Homework Lvl 4 Lesson 10
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World Languages
5th Grade
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1.
MULTIPLE CHOICE QUESTION
5 mins • 1 pt
Fantastic Voyage
[A] It is mid-afternoon on the island of Bora Bora in French Polynesia. Thousands of cheering spectators crowd the shore to see the end of the Hawaiki Nui Va'a, a challenging 130-kilometer Polynesian canoe race that virtually stops the nation. "This is our heritage," says Manutea Owen, a former canoe champion and a hero on his home island of Huahine. "Our people came from over the sea by canoe. Sometimes when I'm out there competing, I try to imagine what they must have endured and the adventures they had crossing those huge distances."
Pioneers of the Pacific
[B] Manutea Owen's ancestors colonized nearly every island in the South Pacific. This was a remarkable feat1 of human navigation - comparable with humans going to the moon. Only recently have scientists begun to understand where these amazing voyagers came from, and how - with simple canoes and no navigation equipment - they reached hundreds of islands scattered across an ocean that covers nearly a third of the globe. This expansion into the Pacific was accomplished by two extraordinary civilizations: the Lapita and the Polynesians.
[C] From about 1300 to 800 B.C., the Lapita people colonized islands that stretch over millions of square kilometers, including the Solomon Islands, Vanuatu, Fiji, New Caledonia, and Samoa. Then, for unknown reasons, they stopped. There was an interval of around 1,000 years before the Polynesian civilization - descendants of the Lapita - launched a new period of exploration. They outdid the Lapita with unbelievable feats of navigation. They expanded the boundaries of their world until it was many times the size of that explored by their ancestors. Their colonies included the Cook Islands, French Polynesia, Hawaii, and Easter Island, eventually reaching South America around A.D. 1000.
How Did They Do It?
[D] There is one stubborn question for which archeology has yet to provide any answers. How did the Lapita and early Polynesian pioneers accomplish a feat that is analogous to a moon landing? Little evidence remains to help us understand their remarkable sailing skills. Unfortunately, no one has found an intact Lapita or early Polynesian canoe that might reveal the sailing techniques used. Nor do the oral histories2 and traditions of later Polynesians offer any insights as to how their ancestors navigated areas of open ocean thousands of kilometers wide without becoming lost. "All we can say for certain is that the Lapita had canoes that were capable of ocean voyages, and they had the ability to sail them," says Geoff Irwin, a professor of archeology at the University of Auckland. Nonetheless, scientists have some theories about the secrets of these explorers' successes.
[E] Sailors have always relied upon the so-called trade winds, winds that blow steadily and in predictable directions over the ocean's surface. Irwin notes that the Lapita's expansion into the Pacific was eastward, against steady trade winds. Sailing against the wind, he argues, may have been the key to their success: "They could sail out for days into the unknown …, secure in the knowledge that if they didn't find anything, they could turn around and catch a swift ride home on the trade winds." For returning explorers, successful or not, the geography of their own archipelagos3 provided a safety net. It ensured that sailors wouldn't sail too far and become lost in the open ocean. Vanuatu, for example, is a chain of islands 800 kilometers long with many islands within sight of each other. Once sailors hit that string of islands, they could find their way home.
[F] Irwin hypothesizes that once out in the open ocean, the explorers would detect a variety of clues to follow to land. This included seabirds and turtles that need islands on which to build their nests, coconuts and twigs4 carried out to sea, and the clouds that tend to form over some islands in the afternoon. It is also possible that Lapita sailors followed the smoke from distant volcanoes to new islands.
Helped by El Niño?
[G] These theories rely on one unproven point - that the Lapita and early Polynesians had mastered the skill of sailing against the wind using a technique called "tacking." Rather than give all the credit to their bravery and technique, Atholl Anderson of the Australian National University thinks that they might also have been lucky - helped by a weather phenomenon known as El Niño.
[H] El Niño occurs in the Pacific Ocean when the surface water temperature is unusually high. It disrupts world weather in a variety of ways. One of its effects is to cause trade winds in the South Pacific to weaken or to reverse direction and blow to the east. Scientists believe that El Niño phenomena were unusually frequent around the time of the Lapita expansion, and again between 1,200 and 1,600 years ago, when the early Polynesians began their even more distant voyages. Anderson believes that the Lapita may have taken advantage of trade winds blowing east instead of west, thereby voyaging far to the east without any knowledge of tacking techniques.
[I] The success of the Lapita and their descendants may have been due to their own sailing skills, to reverse trade winds, or to a mixture of both. Or it may even have been due to facts still unknown. But it is certain that by the time Europeans came to the Pacific, nearly every piece of land - hundreds of islands in all - had already been discovered by the Lapita and the Polynesians. Exactly why these ancient peoples set out on such giant migrations remains a mystery. However, as Professor Irwin puts it, "Whatever you believe, the really fascinating part of this story isn't the methods they used, but their motives. The Lapita, for example, didn't need to pick up and go; there was nothing forcing them, no overcrowded homeland. They went because they wanted to go and see what was over the horizon."
1 If you refer to something as a feat, you admire it because it is an impressive and difficult achievement.
2 Oral history is the collection and study of spoken memories, stories, and songs.
3 An archipelago is a large group or chain of islands.
4 A twig is a very small, thin branch.
What is the purpose of paragraphs A and B?
to show how the tradition of traveling the sea by canoe has carried on from the past
to show that Manutea Owen is a former canoe champion
to show that Bora Bora's canoe race feels like a carnival
to explain that the Lapita and the Polynesians did not have navigation equipment
2.
MULTIPLE CHOICE QUESTION
5 mins • 1 pt
Fantastic Voyage
[A] It is mid-afternoon on the island of Bora Bora in French Polynesia. Thousands of cheering spectators crowd the shore to see the end of the Hawaiki Nui Va'a, a challenging 130-kilometer Polynesian canoe race that virtually stops the nation. "This is our heritage," says Manutea Owen, a former canoe champion and a hero on his home island of Huahine. "Our people came from over the sea by canoe. Sometimes when I'm out there competing, I try to imagine what they must have endured and the adventures they had crossing those huge distances."
Pioneers of the Pacific
[B] Manutea Owen's ancestors colonized nearly every island in the South Pacific. This was a remarkable feat1 of human navigation - comparable with humans going to the moon. Only recently have scientists begun to understand where these amazing voyagers came from, and how - with simple canoes and no navigation equipment - they reached hundreds of islands scattered across an ocean that covers nearly a third of the globe. This expansion into the Pacific was accomplished by two extraordinary civilizations: the Lapita and the Polynesians.
[C] From about 1300 to 800 B.C., the Lapita people colonized islands that stretch over millions of square kilometers, including the Solomon Islands, Vanuatu, Fiji, New Caledonia, and Samoa. Then, for unknown reasons, they stopped. There was an interval of around 1,000 years before the Polynesian civilization - descendants of the Lapita - launched a new period of exploration. They outdid the Lapita with unbelievable feats of navigation. They expanded the boundaries of their world until it was many times the size of that explored by their ancestors. Their colonies included the Cook Islands, French Polynesia, Hawaii, and Easter Island, eventually reaching South America around A.D. 1000.
How Did They Do It?
[D] There is one stubborn question for which archeology has yet to provide any answers. How did the Lapita and early Polynesian pioneers accomplish a feat that is analogous to a moon landing? Little evidence remains to help us understand their remarkable sailing skills. Unfortunately, no one has found an intact Lapita or early Polynesian canoe that might reveal the sailing techniques used. Nor do the oral histories2 and traditions of later Polynesians offer any insights as to how their ancestors navigated areas of open ocean thousands of kilometers wide without becoming lost. "All we can say for certain is that the Lapita had canoes that were capable of ocean voyages, and they had the ability to sail them," says Geoff Irwin, a professor of archeology at the University of Auckland. Nonetheless, scientists have some theories about the secrets of these explorers' successes.
[E] Sailors have always relied upon the so-called trade winds, winds that blow steadily and in predictable directions over the ocean's surface. Irwin notes that the Lapita's expansion into the Pacific was eastward, against steady trade winds. Sailing against the wind, he argues, may have been the key to their success: "They could sail out for days into the unknown …, secure in the knowledge that if they didn't find anything, they could turn around and catch a swift ride home on the trade winds." For returning explorers, successful or not, the geography of their own archipelagos3 provided a safety net. It ensured that sailors wouldn't sail too far and become lost in the open ocean. Vanuatu, for example, is a chain of islands 800 kilometers long with many islands within sight of each other. Once sailors hit that string of islands, they could find their way home.
[F] Irwin hypothesizes that once out in the open ocean, the explorers would detect a variety of clues to follow to land. This included seabirds and turtles that need islands on which to build their nests, coconuts and twigs4 carried out to sea, and the clouds that tend to form over some islands in the afternoon. It is also possible that Lapita sailors followed the smoke from distant volcanoes to new islands.
Helped by El Niño?
[G] These theories rely on one unproven point - that the Lapita and early Polynesians had mastered the skill of sailing against the wind using a technique called "tacking." Rather than give all the credit to their bravery and technique, Atholl Anderson of the Australian National University thinks that they might also have been lucky - helped by a weather phenomenon known as El Niño.
[H] El Niño occurs in the Pacific Ocean when the surface water temperature is unusually high. It disrupts world weather in a variety of ways. One of its effects is to cause trade winds in the South Pacific to weaken or to reverse direction and blow to the east. Scientists believe that El Niño phenomena were unusually frequent around the time of the Lapita expansion, and again between 1,200 and 1,600 years ago, when the early Polynesians began their even more distant voyages. Anderson believes that the Lapita may have taken advantage of trade winds blowing east instead of west, thereby voyaging far to the east without any knowledge of tacking techniques.
[I] The success of the Lapita and their descendants may have been due to their own sailing skills, to reverse trade winds, or to a mixture of both. Or it may even have been due to facts still unknown. But it is certain that by the time Europeans came to the Pacific, nearly every piece of land - hundreds of islands in all - had already been discovered by the Lapita and the Polynesians. Exactly why these ancient peoples set out on such giant migrations remains a mystery. However, as Professor Irwin puts it, "Whatever you believe, the really fascinating part of this story isn't the methods they used, but their motives. The Lapita, for example, didn't need to pick up and go; there was nothing forcing them, no overcrowded homeland. They went because they wanted to go and see what was over the horizon."
1 If you refer to something as a feat, you admire it because it is an impressive and difficult achievement.
2 Oral history is the collection and study of spoken memories, stories, and songs.
3 An archipelago is a large group or chain of islands.
4 A twig is a very small, thin branch.
In paragraph B, why does the author mention humans going to the moon?
to show that colonization is part of their heritage
to explain what a huge achievement colonization was
to say that the early Polynesians were in a race
to describe how advanced Polynesian technology was
3.
MULTIPLE CHOICE QUESTION
5 mins • 1 pt
Fantastic Voyage
[A] It is mid-afternoon on the island of Bora Bora in French Polynesia. Thousands of cheering spectators crowd the shore to see the end of the Hawaiki Nui Va'a, a challenging 130-kilometer Polynesian canoe race that virtually stops the nation. "This is our heritage," says Manutea Owen, a former canoe champion and a hero on his home island of Huahine. "Our people came from over the sea by canoe. Sometimes when I'm out there competing, I try to imagine what they must have endured and the adventures they had crossing those huge distances."
Pioneers of the Pacific
[B] Manutea Owen's ancestors colonized nearly every island in the South Pacific. This was a remarkable feat1 of human navigation - comparable with humans going to the moon. Only recently have scientists begun to understand where these amazing voyagers came from, and how - with simple canoes and no navigation equipment - they reached hundreds of islands scattered across an ocean that covers nearly a third of the globe. This expansion into the Pacific was accomplished by two extraordinary civilizations: the Lapita and the Polynesians.
[C] From about 1300 to 800 B.C., the Lapita people colonized islands that stretch over millions of square kilometers, including the Solomon Islands, Vanuatu, Fiji, New Caledonia, and Samoa. Then, for unknown reasons, they stopped. There was an interval of around 1,000 years before the Polynesian civilization - descendants of the Lapita - launched a new period of exploration. They outdid the Lapita with unbelievable feats of navigation. They expanded the boundaries of their world until it was many times the size of that explored by their ancestors. Their colonies included the Cook Islands, French Polynesia, Hawaii, and Easter Island, eventually reaching South America around A.D. 1000.
How Did They Do It?
[D] There is one stubborn question for which archeology has yet to provide any answers. How did the Lapita and early Polynesian pioneers accomplish a feat that is analogous to a moon landing? Little evidence remains to help us understand their remarkable sailing skills. Unfortunately, no one has found an intact Lapita or early Polynesian canoe that might reveal the sailing techniques used. Nor do the oral histories2 and traditions of later Polynesians offer any insights as to how their ancestors navigated areas of open ocean thousands of kilometers wide without becoming lost. "All we can say for certain is that the Lapita had canoes that were capable of ocean voyages, and they had the ability to sail them," says Geoff Irwin, a professor of archeology at the University of Auckland. Nonetheless, scientists have some theories about the secrets of these explorers' successes.
[E] Sailors have always relied upon the so-called trade winds, winds that blow steadily and in predictable directions over the ocean's surface. Irwin notes that the Lapita's expansion into the Pacific was eastward, against steady trade winds. Sailing against the wind, he argues, may have been the key to their success: "They could sail out for days into the unknown …, secure in the knowledge that if they didn't find anything, they could turn around and catch a swift ride home on the trade winds." For returning explorers, successful or not, the geography of their own archipelagos3 provided a safety net. It ensured that sailors wouldn't sail too far and become lost in the open ocean. Vanuatu, for example, is a chain of islands 800 kilometers long with many islands within sight of each other. Once sailors hit that string of islands, they could find their way home.
[F] Irwin hypothesizes that once out in the open ocean, the explorers would detect a variety of clues to follow to land. This included seabirds and turtles that need islands on which to build their nests, coconuts and twigs4 carried out to sea, and the clouds that tend to form over some islands in the afternoon. It is also possible that Lapita sailors followed the smoke from distant volcanoes to new islands.
Helped by El Niño?
[G] These theories rely on one unproven point - that the Lapita and early Polynesians had mastered the skill of sailing against the wind using a technique called "tacking." Rather than give all the credit to their bravery and technique, Atholl Anderson of the Australian National University thinks that they might also have been lucky - helped by a weather phenomenon known as El Niño.
[H] El Niño occurs in the Pacific Ocean when the surface water temperature is unusually high. It disrupts world weather in a variety of ways. One of its effects is to cause trade winds in the South Pacific to weaken or to reverse direction and blow to the east. Scientists believe that El Niño phenomena were unusually frequent around the time of the Lapita expansion, and again between 1,200 and 1,600 years ago, when the early Polynesians began their even more distant voyages. Anderson believes that the Lapita may have taken advantage of trade winds blowing east instead of west, thereby voyaging far to the east without any knowledge of tacking techniques.
[I] The success of the Lapita and their descendants may have been due to their own sailing skills, to reverse trade winds, or to a mixture of both. Or it may even have been due to facts still unknown. But it is certain that by the time Europeans came to the Pacific, nearly every piece of land - hundreds of islands in all - had already been discovered by the Lapita and the Polynesians. Exactly why these ancient peoples set out on such giant migrations remains a mystery. However, as Professor Irwin puts it, "Whatever you believe, the really fascinating part of this story isn't the methods they used, but their motives. The Lapita, for example, didn't need to pick up and go; there was nothing forcing them, no overcrowded homeland. They went because they wanted to go and see what was over the horizon."
1 If you refer to something as a feat, you admire it because it is an impressive and difficult achievement.
2 Oral history is the collection and study of spoken memories, stories, and songs.
3 An archipelago is a large group or chain of islands.
4 A twig is a very small, thin branch.
According to Irwin, how could early explorers have relied on trade winds?
to avoid crashing into other islands
to return home safely at any time
to venture farther away from their island
to rest and not have to waste energy rowing
4.
MULTIPLE CHOICE QUESTION
5 mins • 1 pt
Fantastic Voyage
[A] It is mid-afternoon on the island of Bora Bora in French Polynesia. Thousands of cheering spectators crowd the shore to see the end of the Hawaiki Nui Va'a, a challenging 130-kilometer Polynesian canoe race that virtually stops the nation. "This is our heritage," says Manutea Owen, a former canoe champion and a hero on his home island of Huahine. "Our people came from over the sea by canoe. Sometimes when I'm out there competing, I try to imagine what they must have endured and the adventures they had crossing those huge distances."
Pioneers of the Pacific
[B] Manutea Owen's ancestors colonized nearly every island in the South Pacific. This was a remarkable feat1 of human navigation - comparable with humans going to the moon. Only recently have scientists begun to understand where these amazing voyagers came from, and how - with simple canoes and no navigation equipment - they reached hundreds of islands scattered across an ocean that covers nearly a third of the globe. This expansion into the Pacific was accomplished by two extraordinary civilizations: the Lapita and the Polynesians.
[C] From about 1300 to 800 B.C., the Lapita people colonized islands that stretch over millions of square kilometers, including the Solomon Islands, Vanuatu, Fiji, New Caledonia, and Samoa. Then, for unknown reasons, they stopped. There was an interval of around 1,000 years before the Polynesian civilization - descendants of the Lapita - launched a new period of exploration. They outdid the Lapita with unbelievable feats of navigation. They expanded the boundaries of their world until it was many times the size of that explored by their ancestors. Their colonies included the Cook Islands, French Polynesia, Hawaii, and Easter Island, eventually reaching South America around A.D. 1000.
How Did They Do It?
[D] There is one stubborn question for which archeology has yet to provide any answers. How did the Lapita and early Polynesian pioneers accomplish a feat that is analogous to a moon landing? Little evidence remains to help us understand their remarkable sailing skills. Unfortunately, no one has found an intact Lapita or early Polynesian canoe that might reveal the sailing techniques used. Nor do the oral histories2 and traditions of later Polynesians offer any insights as to how their ancestors navigated areas of open ocean thousands of kilometers wide without becoming lost. "All we can say for certain is that the Lapita had canoes that were capable of ocean voyages, and they had the ability to sail them," says Geoff Irwin, a professor of archeology at the University of Auckland. Nonetheless, scientists have some theories about the secrets of these explorers' successes.
[E] Sailors have always relied upon the so-called trade winds, winds that blow steadily and in predictable directions over the ocean's surface. Irwin notes that the Lapita's expansion into the Pacific was eastward, against steady trade winds. Sailing against the wind, he argues, may have been the key to their success: "They could sail out for days into the unknown …, secure in the knowledge that if they didn't find anything, they could turn around and catch a swift ride home on the trade winds." For returning explorers, successful or not, the geography of their own archipelagos3 provided a safety net. It ensured that sailors wouldn't sail too far and become lost in the open ocean. Vanuatu, for example, is a chain of islands 800 kilometers long with many islands within sight of each other. Once sailors hit that string of islands, they could find their way home.
[F] Irwin hypothesizes that once out in the open ocean, the explorers would detect a variety of clues to follow to land. This included seabirds and turtles that need islands on which to build their nests, coconuts and twigs4 carried out to sea, and the clouds that tend to form over some islands in the afternoon. It is also possible that Lapita sailors followed the smoke from distant volcanoes to new islands.
Helped by El Niño?
[G] These theories rely on one unproven point - that the Lapita and early Polynesians had mastered the skill of sailing against the wind using a technique called "tacking." Rather than give all the credit to their bravery and technique, Atholl Anderson of the Australian National University thinks that they might also have been lucky - helped by a weather phenomenon known as El Niño.
[H] El Niño occurs in the Pacific Ocean when the surface water temperature is unusually high. It disrupts world weather in a variety of ways. One of its effects is to cause trade winds in the South Pacific to weaken or to reverse direction and blow to the east. Scientists believe that El Niño phenomena were unusually frequent around the time of the Lapita expansion, and again between 1,200 and 1,600 years ago, when the early Polynesians began their even more distant voyages. Anderson believes that the Lapita may have taken advantage of trade winds blowing east instead of west, thereby voyaging far to the east without any knowledge of tacking techniques.
[I] The success of the Lapita and their descendants may have been due to their own sailing skills, to reverse trade winds, or to a mixture of both. Or it may even have been due to facts still unknown. But it is certain that by the time Europeans came to the Pacific, nearly every piece of land - hundreds of islands in all - had already been discovered by the Lapita and the Polynesians. Exactly why these ancient peoples set out on such giant migrations remains a mystery. However, as Professor Irwin puts it, "Whatever you believe, the really fascinating part of this story isn't the methods they used, but their motives. The Lapita, for example, didn't need to pick up and go; there was nothing forcing them, no overcrowded homeland. They went because they wanted to go and see what was over the horizon."
1 If you refer to something as a feat, you admire it because it is an impressive and difficult achievement.
2 Oral history is the collection and study of spoken memories, stories, and songs.
3 An archipelago is a large group or chain of islands.
4 A twig is a very small, thin branch.
Which of the following is NOT mentioned as a clue that sailors might have used to get to land?
coconuts
twigs
nests
clouds
5.
MULTIPLE CHOICE QUESTION
5 mins • 1 pt
Fantastic Voyage
[A] It is mid-afternoon on the island of Bora Bora in French Polynesia. Thousands of cheering spectators crowd the shore to see the end of the Hawaiki Nui Va'a, a challenging 130-kilometer Polynesian canoe race that virtually stops the nation. "This is our heritage," says Manutea Owen, a former canoe champion and a hero on his home island of Huahine. "Our people came from over the sea by canoe. Sometimes when I'm out there competing, I try to imagine what they must have endured and the adventures they had crossing those huge distances."
Pioneers of the Pacific
[B] Manutea Owen's ancestors colonized nearly every island in the South Pacific. This was a remarkable feat1 of human navigation - comparable with humans going to the moon. Only recently have scientists begun to understand where these amazing voyagers came from, and how - with simple canoes and no navigation equipment - they reached hundreds of islands scattered across an ocean that covers nearly a third of the globe. This expansion into the Pacific was accomplished by two extraordinary civilizations: the Lapita and the Polynesians.
[C] From about 1300 to 800 B.C., the Lapita people colonized islands that stretch over millions of square kilometers, including the Solomon Islands, Vanuatu, Fiji, New Caledonia, and Samoa. Then, for unknown reasons, they stopped. There was an interval of around 1,000 years before the Polynesian civilization - descendants of the Lapita - launched a new period of exploration. They outdid the Lapita with unbelievable feats of navigation. They expanded the boundaries of their world until it was many times the size of that explored by their ancestors. Their colonies included the Cook Islands, French Polynesia, Hawaii, and Easter Island, eventually reaching South America around A.D. 1000.
How Did They Do It?
[D] There is one stubborn question for which archeology has yet to provide any answers. How did the Lapita and early Polynesian pioneers accomplish a feat that is analogous to a moon landing? Little evidence remains to help us understand their remarkable sailing skills. Unfortunately, no one has found an intact Lapita or early Polynesian canoe that might reveal the sailing techniques used. Nor do the oral histories2 and traditions of later Polynesians offer any insights as to how their ancestors navigated areas of open ocean thousands of kilometers wide without becoming lost. "All we can say for certain is that the Lapita had canoes that were capable of ocean voyages, and they had the ability to sail them," says Geoff Irwin, a professor of archeology at the University of Auckland. Nonetheless, scientists have some theories about the secrets of these explorers' successes.
[E] Sailors have always relied upon the so-called trade winds, winds that blow steadily and in predictable directions over the ocean's surface. Irwin notes that the Lapita's expansion into the Pacific was eastward, against steady trade winds. Sailing against the wind, he argues, may have been the key to their success: "They could sail out for days into the unknown …, secure in the knowledge that if they didn't find anything, they could turn around and catch a swift ride home on the trade winds." For returning explorers, successful or not, the geography of their own archipelagos3 provided a safety net. It ensured that sailors wouldn't sail too far and become lost in the open ocean. Vanuatu, for example, is a chain of islands 800 kilometers long with many islands within sight of each other. Once sailors hit that string of islands, they could find their way home.
[F] Irwin hypothesizes that once out in the open ocean, the explorers would detect a variety of clues to follow to land. This included seabirds and turtles that need islands on which to build their nests, coconuts and twigs4 carried out to sea, and the clouds that tend to form over some islands in the afternoon. It is also possible that Lapita sailors followed the smoke from distant volcanoes to new islands.
Helped by El Niño?
[G] These theories rely on one unproven point - that the Lapita and early Polynesians had mastered the skill of sailing against the wind using a technique called "tacking." Rather than give all the credit to their bravery and technique, Atholl Anderson of the Australian National University thinks that they might also have been lucky - helped by a weather phenomenon known as El Niño.
[H] El Niño occurs in the Pacific Ocean when the surface water temperature is unusually high. It disrupts world weather in a variety of ways. One of its effects is to cause trade winds in the South Pacific to weaken or to reverse direction and blow to the east. Scientists believe that El Niño phenomena were unusually frequent around the time of the Lapita expansion, and again between 1,200 and 1,600 years ago, when the early Polynesians began their even more distant voyages. Anderson believes that the Lapita may have taken advantage of trade winds blowing east instead of west, thereby voyaging far to the east without any knowledge of tacking techniques.
[I] The success of the Lapita and their descendants may have been due to their own sailing skills, to reverse trade winds, or to a mixture of both. Or it may even have been due to facts still unknown. But it is certain that by the time Europeans came to the Pacific, nearly every piece of land - hundreds of islands in all - had already been discovered by the Lapita and the Polynesians. Exactly why these ancient peoples set out on such giant migrations remains a mystery. However, as Professor Irwin puts it, "Whatever you believe, the really fascinating part of this story isn't the methods they used, but their motives. The Lapita, for example, didn't need to pick up and go; there was nothing forcing them, no overcrowded homeland. They went because they wanted to go and see what was over the horizon."
1 If you refer to something as a feat, you admire it because it is an impressive and difficult achievement.
2 Oral history is the collection and study of spoken memories, stories, and songs.
3 An archipelago is a large group or chain of islands.
4 A twig is a very small, thin branch.
What does the word motives in paragraph I mean?
voyages
reasons
techniques
places
6.
MULTIPLE CHOICE QUESTION
5 mins • 1 pt
Fantastic Voyage
[A] It is mid-afternoon on the island of Bora Bora in French Polynesia. Thousands of cheering spectators crowd the shore to see the end of the Hawaiki Nui Va'a, a challenging 130-kilometer Polynesian canoe race that virtually stops the nation. "This is our heritage," says Manutea Owen, a former canoe champion and a hero on his home island of Huahine. "Our people came from over the sea by canoe. Sometimes when I'm out there competing, I try to imagine what they must have endured and the adventures they had crossing those huge distances."
Pioneers of the Pacific
[B] Manutea Owen's ancestors colonized nearly every island in the South Pacific. This was a remarkable feat1 of human navigation - comparable with humans going to the moon. Only recently have scientists begun to understand where these amazing voyagers came from, and how - with simple canoes and no navigation equipment - they reached hundreds of islands scattered across an ocean that covers nearly a third of the globe. This expansion into the Pacific was accomplished by two extraordinary civilizations: the Lapita and the Polynesians.
[C] From about 1300 to 800 B.C., the Lapita people colonized islands that stretch over millions of square kilometers, including the Solomon Islands, Vanuatu, Fiji, New Caledonia, and Samoa. Then, for unknown reasons, they stopped. There was an interval of around 1,000 years before the Polynesian civilization - descendants of the Lapita - launched a new period of exploration. They outdid the Lapita with unbelievable feats of navigation. They expanded the boundaries of their world until it was many times the size of that explored by their ancestors. Their colonies included the Cook Islands, French Polynesia, Hawaii, and Easter Island, eventually reaching South America around A.D. 1000.
How Did They Do It?
[D] There is one stubborn question for which archeology has yet to provide any answers. How did the Lapita and early Polynesian pioneers accomplish a feat that is analogous to a moon landing? Little evidence remains to help us understand their remarkable sailing skills. Unfortunately, no one has found an intact Lapita or early Polynesian canoe that might reveal the sailing techniques used. Nor do the oral histories2 and traditions of later Polynesians offer any insights as to how their ancestors navigated areas of open ocean thousands of kilometers wide without becoming lost. "All we can say for certain is that the Lapita had canoes that were capable of ocean voyages, and they had the ability to sail them," says Geoff Irwin, a professor of archeology at the University of Auckland. Nonetheless, scientists have some theories about the secrets of these explorers' successes.
[E] Sailors have always relied upon the so-called trade winds, winds that blow steadily and in predictable directions over the ocean's surface. Irwin notes that the Lapita's expansion into the Pacific was eastward, against steady trade winds. Sailing against the wind, he argues, may have been the key to their success: "They could sail out for days into the unknown …, secure in the knowledge that if they didn't find anything, they could turn around and catch a swift ride home on the trade winds." For returning explorers, successful or not, the geography of their own archipelagos3 provided a safety net. It ensured that sailors wouldn't sail too far and become lost in the open ocean. Vanuatu, for example, is a chain of islands 800 kilometers long with many islands within sight of each other. Once sailors hit that string of islands, they could find their way home.
[F] Irwin hypothesizes that once out in the open ocean, the explorers would detect a variety of clues to follow to land. This included seabirds and turtles that need islands on which to build their nests, coconuts and twigs4 carried out to sea, and the clouds that tend to form over some islands in the afternoon. It is also possible that Lapita sailors followed the smoke from distant volcanoes to new islands.
Helped by El Niño?
[G] These theories rely on one unproven point - that the Lapita and early Polynesians had mastered the skill of sailing against the wind using a technique called "tacking." Rather than give all the credit to their bravery and technique, Atholl Anderson of the Australian National University thinks that they might also have been lucky - helped by a weather phenomenon known as El Niño.
[H] El Niño occurs in the Pacific Ocean when the surface water temperature is unusually high. It disrupts world weather in a variety of ways. One of its effects is to cause trade winds in the South Pacific to weaken or to reverse direction and blow to the east. Scientists believe that El Niño phenomena were unusually frequent around the time of the Lapita expansion, and again between 1,200 and 1,600 years ago, when the early Polynesians began their even more distant voyages. Anderson believes that the Lapita may have taken advantage of trade winds blowing east instead of west, thereby voyaging far to the east without any knowledge of tacking techniques.
[I] The success of the Lapita and their descendants may have been due to their own sailing skills, to reverse trade winds, or to a mixture of both. Or it may even have been due to facts still unknown. But it is certain that by the time Europeans came to the Pacific, nearly every piece of land - hundreds of islands in all - had already been discovered by the Lapita and the Polynesians. Exactly why these ancient peoples set out on such giant migrations remains a mystery. However, as Professor Irwin puts it, "Whatever you believe, the really fascinating part of this story isn't the methods they used, but their motives. The Lapita, for example, didn't need to pick up and go; there was nothing forcing them, no overcrowded homeland. They went because they wanted to go and see what was over the horizon."
1 If you refer to something as a feat, you admire it because it is an impressive and difficult achievement.
2 Oral history is the collection and study of spoken memories, stories, and songs.
3 An archipelago is a large group or chain of islands.
4 A twig is a very small, thin branch.
When does El Niño occur in the Pacific Ocean?
when the water at the surface is hotter than normal
when there is an increase in rainfall on the coast
when the temperature of the water is unusually low
when the Polynesians pray to the rain gods
7.
MULTIPLE CHOICE QUESTION
5 mins • 1 pt
Fantastic Voyage
[A] It is mid-afternoon on the island of Bora Bora in French Polynesia. Thousands of cheering spectators crowd the shore to see the end of the Hawaiki Nui Va'a, a challenging 130-kilometer Polynesian canoe race that virtually stops the nation. "This is our heritage," says Manutea Owen, a former canoe champion and a hero on his home island of Huahine. "Our people came from over the sea by canoe. Sometimes when I'm out there competing, I try to imagine what they must have endured and the adventures they had crossing those huge distances."
Pioneers of the Pacific
[B] Manutea Owen's ancestors colonized nearly every island in the South Pacific. This was a remarkable feat1 of human navigation - comparable with humans going to the moon. Only recently have scientists begun to understand where these amazing voyagers came from, and how - with simple canoes and no navigation equipment - they reached hundreds of islands scattered across an ocean that covers nearly a third of the globe. This expansion into the Pacific was accomplished by two extraordinary civilizations: the Lapita and the Polynesians.
[C] From about 1300 to 800 B.C., the Lapita people colonized islands that stretch over millions of square kilometers, including the Solomon Islands, Vanuatu, Fiji, New Caledonia, and Samoa. Then, for unknown reasons, they stopped. There was an interval of around 1,000 years before the Polynesian civilization - descendants of the Lapita - launched a new period of exploration. They outdid the Lapita with unbelievable feats of navigation. They expanded the boundaries of their world until it was many times the size of that explored by their ancestors. Their colonies included the Cook Islands, French Polynesia, Hawaii, and Easter Island, eventually reaching South America around A.D. 1000.
How Did They Do It?
[D] There is one stubborn question for which archeology has yet to provide any answers. How did the Lapita and early Polynesian pioneers accomplish a feat that is analogous to a moon landing? Little evidence remains to help us understand their remarkable sailing skills. Unfortunately, no one has found an intact Lapita or early Polynesian canoe that might reveal the sailing techniques used. Nor do the oral histories2 and traditions of later Polynesians offer any insights as to how their ancestors navigated areas of open ocean thousands of kilometers wide without becoming lost. "All we can say for certain is that the Lapita had canoes that were capable of ocean voyages, and they had the ability to sail them," says Geoff Irwin, a professor of archeology at the University of Auckland. Nonetheless, scientists have some theories about the secrets of these explorers' successes.
[E] Sailors have always relied upon the so-called trade winds, winds that blow steadily and in predictable directions over the ocean's surface. Irwin notes that the Lapita's expansion into the Pacific was eastward, against steady trade winds. Sailing against the wind, he argues, may have been the key to their success: "They could sail out for days into the unknown …, secure in the knowledge that if they didn't find anything, they could turn around and catch a swift ride home on the trade winds." For returning explorers, successful or not, the geography of their own archipelagos3 provided a safety net. It ensured that sailors wouldn't sail too far and become lost in the open ocean. Vanuatu, for example, is a chain of islands 800 kilometers long with many islands within sight of each other. Once sailors hit that string of islands, they could find their way home.
[F] Irwin hypothesizes that once out in the open ocean, the explorers would detect a variety of clues to follow to land. This included seabirds and turtles that need islands on which to build their nests, coconuts and twigs4 carried out to sea, and the clouds that tend to form over some islands in the afternoon. It is also possible that Lapita sailors followed the smoke from distant volcanoes to new islands.
Helped by El Niño?
[G] These theories rely on one unproven point - that the Lapita and early Polynesians had mastered the skill of sailing against the wind using a technique called "tacking." Rather than give all the credit to their bravery and technique, Atholl Anderson of the Australian National University thinks that they might also have been lucky - helped by a weather phenomenon known as El Niño.
[H] El Niño occurs in the Pacific Ocean when the surface water temperature is unusually high. It disrupts world weather in a variety of ways. One of its effects is to cause trade winds in the South Pacific to weaken or to reverse direction and blow to the east. Scientists believe that El Niño phenomena were unusually frequent around the time of the Lapita expansion, and again between 1,200 and 1,600 years ago, when the early Polynesians began their even more distant voyages. Anderson believes that the Lapita may have taken advantage of trade winds blowing east instead of west, thereby voyaging far to the east without any knowledge of tacking techniques.
[I] The success of the Lapita and their descendants may have been due to their own sailing skills, to reverse trade winds, or to a mixture of both. Or it may even have been due to facts still unknown. But it is certain that by the time Europeans came to the Pacific, nearly every piece of land - hundreds of islands in all - had already been discovered by the Lapita and the Polynesians. Exactly why these ancient peoples set out on such giant migrations remains a mystery. However, as Professor Irwin puts it, "Whatever you believe, the really fascinating part of this story isn't the methods they used, but their motives. The Lapita, for example, didn't need to pick up and go; there was nothing forcing them, no overcrowded homeland. They went because they wanted to go and see what was over the horizon."
1 If you refer to something as a feat, you admire it because it is an impressive and difficult achievement.
2 Oral history is the collection and study of spoken memories, stories, and songs.
3 An archipelago is a large group or chain of islands.
4 A twig is a very small, thin branch.
Is the following sentence fact or speculation?
From about 1300 to 800 B.C., the Lapita people colonized islands that stretch over millions of square kilometers, including the Solomon Islands, Vanuatu, Fiji, New Caledonia, and Samoa.
Fact
Speculation
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