Focus On Vocabulary- Chapter 1 Human Societies From Iceman to Us

Section 1: Main Idea

Match the paragraphs in the article to the main ideas below:

a. Societies have been categorised according to the technology they have. 8
b. The objects in the world and the way of doing things were very different
three hundred years ago. 2
c. Humans who lived thousands of years ago also had a society that was
quite advanced . 4
d. Sociologists are interested in understanding how societies change. 3
e. One technological development can lead to more technological
developments. 7
f. A man found a very old and intact human body. 1
g. Sociologists have noticed that technology seems to be linked to differences
between societies. 5
h. The different types of societies do not follow one after the other, and
i.

technology itself is not bad. 9

The more technology a society has, the greater the rate of social change. 6

Section 2: Short Answer Questions

1. According to this article, what is the key factor in the development of a

society?
The amount of technological skill and knowledge it has.
(technology)
2. What are the similarities and differences between..
a. horticultural and pastoral and agrarian societies? (2)
Simliarities: Both grew own plants and raised animals (farming)
Differences: Agrarian used more technology for farming = larger
scale farming Agrarian= more advanced inventions such as
irrigation, the wheel, writing etc
b. and industrial and post-Industrial societies? (1)
(No similarities directly mentioned. Possible answers: Both use
sophisticated machinery and advanced sources of energy.)
Differences: Post-industrial societies have information-based
economy and use of computers etc

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3. The greater the amount of technological skill and knowledge a society

has, the faster it changes. Do you agree with this statement? Give
evidence from the article and your own knowledge.
Yes, I agree. The article states that technology is a key factor in changing
society. I think that NZ society has also changed considerably with for
example
mobile phones.
No, I dont agree. There are a number of factors, not solely technology,
that can change a society. Other factors include how much a society
wants to adopt a new change such as technology. If a society
wants to hold onto old ways, it will develop less rapidly.
Any evidence from the text is fine, but it must be fully explained
4. According to this article, technology is neutral. What does this mean?
Humans (people) are the ones who decide how to use technology and whether
it is used for good or bad purposes
5. In your opinion, in what ways can technology make our lives worse?
There is, for example, less privacy with todays modern technology.
In todays modern world, = correct
With modern technology, = correct
In terms of modern technology, = correct
Nowadays,
These days,

6. What technology has had the biggest impact on your life?

Own answers, but must fully explain.
Section 3: Referents

What do the underlined words in bold refer to? (The paragraph and line numbers
are given)
e.g. He soon realized that.( Paragraph 1, Line 7) He= The German touristHelmut Simon
6. Although this is very recent(Paragraph 2, Line 2) the year 1700 / 300
years ago
7. And more than this, the idea of. (Paragraph 2, Line 10)
(all of the previously mentioned modern conveniences)
8. Evidence of this comes from.. (Paragraph 4, Line 3) Humans living
thousands of years ago were members of early human societies.

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9. ..; people in these societies are likely to.. (Paragraph 5, Line 12)
(technologically) complex societies
10.These societies transformed.. (Paragraph 8, Line 26) (Industrial
societies)
Section 4: Finding Synonyms

Find the words from the text that match the following meanings (The paragraph
number and part of speech are given) Some of the words are in bold and some
are not:
11.undamaged ( adj)- Para 1 intact
12.experienced or faced (v)- Para2
encountered
13.progressed (v) - Para 5 flourished
14.control/ influence (v) - Para 5
manipulate

15.complicated/ not simple (adj) - Para

5 complex
16.see (v) - Para 6 witness
17.changes (n) - Para 6
transformations
18.develop/progress (v) - Para 9
evolve

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