1 . 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

A skull of the dinosaur, named Guemesia ochoai, was discovered in Argentina. Researchers said it likely belongs to a meat-eating, or carnivorous, group of dinosaurs     1     (call) abelisaurs. These dinosaurs walked on two legs and had very short arms, even     2     (short) than those of North America’s Tyrannosaurus rex. The short arms may have forced Guemesia     3     (depend) more on its powerful skull and jaws.

“Guemesia is so different     4     other meat-eating dinosaurs, which allows us to understand that we’re dealing with a     5     (total) new species,” said Agnolin Federico, the lead writer of a study on the dinosaur that was published in the Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology.

The animals existed for a few million years before     6     asteroid (小行星) hit what is now Mexico’s Yucatan peninsula. That event, about 66 millions years ago, led to a series of     7     (disaster) that killed all the dinosaurs and many other animals. In total, about 75 percent of Earth’s species     8     (destroy) as a result of the asteroid.

Scientists believe abelisaurs lived on what is now Africa, South America and India. Several abelisaurs have been dug up in Argentina in the past but almost all of them were in southern Patagonia, far from the site     9     Guemesia was found.

Guemesia takes its name from Argentine independence hero Martin Miguel de Guemes and Javier Ochoa, a museum worker who made the     10     (discover).

2 . Japanese archaeologists (考古学家) have uncovered al 7.5-foot-long irons sword and a bronze mirror from an ancient tomb near the city of Nara. Researchers found both artifacts while unearthing a l,600-year-old site called Tomio Maruyama.

The weapon, known as a dako sword, is so large that it was likely never used for self-defense, serving instead as a means of protection against evil after death. Like other dako swords unearthed in the country, this one looks like a snake. Due to the artifact’s size, the researchers initially thought they had found multiple swords lined up next to each other.

Experts said the mirror, which is shaped like a shield (盾), was also likely used to shun evil spirits. It measures 25 inches by 12 inches and weighs more than 12 pounds, making it the largest of its kind discovered in Japan, too.

The finds offer new insights into the Kofun period, which lasted from around the year 250 AD to 538 AD and is named for the distinctive tomb mounds, constructed to bury members of the ruling class. Kosaku Okabayashi, the deputy director for Nara prefecture’s Archaeological Institute of Kashihara, said, “These discoveries indicate that the technology of the Kofun period is beyond what had been imagined, and they are masterpieces in metalwork from that period.”

Japan is home to an estimated 160,000 burial mounds from the Kofun period, though the Tomio Maruyama kofun is particularly large. Measuring 350 feet in diameter and up to 32 feet tall, it dates back to the late fourth century.

Archaeologists think it has some connection to an influential person who supported the rulers of the day, the imperial Yamato family. Based on the presence of the two artifacts, the dead person may have been involved in military and ritualistic matters. So far, the researchers have discovered a coffin but no human remains in the burial chamber.

1. How did researchers find an irons sword and a bronze mirror?

A．By exploring an old tomb.

B．By asking experienced local villagers.

C．By searching for much information online.

D．By carefully studying historical materials.

2. What do we know about the iron sword?

A．It is in a very small size.

B．It looks like a sharp shield.

C．It was mainly used for self-defense.

D．It might be used to drive the evil away.

3. What does the underlined word “shun” in paragraph 3mean?

A．Schedule.

B．Design.

C．Avoid.

D．Express.

4. What is Kosaku Okabayashi’s attitude towards the two discoveries in paragraph 4?

A．Negative.

B．Appreciative.

C．Unclear.

D．Indifferent.

3 . Discoveries at the famous Sanxingdui ruins in Southwest China show that the region’s ancient Shu Kingdom Civilization shared similarities with the Maya.

The Sanxingdui ruins belonged to the Shu Kingdom that existed at least 4,800 years ago and lasted more than 2,000 years, while the Mayan civilization built its city-states around 200 AD.

The bronze-made remains of tress unearthed at the ruins of the Shu Kingdom resemble the sacred ceiba tree, which symbolized the union of heaven, earth and the underworld in the Mayan civilization. “They are very important similarities,” says Santos, a Mexican archaeologist (考古学家) stressing that “the representations of tress in both cultures provide a symbolism that is very similar”.

The findings at the Sanxingdui ruins, considered one of the greatest archaeological discoveries of the 20th century, also show a new aspect of Bronze Age culture, indicating the ancient civilization already had technologies that were thought to have been developed much later.

While the lime span between the Shu kingdom and the Mayan culture is great, the findings highlight the closeness between the two civilizations. They developed in areas with comparable climates and reflected their worldview through related symbols. “In the end, man is still man, independent of time and space. What we have is that, at this latitude (纬度), both the Shu people and the Mayans looked at the same sky and had the same stars on the horizon,” the expert says.

One notable feature of the recent discoveries at Sanxingdui was the cross-subject work and technology applied by teams of Chinese archaeologists, which allowed the unearthing of artifacts as fragile as silk remains, which other types of less careful digging methods would not have been able to register.

Cooperation between Chinese and Mexican archaeologists could benefit projects in the Mayan world, where the rainy climate and humidity are problematic for the conservation of ruins.

“Every time our cultural knowledge increases, regardless of whether we speak one language or another, what it shows us is that we continue to be sister cultures and, therefore, the exchange of such knowledge is fundamental,” says Santos.

1. What is a similarity between the Shu Kingdom and Maya civilization?

A．Their starting time.

B．Their historical origins.

C．Their cultural symbols.

D．Their ceremony traditions.

2. The findings at the Sanxingdui ruins have proved that ______.

A．silk was a common clothing material then

B．some technologies were developed much earlier

C．the Bronze Age started earlier than previously assumed

D．the Shu Kingdom and the Mayan world had close contact

3. What is a common challenge for the conservation of both ruins?

A．Damp weather.	B．Positioning of ruins.
C．High latitude.	D．Language barriers.

4. What is the focus of Santos quote in the last paragraph?

A．The future of the China-Mexico cooperation.

B．The benefits of speaking a different language.

C．The importance of the exchange of cultural knowledge.

D．The increasing sisterhood in culture between China and Mexico.

4 . 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。

Scientists have found fossilized bones from an extinct penguin that was the size of an adult human. It    1     (swim) in the ocean around New Zealand about 60 million years ago. The species     2    (know) before is believed to have stood about 1. 6 m tall and weighed up to 80 kg. It's believed to have been one of several species of huge penguins that grew strongly soon after dinosaurs died out.

The findings of scientists who studied the penguin bones were published last week in a scientific journal. Professor Paul Scofield says the     3    (discover) is significant because the species is similar to another giant penguin found in Antarctica in 2000 and helps show a connection     4    the two penguins during the Palaeocene (古新世), a period of time    5    was from 66 million to 56 million years ago.

The monster penguin would have been about twice the weight and 30 cm    6    (tall) than the largest species of penguins alive today. Paul adds the leg bones indicate the monster penguin's    7     (foot) may have played a bigger role in swimming than it is the case with today' s penguins.

“It wasn't     8     1 got the fossils home and did a little preparation that I realized I had the penguin bones     9     (complete) different from what had been found before," Paul said. His passion for collecting fossils began about 14 years ago after illness prevented him from    10     (work) for several years.