[单项选择]We shall outline the four major subfields of anthropology
that have emerged in the twentieth century, physical anthropology, archaeology,
linguistics and cultural anthropology.
Physical anthropology
deals with human biology across space and time. It is divided into two areas,
paleontology, the study of the fossil evidence of the primate (including human)
evolution, and neontology, the comparative biology of living primates, including
population and molecular genetics, body shapes (morphology), and the extent to
which behavior is bio-logically programmed.
Archaeology is the
systematic retrieval and analysis of the physical remains left behind by human
beings, including both their skeletal and cultural remains. Both the classical
civilizations and prehistoric groups, including our prehuman ancestors, are
investigated.
Linguistics is the study of language across space
and time. Historical linguistics at-tempts to trace the tree of linguistic
evolution and to reconstruct ancestral language forms. Comparative (or
structural) linguistics attempts to describe formally the basic elements of
languages and the rules by which they are ordered into intelligible
speech.
Cultural anthropology includes many different
perspectives and specialized sub-disciplines but is concerned primarily with
describing the forms of social organization and the cultural systems of human
groups. In technical usage, ethnography is the description of the social and
cultural systems of one particular group, whereas ethnology is the comparison of
such descriptions for the purpose of generalizing about the nature of all human
groups.The word "anthropology" (Line 1, Para. 1) probably means ______.
A. study of ancient human beings
B. study of mankind of its origins, development, beliefs, etc.
C. study of human biology
D. analysis of the physical remains left behind by human beings
