【導讀】themeparksarenotonlyamusingbutalsoeducational.TakethePolynesianCulturalCenter(PCC)inHawaiforexample.ItnotonlyshowsvisitorsthePolynesianwayoflifebutalsoprotectstheirskilsandcultureforthefuture.PolynesiaisthenamegiventomanygroupsofsmallislandsthatarespreadaboutthePacificOcean.ThePCCissetin42acresofbeautifulcountrysidewherevisitorscanseesevendiferenttraditionalPolynesianislandvilages.Vilagersfrommany

　　

【正文】 water pani es were i nstructed not to expose peopl e to pol luted water any m ore. Fi nal ly “Ki ng Chol era” was defeated. COPERNICUS’ REVOLUTIONARY TH EORY N i col aus Coperni cus was fri ghtened and hi s m i nd was confused. Al though he had tri ed to i gnore them , al hi s m athem atical cal culati ons l ed to the sam e concl usi on: that the earth was not the centre of the solar system . Onl y i f you put the sun there di d the movem ents of the other pl as i n the sky m ake sense. Yet he coul d not tel anyone about hi s theory as the powerful Christi an Church woul d have puni shed hi m for even suggesting such an i dea. They beli eved God had made the worl d and for that reason the earth was special and m ust be the centre of the solar system . The probl em arose because astronom ers had noti ced that som e pl as i n the sky seem ed to stop, m ove backward and then go forward i n the l op. Others appeared bri ghter at ti m es and l ess bri ght at others. Thi s was very strange i f the earth was the centre of the sol ar system and al pl as went round i t. Coperni cus had thought l ong and hard about these probl ems and tri ed to fi nd an answer. H e had col lected observati ons of the stars and used al l hi s m athem ati cal knowl edge to expl ai n them . But onl y hi s new theory coul d do that. So between 1510 and 1514 he worked on i t, gradual y im provi ng hi s theory until he fel t i t was pl ete. In 1514 he showed i t pri vatel y to hi s fri ends. The changes he m ade to the ol d theory were revol uti onary. H e pl aced a fi xed sun at the centre of the sol ar system wi th the pl as goi ng round i t and onl y the m oon sti l goi ng round the earth. H e also suggested that the earth was spi nning as i t went round the sun and thi s expl ai ned changes i n the m ovem ent of the pl as and in the bri ghtnes of the stars. H i s fri ends were enthusi asti c and encouraged him to publi sh hi s i deas, but Coperni cus was cauti ous. H e di d not want to be atacked by the Chri sti an Church, so he only publ ished i t as he lay dyi ng i n 1543. Certai nl y he was ri ght to be careful. The Chri sti an Church rejected hi s theory, saying i t was agai nst God’s i dea and peopl e who supported i t woul d be attacked. Yet Coperni cus’ theory i s now the basi s on whi ch al our i deas of the uni verse are buil t. H i s theory repl aced the Chri sti an i dea of gravi ty, whi ch sai d thi ngs tel to earth because God created the earth as the centre of the uni verse. Coperni cus showed thi s was obvi ousl y wrong. N ow peopl e can see that there i s a di rect li nk between his theory and the work of Isaac N ewton, Al bert Ei nstei n and Stephen H awki ng. Uni t 2 PUZZLES IN GEOGRAPH Y Peopl e m any wonder why di ferent words are used to descri be these four countri es: England, Wal es, Scotl and and N orthern Irel and. You can cl ari fy thi s questi on i f you study Bri ti sh hi story. Fi rst there was England. Wal es was li nked to i t i n the thirteenth century. N ow when peopl e refer to Engl and you fi nd Wal es i ncl uded as wel . Next Engl and and Wal es were joi ned to Scotl and i n the seventeenth century and the nam e was changed to “Great Bri tai n”. H appi ly thi s was ac pli shed wi thout confli ct when Ki ng Jam es of Scotl and becam e Ki ng of Engl and and Wal es as wel. Fi nal y the Engli sh governm ent tri ed i n the earl y twenti eth century to form the United Ki ngdom by geti ng Irel and connected i n the sam e peaceful way. H owever, the southern part of Irel and was unwi li ng and broke away to form i ts own governm ent. So onl y N orthern Irel and joined wi th Engl and, Wal es and Scotl and to be e the United Ki ngdom and thi s was shown to the worl d i n a new fl ag cal led the Uni on Jack. To thei r credi t the four countri es do work together i n som e areas(eg, the currency and i nternati onal rel ations), but they stil l have very di ferent instituti ons. For exam pl e, N orthern Irel and, Engl and and Scotl and have di fferent educational and l egal system s as wel as di fferent fotbal l team s for petiti ons l i ke the Worl d Cup! England i s the l argest of the four countri es, and for conveni ence it i s di vi ded roughl y i nto three zones. The zone nearest France i s cal l ed the South of Engl and, the mi ddl e zone i s cal l ed the Mi dlands and the one nearest to Scotl and i s known as the N orth. You fi nd most of the popul ati on setl ed i n the south, but m ost of the i ndustrial citi es in the Mi dlands and the N orth of England. Although, nati onwide, them e parks are not onl y am usi ng but also educational. Take the Pol ynesi an Cultural Center (PCC) i n H awai for exam pl e. It not onl y shows vi si tors the Pol ynesi an way of l i fe but also protects thei r skil s and cul ture for the future. Pol ynesi a i s the name gi ven to m any groups of sm al l isl ands that are spread about the Paci fi c O cean. The PCC i s set i n 42 acres of beautiful countrysi de where vi sitors can see seven di fferent tradi ti onal Pol ynesi an i sl and vil ages. Vi l agers from many i sl and m uni ti es e to show vi si tors thei r styl es of dress and di fferent custom s. For exam pl e, you can see di ferent ski l s of the vi l agers. You can l earn how they m ake cl othes from bark and how they cl im b very tal trees wi th thei r bare feet or see what ki nd of weddi ng cerem oni es they have. They al so tel l you about thei r social custom s and show you thei r cooki ng m ethods and thei r dances. Thei r m ost im portant skil l i s boatbui l di ng, whi ch al l owed the isl anders to expl ore al l the i sl ands i n the Pol ynesi an Tri angl e. We know that in thei r hi story they were sea travel l ers m ovi ng from i sland to i sland. They were abl e to fi nd thei r way usi ng the sm el l of the wi n, the m ovem ents of the fi sh and seaweed, and the hei ght and di recti