Excerpt from “The Worst Mistake in the History of the Human Race” By Jared Diamond (Completed) Round 1 Directions: As the teacher reads the text below, annotate using the following strategies. For vocabulary help, see the footnotes at the bottom of each page for the bolded and numbered words in the text. a. Number each paragraph. b. Circle unfamiliar vocabulary c. Underline or highlight key phrases d. Star each important detail Round 2 Directions: Read each section again. At the end of each section, answer the guiding questions in the right-hand column. Text under Discussion (student version) Guiding Questions Archaeology[1] is demolishing [one of our most sacred What does the author mean by “a long tale of beliefs]: that human history over the past million years progress”? The author means that human history has been a long tale of progress. In particular, recent generally focuses on man’s progress. discoveries suggest that the adoption of agriculture, supposedly our most decisive step toward a better life, What are four negative consequences of the adoption of was in many ways a catastrophe[2] from which we have agriculture? never recovered. With agriculture came the gross social 1) Social inequality and sexual inequality, the disease and despotism[3], that 2) Gender inequality curse our existence. 3) Disease 4) Deposition At first, the evidence against this interpretation will Underline the sentence in this paragraph represents the strike [twenty-first] century Americans as irrefutable[4]. view that human history has been a long tale of We're better off in almost every respect than people of progress. the Middle Ages, who in turn had it easier than Identify four advantages we have that our ancestors did cavemen, who in turn were better off than apes. Just not. count our advantages. We enjoy the most abundant[5] 1) abundant and varied food and varied foods, the best tools and material goods, 2) the best tools and material goods some of the longest and healthiest lives, in history. Most 3) Long healthy lives of us are safe from starvation and predators. We get our 4) Energy from oil and machines energy from oil and machines, not from our sweat. [Who] among us would trade his life for that of a Why do you think we have these advantages? medieval peasant, a caveman, or an ape? These advantages are due mainly to the agricultural revolution.
Excerpt from “The Worst Mistake in the History of the Human Race” By Jared Diamond (Completed) Round 1 Directions: As the teacher reads the text below, annotate using the following strategies. For vocabulary help, see the footnotes at the bottom of each page for the bolded and numbered words in the text. a. Number each paragraph. b. Circle unfamiliar vocabulary c. Underline or highlight key phrases d. Star each important detail Round 2 Directions: Read each section again. At the end of each section, answer the guiding questions in the right-hand column. Text under Discussion (student version) Guiding Questions Archaeology[1] is demolishing [one of our most sacred beliefs]: that human history over the past million years has been a long tale of progress. In particular, recent discoveries suggest that the adoption of agriculture, supposedly our most decisive step toward a better life, was in many ways a catastrophe[2] from which we have never recovered. With agriculture came the gross social and sexual inequality, the disease and despotism[3], that curse our existence. What does the author mean by “a long tale of progress”? The author means that human history generally focuses on man’s progress. What are four negative consequences of the adoption of agriculture? 1) Social inequality 2) Gender inequality 3) Disease 4) Deposition At first, the evidence against this interpretation will strike [twenty-first] century Americans as irrefutable[4]. We're better off in almost every respect than people of the Middle Ages, who in turn had it easier than cavemen, who in turn were better off than apes. Just count our advantages. We enjoy the most abundant[5] and varied foods, the best tools and material goods, some of the longest and healthiest lives, in history. Most of us are safe from starvation and predators. We get our energy from oil and machines, not from our sweat. [Who] among us would trade his life for that of a medieval peasant, a caveman, or an ape? Underline the sentence in this paragraph represents the view that human history has been a long tale of progress. Identify four advantages we have that our ancestors did not. 1) abundant and varied food 2) the best tools and material goods 3) Long healthy lives 4) Energy from oil and machines Why do you think we have these advantages? These advantages are due mainly to the agricultural revolution.
6_U1_T3.10_The_Worst_Mistake_in_History_Completed_.docx