（每日一读）2014年2月高考英语考前突破 阅读理解能力 文化教育 英格兰海岸发现80多万年前的人类脚印

英格兰海岸发现 80 多万年前的人类脚印Scientists have discovered the earliest evidence of human footprints outside of Africa, on the Norfolk Coast in the East of England.科学家在英格兰东部黑斯堡海岸上发现 80 多万年前的人类脚印遗迹，这是非洲之外最古老的人类脚印遗迹，直接证明欧洲北部早期人类的存在。The footprints on Happisburgh beach are possibly those of a family in search of food The footprints are more than 800,000 years old and were found on the shores of Happisburgh. They are direct evidence of the earliest known humans in northern Europe. Details of the extraordinary markings have been published in the science journal Plos One. The footprints have been described as "one of the most important discoveries, if not the most important discovery that has been made on [Britain's] shores," by Dr Nick Ashton of the British Museum. "It will rewrite our understanding of the early human occupation of Britain and indeed of Europe," he told BBC News. The markings were first indentified in May last year during a low tide. Rough seas had eroded the sandy beach to reveal a series of elongated（瘦长的） hollows. I walked with Dr Ashton along the shore where the discovery was made. He recalled how he and a colleague stumbled across the hollows: "At the time, I wondered 'could these really be the case? If it was the case, these could be the earliest footprints outside Africa and that would be absolutely incredible." Such discoveries are very rare. The Happisburgh footprints are the only ones of this age in Europe and there are only three other sets that are older, all of which are in Africa. "At first, we weren't sure what we were seeing," Dr Ashton told me, "but it was soon clear that the hollows resembled human f...