If you want to tell the history of the whole world, a history that does not privilege one part of humanity, you cannot do it through texts alone, because only some of the world has ever had texts, while most of the world, for most of the time, has not. Writing is one of humanity's later achievements, and until fairly recently even many literate societies recorded their concerns not only in writing but in things.

Ideally a history would bring together texts and objects, and some chapters of this book are able to do just that, but in many cases we simply can't. The clearest example of this between literate and non-literate history is perhaps the first conflict, at Botany Bay, between Captain Cook's voyage and the Australian Aboriginals. From the English side, we have scientific reports and the captain's record of that terrible day. From the Australian side, we have only a wooden shield dropped by a man in flight after his first experience of gunshot. If we want to reconstruct what was actually going on that day, the shield must be questioned and interpreted as deeply and strictly as the written reports.

In addition to the problem of miscomprehension from both sides, there are victories accidentally or deliberately twisted, especially when only the victors know how to write. Those who are on the losing side often have only their things to tell their stories. The Caribbean Taino, the Australian Aboriginals, the African people of Benin and the Incas, all of whom appear in this book, can speak to us now of their past achievements most powerfully through the objects they made: a history told through things gives them back a voice. When we consider contact between literate and non-literate societies such as these, all our first-hand accounts are necessarily twisted, only one half of a dialogue. If we are to find the other half of that conversation, we have to read not just the texts, but the objects.

Questions:
question_stem: What is the first paragraph mainly about?
choices: tag: A
text: How past events should be presented.

tag: B
text: What humanity is concerned about.

tag: C
text: Whether facts speak louder than words.

tag: D
text: Why written language is reliable.
answer_key: A

question_stem: What does the author indicate by mentioning Captain Cook in paragraph 2?
choices: tag: A
text: His report was scientific.

tag: B
text: He represented the local people.

tag: C
text: He ruled over Botany Bay.

tag: D
text: His record was one-sided.
answer_key: D

question_stem: What does the underlined word "conversation" in paragraph 3 refer to?
choices: tag: A
text: Problem.

tag: B
text: History.

tag: C
text: Voice.

tag: D
text: Society.
answer_key: B

question_stem: Which of the following books is the text most likely selected from?
choices: tag: A
text: How Maps Tell Stories of the World

tag: B
text: A Short History of Australia

tag: C
text: A History of the World in 100 Objects

tag: D
text: How Art Works Tell Stories
answer_key: C