1 . Scientists at the Sanxingdui Ruins in southwest China’s Sichuan Province continue to unearth over 500 relics from an ancient Chinese civilization that dates back over 3,000 years.

The findings unearthed in June include a fully preserved gold mask, which stands at 37. 2cm wide and16. 5cm tall. The new gold mask reminded people of the one found in March, which was far more damaged. Scientists said the gold mask is the largest, and most well preserved, of similar golden relics discovered at the Sanxingdui Ruins, and it is consistent with the idea that gold was important to people of the area called the Shu state.

The gold mask has similar facial features to bronze statues discovered in the area. It has large eyes covering much of the face, a big nose, huge ears and a flat, wide mouth. The strange facial features led some people to suggest they were aliens. However, Wang Wei, the director of the Institute of Archaeology at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, explained, “There is no chance that Sanxingdui belongs to an alien civilization. These wide-eyed masks look strange because the makers wanted to copy the look of deities (神灵). They shouldn’t be considered as the look of everyday people.”

Besides the mask, other discoveries included bronze statues, a knife made out of jade and a series of relics made of ivory, among many others. Many of the bronze relics are brand new discoveries and unique to anything found before in China. Chinese scientists said they are highly detailed, with statues showing facial features that fit well with the gold mask, which make them as valuable resources for the research of ancient Shu and give better perceptiveness about the ancient Shu state, home to a mysterious civilization until the recent discoveries proved its existence. Chinese scientists believe they are entering a “key stage” and expect to find a series of relics that will change how people think about ancient China.

1. What do we know about the gold mask from paragraph 2?

A．It was discovered in March.

B．It was the first to be dug at the site.

C．It is the most complete relic ever discovered.

D．It is the largest size of its kind unearthed at the site.

2. What is Paragraph 3 mainly about?

A．The significance of the gold mask.

B．The characteristics of the gold mask.

C．The findings in the Sanxingdui Ruins.

D．The digging process of the Sanxingdui Ruins.

3. What does the underline word “perceptiveness” in the last Paragraph mean?

A．Insight.	B．Civilization.
C．Development.	D．Introduction.

4. What can be the best title for the text?

A．An Ancient Shu State Was Newly Discovered

B．Mysterious Sanxingdui Ruins Reveal More Relics

C．Sichuan Province Is the Birthplace of a New Civilization

D．New Sanxingdui Ruins Catch the Attention of Chinese scientists

2 . 阅读下面材料，在空白处填入适当的内容(1个单词)或括号内单词的正确形式。

Over the past two decades, Mei Yalong has participated in excavations(发掘) at many archaeological sites and fixed more than 5,000    1    (break) artifacts. He is a field technician with the Changxing Taihu Museum in Huzhou, Zhejiang Province.

A field technician     2    (help) archaeologists in various activities to find and identify artifacts and historical remnants. “Relics are     3    (price). They are the clues to opening the mysteries of the past, and our duty is to find and protect    4    (they), and be a guardian to Chinese cultural heritage,” Mei, 50, says.

Receiving his senior high school diploma in     5    1990s, Mei had not thought of archaeology    6    a career option: In 2001, he was hired by the Tianjin Museum as a helper for its archaeology team. Although without much idea about archaeology at that time, he was    7    (attract) to excavation, a hard process but rewarding. In 2003, he became a field technician at the Zhejiang Provincial Institute of Cultural Relics and Archaeology. “It is a job     8    is both physically and mentally challenging. After a painstaking dig, it is amazing    9    (see) how a fragment of bone, apiece of clay or an ancient coin unearthed can bring out the item’s history,” Mei says.

Besides the digs and assisting with fieldwork, Mei does someday-to-day activities, such as photography and sketching of relics, mapping of sites and     10    (search) for resources.

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。

Have you ever wondered     1    the world looked like millions of the years ago? Although it is impossible to travel back in time, we can still get some     2    (clue), from fossils(化石).

An international research team     3    (lead) by Chinese scientists recently published their discovery of a large group     4    fossils. They found them in Zhang pu county in Fujian Province. They call the group the Zhang pu biota(生物群). The biota includes around 25,000 amber(琥珀) fossils and 5,000 plants fossils. They are nearly 15 million years old.

Scientists first found     5     Zhang pu biota in 2010. They kept     6    (do) research there for ten years and made several big discoveries. Today’s Fujian Privnce was once a tropical rainforest 15 million years ago. There     7    (be) all kinds of animals and plants in the forests. Many of them can     8    (find) today. It is the     9    (rich) tropical rainforest biota discovered so far.

The best finding of all is the rich samples(样本) of insects in amber. The amber fossils have kept the ancient insects quite well,     10    (make) them the natural ‘museum’of prehistoric(史前的) life.

4 . A 3,000-year-old ceremonial gold mask has become an unexpected social media hit in China after its recent discovery in Sichuan province. The artefact was one of 500 Bronze-Age relics found at the Sanxingdui archaeological site. Experts say the discovery could provide new insights on the ancient Shu state, which ruled the area before 316 BC.

But the mysterious half-faced mask has also brought about a popular meme and memorable videos on social media. As soon as the latest group of discoveries was announced on Saturday, users of micro-blogging platform Weibo started making pictures combining the mask with the faces of pop culture figures. The comment “Sanxingdui gold mask photo editing competition” has been viewed nearly 4 million times, and has brought numerous posts as netizens praised the "stunning" and "beautiful" mask. Officials at the museum for Sanxingdui — one of the most important archaeological sites in China — soon joined in on the fun. "Good morning, we've just woken up, apparently everyone's been busy doing some Photoshopping?" the museum said in a recent Weibo post while sharing its own opinion about the meme. The museum also released a promotional animated music video starring the mask and other artefacts, while a rap song created by a TV host praising the ^intelligence⁹⁵ of the ancient civilisation has spread widely.

It is not the first time a Chinese artefact has attracted the attention of social media users — in August, another relic was found to resemble the pig characters in popular video game Angry Birds. In addition to the gold mask, archaeologists at Sanxingdui have found bronze pieces, gold foils as well as artefacts made from ivory, jade and silk. The items were uncovered in six "sacrificial pits", said the National Cultural Heritage Administration, which the Shu civilisation used to offer sacrifices in prayers for prosperity and peace.

The Sanxingdui ruins were discovered by accident by a farmer in 1929. To date, more than 50,000 relics have been unearthed at the site, which is around 60km from the city of Chengdu.

1. What can we learn about the new discovery at Sanxingdui?

A．It dates back to beyond 1000 BC.

B．It was not a surprise to social media.

C．It was the only Bronze-age relic there.

D．It could promote research into the ancient Shu.

2. What does the underlined word "meme" in paragraph 2 probably mean?

A．photo editing competition	B．group of discoveries
C．culture figures	D．numerous posts

3. Why did the Shu civilization use these relics as sacrifices?

A．To celebrate the New Year.	B．To look back at the past.
C．To wish for a better future.	D．To reunite the whole family.

4. What is the passage mainly about?

A．Numerous relics have been unearthed in Sanxingdui.

B．The half-faced mask is the highlight among the discoveries.

C．Constant advances have been made in the Sanxingdui ruins since 1929.

D．The new discoveries in Sanxingdui have become a hot topic in social media.

5 . 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。

The Sanxingdui Ruins in Southwest China’s Sichuan province, together with the Jinsha Ruins in Chengdu, will apply for(申请) World Cultural Heritage status(世界文化遗产).

The Sanxingdui Ruins in the city of Guanghan, are thought to be one of the     1     (great) archeological(考古学的) finds of the 20th century. The ruins     2     (cover) an area of 12 square km are believed to be the remnants(遗迹) of the Shu Kingdom, dating back some 4,800 years.

The site was accidentally discovered by a farmer     3     he was digging a ditch in the 1920s. In 1986, a large number of unique relics were found in the No 1 and No 2 pits,     4     arouse global interest.

The discovery of Sanxingdui     5    (raise) an important question about the origin of Chinese civilization(文明). Before the 1980s, it is thought     6     the birthplace of Chinese civilization was in the Yellow River Basin in north China.

However, with the discovery of important     7    (relic) in the Yangtze River Basin, including Liangzhu, Shijiahe and Sanxingdui, a new understanding came     8     being. The ancient Shu civilization     9     (represent) by Sanxingdui has been regarded as     10     important part of the origin of Chinese civilization.