When officials from Brazil’s Indigenous (原住民) protection agency approached the hut in the middle of the Amazon rainforest, their fears were confirmed: They were witnessing the first recorded dying out of an uncontacted tribe in the country’s history.
The man lying there, the last member of his tribe, had died, and with him an entire culture and answers to a thousand questions.
Even his name was a mystery. He was known only as “the Man of the Hole” because of the dozens of holes he had dug over the years in his territory. His age, too, could only be guessed at. He appeared to be about 60, officials said.
It was a sad milestone for a country that in recent years has seen protections for Indigenous groups undermined by an administration that has prioritized development of the Amazon over conservation.
In Rondônia, the only resident of the 8,000-hectare (公顷) area lived in complete isolation for at least 26 years after the rest of his group was killed by ranchers (农场主) advancing the agricultural frontier.
Brazil’s Indigenous protection agency, Funai made direct contact with the last surviving man only in 1996. Marcelo dos Santos, an Indigenous expert, who led the Funai exploit that met the man, said he was found hiding in his hut. “We tried to establish a conversation and offered corn and arrows, but he was terrified and very aggressive. From this moment on, we had to respect his isolation.”
Even with protections in place, the territory suffered widespread deforestation up until about 13 years ago. Attacks on the last surviving man continued, as well, including one by armed gunmen in 2009, according to local news reports.
“For me, he was somehow a miracle: to be able to survive on his own, not speak to anybody and avoid all contact maybe out of grief or determination,” said Fiona Watson, a research director at Survival International, a London-based rights organization.
1. The death of “the Man of the Hole” __________.| A．was hidden from the public by ranchers |
| B．symbolized the disappearance of a tribe |
| C．revealed his name, age and family background |
| D．was broadcast live by Brazil’s Indigenous protection agency |
| A．afforded | B．monitored | C．sought | D．weakened |
| A．made his last contact with the outside world |
| B．witnessed the most severe deforestation in history |
| C．escaped being shot by a group of aggressive gunmen |
| D．learned more survival skills with arrows offered by Funai |
| A．An image of fear and isolation. |
| B．An image of culture and mystery. |
| C．A symbol of resistance and strength. |
| D．A symbol of history and struggle. |
相似题推荐
【推荐1】The UNESCO has recognized the Chinese art of paper cutting on its Intangible Cultural Heritage List. But paper cutting is at the risk of disappearing.
Voyo Woo, a Chinese immigrant, who loves paper cutting, worked hard to celebrate the ancient art form. With a keen interest in paper cutting, Ms Woo held a paper cutting exhibition at a shopping center near Washington. “I really love it. I get so much fun by doing it. So I’m just kind of hoping that more people will learn about this art which is about to disappear. I think it’s time to take action. So I held it.”
Voyo Woo began to study paper cutting when she was a 14-year-old girl in southeastern China. Voyo Woo’s teacher gave her extra training after class because Voyo Woo discovered a special love for it. Later, her beautiful paper cuttings won second prize in a national painting competition. “Paper is the easiest material that you can find. You can just turn it into beautiful art. I think it is like magic to me.”
Ms Woo came to the US after she finished college in 2008. She has been invited to show the art at a wide collection of events. She also has shown her skill and works at famous museums like the Smithsonian Institution’s Freer and Sackler art galleries in Washington.
“I saw so many people coming to me and asking me. They were amazed. I think it’s important to introduce the art form to American people or anyone who is interested.”
Ms Woo placed examples of her art around her as she displayed paper cutting at the shopping center. Ann Russ, a shopper, was attracted by the nature of the work. She said it put her at ease. “I like to know about Chinese art, specifically because it’s almost relaxing to put that much effort into it,” Russ said.
1. The underlined word “keen” in paragraph 2 probably means .| A．strong | B．strange |
| C．similar | D．simple |
| A．To make money for her further education. |
| B．To keep and develop the ancient Chinese art. |
| C．To show off her perfect skill in paper cutting. |
| D．To explain paper cutting is a real art in China. |
| A．She went to the US mainly to teach the art. |
| B．She will come back to China to study the art. |
| C．She once showed the art at several museums in Washington. |
| D．She once held a competition for American paper cutting lovers. |
【推荐2】On a warm spring morning in 1984, Dong Yaohui and his two young friends pulled on backpacks and set out to hike the Great Wall. Their walk began in Shanhai Pass.
The walk of 17 months and 8,850 kilometers tested persistence.
On completing their journey, they published their experiences in a book. As they shared their adventures, it became clear that it was not just the physical demands but also the emotional impact that left lasting impressions.
The Cultural Relics Administrative Department has been given control over the overall protection of the Great Wall.
Dong places his hands on the weathered wall, as he did 35 years ago. But today, he thinks more deeply on a mission grander than his own journey. “Someone dug up some earth, making it into a brick,” he says. “Someone else brought it all the way up the mountain and built a wall. Then many people guarded the wall for hundreds of years. The Great Wall is definitely alive.
| A．It isn’t just a cold, stone wall. |
| B．It requires the efforts of all society. |
| C．From there they went forward to the vast west. |
| D．It wound its way and reached to the Bohai Sea. |
| E．It made them the first ever to walk the whole length. |
| F．Meanwhile, local villagers have recently been hired to act as guardians. |
| G．Preservation work began when the Great Wall was listed as a World Heritage Site. |
【推荐3】Tens of thousands of ancient pictures carved into the rocks at one of France's most important tourist sites are being gradually destroyed. Scientists and researchers fear that the 36,000 drawings on rocks in Mont Bego in the French Alps are being damaged so rapidly that they will not survive for future generations.
The mountain is scattered (散布) with 4, 000-year-old drawings cut into bare rock. But as the popularity of the site increases ,the pictures are being ruined by thoughtless graffiti (涂鸦). .
Jean Clottes is the chairman of the International Committee on Rock Art. He says, “People think that because the pictures have been there so long they will always continue to be there. But if the damage continues at this rate there will be nothing left in 50 years.”
But experts are divided over the best way to preserve the drawings. Henry de Lumley, director of the Museum of Natural History in Paris, believes that the only way to save the site is to turn the whole mountain into a “no-go” area, preventing the public from going there except on guided tours.
Clottes disagrees. “The measure suggested by Henry de Lumley is the most severe, and while it is the most effective, it is also certain to bring about disagreements from people who live there,” he said. “The site was classified as a historic monument years ago by the Ministry of Culture, and we must do as much as possible to save what is there.
Annie Echassoux, who also worked on researching the site, is alarmed that as the mountain becomes easier to reach — tourists can now avoid the three-and-a-half-hour walk by hiring vehicles - the damage will increase rapidly. She thinks that the only solution is to rope off the area and provide guides. “Money must be provided because the Ministry of Culture has classified this area as a historic site. If we don't take steps, we will be responsible for losing the drawings for the next generation.
1. Jean Clottes says that people who visit the mountain ________.| A．do not believe the drawings are old |
| B．believe they are allowed to paint there |
| C．think the drawings should be left alone |
| D．assume the drawings will not disappear |
| A．Set up research projects. |
| B．Protect public rights. |
| C．Close its door: to individual visitors. |
| D．Ban traffic in the area. |
| A．Disapproving. | B．Supportive. |
| C．Optimistic. | D．Doubtful. |
| A．To advertise the closing of the site. |
| B．To warn visitors about the dangers of the site. |
| C．To encourage scientists to visit the site. |
| D．To show fears for the future of the site. |
【推荐1】“It's possible to jump to happy endings a little too quickly,” says Laura King, PhD, a psychology professor at the University of Missouri, Columbia. In her research with people who have experienced major life challenges, King has found that people whose stories gloss over（掩盖）conflict tend to become happier over the course of two years.
“The ability to take some time and experience grief（悲伤）or unhappiness improves your ability to appreciate the world in all its richness and complexity,” King says.
In one study, King asked parents to tell the story of discovering that their child had Down syndrome. Immediately after telling their stories and again two years later, the parents completed measures of subjective well-being. Researchers blind to the participants' test scores read their stories and recorded the presence of foreshadowing（预示）and whether the stories had happy or sad beginnings and endings. The researchers also scored how vividly the stories illustrated conflict, struggle and exploration.
Two years later, the parents who had grown happier were the ones who had written stories with happy endings. “I knew everything would be all right,” one woman wrote. Another parent wrote, “I know my daughter is quite special. She's the closest I've come to an angel on Earth.”
However, only the parents who first vividly described their mixed feelings upon learning of their child's diagnosis grew happier. “I cried a lot,” wrote a parent. “The pain was so deep. I felt cheated. I could hardly function.” These were also the parents who later seemed best able to fully appreciate their children's gifts and limitations.
1. What did the study find?| A．People with sick child tend to be happier. |
| B．People usually jump to happy endings too quickly. |
| C．People who go through challenges may become happier. |
| D．People need to suffer difficulty to be able to appreciate happiness. |
| A．Who the research focused on. |
| B．Why researchers did the study. |
| C．What benefit the finding will bring us. |
| D．How researchers carried out the study. |
| A．Preview what will happen to them. |
| B．Describe their mixed feelings clearly. |
| C．Write a story with a happy beginning. |
| D．Take good care of their sick children. |
| A．A news report. | B．A diary. |
| C．A travel guide. | D．A short story. |
【推荐2】Tom Costello Jr. was once afraid of homeless Americans. That changed seven years ago after his wife, a volunteer at a homeless shelter, persuaded him to help with a holiday dinner for shelter residents.
Tom Costello remembers going to a store and buying socks for the residents. He knew many of them were in need of clothing. At the shelter, Costello said, he dropped a pair of socks into a bag for a woman. “She started to cry and told me that nobody had ever given her socks before,” Costello said. “Then she reached out and gave me a hug.”
That experience at the shelter helped Costello end his fear of the homeless. It also led him to set up a group called “The Joy of Sox.” The Joy of Sox collects socks from donors and gives them mostly to shelters in the Philadelphia, Pennsylvania area, where Costello and his wife Nacy live. But the group has been expanding its reach, now providing socks for homeless shelters in 21 states and three countries: Mexico, Afghanistan and Uganda.
Why socks? Costello explains that some Americans give food, coats and other clothing to shelters, but donating socks is not something most people think about. And, he says, socks are very helpful in keeping people warm in cold weather. A man named Kiwi, who has lived in homeless shelters, explains that socks are important to people who spend a lot of time outdoors. Kiwi says most of the time he can find enough food through shelters and soup kitchens, but socks are much more difficult to get.
Costello says his hope for “The Joy of Sox” is to be the best sock charity in the world. He also wants the group to give six pairs of socks to every homeless person in the United States each year.
1. Which word can best describe the woman when Costello gave her socks?| A．Greedy. | B．Embarrassed. | C．Confused. | D．Grateful. |
| A．personally helped at a homeless shelter |
| B．heard a shelter resident’s heartbreaking story from his wife |
| C．got help from a homeless person |
| D．became a volunteer at a homeless shelter |
| A．The homeless need food more than socks. | B．Socks can’t help the homeless keep warm. |
| C．Socks are precious things to the homeless. | D．The homeless only get sock donations in winter. |
| A．To stand out as the world’s best sock charity. | B．To become the only sock charity in America. |
| C．To expand its reach to three countries. | D．To provide socks for every homeless person in the world. |
| A．treasure what they have | B．face difficulties bravely |
| C．try to help those in need | D．stick to their dreams |
【推荐3】Chinese athletes were highlighted by a series of inspirational wins in the International Ski Federation’s World Cup circuit recently. China’s Gu Ailing, a Chinese freestyle talent, made history by becoming the first ever back-to-back freeski World Cup winner in two different events at the same venue after claiming the slopestyle title in Calgary, Canada, on Feb.15, 2020. The day before, Gu had stormed to her first Cup gold in the halfpipe competition.
Gu again thrilled the crowds on Feb.15 in the slopestyle with another impressive display of technical riding, landing a string of difficult tricks, including a massive right 900° twist with a tail grab in her second run that earned her 89.18 points to dominate the 18-strong field.
“Honestly, my mind is blown,” Gu told the FIS website after the competition. “Coming in I didn’t have any expectations. I try not to take anything for granted. Honestly, I could not have expected two wins from these events.”
“I really just came in trying to do my best and ski the way I knew I could. Skiing my best is really the best part of this, and being rewarded for it just makes it even better.”
Born to a Chinese mother and an American father in San Francisco, US, Gu, better known as Eileen in the States, completed a naturalization process last June to represent China in international competitions.
Now she has her sights set on doing her mother’s home country proud at the 2022 Beijing Games.
A talented skier who has won many national junior titles in the US, Gu became a hit last month after winning two golds and a silver — in halfpipe, Big Air and slopestyle — at her first appearance in Winter Youth Olympics in Lausanne, Switzerland.
With Gu now on board in freeski, China’s snow sports team, which also features world-class aerial skiers and halfpipe snowboarders, is determined to challenge Western dominance on the snow in 2022.
1. How did Gu Ailing created history in her career?| A．She won two gold medals in the World Cup. |
| B．She showed her talent in skiing performance. |
| C．She displayed an impressive technical riding. |
| D．She made a massive right 900° twist twice. |
| A．Her powerful determination. | B．Her parents’ positive support. |
| C．Her deep love for competition. | D．Her relaxing and careful mind. |
| A．On Feb.15, 2020. | B．On Feb.14, 2020. |
| C．In January 2020. | D．In June 2019. |
