1 . Scientists found what could be the oldest evidence of cooking at the edge of the ancient Lake Hula in Israel at the Gesher Benot Ya’aqov, according to a newly-published paper. The remains, especially fish teeth, were discovered near places where scientists also found signs of fire. Tests showed the teeth had been exposed to temperatures that were hot, but not super-hot. This suggested the fish were cooked slowly over a low heat, rather than being put right onto a fire.

With all the evidence together, scientists concluded that these ancient humans had used fire for cooking some 780,000 years ago. That is much earlier than the next oldest evidence for cooking, about 170,000 years ago, which showed Stone Age humans ate burnt roots in South Africa.

Scientists believe cooking started long before this, though physical evidence has been hard to come by —considering the importance of using fire to cook. Cooked food makes it easier for the body to digest and get more nutrients. When early humans figured out how to cook, they were able to get more energy, which they could use to fuel bigger brains. Based on how human ancestors’ bodies developed, scientists guess that cooking skills would have had to appear nearly 2 million years ago.

Those first cooked meals were a far cry from today’s dinners. And at that time, humans started eating not just for fuel, but for their community. In a 2010 paper, scientists described the earliest evidence of a feast(盛宴), which was a specially prepared meal that brought people together for an event in a cave. This “first feast” came at an important turning point in human history, right as hunter-gatherers were starting to settle into more permanent living situations. Gathering for special meals may have been a way to build community and reduce tensions now that people lived closer to each other. Scientists believe ancient feasts served a lot of the same social uses that modern gatherings serve: People exchange information, make connections, or try to improve their position.

1. Which is probably the earliest evidence of cooking?

A．The tools of cooking.	B．The signs of fire.
C．The leftover fish.	D．The burnt roots.

2. What message is conveyed in paragraph 3?

A．Food is key to keeping brains’ functioning.	B．Using fire to cook is a universal practice.
C．Our understanding of ancestors is limited.	D．Cooking is the driving force for human evolution.

3. What do scientists say about ancient feasts?

A．They mark important events.	B．They have multiple functions.
C．They differ from modern gatherings.	D．They display excellent cooking skills.

4. Why does the author write this text?

A．To inform readers of a new discovery.

B．To explain why early humans started to cook.

C．To present how cooking makes us together.

D．To stress the importance of fire to human life.

2 . 阅读下面短文，在空白处填入1个适当的单词或括号内单词的正确形式。

German and Kurdish researchers have discovered an ancient city by the Tigris River. The city    1    (uncover) when the levels of the Mosul reservoir (水库) decreased earlier this year due to the extreme drought in Iraq.

    2    (prevent) crops from drying out, a large amount of water has been drawn down from the reservoir, Iraq’s most important water    3    (store). This led to the reappearance of the city that    4    (sink) decades before without any prior investigations. The unforeseen event made researchers excavate (挖掘) and document at least parts of this city as quickly as possible    5    it sank again.

A team for rescue excavations was put together within days. They were    6    great time pressure because it was not clear when the water in the reservoir would rise again, and the    7    (expose) walls of large buildings in the old city would disappear.

    8    (fortunate), the researchers succeeded in largely mapping the city. In addition to a palace, other large buildings emerged from the reservoir — fortifications (防御工事) with walls and towers and    9    industrial site. The research team was shocked by the well-preserved state of the walls     10    were made of sun-dried mud bricks and had been under water for more than 40 years.

3 . 阅读下面短文，在空白处填入1个适当的单词或括号内单词的正确形式。

Archaeologists in China have recently found the world’s oldest known coin manufacturing(制造)site. The site     1     (use) to make metal money around 2,600 years ago. It is located in the ancient city of Guanzhuang, in     2     is now China’s Henan Province.

Using radiocarbon(放射性碳)dating, the researchers came to the     3     (conclude) that the workshop began minting(铸造)operations between 640 BC and 550 BC. The discovery of the coin mint is     4     (true) exciting as it shows the existence of a very old coin workshop.

The coins     5     (make) at the workshop are “spade money”. They replaced     6     (shell) during the Spring and Autumn Period (about 770 to 476 BC). The workshop was close to the city’s administrative center,     7     suggests that it may have begun minting coins on government orders.

The new study adds fuel     8     a long-standing debate about the origins of currency. Some scholars argue that money     9     (begin) as a way to help trade between merchants and customers. Others say governments created it     10     (allow) for the collection of taxes and debts.

4 . 阅读下面短文，在空白处填入1个适当的单词或括号内单词的正确形式。

Chinese cultural relic authorities on Thursday revealed some new discoveries from the mysterious Sanxingdui Ruins in Sichuan Province.    1    (recognize) as one of the significant ancient remains in the 20th century, the 3000-year-old Sanxingdui is a national treasure buried with a variety of jade，bronze(青铜) and gold objects. Among the excavated artifacts(出土文物)， a complete gold mask about 10 grams in     2     (weigh),37.2 centimeters wide,and 16.5 centimeters high    3     (unearth)from No.3 Pit a few days ago. The gold mask is    4       (basic)the same size as one of the bronze heads dug from the same pit. Therefore, experts assume it was initially attached     5     the face of a bronze head.

Meanwhile,     6    big bronze mask was excavated from the pit. It is the     7     (large) bronze mask ever discovered at the site. The bronze mask has struck the fancy of Chinese netizens,    8     comments on the hairstyle reminded them of the crown-shaped hat worn by Zhuge   Liang , a Chinese statesman and military strategist that lived during the Three Kingdoms period.

Totally; the archaeologists(考古学家)    9    (discover)more than 500 pieces of relics over the last few months, impressed with the historical     10     artistic value.

6 . In the late 1930s, a collection of 14 gold Roman coins, known as the Chapipi treasure, was also found in the same woodlands. The researchers believe that local people may have buried their coins to keep them safe during a period of intense political instability in the region. The most recent coin in the newly-discovered Grado collection dates to A.D. 430, which was after the Suebi — a group of Germanic people originally from modern-day Germany and the Czech Republic — pushed the Romans out of Spain in A.D. 409, according to El Pais.

What does the underlined word “them” refer to in Paragraph 4?

A．The Romans.

B．The coins.

C．The woodlands.

D．The researchers.

7 . While most people don’t think much about garbage, trash (垃圾) is beloved by archaeologist (考古学家). A favorite site for study is a midden (贝丘), an old trash or garbage heap (堆). A midden might contain damaged stone or metal items, which tell us about the weapons and tools people used. Softer materials such as wood, cloth, leather, and baskets are sometimes preserved. They may tell us what people wore, how they carried things, or the kind of toys used by children. Historic household trash heaps often contain broken pottery pieces and even traces of the food they once held.

Most people no longer keep a trash heap by the kitchen door. Instead, garbage is hauled off to landfills (垃圾填埋池). These landfills can still attract archaeologists. The Garbage Project collected information from landfills from 1987 to 1995. Student archaeologists measured tons of garbage from 15 landfills across the United States and Canada. This garbology, the study of garbage, research led to a better understanding of how people have changed what they consume during this period of time. The findings also led to a better awareness of how quickly various items rot. This helped with city planning for garbage disposal and recycling efforts.

Some found objects that may clearly be of archaeological interest, such as arrowheads and spear points. It is typically against the law to collect these on public lands, so they should be left in place. If you take a photo and note the location, you can notify the state archaeologist or the government branch that is in charge of the land, such as the National Park Service or the Bureau of Land Management.

Everyone is responsible for protecting archaeological resources, which is a concept known as “archaeological stewardship.” Sometimes this even means protecting old garbage.

1. Why is old trash important according to archaeologists?

A．It can teach us about the past.

B．It might help us locate metal mines.

C．It can contribute to modern material industry.

D．It might encourage us to protect our environment.

2. What did the student archaeologists mentioned in Paragraph 2 do?

A．They conducted a study on modern trash.

B．They recycled waste from some landfills.

C．They offered some creative city planning ideas.

D．They compared ancient trash heaps with modern landfills.

3. What should you do if you find a potential historic item?

A．Donate it to public collections.

B．Take it to proper authorities.

C．Leave it in a safe place.

D．Mark the place of it.

4. What is the best title for the text?

A．Past or Future?	B．Trash or Treasure?
C．Protection of Damage?	D．Problem or Resource?

9 . A hungry badger (獾) searching for food seems to have uncovered what turned out to be hundreds of Roman coins in a Spanish cave, according to a new study.

Archaeologists (考古学家) first discovered several coins laying on the ground at the entrance to a small cave in the woodlands outside Grado in northern Spain in April 2021. The researchers suspect that the coins were unearthed by a badger from a nearby den (兽窝) after a heavy snow which made it harder for animals to find food. The hungry badger probably got into the cave looking for food but came across the coins instead.

After fully exploring the cave, researchers collected 209 coins dating to between the third and fifth centuries A.D. “To date, this is the largest amount of Roman coins found in n cave in northern Spain,” the researchers wrote in their paper. They described the discovery as an “exceptional find”.

In the late 1930s, a collection of 14 gold Roman coins, known as the Chapipi treasure, was also found in the same woodlands. The researchers believe that local people may have buried their coins to keep them safe during a period of intense political instability in the region. The most recent coin in the newly-discovered Grado collection dates to A.D. 430, which was after the Suebi—a group of Germanic people originally from modern-day Germany and the Czech Republic—pushed the Romans out of Spain in A.D. 409, according to El Pais.

The researchers suspect that the newly-discovered coins are part of a vaster treasure and will return to the cave for further exploration to look for more coins and evidence that the cave may also have been the home of displaced Roman people. “We want to know if it was a one-off hiding place, or if there was a group of humans living there,” lead researcher Alfonso Fanjul Peraza told El Pais.

1. Where did the researchers find the first few coins in 2021?

A．Near a Spanish cave.	B．On a Spanish playground.
C．At the entrance to a woodland.	D．In a badger’s den.

2. What do the researchers think of the discovery in 2021?

A．It’s dangerous.

B．It’s timely.

C．It’s meaningless.

D．It’s unusual.

3. What does the underlined word “them” refer to in Paragraph 4?

A．The Romans.

B．The coins.

C．The woodlands.

D．The researchers.

4. What can we infer from the last paragraph?

A．More information may be revealed by the coins.

B．The ancient Roman people had a unique lifestyle.

C．The researchers doubt the former guess of the coins.

D．The researchers will return the coins to the Roman people.