The true origins of silk fabric will likely never be known. The best that can be done is
This seems unlikely to have been done if the cocoon was to be used to produce silk
2 . Roughly 2,000 years ago, Mount Vesuvius erupted, destroying the Roman cities of Pompeii and Herculaneum. Now some scientists are working to decode (解码) one of the great mysteries of that time — the scrolls (卷轴) of Herculaneum.
In 1752, workers were digging in Herculaneum when they uncovered a home that had belonged to a rich person. Inside, under a layer of volcanic mud, they discovered over 600 scrolls — the largest library of the ancient world. Most of the scrolls were made from papyrus—a paper like material. The heat from the volcano had burned the scrolls so much that they looked like blocks of charcoal (木炭).
The scrolls were so fragile that just touching them could make them fall apart. So scientists have been looking for ways to read the scrolls without opening them. Dr. Seales developed a method of using a CT (computed tomography) scanner to take 3D X-ray images of a papyrus scroll. Then he used a computer program to “unroll” the scroll, and get pictures of what it looked like on the inside. In 2016, his team used this method to read a burned scroll found near the Dead Sea.
But the scrolls from Herculaneum are much harder. The ink is made from charcoal and water, and doesn’t show up well in CT scans. He trained an AI program to figure out the writing. Though Dr. Seales was making progress, it was slow going. Then Dr. Seales met with two businessmen, who had the idea of creating a contest.
About 1,500 people have taken part in the contest. These people are sharing information as they make progress, so everyone can build on those ideas. In August, Luke Farritor, a 21-year-old student at the University of Nebraska, created an AI program that found a whole word: “πορψúραc”, or “porphyras” which means “purple”.
“This is the first word ever read from these ancient scrolls. For me, reading words from within the Herculaneum scrolls is like stepping onto the moon,” Dr. Seales says. “Now I can’t wait to explore.”
1. What is known about the scrolls of Herculaneum?| A．They were stored in the library. | B．They were dug out by workers. |
| C．They were made from charcoal. | D．They were the largest in the world. |
| A．Easily broken. | B．Newly written. | C．Nicely wrapped. | D．Rarely seen. |
| A．To futher promote their products. |
| B．To find out who was more intelligent. |
| C．To encourage people to contribute ideas. |
| D．To cultivate a sense of business awareness. |
| A．Disappointed. | B．Ashamed. | C．Confused. | D．Excited. |
A complete skeleton (骨架) of an animal, which was later confirmed to be that of a giant panda, was unearthed at
The skeleton had well-developed teeth, and was placed within a neatly
The researchers thought this giant panda might have originated from the forests on the northern side of the Qinling Mountains, where the climate was possibly
Back in 1975, a buried giant panda
Besides the giant panda, the remains of other rare animals were also found in the tomb,
A total of 3,228 graves have been found at the ruins
The ruins,
According to Du Wei, leader of the excavation project, three graveyards
“Potteries, bronze ware, jadeware, braided fabrics, human bones and
Nuomuhong culture is a Bronze Age archaeological culture with Qinghai characteristics,
Speaking at a meeting of experts on the ruins last week, Huo Wei,
In Diaoyu city, an ancient castle in Southwest China’s Chongqing, a special tour was conducted recently with a focus on damaged walls, old stones and ordinary-looking locations, rather than the photogenic spots
Ten people from four
Other than the study tour, Chongqing has promoted the charm of history and culture, such as opening the country’s first archaeology-themed café
Chongqing
6 . Fossils are well preserved remains, impressions, or traces (痕迹) of animals and plants that lived long ago. Paleontologists (古生物学家) divide fossils into two main groups. Some fossils, called body fossils, show the structure of the plant or the animal. They form directly from the remains of plants and animals. Other fossils, called trace fossils. They record signs of animal or plant activities, such as walking, feeding, scratching, or even resting.
Most animals and plants don’t become fossils after they die. They break down into little bits or may be eaten by other animals. But some remains get buried too fast, avoiding those things happening. An animal might die near a body of water and sink to the bottom, where its remains get covered in sediment (沉积物). As sediment builds up, mineral-rich water seeps into the remains, leaving minerals in the tiny spaces of the bones and even replacing the original bones. The new minerals react with those in the animal’s remains and then harden into fossils.
Most fossils are buried deep in the Earth. As the Earth’s surface changes, scientists can dig up new fossils and learn more about past life and the Earth’s history. In rock that formed before a certain time, roughly 2.8 million years ago, scientists will not find human fossils.
Fossils are our keys to understanding prehistoric life and the Earth’s history. By studying fossils, we learn about a great variety of plants and animals that lived in the past. We can know what they looked like, how and where they moved and what they ate. By comparing fossils from different time periods, we can track the evolution of a species, see how it adapted to changes in its environment, and understand more about the climate and environment where the fossils were buried.
1. What can we learn from paragraph 1?| A．Fossils are remains of plants and animals. |
| B．Trace fossils only tell us the activities of animals. |
| C．Trace fossils form directly from the remains of creatures. |
| D．Body fossils show almost the original structure of creatures. |
| A．Where we can find fossils. | B．How animals and plants become fossils. |
| C．Different fossils have different features. | D．Which methods are used to study fossils. |
| A．Engages in. | B．Succeeds in. | C．Delights in. | D．Sinks in. |
| A．Ridiculous. | B．Complex. | C．Significant. | D．Inspiring. |
Scientists in Peru have discovered the skull(颅骨) of an ancestor of modern-day whales. The fossilized skull is believed
The scientists reported the skull was in good condition when
Scientists say the ancient mammal was a basilosaurus, which is in the cetacean(鲸目) family. The name basilosaurus means “king lizard(蜥蜴)” and the animal
Salas called the animal “a marine monster” that may belong
Salas explained that when the ancient basilosaurus died out, its skull likely sank to the bottom of the ocean,
“Back during this age,
Ancient footprints discovered in New Mexico indicate that early humans arrived in North America around 23, 000 years ago, researchers reported Thursday.
The first footprints
The findings may help scientists solve a mystery that has long attracted scientists: When did people first arrive in the Americas, after
Most scientists
“
Based
Archaeologists in northeast China’s Jilin Province
The Yong’an Site
The discovery of the well proves that the ancient people living in the area had
It is rare
10 . In his first year at Harvard, Manny Medrano made a big breakthrough. With the help of his professor Gary Urton. Medrano interpreted a set of six khipus, knotted cora (打结的绳子)used for record keeping in the Inca Empire(印加帝国).
The Inca Empire reached the height of its power in 15th- and l6th-century Peru (秘鲁). When the Spanish arrived, the Inca had established the largest and most complex society in the Americas, but they left behind no written records. The only ones the Inca are known to have kept are in the form of khipus. In 2002, Urton began Harvard s Khipu Database Project. He traveled to museums around the world to record the numbers of knots, lengths of cords, colors of fibers, and other details about every Inca: khipu he could find.
Urton says he and other researchers in the field have always had a general sense of what the khipus represented. Many had to do with census(人口普查) data. Others appeared to be calendar systems. But, until recently, none of the khipus Urton studied could be understood on a very detailed level.
A turning point came when Urton began looking into a set of six khipus from the 17th-centurySanta River Valley region of Northwest Peru. One day, Urton picked up a book and happened to spot a Spanish census document from the same region and time period. “A lot of the numbers that were recorded in that census record matched those six khipus exactly, Urton says. Then he couldn't help mentioning it to his students. Medrano, who was among these students, asked if he could help during spring break.
Urton agreed to allow Medrano to look into the Santa Valley khipus and the Spanish census. Medrano recalls looking through spreadsheets in Microsoft Excel. He noticed that the way each cord was tied onto the khipu seemed to correspond to(符合, 对应) the social status (地位) of the 132 people recorded in the census document. The colors of the strings also appeared to be related to the people's first names. After spring break, Medrano told his professor about his theories. Medrano worked with Urton over the next several months and the two wrote a paper together.
1. Why did Urton travel to museums around the world?| A．To gather data for a project. |
| B．To learn how to make khipus. |
| C．To help Peru connect with the world. |
| D．To collect khipus as one of his hobbies. |
| A．Excited. | B．Puzzled. |
| C．Grateful. | D．Relieved. |
| A．Local people s first names came from Spanish |
| B．The colors of the strings tended to be the same. |
| C．How a cord was made differed in every period |
| D．How a cord was tied was related to one's social status |
| A．The Inca Empire had a long history. |
| B．The Inca Empire was a complex society. |
| C．A student assisted his professor in a technical paper. |
| D．A student uncovered the hidden secret of knotted cords. |
