汉语常被认为是一种非常古老的语言。从某种意义上说，这种说法不免失之偏颇。人类所有的语言都可追溯到朦胧的史前时期，但目前我们还无法确定这些语言是否都同宗同源。//五千年前华夏祖先说汉语的方法同英语人士的祖先说英语的方式大致相似。而从另一种意义上说，汉语确实也是一种很古老的语言。今天所存留下来的最早的汉字已有近四千年的历史 .// 这些文字均为甲骨雕文。大部分铭文为神谕圣旨，内容大都与政治事件和宗教活动有关，有些则是关于天气和战争的记录。// 汉语有丰富的古代文字作品，源远流长，远非其他一种语言的文字可与之媲美。一些最古老的文字属象形文字。//

　　Chinese is often termed a very old language. In a sense such a statement is misleading. All human languages go back to the dim uncertainty of prehistory， and at present we have no way of knowing for sure whether or not they can all be traced back to the same root.// Five thousand years ago the ancestors of Chinese people spoke an early form of Chinese language in much the same way that the ancestors of English-speaking people were using an early form of the English language. In a sense， however， Chinese is indeed a very old language. The earliest written forms of Chinese in existence today date back nearly 4，000 years.// These writings are incisions on bones and tortoise shell. Most of the inscriptions are oracular， dealing mostly with political and religious events， or with weather or warfare.// Chinese has an abundance of ancient writings that reach back continuously in time further than the writings of any other language in the world. Some of the earliest written Chinese characters were quite pictographic.//

　　Passage 14

　　我们都知道信息存储、传输和处理是提高社会整体发展水平的最重要的保障条件之一，也是世界各国高技术竞争的焦点之一。但并非每一个人都知道，世界上最重要的信息是人类基因组提供的信息。//人类基因组蕴含着人类生、老、病、死的绝大多数遗传信息，破译这些信息将会在疾病的诊断、新药物的研制、新疗法的探索等领域引发一场革命。//一些科学家认为，破译人类遗传密码的重要性不亚于人类登月的“阿波罗计划”。人类基因组图谱及初步分析结果的公布，对生物科学和生物技术的发展起着重要的推动作用。// 我们确信的是，35 亿年前高度复杂的分子DNA 就出现了。DNA 是地球上所有生命的基础，它有着像螺旋式楼梯一样的双螺旋结构。//

　　We all know that information storage， transmission and processing constitute some of the most important guarantee conditions for enhancing the level of overall social development， as well as a focal point in the competition of high technologies between various countries. But not everyone realizes that the most significant information reservoiris no other than the human genome.// The human genome contains most of the hereditary information related to the birth， aging， diseases and death of humankind. Its decoding will bring about a revolution to the diagnosisof diseases， to the development of new medicines and to the exploration of new therapies.// Some scientists believe the work to decipherthe human genetic code is no less important than the Apollo moon landing program. The publication of the map and preliminary conclusion of the human genome played an important role in promoting the development of life science and biotechnology.// What we do know is that by three and a half billion years ago the highly complicated moleculeDNA had emerged. DNA is the basis of all life on earth. It has a double helixstructure， like a spiral staircase.//