题目原文：
The Supposed Voyage of Brendan the Navigator from Ireland to North America Brendan the Navigator was an Irish priest who lived in the 6th century. He is most famous for embarking on a voyage in search of the mythical “Island of the Blessed.” The details of Brendan’s voyage, recorded as stories in old manuscripts, suggest to some that Brendan and his crew reached North America during their voyage, becoming the first Europeans to do so. Those who advance this theory support it with several arguments. First, the written stories about Brendan’s voyage seem to make references to places his crew would have visited on the way to North America. Sailors in Brendan’s time typically traveled from island to island to avoid the dangers of long periods on the open seas. A journey from Ireland to North America would have taken Brendan to the Faroe Islands, Iceland, and Greenland before reaching the North American continent (see illustration). Places described in the stories about Brendan’s voyage share characteristics with some of those island locations. Second, a team of researchers recently constructed a boat resembling a curragh, an old Irish boat of the type used by Brendan. Curraghs had a wooden frame with cowhides stretched over it. In building the boat, the researchers used only materials and techniques available in Brendan’s time. The researchers were able to sail this boat from Ireland to North America, demonstrating that boat technology in Brendan’s time was sufficient for a journey across the Atlantic Ocean. Third, old markings that may have a connection to Brendan’s voyage have been discovered at several locations in North America. Cut into rocks, these markings consist of narrow vertical lines resembling letters of ogham, an old Irish alphabet in frequent use in Brendan’s time. The resemblance of those marks to ogham has convinced some that the markings were made by members of Brendan’s crew.
听力原文
Did Brendan the navigator really get to North America in the 6th century? None of the evidence presented in the reading is particularly strong. First, can we be sure that the stories really refer to the pharaoh islands or Iceland? Let's take a closer look. For example, the stories mentioned that Brendan visited, quote, unquote, an island of sheep. Some people believe that this is a reference to the pharaoh islands because sheep were raised there, but sheep were raised in other locations, too. Another reference is to, quote, unquote, a burning hill. Again, some people think this refers to Iceland, where there are active volcanoes. But a burning hill may not mean a volcano. It could just be a hill where people have set many fires. So as you can see, we cannot be too sure that the descriptions in the stories really refer to islands located along the way to America.
Second, although the researchers built their ship using old Irish ship building methods, it was not an exact copy of the actual corrupts used by the Irish in Brennan's time. Most importantly the researcher ship is quite a bit longer, 12 meters long, and has more sales than an Irish ship would have had in the 6th century. Sure, this larger more powerful ship is able to make and 8,000 kilometer voyage. But this doesn't really prove that the smaller Caracas built in Brennan's time could do the same.
Third, those intriguing markings discovered in North America. Well, some of those markings may resemble an old Irish alphabet, but many others do not. For example, some of the markings look like pictures, images of a son. a hand, a tree, real organ, the old Irish script was an alphabet and did not incorporate pictures, only letters. So the markings were probably not made by the Irish, but by Native Americans who did carve pictures into stone.
本人回答
The reading advocates that the Irish priest Brendan is the first European to reach North America in the 6th century. However, the lecturer casts doubt on this view, specifically questioning the effectiveness of each of the reading's arguments.
Firstly, the reading asserts that the written stories about Brendan's voyage is inline with the places they would have visited on their way to North America. However, the lecturer holds that this claim is insufficient, for there are alternative explanations for the written stories. For instance, "an island with sheep" does not necessarily refer to the Faroe Islands for the simple reason that sheep are raised in many other places as well. Besides, "burning hills" might refer to local people setting fires on the mountains rather than the active volcanoes in Iceland.
Secondly, regarding the experiment scientist carried out, the lecturer points out that the modern curragh is not an exact copy of the old Irish ship used in Brendan's voyage. For instance, the modern one is 12 meters in length, substantially longer that the original version, not to mention the extra sails. Therefore, a more powerful modern duplicate can make it to North America does not mean the original ship back in the 6th century can complete the journey as well.
Finally, while some of the marking do resemble the Old Irish alphabet, the lecturer emphasizes that those markings only make up for a small proportion. To be specific, the majority of the markings are images resembling things like moon, sun and trees.However, the acient Irish language is consist of an alphabet, so the markings are more likely to be left by Native Americans rather than Brendan.
In conclusion, the lecturer effectively undermines all the arguments put forward in the reading, substantiating that the evidence is insufficient to crown Brendan as the first European to set foot on North America.
