientists have an idea which is correct, but scientists in later centuries do not believe it. For example, at about 270 B. C, a Greek scientist had an idea which we all believe today. The earth moves around the sun. But for the following 1,600 years scientists did not believe this. In their opinion, the sun clearly moved around the earth. They discovered the truth again only in the fifteenth century!

　　The second fact of history that many people forget is this: Ancient does not mean primitive. For example, the ancient Egyptians knew a great deal about the stars, and they used this knowledge to find their way across the oceans. Two thousand years ago a Greek scientist who lived in Egypt calculated the distance around the earth. The results of his calculations were close to the real distance we know today! So the ancients had a great deal of scientific knowledge. They also had skills which equaled the skills of today. For example, 1300 years ago and before, fishermen in Ireland built their boats of wood and leather. Today some fishermen in Ireland still make boats of the same design. They use tools and materials which are not very different from the tools and materials which their ancestors used. Why? The ancient design of the boats was good, and with skillful sailors, these boats can still sail in all of weather.

　　Clearly long before the sixteenth century, people had the skill, the and the equipment which were necessary for long journeys by sea. The world did not have to wait.

1．According to the writer, men began to explore our world ________.

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A．in the sixteenth century

B．about 270 B. C.

C．after the fifteenth century

D．long before the sixteenth century

2．The underlined word“primitive”(in Paragraph 3) most probably means ________.

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