大学英语自学教程
(上册)unit
18　　18-A.
WhyAreMaps
Drawn
with
North
attheTop?
　　Nowitishard
tovisualize
amapthat
does
notfeature
north
atthetop,
butthis
wasnotalways
so.　　Theoldest
known
mapintheaccepted
sense
oftheword
wasdrawn
about
3,800BC,andrepresents
theriver
Euphrates
flowing
through
northern
Mesopotamia,
Iraq.
This,
andothers
that
followed
it,were
little
more
than
rough
sketches
oflocalized
features;
itwasnotuntil
many
centuries
later
that
theancient
Greeks
placed
thescience
ofmap-making
onasound
...