To give the child some idea of what has gone on in the world before he arrived;

To take him out of his little self-centered, shut-in life, which looms so large because it is so close to his eyes;

To extend his horizon, broaden his view, and open up the vists down the ages past;

To acquaint him with some of the big events and great names and fix these in time and space as a basis for detailed study in the future;

To give him a chronological file with main guides, into which he can fit in it proper place all his further historical study—

Is the purpose of this first SURVEY OF THE WORLD'S HISTORY.

让孩子知道一些他们来到这世界之前就已经发生的事情；

带孩子走出以自我为中心、封闭在家的生活，这种生活显得过于重要，就是因为太贴近，使他们看不到外面的世界，就成为孩子们眼中的一切；

开阔孩子的眼界，拓展他们的视野，将过去时代的历史画面展现在他们面前；

让他们熟悉历史上一些重大事件和伟人的名字，并把这些事和人在时间和空间上确定下来，作为将来系统学习的基础；

向孩子提供一份历史编年档案，并附有要览，这样他们今后学习历史就可以参照这份档案。

以上所述就是写这第一本“世界历史概述”的宗旨。

维吉尔·M·希利尔

This part is not for you, either. It is for your father, mother, or teacher, and is what they would call the——

这一章节也不是给你们孩子们看的，是给你们的爸爸、妈妈或老师看的，这一章节就是他们所说的—— sXPFYOMYt3uL7wyT+8qVHRUYd05amc5o2gWnhKQ5yDJxQjO0qSZfWoqFTk0i/VBQ