英語四級聽力天天練:第二十四期 (5/7)

There was once a time, a long time ago, when children had a different way of life. Back during this point in history, the only thing that children needed to learn was how to cope with the environment around them. They had to learn physical survival skills such as being alert around moving objects and drawing back when they met something unsafe. They didn't need to attend schools because they could learn everything from the school of experience. The experience of their daily lives gave them enough education to survive during that less complex period. School was not necessary for them to learn other skills because their parents would teach them all they needed to know about capturing their food and plowing the earth. Learning the basic survival skills of how to feed oneself and grow food was the only thing most people needed to learn during that time period. Slowly, however, life became more complex, and people found the need to communicate with people in distant places. The world was expanding, and people needed to interact with people outside of their little town or village for business or for personal reasons. Then, it became important that children learn to read and write. When money became the form of buying and selling, they needed to learn how to count and calculate. These things were fundamental for children to know in order to survive in this more complicated world. And because these skills could not be learned from first-hand experience, schools became necessary to teach them these skills. Children were taught what are now called the three Rs, reading, writing, and arithmetic.