A deafening boom roars through Pompeii's crowded marketplace. The ground shakes     1     (violent), throwing shoppers off balance. People scream and point toward Mount Vesuvius, a massive volcano     2     rises above them.

Nearly 2,000 years ago, Pompeii was a busy southern Italian city. But in 79, the nearby Mount Vesuvius volcano erupted. Almost overnight, Pompeii and many of its 10,000 residents disappeared under     3     blanket of ash.

Pompeii was basically forgotten until it     4     (rediscover) in 1748. Thanks     5     diggings, scientists have been able to figure out almost exactly what happened on that terrible day.

After the volcano first erupted shortly after noon, the thick ash turned everything black. Some residents escaped the city, while others took shelter in their homes. But the ash kept     6     (fall). Piles grew as deep as nine feet in some places, blocking doorways.

    7     (base) on what they uncovered, scientists believe that Pompeii was a prosperous town popular with     8     (wealth) Romans. Well-paved streets had high sidewalks. To relax, people soaked in public baths and enjoyed plays in two theaters.

Pompeii may be ancient history, but scientists are pretty sure Mount Vesuvius is overdue for another major     9     (explode). Luckily the people living near the volcano today will likely receive     10     (warning) before it blows.

A pottery toilet used by ancient Chinese people during the Qin Dynasty has been discovered at the Yueyang City Ruins,     1       ancient Chinese palace archaeological site in Shaanxi province. The discovery is the first “flush toilet”    2     has been discovered by archaeology (考古).

The discovery was made by experts     3     (dig) the No.3 Ancient Building at the Yueyang City Ruins. The ancient relic    4    (consist) of two parts, an indoor toilet on a platform and a   pipe   system   below   directing   used   water   and   waste    5     (substance)   outside.     6       (unfortunate) the upper half of the flush toilet was not found during the excavation. Hence, experts cannot confirm whether    7     (it) users sat on it or squatted over it.

The toilet might have been used by Qin Xiaogong (381-338BC) or his father Qin Xian’gong (424-362BC) of the Qin Kingdom during the Warring States Period (475-221BC), or by Liu Bang, the first emperor of the Han Dynasty (206BC-AD220).     8       (figure) it out, experts still have a lot of work to do.

“The flush toilet is concrete    9     (prove)   of the important attachment ancient Chinese people have    10     sanitation (卫生),” said Liu Rui from the Institute of Archaeology, Chinese Academy of Social Sciences.

Last October, three fossilized dinosaur eggs,     1     date back to the early and mid-late Cretaceous period, were found in Wuning County Jiangxi Province. The     2       (authority) said they would put them on display.

An excavator driver found several fossils and fragments (碎片) while     3     (work) on a construction project on October 5 in Wuning County and it was     4     (immediate) reported to the local government, according to Wuning County Museum.

“We received a call which claimed they had found something similar to dinosaur egg fossils and we instantly went to     5     site,” an employee Zhang from Wuning County Museum told the Global Times on Thursday.

She went there     6       the professional team and saw the egg fossils attached to a rock. The three fossils are nearly round and can be seen clearly. Two of     7     (they) are well preserved, and one egg’s shell has peeled off, according to Zhang.

“After professional research by experts, the egg fossils     8     (confirm) as dinosaur egg fossils. They are now with the museum and     9     (far) research has been carried out,” said Zhang.

In recent years, Chinese scientists     10     (discover) from studies of dinosaur egg fossils that a sustained decline in dinosaur diversity happened in the late Cretaceous period.