現(xiàn)代大學(xué)英語(yǔ)（第三版）精讀3 課件 B3U9

ContentsUnit9Lead-inWarm-upquestions:Howdoyoudefinehistory?Ishistoryascience?Whenwashistoryintroducedtoyouasasubjectatschool?Howwashistorytaughtatthattime?Whydoyouthinkweneedtostudyhistory?Doyoulikehistory?Wouldyouliketobeahistorian?Whyorwhynot?Doyoufindyourselfdisagreewithothers?Whydoyouthinkpeopledisagree?Haveyoueverbeenintroducedtodifferentviewsaboutthesamehistoricalfiguresand/orevents?Ifyes,giveanexampleandexplainwhyviewsdiffer.

Lead-inMorequestionsaboutthetext:1.Inyourexperience,whatcanhistorytellus,apartfromnames,dates,events,andstatistics?2.Doesyourownexperienceoflearninghistorysupporttheargumentthathistoriansoftendisagreesharply?Canyougiveanexample?Whatisthecommonsenseresponsetothedisagreementsabouthistoryaccordingtotheauthors?Howhaveyourespondedtosuchdisagreements?Whydohistoriansdisagree?Isitbecausetheyaretalkingaboutdifferentpeople,differentevents,differentsubjects,ordifferenttimesorplaces?Orisitbecausetheyarenotallusingreliablerecordsorfacts?3.Whatarethethreedefinitionsofhistorymentionedinthetext?Whydotheauthorsofferthreepossibledefinitions?Whichdefinitiondotheyadoptintheirwriting?Lead-inMorequestionsaboutthetext:4.Accordingtotheauthors,historians“selectonlythoserecordstheydeemmostsignificant.”Dotheyusuallyagreeonwhatrecordsaremostsignificant?Whyorwhynot?5.Willhistoriansallagreewitheachotherifthefactstheyusearethesame?Whyisitthathistorianssometimesignoresomefacts?Whatdotheydoifsomeimportantfactsaremissing?Howcantheyachieveanycredibilityinthatcase?6.Theauthorsmaintainthathistorians’disagreementsoftenstemfromdifferentpointsofview,differentperspectives,ordifferenttheoriesofhumanmotivationsandbehavior.WhatdifferentperspectivesdotheauthorsadopttoexplainAmerica’sentryintoWorldWarI?CanyougivesomeotherreasonsofAmerica’sentryintothewarfromthosedifferentperspectives?Lead-inMorequestionsaboutthetext:7.Howdoyouunderstandthestatement“Historianssometimesdisagreebecausetheyarenotreallydiscussingthesamething”inparagraph11?Canyougivesomeexamples?8.Hasthisessaygivenusasatisfactoryanswerastowhyhistoriansdisagree?Canyoulistthepossiblereasonstheauthorsgive?Doyouhaveanythingtoadd?9.Whatshouldwedowhenhistoriansdisagree?Cantheirdifferencesbeeliminated?Shouldtheybe?Howdoweevaluatetheworkofhistorians?10.Ishistoryascience?Canwetakeitasakindofliterature,withalotofhistoricalanecdotestoteachususefulmorallessons?Lookupinadictionarythedefinitionofhistoryandcompareitwiththedefinitionsgivenbytheauthors,andgiveyourcomments?TextWhyHistoriansDisagreeAllenF.DavisandHaroldD.Woodman1.Abouttheauthor2.Background

3.Structure4.GotothetextText1.AbouttheauthorThetextisbasedontheintroductiontoabookentitledConflictandConsensusinModernAmericanHistoryeditedbyAllenF.DavisandHaroldD.Woodman,professorsatTempleUniversityandPurdueUniversityrespectively;thetwoprofessorsco-authoredtheintroduction.2.Background

ThisisamuchcondensedandadaptedversionoftheprefacetothebookConflictandConsensusinModernAmericanHistorycompiledbytwoAmericanhistoryprofessors.Inthispreface,thetwoauthorsdiscussthedefinitionofhistory,theroleofthehistorianandthereasonswhyhistoriansdisagree.TextTheypointoutthecommonmisunderstandingthathistoryisjustnames,datesandstatisticsofthepast,andthatthehistorian’sjobistofindandrememberasmanyofthemaspossible.Theytellusthathistoriansdonotjustcollectfacts.Theygivemeaningtothefacts.Andbecausetheyhavedifferentinterestsanddifferentunderstandingofhumanmotivationandhumanbehaviorwhichinturnisduetotheirdifferentbackgroundinage,sex,race,class,education,religion,politics,etc.,theytendnotonlytobeinterestedindifferentfactsbutalsotointerpretthesamefactsdifferently.Thetwohistoriansthereforeemphasizetheimportanceofunderstandingthehistorians’approach,perspectiveandphilosophyratherthanthefactstheyhaveusedorleftout.TextHistoryisaveryimportantpartofoureducation.Itisnowknowntoallthathowmuchweknowandunderstandthepastlargelydetermineshowmuchandhowwellweknowthepresentandhowfarandhowclearlywecanseeahead.Wemightevensaythatnoonecanbeconsideredproperlyeducatedatallifheorsheknowsnohistory.Chinahasaboutthreethousandyears’uninterruptedrecordedhistoryofwhichweareallproud,andtraditionallyourpeoplehavealwaysattachedgreatimportancetothestudyofhistory.However,formanyreasons,historicaltruthsstillremainundiscovered.Infact,manyhistoricalfactshavedeliberatelybeendestroyed,misinterpretedanddistorted.Thatisonereasonwhyitissoimportantforustoknowwhyhistoriansdisagree.TextText3.Structure

Thetextcanberoughlydividedintothreeparts,whichcanbefurtherdividedintoseveralsections.I.Theintroduction(paras.1–5)1.Misconceptionsaboutthestudyofhistory(paras.1–3)2.Definitionofhistory(paras.4–5)II.Thebody:reasonswhyhistoriansdisagree(paras.6–11)1.Selectionofdifferentfactsaboutthesameevent(para.6)2.Useofthesamefactsfromdifferentpremises(paras.7–10)3.Analysisofdifferentlevelsofcauseandeffect(para.11)III.Theconclusion:inevitabilityofdisagreement(paras.12–13)WhyHistoriansDisagreeAllenF.DavisandHaroldD.Woodman1

Moststudentsareusuallyintroducedtothestudyofhistorybywayofafattextbookandbecomequicklyimmersedinavastseaofnames,dates,eventsandstatistics.Thestudents’skillsarethentestedbyexaminationsthatrequirethemtoshowhowmuchofthedatatheyremember;themoretheyremember,thehighertheirgrades.Fromthisexperienceanumberofconclusionsseemobvious:Thestudyofhistoryisthestudyof“facts”aboutthepast;themore“facts”youknow,thebetteryouareasastudentofhistory.Theprofessionalhistorian

issimplyonewhobringstogetheraverylargenumberof“facts.”Thereforestudentsoftenbecomeconfusedupondiscoveringthathistoriansoftendisagreesharplyevenwhentheyaredealingwiththesameevent.Text2

Theircommonsensereactiontothisstateofaffairsistoconcludethatonehistorianisrightwhiletheotheriswrong.Andpresumably,historianswhoarewrongwillhavetheir“facts”wrong.Thisisseldomthecase,however.Historiansusuallyallarguereasonablyandpersuasively.And,the“facts”—thenames,dates,events,statistics—usuallyturnouttobecorrect.Moreover,theyoftenfindthatcontendinghistoriansmoreorlessagreeonthefacts;thatis,theyusemuchthesamedata.Theycometodifferentconclusionsbecausetheyviewthepastfromadifferentperspective.History,whichseemedtobeacut-and-driedmatterofmemorizing“facts,”nowbecomesamatterofchoosingonegoodinterpretationfromamongmany.Historicaltruthbecomesamatterofpersonalpreference.Text3

Thispositionishardlysatisfying.Theycannothelpbutfeelthattwodiametricallyopposedpointsofviewaboutaneventcannotbothberight;yettheylacktheabilitytodecidebetweenthem.4

Tounderstandwhyhistoriansdisagree,studentsmustconsideraproblemtheyhavemoreorlesstakenforgranted.Theymustaskthemselveswhathistoryreallyis.Text5

Initsbroadestsense,historydenotesthewholeofthehumanpast.Morerestrictedisthenotionthathistoryistherecordedpast,thatis,thatpartofhumanlifewhichhasleftsomesortofrecordsuchasfolktales,artifacts,orwrittendocuments.Finally,historymaybedefinedasthatwhichhistorianswriteaboutthepast.Ofcoursethethreemeaningsarerelated.Historiansmustbasetheiraccountsontheremainsofthepast,leftbypeople.Obviouslytheycannotknoweverythingforthesimplereasonthatnoteveryevent,everyhappening,wasfullyandcompletelyrecorded.Thereforethehistoriancanonlyapproximatehistoryatbest.Noonecaneverclaimtohaveconcludedthequest.6

Butthisdoesnotsayenough.Ifhistorianscannotknoweverythingbecausenoteverythingwasrecorded,neitherdotheyusealltherecordsthatareavailabletothem.Rather,theyselectonlythoserecordstheydeemmostsignificant.Moreover,theyalsorecreatepartsofthepast.Likedetectives,theypiecetogetherevidencetofillinthegapsintheavailablerecords.Text7

Historiansareabletoselectandcreateevidencebyusingsometheoryofhumanmotivationsandbehavior.Sometimesthisappearstobeeasy,requiringverylittlesophisticationandsubtlety.Thus,forexample,historiansinvestigatingAmerica’sentryintoWorldWarIwouldprobablyfindthatthesinkingofAmericanmerchantshipsonthehighseasbyGermansubmarineswasrelevanttotheirdiscussion.Atthesametime,theywouldmostlikelynotuseevidencethatPresidentWoodrowWilsonwasdissatisfiedwithanewhatheboughtduringthefirstmonthsof1917.Thechoiceastowhichfacttouseisbasedonatheory—admittedly,inthiscasearathercrudetheory,butatheorynonetheless.Itwouldgosomethinglikethis:Nationalleaderscontemplatingwararemorelikelytobeinfluencedbybelligerentactsagainsttheircountriesthanbytheirunhappinesswiththeirhaberdashers.Text8

Ifthechoiceswereassimpleasthis,theproblemwouldbeeasilyresolved.Butthechoiceswerenotsoeasytomake.HistoriansinvestigatingtheUnitedStates’entryintoWorldWarIwillfindinadditiontoGermansubmarinewarfareawholeseriesofotherfactsthatcouldberelevanttotheeventunderstudy.Forinstance,theywillfindthattheBritishgovernmenthadapropagandamachineatworkintheUnitedStatesthatdiditsbesttowinpublicsupportfortheBritishcause.TheywilldiscoverthatAmericanbankershadmadelargeloanstotheBritish,loansthatwouldnotberepaidintheeventofaBritishdefeat.Theywillreadoftheinterceptionofthe“ZimmermannNote,”inwhichtheGermanforeignsecretaryorderedtheGermanministerinMexico,intheeventofwar,tosuggestanalliancebetweenGermanyandMexicowherebyMexico,withGermansupport,couldwinbackterritorytakenfromMexicobytheUnifiedStatesintheMexicanWar.TheywillalsofindamongmanyAmericanpoliticalleadersadeepconcernoverthebalanceofpowerinEurope,abalancethatwouldbedestroyed—toAmerica’sdisadvantage—iftheGermanswereabletodefeattheFrenchandtheBritishandthereby

emergeasthesolemajorpowerinEurope.Text9

Whatthenarehistorianstomakeofthesefacts?Onegroupcouldsimplylistthem.Bydoingso,theywouldbemakingtwoimportantassumptions:(1)thosefactstheyputontheirlistarethemainreasons,whilethosetheydonotlistarenotimportant;and(2)thosethingstheyputontheirlistareofequalimportanceinexplainingtheU.S.role.Butanothergroupofhistoriansmightarguethatthelistisincompleteinthatitdoesnottakeintoaccountthegenerallypro-BritishviewsofWoodrowWilson,viewsthatstemmedfromthePresident’sbackgroundandeducation.Theresultwillbeadisagreementamongthehistorians.Moreover,becausethesecondgroupraisesthequestionofWilson’sviews,theywillfindanumberofrelevantfactsthatthefirstgroupwouldignore.TheywillconcernthemselveswithWilson’seducation,theinfluenceofhisteachers,thebooksheread,andthebookshewrote.Inshort,althoughbothgroupsofhistoriansaredealingwiththesamesubjecttheywillcometodifferentconclusionsandusedifferentfactstosupporttheirpointsofview.Thefactsselected,andthoseignored,willdependnotontheproblemstudiedbutonthepointsofviewofthehistorians.Text10

Similarlyathirdgroupofhistoriansmightmaintainthatthevariousitemsonthelistshouldnotbegivenequalweight,thatoneofthereasonslisted,say,bankers’loans,wasmostimportant.Thetheoryherewouldbethateconomicmattersarethekeytohumanmotivation,andthatasmallnumberofwealthybankershaveadisproportionateabilitytoinfluencegovernment.11

Intheexamplesgiven,historiansdisagreebecausetheybeginfromdifferentpremises.Butthereisstillanotherrealmofdisagreementwhichstemsfromsomethingratherdifferent.Historianssometimesdisagreebecausetheyarenotreallydiscussingthesamething.Oftentheyaremerelyconsideringdifferentlevelsofcauseandeffect.Supposetheteacheraskedyou“Whywereyoulateforclassthismorning?”“Iwaslateforclass,”youexplained,“becauseIoverslept.”O(jiān)rtouseahistoricalexample,“TheCivilWarbeganbecauseSouthCarolinashorebatteriesopenedfireonthefederalgarrisonatFortSumteronApril12,1861.”Neitherstatementcanbefaultedonthegroundsthatitisinaccurate;atthesametime,however,neitherissufficientasanexplanationoftheeventbeingconsidered.TextThenextquestionisobvious:Whydidyouoversleep,orwhydidrelationsbetweenonestateandthefederalgovernmentreachthepointwheredifferenceshadtobesettledbyWar?Inotherwords,wehavetogobeyondtheproximatecauseandprobefurtherandfurther.Butaswedigmoredeeplyintotheproblem,theanswerbecomesmoredifficultandcomplex.Intheend,youmightarguethattheultimatecauseofyourbeinglatewasthefactthatyouwereborn,butobviouslythisgoestoofarbacktobemeaningful.Thatyouwerebornisofcourseanecessaryfactor,butitisnotasufficientfactor;itdoesnotreallytellenoughtoexplainyourbehaviortoday.SimilarlyyoucouldtracethecauseoftheCivilWarbacktothediscoveryofAmerica,butagain,thatisanecessarybutnotasufficientcause.Thepointatwhichcausesarebothnecessaryandsufficientisnotself-evident.Thereforehistoriansmayagaindisagreeaboutwheretobegintheanalysis.Bynowstudentsshouldseethatthewell-usedphrase“l(fā)etthefactsspeakforthemselves”hasnorealmeaning.Thefactsdonotspeakforthemselves;historiansusethefactsinaparticularwayandthereforethey,andnotthefacts,aredoingthespeaking.Text12

Historiansnotonlyoftendisagreewithothers.Theyoftendisagreewiththemselves.Indeedtheyareoftenrevisingtheirideas.Theyhavetodosobecausetheyareconstantlydiscoveringnewinformation,gainingnewinsightsfromothersocialscientistsandmasteringandusingnewtechniques.Historiansalsolearnfromeachotherandbenefitfrominternationalcomparisonsofsimilareventsandinstitutions.Text13

Canweeliminatealldisagreement?Ifthestateofourknowledgeweresuchthatitprovideduswithamodelofunquestionedvaliditythatcompletelyexplainedhumanbehavior,wecould.Butsincewedonothavesuchacompleteandfoolproofexplanation,disagreementsaredestinedtoremain.Whenstudentsrealizethatthereisnooneeasyanswertotheproblemshistoriansraiseandthat“truth”isbutanelusiveyetintriguinggoalinanever-endingquest,theywillfindthestudyofhistorytobeasignificant,exhilarating,andusefulpartoftheireducation.(1,627words)Text歷史學(xué)家們?yōu)楹我庖?jiàn)有分歧艾倫·F.戴維斯哈羅德·D.伍德曼1

大多數(shù)學(xué)生一般都是通過(guò)厚厚一大本教科書(shū)開(kāi)始學(xué)習(xí)歷史的，接著很快就陷入名字、日期、事件和數(shù)據(jù)的汪洋大海當(dāng)中。然后學(xué)生的技能通過(guò)考試來(lái)檢查，這類考試要求他們表明自己記住了多少數(shù)據(jù)；記住的東西越多，得分就越高。根據(jù)這樣的經(jīng)歷，似乎可以得出幾條明顯的結(jié)論：學(xué)習(xí)歷史就是學(xué)習(xí)過(guò)去的“事實(shí)”；你知道的“事實(shí)”越多，你的歷史就學(xué)得越好。專業(yè)的歷史學(xué)家不過(guò)是能收集到大量“事實(shí)”的人。因此，當(dāng)學(xué)生發(fā)現(xiàn)歷史學(xué)家們即使對(duì)同一個(gè)事件的意見(jiàn)也往往有嚴(yán)重分歧時(shí)，常常會(huì)感到困惑。Text2

他們根據(jù)常識(shí)對(duì)此作出判斷，認(rèn)為其中一個(gè)歷史學(xué)家是對(duì)的，另一個(gè)則是錯(cuò)的。并且他們會(huì)認(rèn)為，錯(cuò)的那些歷史學(xué)家所掌握的“史實(shí)”肯定也是錯(cuò)的。實(shí)際上，情況很少如此。歷史學(xué)家們的論證通常都合情合理，具有說(shuō)服力。而且，名字、日期、事件、數(shù)據(jù)這樣的“事實(shí)”，通常都正確無(wú)誤。不僅如此，他們還常常發(fā)現(xiàn)，那些意見(jiàn)相左的歷史學(xué)家們或多或少都認(rèn)同這些史實(shí)；也就是說(shuō)，他們使用的基本上是同樣的資料。他們之所以得出不同的結(jié)論是因?yàn)樗麄兛创龤v史的角度不同。原先歷史似乎只是一件記住“史實(shí)”的事，但這么一來(lái)卻變成一件從很多解釋當(dāng)中挑選一種好的解釋的事了。歷史真理變成了一種個(gè)人喜好。Text3

這種解釋自然很難令人滿意。人們難免會(huì)覺(jué)得，對(duì)一個(gè)事件的兩種針?shù)h相對(duì)的觀點(diǎn)不可能都是正確的，但他們又沒(méi)有能力判斷孰是孰非。4

為了了解歷史學(xué)家為何有分歧，學(xué)生們必須考慮一個(gè)他們一直都或多或少認(rèn)為理所當(dāng)然的問(wèn)題。他們必須問(wèn)問(wèn)自己，歷史究竟是什么。Text5

廣義而言，歷史是指人類過(guò)去的一切。如果加以限定，歷史是指留有記錄的過(guò)去，也就是說(shuō)，人類生活中留下記載的那部分，諸如民間故事、各類手工藝品及書(shū)面文件等。最后，歷史還可以定義為歷史學(xué)家對(duì)人類過(guò)去的描述。這三種意思當(dāng)然是互相關(guān)聯(lián)的。史學(xué)家的闡述必須以過(guò)去人們留下的記載為依據(jù)。他們顯然不可能知道過(guò)去的一切，理由很簡(jiǎn)單，因?yàn)椴⒉皇谴蟠笮⌒∶恳患露加腥嫱暾挠涗?。因此歷史學(xué)家最多也只能是接近歷史。無(wú)人能宣稱已經(jīng)終結(jié)了對(duì)它的探索。6

但是，這個(gè)解釋還不夠。歷史學(xué)家不可能什么都知道，因?yàn)檫^(guò)去的一切并非都有記載。不僅如此，歷史學(xué)家對(duì)手頭的材料也并不會(huì)都采用，而僅僅選擇他們認(rèn)為最為重要的記錄。此外，他們還會(huì)重建過(guò)去的某些部分。就像偵探那樣，他們把已有證據(jù)串在一起，填補(bǔ)現(xiàn)有紀(jì)錄中的空白。Text7

歷史學(xué)家能夠利用某個(gè)有關(guān)人類動(dòng)機(jī)和行為的理論選擇并創(chuàng)造證據(jù)。這有時(shí)似乎十分簡(jiǎn)單，并不需要什么深?yuàn)W的學(xué)問(wèn)和妙思。舉例來(lái)說(shuō)，研究美國(guó)參加第一次世界大戰(zhàn)原因的史學(xué)家，很可能會(huì)認(rèn)為德國(guó)潛水艇擊沉在公海航行的美國(guó)商船這一事件與他們的研究相關(guān)。同時(shí)，他們絕不會(huì)拿伍德羅·威爾遜總統(tǒng)對(duì)他1917年頭幾個(gè)月里買(mǎi)的一頂帽子的不滿來(lái)作為證據(jù)。選擇使用哪一種事實(shí)需要有理論依據(jù)——誠(chéng)然，這是一種十分不成熟的理論，但仍然是一個(gè)理論。這理論大致是說(shuō)，對(duì)正在考慮戰(zhàn)爭(zhēng)問(wèn)題的國(guó)家領(lǐng)導(dǎo)人來(lái)說(shuō)，他們的決策更可能取決于針對(duì)他們國(guó)家的戰(zhàn)爭(zhēng)行為，而非他們對(duì)衣帽商的不滿。Text8

假如選擇都如此簡(jiǎn)單，問(wèn)題就不難解決了。但實(shí)際上，做選擇并不容易。研究美國(guó)參加第一次世界大戰(zhàn)問(wèn)題的史學(xué)家們會(huì)發(fā)現(xiàn)，除了德國(guó)的潛水艇戰(zhàn)，還有其他一系列的史實(shí)與所研究的問(wèn)題有關(guān)。比如，他們會(huì)發(fā)現(xiàn)，英國(guó)政府有一個(gè)宣傳機(jī)器活躍在美國(guó)，它不遺余力地爭(zhēng)取美國(guó)公眾對(duì)英國(guó)的支持。他們會(huì)發(fā)現(xiàn)美國(guó)的銀行家們?cè)谟?guó)有巨額貸款，一旦英國(guó)戰(zhàn)敗，這些貸款就不可能得到償還。他們還會(huì)了解到截獲“齊默曼外交照會(huì)”一事，里面提到當(dāng)時(shí)德國(guó)外交部部長(zhǎng)命令其駐墨西哥公使，一旦德美開(kāi)戰(zhàn)，就向?qū)Ψ浇ㄗh建立德墨同盟，根據(jù)該同盟條約，墨西哥可以在德國(guó)的支持下奪回在墨西哥戰(zhàn)爭(zhēng)中被美國(guó)占領(lǐng)的領(lǐng)土。他們還會(huì)發(fā)現(xiàn)，很多美國(guó)政治領(lǐng)袖對(duì)歐洲的實(shí)力平衡懷有深深的關(guān)切。如果德國(guó)人真能擊敗英法從而成為歐洲唯一的主要強(qiáng)國(guó)，這一平衡就會(huì)被破壞，這對(duì)美國(guó)極其不利。Text9

那么，史學(xué)家們?nèi)绾问褂眠@些事實(shí)呢？有一派會(huì)干脆將它們羅列起來(lái)。他們這樣做，實(shí)際上是作出了兩個(gè)重要的假設(shè)：（1）他們羅列的都是主要理由，而沒(méi)有羅列的都不重要；（2）在解釋美國(guó)扮演的角色時(shí)，他們所列的理由都同等重要。但是另外一派史學(xué)家會(huì)爭(zhēng)辯說(shuō)，表上所列事實(shí)不完整，因?yàn)樗鼪](méi)有考慮到伍德羅·威爾遜因其出身背景和所受教育而形成的總體上親英的觀點(diǎn)。這么一來(lái)，史學(xué)家之間就會(huì)產(chǎn)生意見(jiàn)分歧。而且，由于第二派史學(xué)家提出了威爾遜的個(gè)人觀點(diǎn)這一問(wèn)題，他們就會(huì)找到許多第一派史學(xué)家所忽視的史實(shí)。他們會(huì)關(guān)注威爾遜所受的教育、他的老師對(duì)于他的影響、他看過(guò)的書(shū)、他所寫(xiě)的書(shū)?？傊m然兩派史學(xué)家探討的是同一個(gè)問(wèn)題，他們?nèi)匀粫?huì)得出不同的結(jié)論，而且會(huì)用不同的史實(shí)來(lái)支持他們的觀點(diǎn)。至于選什么，不選什么，并不是取決于他們所研究的問(wèn)題，而是他們所持的觀點(diǎn)。Text10

同樣地，第三派史學(xué)家也許會(huì)認(rèn)為，所列各項(xiàng)不能同等看待，而其中某個(gè)理由——比如說(shuō)銀行家的貸款——才是最重要的。這里所依據(jù)的理論是經(jīng)濟(jì)是人類的關(guān)鍵動(dòng)機(jī)，并且，極少數(shù)富有的銀行家對(duì)政府有著與其人數(shù)極不成比例的影響力。11

在上面所舉的例子中，史學(xué)家們之所以意見(jiàn)不同，是因?yàn)樗麄兎治鰡?wèn)題的前提不同。但是，還有一種分歧是由完全不同的原因產(chǎn)生的。史學(xué)家們有時(shí)看法不同是因?yàn)閷?shí)際上他們談?wù)摰牟皇峭患虑?。通常他們考慮的是不同層次的因果關(guān)系。假如，老師問(wèn)你“你今天上午為什么遲到？”你會(huì)解釋說(shuō)，“我上課遲到是因?yàn)槲宜^(guò)頭了?！蔽覀儞Q個(gè)有關(guān)歷史的例子吧，“美國(guó)內(nèi)戰(zhàn)的爆發(fā)是因?yàn)槟峡_萊納州的海岸炮兵部隊(duì)在1861年4月12號(hào)向駐守在薩姆特要塞的聯(lián)邦部隊(duì)開(kāi)火?！币陨蟽蓚€(gè)例子中的原因，都不能以不精確為由被說(shuō)成是錯(cuò)的；但同時(shí)，兩者都不足以用來(lái)解釋相關(guān)問(wèn)題?！璗ext

……很明顯，接下去的問(wèn)題是：你為什么會(huì)睡過(guò)頭？或者，為什么一個(gè)州政府和聯(lián)邦政府的關(guān)系會(huì)發(fā)展到必須通過(guò)戰(zhàn)爭(zhēng)來(lái)解決分歧的地步？換句話說(shuō)，我們得超越近因，更深層次地探究下去。但當(dāng)我們對(duì)問(wèn)題挖掘得越深，答案就會(huì)變得越難、越復(fù)雜。到最后，你也許會(huì)說(shuō)，你遲到歸根結(jié)底是因?yàn)槟銇?lái)到了這個(gè)世界上，但是這明顯扯得太遠(yuǎn)了，沒(méi)有任何意義。你的出生當(dāng)然是一個(gè)必要因素，但是這個(gè)因素并不充分，它不足以解釋你今天的行為。同樣，你可以把內(nèi)戰(zhàn)的原因追溯到美洲新大陸的發(fā)現(xiàn)，但那也只是一個(gè)必要而非充分的原因。究竟在哪一點(diǎn)上，理由既必要又充分，這就不是那么顯而易見(jiàn)了。所以史學(xué)家們可能對(duì)應(yīng)該從什么地方開(kāi)始分析又有分歧。說(shuō)到這里，學(xué)生們應(yīng)該明白，人們常說(shuō)的那句“讓事實(shí)說(shuō)話”并無(wú)任何實(shí)際意義。事實(shí)自己不會(huì)說(shuō)話；是史學(xué)家在以一種特殊的方式使用事實(shí)，因此，是他們?cè)谡f(shuō)話，而不是事實(shí)。Text12

史學(xué)家們不僅會(huì)與他人有分歧，他們還常常和自己意見(jiàn)相左。實(shí)際上，他們常常在修訂自己的觀點(diǎn)。他們不得不這么做，因?yàn)樗麄兛倳?huì)不斷發(fā)現(xiàn)新的信息，從其他社會(huì)科學(xué)家那里不斷獲得新的見(jiàn)解，而且不斷掌握、使用新技術(shù)。史學(xué)家們還互相學(xué)習(xí)，而且從國(guó)際上對(duì)相似事件和制度的比較中獲益。Text13

我們能夠消除所有的意見(jiàn)分歧嗎？如果我們掌握的知識(shí)能給我們提供一個(gè)可以完全解釋人類行為的絕對(duì)有效的模式，那么答案是肯定的。但是，既然我們沒(méi)有這樣一種完全可靠的、萬(wàn)無(wú)一失的解釋，意見(jiàn)分歧注定會(huì)繼續(xù)存在。當(dāng)學(xué)生們認(rèn)識(shí)到，史學(xué)家們所提出的問(wèn)題并沒(méi)有一個(gè)簡(jiǎn)單答案，而真理只是永無(wú)休止的探索中一個(gè)雖然迷人但卻難以達(dá)到的目標(biāo)，他們才會(huì)發(fā)現(xiàn)歷史研究是他們所受的教育中一個(gè)重要的、令人激動(dòng)的、有益的組成部分。Text

Moststudentsareusuallyintroducedtothestudyofhistorybywayofafattextbookandbecomequicklyimmersedinavastseaofnames,dates,eventsandstatistics.Formoststudents,theybegintheirstudyofhistorywithathicktextbookinwhichthereareagreatnumberofnames,datesandstatisticsforthemtoremember.bywayof:through;byrouteof經(jīng)由e.g.

YoucangetthisinformationbywayoftheInternet.Cf.

bywayof:

asameansof當(dāng)作e.g.1.Hesenthersomeflowersbywayofanapology.2.I’dliketosayafewwordsbywayofself-introduction.3.Theydecidedtogiveapartybywayofwelcometothedistinguishedguests.TextAnalysis

Moststudentsareusuallyintroducedtothestudyofhistorybywayofafattextbookandbecomequicklyimmersedinavastseaofnames,dates,eventsandstatistics.fat:thick;widee.g.afatperson/man/woman/child;afatbook/volume;afatsalary;afatcigar;afatcheckNote:Payattentiontothesubtledifferencesbetweenthesewords:fat,plump,chubby,stoutandobese.Rememberthatitisnotpolitetosaysomebodyisfat.Amorepolitewayistosaythatheorsheisratheroverweightorheavy.“Stout”alsomeans“slightlyfat.”Forchildrenandwomenwhoareslightlyandpleasantlyfat,wecanusetheword“plump.”Anotherpleasantwordforbabiesandchildrenis“chubby.”Thestrongestwordis“obese,”anditisalsothewordusedoftenbydoctors.TextAnalysis

Moststudentsareusuallyintroducedtothestudyofhistorybywayofafattextbookandbecomequicklyimmersedinavastseaofnames,dates,eventsandstatistics.beimmersedin:becompletelycoveredorsubmergedinaliquid;bedeeplyinvolvedorabsorbede.g.1.I’mimmersedinthisproject.2.Theideaistohavethestudentsimmersedinanideallearningenvironment.3.Theydecidedtogiveapartybywayofwelcometothedistinguishedguests.avastseaof:agreatamountofTextAnalysis

Thestudents’skillsarethentestedbyexaminationsthatrequirethemtoshowhowmuchofthedatatheyremember;themoretheyremember,thehighertheirgrades.testedbyexaminations:evaluatedbywayofexaminationsNoticehowrepetitionisavoidedbyusingsynonyms.data:thepluralformof“datum”Also:

medium(media);curriculum(curricula);phenomenon(phenomena);criterion(criteria);stratum(strata);bacterium(bacteria)themoretheyremember,thehighertheirgrades:Payattentiontothispatternofcomparison.After“themore...themore...”thewordordershouldbethesameasinastatement.Inthissentence,“willbe”hasbeenomittedafter“thehighertheirgrades.”TextAnalysis

Theprofessionalhistorianissimplyonewhobringstogetheraverylargenumberof“facts.”simply:only;nothingbute.g.

Itissimplyamatteroftime.Cf.1.Helivedverysimply.(inaplainandordinaryway)2.It’ssimplyimpossible.(usedtoemphasizewhatthespeakerissaying)3.Shewasaskedtoexpressherselfmoresimply.(inawaythatiseasytounderstand)bringtogether:gathertogether;collect“facts”:

Thequotationmarksindicatethattheauthorsdonotthinkthattherearepure“facts.”Theyhavetobearranged,sortedoutandgivenmeaningbyprofessionalhistorians.TextAnalysis

Thereforestudentsoftenbecomeconfusedupondiscoveringthathistoriansoftendisagreesharplyevenwhentheyaredealingwiththesameevent.Thereforewhentheydiscoverthathistoriansoftendisagreecompletelyeventhoughtheyaretalkingaboutthesameevent,theyoftencannotunderstandthereason.upondiscovering:(fml)whentheydiscoverdisagreesharply:disagreeseriously,bitterlyTextAnalysis

Theircommonsensereactiontothisstateofaffairsistoconcludethatonehistorianisrightwhiletheotheriswrong.theircommonsensereaction:theirresponsebasedoncommonsenseastateofaffairs:asituatione.g.1.Thisisaveryunpleasantstateofaffairs.2.Thereisnotmuchwecandointhepresentstateofaffairs.while:whereasTextAnalysis

Moreover,theyoftenfindthatcontendinghistoriansmoreorlessagreeonthefacts…moreover:besides;what’smore;notonlythat;inaddition;apartfromthatcontendinghistorians:historianswhoarefightingordebatingmoreorless:almost;anundetermineddegreee.g.1.Thisproblemismoreorlesssettled.2.Theymoreorlessagreetoreopentheirdiscussionsontheborderdispute.Cf.Ouraverageannualincomebythattimewillbe4,000USD,moreorless.(approximately)TextAnalysis

Theycometodifferentconclusionsbecausetheyviewthepastfromadifferentperspective.Peoplelookatthepastfromdifferentpointsofview,angles,approaches,perspectivesortheoreticalstances.Thesewordsconveymoreorlessthesamemeaning.Couldyougivemoreexamplestoshowhowdifferentperspectivescanleadtodifferentconclusionsintheinterpretationofhistoricaleventsorfigures?Also,trytothinkofyourownexamples.TextAnalysis

Historicaltruthbecomesamatterofpersonalpreference.personalpreference:personallikesordislikes;sth.thatsb.likesmorethananyotherthing

Cf.

historical:oforrelatingtohistoryhistoric:havingconsiderableimportanceorinfluenceinhistoryeconomical:notwastefulorextravaganteconomic:oforrelatingtotheeconomyoreconomicsTextAnalysis

Thispositionishardlysatisfying.Thisisnotasatisfyingopinion.Studentsexpecttobegivenclear-cutanswers,eitheryesorno.Butnowtheyhavetoshoparoundfortheproperanswer.Theanswerbecomesapersonalchoice.Thismakesthemfeelveryuncomfortable.TextAnalysis

Theycannothelpbutfeelthattwodiametricallyopposedpointsofviewaboutaneventcannotbothberight…cannothelpbutfeel:cannothelpfeeling;canonlyfeeldiametricallyopposed:absolutelyorirreconcilablyopposed;completelydifferent;polesapartTextAnalysis

Morerestrictedisthenotionthathistoryistherecordedpast,thatis,thatpartofhumanlifewhichhasleftsomesortofrecordsuchasfolktales,artifacts,orwrittendocuments.Inamorerestrictedsense,historyisunderstoodastherecordedpast.thatis:inotherwordsfolktales:Rememberthatwrittendocumentswereimpossiblebeforewrittenlanguageandpaperwereinvented.Theonlyrecordlefttousisintheformoffolktalesandartifacts.TextAnalysis

Finally,historymaybedefinedasthatwhichhistorianswriteaboutthepast.Finally,historymaybedescribedaswhathistorianshavewrittenaboutourpast.Itmeansthathistoryishumanpastthroughtheeyesofhistorians.Historyrequiresthecombinationoftwofactors:theobjectivefactsandthesubjectiveselection,arrangement,andinterpretationofthembyhistorians.Thisiswhyhistoriansoftendisagree.Anditisinthissensethatweoftensaythateveryonetendstowritehisownhistory.TextAnalysis

Obviouslytheycannotknoweverythingforthesimplereasonthatnoteveryevent,everyhappening,wasfullyandcompletelyrecorded.Manyeventsandhappeningswerenotfullyandcompletelyrecordedbecausepeopleatthetimedidnothavethetime,energy,interestorthenecessarymeans.Oftentheywerenotrecordedbecausetheywereconsideredtootrivial,tooembarrassing,ortoodangeroustobeknown.Manyrecordshavealsobee