A Walk Through Human History在大英博物館裡飽覽人類歷史2

Rhind Mathematical Papyrus

This ancient piece of papyrus contains 84 different calculations used by Egyptians and gives a glimpse of the importance of mathematics in Egyptian life. These calculations were used to solve practical administrative and building problems. The Egyptians’ understanding of math meant they could manage food supplies and figure out the flood levels of the Nile. Many ancient cultures “invented” math for similar reasons – to measure and quantify things.

Gold Coin of Croesus

This gold coin dating from around 550 B.C. was probably made during the reign of the fabulously wealthy King Croesus. Coins minted of precious metals like silver and gold had actual value and allowed trade across the known world.

Ming Banknote

In 1375, due to a shortage of precious metals used to make coins the Chinese printed notes. They asked people to believe the notes were actually worth the number of coins printed on it. The modern banking system is built on the premise that printed notes like these have value.

papyrus à a plant that is many similar to grace, but it grows in the water. That is draw out and used as paper.

administrative

quantify

reign [qTn] 統治、支配 n. v.

fabulouslyàgreat, very much

mintàcoin that is be made 鑄造

precious 貴重的

premise 假定、前提n.

banknote鈔票

【Grammar on the go】

This ancient piece of papyrus … gives a glimpse of the importance of mathematics in Egyptian life.

to give a glimpse

glimpseà a very quick look

to give a glimpseà something only give a base understanding on something

例如：

Touring the ancient castle gave us a glimpse of what life was like centuries ago.

The numbers from the UN report gives us a glimpse of how serious the problem is in the refugee camps.

【Chat room】

date 可以指男女的約會

to date someone

date 也是日期的意思

date 當動詞：註明日期

Don’t forget to date the letter. 別忘了註明這封信的日期

dating from around 550 B.C.

追溯到西元前550年左右

date 也可以用在，當某人在哼唱一首二十年前的老歌，你可以說：

That song really dates you. 意思是你透露了你的實際年齡

date 在這裡表示一個古老的日期，當你被放置在一個古老的日期，表示過時、落伍了。

【Key word】

administrative 管理的、行政的

As a manager, Josh deals with many administrative problems.

身為經理，Josh需要處理許多行政上的問題

Administrative work occupies most of Deborah’s day.

Deborah每一天大多被行政工作所占據了

quantify 使量化、數據化v

quantity量n

It’s difficult to quantify how much damage the hurricane has caused.

要計算這一次颶風造成多少損失是非常困難的

The program was designed to quantify the number of people who visit this website.

premise 前提、假定 (on)

The research was done on the premise that the results can be quantified with numbers. 這個研究是以所有結果都能量化為前提完成的