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Landmark Inventions of the Millennium
1. The last 1,000 years have produced an incredible number and variety of scientific and technological breakthroughs – but which of these were the most important? Narrowing a list of the thousands of inventions made since the year 1000 to the ten greatest requires some exact criteria. The qualifying inventions either provided radically new ways to do an important job, or they made possible tasks that were previously unimagined. Their impact was felt, if not right away then eventually, by a large portion of humanity. These developments have made possible significant new technological innovations and scientific discoveries. And finally, they have had an enduring effect on the world.
2. The inventions that meet these criteria, in chronological order, are the compass, the mechanical clock, the glass lens, the printing press, the steam engine, the telegraph, electric power, wireless communications, antibiotics, and the transistor. Missing from this list are many extremely significant technological advances, including the airplane, telephone, automobile, and computer. In many cases these inventions were omitted because they are based on earlier developments or breakthroughs.
3. In considering the ten most significant inventions of the past 1,000 years, a subtle distinction must be made: the difference between «invention» and «discovery» is not as clear as one might think. A discovery can be as simple as the observation of a previously unnoticed phenomenon, while an invention is a human-devised machine, tool, or apparatus that did not previously exist. Прочитайте текст и выполните задания.
Anthropology
1. Anthropology is the holistic «science of man». The discipline deals with the integration of different aspects of the social sciences, humanities, and human biology. Anthropology includes archaeology, prehistory, physical or biological anthropology, anthropological linguistics, social and cultural anthropology, ethnology and ethnography. The word anthropos is from the Greek for «human being» or «person». Eric Wolf described sociocultural anthropology as «the most scientific of the humanities, and the most humanistic of the sciences».
2. The goal of anthropology is to provide a holistic account of humans and human nature. Since anthropology arose as a science in Western societies that were complex and industrial, a major trend within anthropology has been a methodological drive to study peoples in societies with more simple social organization, sometimes called «primitive» in anthropological literature, but without any connotation of «inferior». Today, most anthropologists use terms such as «less complex» societies or refer to specific modes of subsistence or production, such as «hunter-gatherer» or «forager» or «simple farmer» to refer to humans living in non-industrial, non-Western cultures, such people or folk (ethnos) remaining of great interest within anthropology.
3. The quest for holism leads most anthropologists to study a particular folk or people in detail, using biogenetic, archaeological, and linguistic data alongside direct observation of contemporary customs. In the 1990s and 2000s, calls for clarification of what constitutes a culture, of how an observer knows where his or her own culture ends and another begins, and other crucial topics in writing anthropology were heard. It is possible to view all human cultures as part of one large, evolving global culture. Прочитайте текст и выполните задания.
Fashion
1. The concept of fashion implies a process of style change, because fashions in dress, as well as in furniture and other objects, have taken very different forms at different times in history. Most people follow fashion to some extent, because fashion refers to much more than the haute couture, the exclusive and expensive clothing produced by leading designers. Even schoolchildren are aware that fashions exist. Nevertheless, we do tend to distinguish between basic clothing, such as blue jeans, parkas and T-shirts, and the latest trendy fashions created by fashion designers. Fashion reflects the society of which it is a part. It has been influenced by wars, conquests, laws, religion, and the arts. Individual personalities have also had an impact on fashion. Royalty and heads of states have set fashion, and in the 20th century media stars have emerged as leaders of fashion. French writer Anatole France said that if he could come back to Earth 100 years after his death and have only one thing to read, he would choose a fashion magazine because that would show him the way people lived.
2. Fashion also has its critics, who have at times denounced fashion as irrational, frivolous, tyrannical, and immoral. Why should pink be in fashion one season and grey the next season? Why do people follow fashion like sheep when they have enough clothes already? A common accusation is that fashion designers accelerate fashion change to create new business. Yet no new fashion succeeds until people are ready to accept it. The final decision about what to buy, or whether to buy anything at all, belongs to the consumer. Ultimately, fashions change because many people like new and different styles.