Writing is a much newer invention than talking． Nobody knows when people first began to talk， but so far as we know， they did not begin to write until seven or eight thousand years ago．

     In Egypt， Mesopotamia， and China， and later in Palestine and Greece， people began to make marks and pictures with sticks and sharp stones from which others， or they themselves

later， could see what they had thought．

     These early records were the beginning of writing．The first writing was picture writing．Here are some early Chinese picture words． Can you see what they represent （代表）？

     Later Chinese writing is less like pictures than the earlier writing was， but we can see the pictures in some of its words． For example：

     In picture writing， each picture represents a word； you need a different picture or mark for each word．

     In present﹣day Chinese writing most of the marks are not pictures of anything， and a reader has to learn how the Chinese write about two thousand of these words before being able to read a newspaper．

     With some of these marks you may be able to see what the idea is， For example：

     The sun and the moon．明Its meanings are："bright" and" open"．

     A man and two marks．仁One of the meanings is "humanity"．

（1）When did people begin to write？　　

A．Seven or eight hundred years ago．

B． Before people first began to talk．

C． Seven or eight thousand years ago．

（2）Which of the following is the earliest Chinese picture word？　　

A．

B．

C．雨

（3）What does the明in the passage mean？　　

A．Day and night．

B．Bright and open．

C． Humanity．

（4）What's the passage mainly about？　　

A． The history of Chinese writing．

B．When Chinese people began to write．

C． How the Chinese began to talk．