The story of Noah building an ark to save his family and save thousands of animals from a flood which destroys all life on earth is an epic from many people's childhoods. It's a wonderful story found in the Bible, the Koran and the torah. But is it in fact real history? Now the technology exists to examine this well-known epic with the eyes of science. We will weigh out the evidence from archaeological finds in Iraq. We will examine the proof that a global flood did cover the whole planet. We'll also create a historically accurate picture of the real Noah, who he was, where he lived and what he might have looked like.

The story of Noah is told in the book of Genesis in the Bible and the torah. It's set somewhere in the Middle East about 5, 000 years ago. (Hey, stop that! ) Noah's family includes his wife, his three sons, Shem, Ham, and Japheth and their brides. Noah stands out as a good person, the only virtuous man left in a world that had become filled with corruption and violence.

He is described as a vine grower. A claim that has an authentic ring to it as vine was grown in the middle east as far back as 3, 000 B. C. And this reference also provides a real insight into Noah's character. After the flood, the Bible says Noah planted the first vineyard. But it also tells us that Noah had a weakness. Having made the first wine, the story goes that Noah drank too much of it. In fact, one night this holy man collapses naked and drunk. Horrified, his sons Ham and Shem covered their father. In the morning, Noah is embarrassed and perhaps suffering the first ever hangover, he curses the sons who saw him naked. (Ham, you. . . ) He sounds like a flawed and complex man. But perhaps that is true of all great man.

But Noah was probably a very reliable man because God gives him a very big mission. The story goes that God warned Noah in a dream that he was going to punish humanity for its sins with a flood that would cover the whole earth. To save Noah and his family, God told him to build a boat of wood and to line it with pitch inside and out. He also ordered Noah to give the ark three decks, a roof and a door. But the most surprising of God's instructions was the sheer size of the ark. The Bible spells that out in cubits. Traditionally, a cubit was the length of man's forearm about one and a half feet. The Bible says Noah built an ark 300 cubits long and 30 cubits wide by 30 high. That's almost as big as modern super tankers and cruise liners like Titanic. Nearly 450 feet long, it would have been a magnificent sight, certainly the biggest boat in the ancient world. Quite an achievement for an ordinary man. Now the Bible assumes it was possible to build this monster vessel out of wood alone. It's a pretty big assumption.

phrase to remember:

have an authentic ring to ... ......听起来是真的

ring的用法：sth.calls a ring to me that... ......让我想起来......