Section 3
Task 1. Learning to rephrase.

1. The American Indians of the Southwest have led an agricultural life since the year 1 A.D, and in some aspects, their life is still similar today.

2. At the beginning of this period, the people farmed on the tops of high, flat, mountain plateaus, called mesas. Mesa is the Spanish word for table.

3. They lived on top of the mesas or in the protection of the caves on the sides of the cliffs.

4. In their early history, the Anasazi used baskets for all these purposes. Later they developed pottery.
But the change from basketmaking to pottery was so important that it began a series of secondary changes.

5. To cook food in a basket, the women first filled the basket with ground corn mixed water. They then built a fire.

6. But many stones could be heated on the fire and then dropped into the basket of food so it would cook.
The stones heated the food quite well, but soon they had to be taken out of the food and heated again.

7. But although the men brought home the idea of pottery, they didn't bring home any instructions on how to make it.
Anthropologists have discovered pieces of broken pottery made according to different formulas.

8. Because the Anasazi had solved the problem of cooking and storing food, they could now enjoy a more prosperous, comfortable period of life.