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1、华中师范大学城市与环境科学学院人文地理专业硕士生复试题答题要求：1、总分100分。2、答卷要求打印。无条件打印者，必须卷面整洁，字迹清楚；3、论述题的回答每个不得少于1500字，且必须条理清晰、观点明确、言之成理、持之有据，重要参考文献须注明。一、将下面的英文翻译成中文 （20分）The period from the fifth to the fifteenth century was one of sporadic and limited geographic work in Europe. Elsewhere， however， especially in the Islamic wor
2、ld and China， geography flowered. Again， what we find is a close relationship between geography on the one hand and societies experiencing expansion， and hence a thirst for geographic knowledge， on the other.Medieval Europeans knew little beyond their immediate domain as geographic horizons retreate
3、d and mapping deteriorated. Many of the advances made by the Greeks were lost and it was only in monasteries that serious geographic work continued. During the Middle Ages， geography as such no longer existed； the word “geography” did not enter the English language until the sixteenth century. The c
4、learest evidence of decline relates to maps. Greek maps were drawn by scholars with expertise in astronomy， geometry， and mathematics. Medieval map makers， although scholarly， are less easily described. Their maps were symbolic， not geographic. They stylized geographic reality to arrive at a predete
5、rmined desired structure. These maps are less detailed and accurate than maps produced some 1，500 years earlier. The best example is the twelfth to the fifteenth centurys T-O maps， which are a T drawn within an O. T-O maps show the world as a circle divided by a T-shaped body of water. East is at th
6、e top of the map. Above the T is Asia， below left is Europe， and below right is Africa. The cross of the T is the Danube-Nile axis and the perpendicular part of the T is the Mediterranean. These maps are ones of scriptural dogma； what was drawn was what Christians were expected to believe. Symbols t
7、riumphed over facts. A second type of medieval map divided the world into climatic zones， largely hypothetical， on either side of the equator. Other medieval maps were replete with decoration； the Ebstorf Mappemonde （c.1284） had as background a picture of the crucifixion， while the Hereford map （c.
8、1 300） is really an encyclopedia. Overall， medieval maps reflect medieval European geography， which， in turn， reflects medieval scholarship. Possibly the exceptions are the maps known as Portolano charts， which date from about 1300. These maps were used at sea and utilized a series of radiating line
9、s. The lines did not serve to locate positions on the map， nor did the maps use any projection. Nevertheless these maps often succeeded in locating coastlines accurately.Medieval Europeans made very few additions to geographic knowledge. Norsemen sailed to Greenland and North America， but no books r
10、esulted. Christian Europeans indulged in a series of crusades and military invasions to the Holy Land， but the result， as far as geographic knowledge was concerned， was minimal. The most significant exploratory journey was that of Marco Polo （1254-1323）， a Venetian who visited China and wrote a desc
11、ription of the places he visited. However， Marco Polo was unable to add to Greek knowledge because he was largely unaware of it. The distinction is not always an easy one， but Marco Polo was an explorer， not a geographer. It was outside Europe that the major geographic advances took place during the
12、 period after the Greeks and prior to the fifteenth century. Two contributions need to be noted.In China， a great civilization， clearly the parent of contemporary China， developed before 2000 BC. The longest-lasting civilization in the world， China inevitably made major contributions to geographic k
13、nowledge. Chinese writings describing their known world date back to at least the fifth century BC. The Chinese also explored and described areas beyond China； in 128 BC， for example， Chang Chien discovered the Mediterranean region， described his travels， and initiated a trade route. Other Chinese g
14、eographers reached India， central Asia， Rome， and Paris. Indeed， Chinese travelers reached Europe prior to the travels of Marco Polo. There is one important aspect in which early Chinese geography differed from the European equivalent. It is a difference of geographic perspective， that is， a differe
15、nt way of looking at the world. Traditionally， Chinese culture views the individual as a part of nature whereas Greek and subsequent European culture typically view the individual as apart from nature. This distinction is closely tied to the differing attitudes incorporated in Confucianism （which da
16、tes from about the sixth century BC） and Christianity. Given the concern with humans and land as one， it is evident that Chinese descriptive geographies often focused on an integrated human and physical description. Maps were also central to geography in China. There is evidence of a grid system used during the Han dynasty （third century BC to third century AD）。 It appears that the Chinese map makers began as civil servants whose job it was to draw and re
