1 . Like many of the arts, music flourished during the Zhou dynasty. From this period we have instruments, models of performers, descriptions of musicians and dancers, and the Shijing, or The Book of Poetry, which contains poems and songs of court and common people during the Zhou dynasty. It is likely that music played an extremely important role in the Zhou dynasty for all social classes.
One of the most important sources of information the researchers have regarding Zhou-dynasty music is from the tomb of the Marquis Yi of Zeng (433 B.C.E.). This tomb was uncovered in 1977 in Hubei Province and contained the most extensive and well-preserved set of musical instruments ever found in an ancient Chinese tomb. This four-chamber (室) tomb was designed in imitation of a palace with a central courtyard, reflecting the belief that the Marquis Yi would require the same comforts in the afterlife that he had enjoyed during his lifetime. The central chamber of the tomb, which mirrored a palace courtyard, contained most of the musical instruments found, including a complete set of sixty-five graduated bells fixed on wooden shelves. In addition, twenty-one young women were buried with the Marquis Yi, some of whom were likely his favorite musicians and dancers.
The Marquis Yi’s set of sixty-five bells is remarkable for a variety of reasons. First, they are clearly dated—an inscription (碑文) indicates that the bells were a gift given to him in 433 B.C.E.. Second, the bells were very expensive to produce and to purchase, particularly a set of this size, so they are further evidence of the Marquis Yi’s status. Finally, the bells, along with the other instruments in the room, illustrate what an instrumental band might have consisted of during this period. Scholars predict that it would have required twenty-four musicians to play all instruments at once.
There are still many gaps in our knowledge of ancient Chinese music, partly because there was no system for recording music in a written form.
1. The Book of Poetry is mentioned in paragraph 1 to _______.| A．show the significance of the book. |
| B．describe the meaning of the book. |
| C．represent the life of people in the Zhou dynasty. |
| D．show the popularity of music in the Zhou dynasty. |
| A．It contains a complete set of musical instruments. |
| B．It is designed by the Marquis Yi of Zeng. |
| C．It is of the same size as that of the palace. |
| D．It reflects the wish of the Marquis Yi for his life after death. |
| A．Because it once was an expensive gift. |
| B．Because it was difficult to buy at that time. |
| C．Because it might prove the Marquis Yi’s position. |
| D．Because it needs twenty-four performers to play at the same time. |
| A．A look into the Zhou-dynasty Music. | B．An Invaluable Tomb. |
| C．Ancient Musical Instruments. | D．The Importance of Ancient Music. |
2 . In 1914, Emest Shackleton and his team left England in a wooden sailing ship called the Endurance, hoping to become the first to cross Antarctica.
But in 1915, the Endurance became trapped over the Weddell Sea. The ice destroyed the Endurance and later sank it. Shackleton and all of his men lived, but the tale of their long and difficult return is one of the most famous survival stories of all time.
Much was known about the location of the Endurance. The ship’s captain kept accurate records of the ship’s position. The ship’s photographer even took pictures of it as it went down. But the ship, deep in the icy waters near Antarctica, had never been found.
Now, a search team called “Endurance22” located the ship, which was found 1.87 miles below the ocean’s surface, about four miles south of its last known position. The team reports that the ship is in excellent shape. Even though the ship is made of wood and is over 100 years old, it has survived with little damage. Scientists say that the small worms that normally break down wooden objects underwater don’t live in the cold waters around Antarctica.
The Endurance 22 is led by the Falklands Maritime Heritage Trust. The team ran the project from an ice-breaking ship. To locate the Endurance, the team used two underwater robots called Sabertooths which can travel by themselves deep under the sea. What makes them unique is that they can travel under the ice and go where the ship can not. Once the ship was located, the Sabertooths used high-quality cameras and scanners to record the Endurance in detail.
The Endurance22 plans to create a digital 3D model of the wreck site, using the careful scans they made. This will allow scientists to study the ship in detail without disturbing it.
1. What can we know about Shackleton?| A．He had a hard journey back home. | B．He was also a famous photographer. |
| C．He built the Endurance by himself. | D．He was the first to cross Antarctica. |
| A．Fine weather. | B．Its size. | C．Wood material. | D．Cold water. |
| A．They can operate by remote control. | B．They can search the sea floor. |
| C．They can travel under the ice. | D．They can break ice on the sea. |
| A．They will check it in person. | B．They will let it remain untouched. |
| C．They will use scanners to record its details. | D．They will raise it from the seabed immediately. |
3 . The researchers say they have discovered two huge magma chambers (岩浆库) under Wei Mountain in Heilongjiang. If it is true, it will be a surprising discovery since the volcano last erupted over 500,000 years ago.
Zhang Haijiang and his team visited nearly 100 sites across Wei Mountain. They were looking for magma, and they found an unusual signal from 15km underground, followed by another one at 8km. Their computer modelling suggested there could be two huge magma chambers with a depth of more than 9km. According to their research, 15 percent of the upper chamber is now filled with molten (熔化的) rock. Some studies have suggested that a volcanic eruption could take place when a chamber is filled to 40 percent magma.
They suggested that the volcanic activity in northeast China is likely to be in an active stage, and the active volcanic monitoring is needed to further understand the magma system in this area.
Xu Jiandong, director of the volcanic research, said seismic (地震的) stations had been monitoring this area for many years. "If there are really huge magma chambers in the area, we should have found some related seismic activities—When the lower chamber fills the upper one, there should be some movement," he said. "But so far, after decades of monitoring on the site, we've picked up almost nothing. The whole area has been very, very quiet," he added.
So did the researchers really find huge magma chambers? While the unusual signals found by Zhang's team looked like magma chambers, they could also have been caused by other things.
But what is for sure is that the area is active. It's like porridge boiling in a pot. But since the studies in recent years have suggested a low risk of immediate eruption in the area, the government has not set up seismic stations around. And it is certain that they aren't prepared for a big eruption over there.
1. What do Zhang Haijiang and his team say they've found under Wei Mountain?| A．Lots of frozen rocks. | B．Two magma chambers. |
| C．Nearly 100 volcanic sites. | D．A huge magma system. |
| A．They don't find any seismic activities. |
| B．The active volcanic monitoring is needed. |
| C．Their efforts to monitor volcanoes are useless. |
| D．Volcanic eruptions never happened in this area. |
| A．Volcanic eruptions. | B．Zhang's team members. |
| C．The seismic stations. | D．The unusual signals. |
| A．What Can Cause Volcanoes to Erupt in Northeast China? |
| B．Is Chinese Government Ready for Volcanic Eruptions? |
| C．Are There Magma Chambers Under Wei Mountain? |
| D．Is Active Volcanic Monitoring Needed in China? |
4 . In April 2018, a group of Canadian scientists flying in a helicopter (直升飞机) discovered something they didn't expect to see — a huge, unknown cave with an opening the size of a football field.
The cave was discovered in the northern part of Wells Gray Provincial Park, in a wild, faraway area of Canada's Cariboo Mountains. The area is hard to get to and even harder to travel through. It is covered with snow for much of the year.
The group told Catherine Hickson, a scientist who studies rocks, about the cave. Dr. Hickson got a team of researchers together to study it. In September, they went for a closer look after most of the snow melted (融化). The cave is one of the largest in Canada. Not only is the opening to the cave larger than a football field, the cave is also deep. The team couldn't measure (测量) all the way to the bottom, but they think it may be more than 180 meters deep. The cave is tens of thousands of years old. But the rock in the cave is made of used to be at the bottom of an ocean (海洋). It is hundreds of millions of years old.
A small, but fast river of melting snow leads into the cave on one side, creating a waterfall near the top and a river at the bottom. The water comes out again a long way away. The exit (出口) is about 2.1 kilometers away and about l/2 kilometer lower down.
The cave will have to wait to get an official name. For now, the cave is being called "Sarlacc's Pit "because it looks similar to the home of the Sarlacc, a person in the Star Wars movie Return of the Jedi.
For Dr. Hickson, there's a lesson to be learned from the cave. "It shows you that you don't know everything, "she says." There are things yet to be discovered."
1. Why did the cave remain unknown in the past?| A．It is in a wild mountain area. | B．It has been there for just a few years. |
| C．Its opening is too small to be noticed. | D．The weather there is cold all year round. |
| A．The history of the cave. | B．Some facts about the cave. |
| C．The value of studying the cave. | D．The methods of studying the cave. |
| A．The snow. | B．The river. | C．The ocean. | D．The rock. |
| A．local culture | B．its discoverers | C．the way it looks | D．the name of a film star |
5 . Considered one of the greatest archaeological finds of mankind in the 20th century, the Sanxingdui Ruins site in Sichuan province has continued to amaze the world. Since May, more than 500 cultural relics have been found at the site.
Some of the bronze artifacts (工艺品) discovered during the current excavation have never been seen before, according to experts. They were beyond “our previous understanding of bronze wares and posed great challenges to our research”, said Xu Feihong, a lecturer at Shanghai University.
A unique bronze artifact from the No 3 pit features a man carrying a bronze vessel known as a zun that has a round rim (边沿) and a square body, said Ran Honglin, a researcher with Sichuan Provincial Cultural Relics and Archaeology Research Institute.
Three bronze figures, with their palms pressed together and their heads twisted to the right, have been excavated from the No 4 pit.
These three bronze figures are a unique find among Sanxingdui items in terms of their shape and decorative pattern, and they provide further material for studying the bronze casting technology of the Shu people as well as their art, religious beliefs, social system and cultural exchanges with surrounding areas, Ran said. Shu was an ancient state in what is now Sichuan.
Again, a gold mask is catching the world’s attention.
It is the biggest of its kind unearthed at the site so far. It is 37.2 centimeters wide, 16.5 cm high and weighs about 100 grams. Another thing that makes it stand out is that it is complete.
It was discovered in June at the No 3 pit. Earlier this year, a similar, but less complete gold mask was found at the No 5 pit.
Gold items were found at the Sanxingdui Ruins site as early as 1986, including gold foil (金箔) pieces that show how the precious metal was used by the ancient Shu people. The finding further illustrates the custom of the ancient Shu people to use gold items, experts said.
Radiocarbon dating (放射性碳年代测定) has shown that the No 3 and No 4 pits, at 3,000 to 3,200 years old, go back to the late Shang Dynasty (16th century-11th century BC), Xu said.
Excavation of the No 4 pit was completed on Aug 19, and digging at the No 3 pit will be completed in the next two months. What other treasures will the pit bring us? Only time will tell!
1. Which of the following makes the three bronze figures stand out?| A．Their color and texture. |
| B．Their size and weight. |
| C．Their shape and pattern. |
| D．Their religious significance. |
| A．It was discovered at the No 4 pit. |
| B．It’s the largest of its kind unearthed in China. |
| C．It is 16.5 cm wide and 37.2 cm high. |
| D．It is complete to some degree. |
| A．They illustrate how the Shu people used the metal. |
| B．They show advanced techniques used in Shu. |
| C．They display the importance of metal in Shu. |
| D．They reflect the state’s economic development. |
| A．To introduce the origin of the gold mask. |
| B．To promote the Sanxingdui Ruins site. |
| C．To explore the value of cultural relics. |
| D．To report on a new archaeological discovery. |
Archaeologists have uncovered a collection of 3,000-year-old handicrafts at Sanxingdui, Sichuan province. The researchers found more than 500 objects at the site in 2019, most of
Experts are unsure who made the handicrafts, but they guess that the creators belonged to the Shu state, a
A major highlight of the find is a 0.6-pound fragment (碎片) of a gold mask that may have been used
Other
7 . Born into poverty on 21 May 1799, Mary Anning had to work hard from a young age. Her parents had 10 children, of whom only two survived childhood --- Mary and her elder brother Joseph. Mary’s own survival was said by her parents to be a wonder. At the age of 15 months, a sudden rainstorm hit the shelter, where Mary, her babysitter, and two children stayed. A lightning strike killed them all except Mary.
She didn’t have formal education and was only taught to read at a Sunday school. Raised in the seaside holiday village of Lyme Regis in Dorset, Mary and Joseph made a living by selling fossils to holidaymakers at their father’s waterfront booth.
Her life changed in 1811 when Joseph noticed bones mixed together with rock. Unknown to them, this was the first ever discovery of an ichthyosaurus ( 鱼 龙 ), a marine lizard from the Triassic period. Anning noted down every find she made, and after failing to find any new fossils for over a year, in 1821 she made her next discovery, digging up three more ichthyosaur skeletons. This was followed two years later by an even more impressive find --- a complete plesiosaur(蛇颈龙). This was so extraordinary that many leading scientists declared it a counterfeit, unwilling to believe that an uneducated 24-year-old could find such remarkable remains. Additionally, society at the time was highly religious and many rejected these discoveries as they conflicted with the teachings of the Bible.
Despite the setback, Anning continued to make more shocking revelations. Anning also dug up fossilized shit, which made experts know the diets of prehistoric creatures. But her biggest find of all was the first complete skeleton of a pterosaur in 1828.
All of Mary Anning’s discoveries helped influence the study of paleontology(古生物学) as scientists began to take an increased interest in fossilized animals and plants. Her work also encouraged people to question the history of the Earth in more detail and encouraged girls and those from poor backgrounds by proving that they could succeed in scientific study, a profession mainly controlled by wealthy upper-class men.
1. What can we learn about Mary Anning from the first two paragraphs?| A．It was not easy for her to survive. |
| B．She didn’t experience the lightning strike. |
| C．She didn’t get basic knowledge about science. |
| D．It was impossible for her to find a job outside. |
| A．Something not needed. |
| B．Something not valuable. |
| C．Something not authentic. |
| D．Something not beneficial. |
| A．her get international fame |
| B．make her become more professional |
| C．experts better understand prehistoric creatures |
| D．convince the leading scientists of her discovery |
| A．the process of her findings |
| B．the significance of her discoveries |
| C．the discoveries of fossilized animals |
| D．the background of her scientific study |
8 . When archaeologist(考古学家)Zahi Hawass and his team set out to excavate an area near the Egyptian city of Luxor in September 2020, all they were hoping to find was King Tutankhamun's mortuary temple. Instead, the archaeologists came across the largest ancient city ever found in Egypt. Hawass, who exposed the discovery on April 8, 2021, believes the extremely large, well-preserved city is the "So'oud Atun", or the "Rise of Aten".
"The discovery of this lost city is the second most important archaeological discovery since the tomb of Tutankhamun," Betsy Bryan, an Egyptology professor at Johns Hopkins University and member of the team, said in the statement.
The city dates back 3, 400 years to the times of Amenhotep III, one of Egypt's most powerful pharaohs(法老), who ruled Egypt from 1391 to 1353 BC. The ninth pharaoh of the 18th Dynasty ruled during a time of peace, allowing him to accumulate large amounts of wealth. While archeologists suspected the pharaoh had used some of his riches to build what Hawass refers to as "the golden city", they'd never been able to find it.
The researchers believe that his son, King Akhenaten, briefly lived in So'oud Atun before founding the city of Amarna about 250 miles away. Historians think the pharaoh and his followers left to escape the priests(祭司)who were unhappy about his decision to give up all other deities(神抵)in favor of the sun god Aten. Following Akhenaten's death, his son, Tutankhamun, moved to Thebes, which also served as Ancient Egypt's capital. The scientists aren't sure if So'oud Atun was ever occupied again.
So far Hawass and his team have unearthed thousands of amazing artifacts(手工艺品). Among them are rings, amulets, and pottery vessels. They also found a well-preserved bakery, cooking, and food preparation area, complete with ovens and storage vessels. Due to its size, the researchers believe it may have been a commercial operation. Hawass, who says the team has only explored about a third of the lost city so far, believes there're a lot more surprises to be found.
1. What word can best describe the discovery of the ancient city?| A．Accidental. | B．Profitable. | C．Intentional. | D．Difficult. |
| A．The ancient pharaohs' desire for wealth. |
| B．The demand for an ancient Egypt's capital. |
| C．No wars during the period of Amenhotep III. |
| D．The religious belief in gods in the ancient times. |
| A．It should be more than 3, 500 years old. | B．It is a sign of ancient architectural art. |
| C．It used to be the largest city in the world. | D．It has not been explored before. |
| A．A well-preserved temple. | B．An archaeological discovery. |
| C．A great Egyptian archaeologist. | D．A new research on an ancient city. |
9 . An ancient tomb was recently discovered in southern Siberia in which there may be treasure, priceless objects, and the 3, 000-year-old remains of an ice mummy.
Swiss scientist Gino Caspari with the University of Bern was looking carefully at the pictures of the area in the Russian Tuva Republic, when he came across what appeared to be a tomb. It is a tomb of the Scythians, an ancient group of Eurasians.
This summer, together with researchers from the Russian Academy of Sciences and the Hermitage Museum, a dig at the site not only proved Caspari's idea, but told us the site is the largest and oldest of its kind ever discovered in what's increasingly known as the “Siberian Valley of the Kings.”
While any discovery dating back to a period between the Iron Age and Bronze Age is exciting, it's the nature of this site that makes scientists want to begin carefully clearing away the layers of rock and earth. First, the tomb appears to have never been dug, because it is in a Siberian wetland faraway from the nearest place where people live. Second, and most important, is its possible resting place under a thick layer of permafrost.
“There's permafrost in the area,” Caspari said. “There are really only a handful of permafrost tombs and very few that have not been damaged, where there have been ice mummies in good condition, and all the things in the tomb are untouched.”
While not as large, other tombs discovered in the area have produced fantastical treasures and objects, including thousands of gold objects and other things about the past. By studying all these tombs, researchers hope to have a better understanding of the Scythian people.
Caspari said his team is in a race against time to uncover the tomb and find out its secrets. “We now have to act fast,” he said, “because with the rising temperatures, the permafrost could melt and damage all the things in that tomb. And these are things that are over 3,000 years old, that look like new, like they were put there yesterday.”
1. How did Caspari discover the tomb?| A．By studying pictures. | B．By visiting a Russian area. |
| C．By talking with Russian researchers. | D．By comparing other scientists, ideas. |
| A．It is covered by a lot of rocks. | B．It is well kept by the Scythians. |
| C．It is too small to draw attention. | D．It is hidden in a wild cold place. |
| A．To better protect the tomb. | B．To save the treasures inside. |
| C．To learn more about the Scythians. | D．To have a good understanding of mummies. |
| A．The tomb is too old. | B．It is getting hotter and hotter. |
| C．Some treasures are being damaged. | D．They want to save time for other tombs. |
Since Chinese archaeologists(考古学家)
Recognized as one of the most important ancient
It
The masks’ eyes and eyebrows are delicately hollowed out,
