1 . Human faces cut into stone up to 2,000 years ago have again been found on a rocky area along the Amazon River in northern Brazil. The stone carvings (雕刻品) appeared as a result of a big drop in water levels because of dry weather in parts of northern Brazil. The water level had dropped to the lowest level in the history of the river.

“People had reported some of the stone carvings before during periods when water levels were low. But now a greater number have been identified. That will help researchers establish the history of the carvings, and more secrets of historical relics will come to light,” researcher Jaime de Santana Oliveira said recently.

One area shows smooth marks in the rock thought to be where natives once sharpened their tools such   as arrows and spears before European settlers arrived.

“The carvings are prehistoric, or precolonial (殖民地时期前的). We can’t be sure of their precise date but based on the evidence of human living places of the area, we believe they are about 1, 000 to 2, 000 years old.” Oliveira said.

The rocky area is on the north shore of the Amazon River near the place where the Rio Negro River joins it.

Oliveira said the carvings were first seen in 2010, but this year’s drought has been more serious than earlier dry periods. The Rio Negro’s levels have dropped 15 meters since July, uncovering large areas of rocks and sand where there had been no beaches.

“This time we found not just more carvings, but the statue of a human face cut into the rock,” said Oliveira, who works for the Brazilian government’s National Historic and Artistic Heritage Institute. The organization watches the care of historic places in Brazil.

1. What plays a key role in finding the stone carvings?

A．People’s report.	B．Natural disaster.
C．High technology.	D．Researchers’ effort.

2. What can researchers do with more identified stone carvings?

A．Explore the history of historical sites.	B．Move the valuable carvings to safety.
C．Discover more underwater stone carvings.	D．Make the carvings popular among visitors.

3. What does the underlined word “precise” mean in paragraph 4?

A．Fixed.

B．Exact.

C．Best.

D．Future.

4. What does Oliveira stress in the last paragraph?

A．The human face stone carvings.	B．The number of stone carvings.
C．The real value of stone carvings.	D．The place where stone carvings were found.

2 . 阅读下面短文，根据短文内容填空。在未给提示词的空白处仅填写1个恰当的单词， 在给出提示词的空白处用括号内所给词的正确形式填空。

The Terracotta Army (兵马俑) was found in 1974 near Xi’an. It is formed of more than 8,000 sculptures, which     1     (bury) alongside the emperor Qin Shi Huang more than 2,200 years ago. Now, researchers have recreated the shoes of one soldier and analysis of them     2     (suggest) that shoes worn by the terracotta sculptures were surprisingly flexible and slip resistant. If the recreated shoes     3     (true) reflect the real ones, they can help build a better picture of     4     Qin dynasty soldiers wore and how this might have aided them in battles.

3 . Macaques don’t use the sharp flakes they create for anything, Luncz adds, noting that the monkeys have sharp teeth and don’t need cutting tools. The similar ancient stone tools collected from some of the earliest known sites, however, show evidence of being used for cutting tasks. For example, in Oldowan, a site dating between 3.3 million and 1.5 million years ago, researchers analyzed use-wear patterns on the tools and found that some of the flakes showed damage along their edges, indicating that they had been used for cutting. Cut marks on some fossils revealed that hominins had used stone tools for butchering the animals, making it clear that the sharp stone tools were anything but unintentional by-products of other pounding activities.

Why does the author mention the Oldowan site in paragraph 3?

A．To provide specific proof.	B．To clarify a complex concept.
C．To present an interesting fact.	D．To make a detailed comparison.

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。

On Feb 8, 2001, workers at a construction site in Jinsha village, Chengdu, found many pieces of ivory and jade and the hidden ruins of the capital of the ancient Shu Kingdom were brought     1    light by archaeologists. Among the over 5,000 precious relics     2    (excavate)from the ruins, the most eye-catching is the Golden Sun Bird. It is made from delicate gold foil(箔), just one     3    (five)of a millimeter thick. It has two sections: The center is a sun pattern with 12 rays     4    (indicate)the rotation(自转)of the sun and around the sun are four birds flying anticlockwise. According to archaeologists, the four birds symbolize four seasons, while the 12 rays     5    (mean)to represent 12 months of the year. Hence, it could be inferred that over 3000 years ago ancient Shu people possessed     6     good knowledge of astronomy and nature. Furthermore, this masterpiece is believed to be an illustration of an ancient Chinese myth recorded in the classic The Legends of Mountains and Seas,     7     was written about 2,500 years ago. According to the book, ancient people believed the sun was carried up     8    down by birds daily.

In 2005, the pattern was     9    (successful)selected as the symbol of China’s cultural heritage to showcase the ancient Chinese people’s     10    ( wise)and aspirations.

5 . 语法填空

In early November in 2023, a diver, swimming off the coast of Sardinia,     1     (notice) pieces of metal on the ocean floor. He called the authorities and more divers were sent to look. The pieces turned out to be ancient Roman coins. The coins mostly lay     2     (bury) in sand and seagrass not far from the coast. It is said that more than 30, 000 coins have been found,     3     are close to 2, 000 years old. Experts call this a major historical discovery.

6 . 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 saying ‘All roads lead to Xianyang’ may not be widely known, but it is the     1    (true)in history. After Qin Shi Huang, the first emperor of China, unified the country in 221 BCE, he began building state-level roads, Xianyang     2    the center. Several long roads were therefore completed,     3    (cover) a distance of about 750 kilometers, running through plains, mountains, grasslands, deserts, and finally leading to Xianyang, the capital city.

Like the Great Wall, these roads,     4    (call) Qin Zhidao, literally the Qin Direct Paths or Qin Highways, are considered another miracle in Qin Dynasty. Generally, the roads were 20 to 60 meters wide and 50 cars could run side by side at the same time on their     5     (wide) sections. The firmly made surface     6    (shape) like a turtle back above the ground to avoid standing water at that time. Another amazing fact is that grass     7    (rare)grow on the road and many parts are still in good condition even today.

The mysterious ancient roads,     8     date back over 2,200 years and predate the Roman Roads by over 200 years, are known to be     9     natural museum in the history of road construction. Historians evaluate it this way: if the Great Wall is compared to a defensive shield (盾牌), then Qin Zhidao is the weapon     10    (guard) the stability and prosperity (繁荣) of the Qin Empire.

7 . Archeologists said on Wednesday they have unearthed the oldest wooden structure ever discovered, dating from nearly half a million years ago, which suggests that our ancestors may have been more advanced than previously thought.

The exceptionally well-preserved wooden structure was found at Kalambo Falls in the north of Zambia near the border with Tanzania. It dates back at least 476,000 years, well before the evolution of Homo sapiens (智人), according to a study describing the find in the journal Nature.

The wood bears cut-marks showing that stone tools were used to join two large logs to make the structure, which is believed to be a platform, walkway or raised dwelling to keep our ancestors above the water. A collection of wooden tools, including a wedge and a digging stick, was also discovered at the site. The ancestors of humans were already known to use wood at this time, but for limited purposes such as starting a fire or hunting.

Larry Barham, an archeologist at the U. K.’s University of Liverpool and the study’s lead author, said the structure was a “chance discovery” made in 2019 while excavating the site located on the banks of the Kalambo River, above a 235-meter waterfall.

Discoveries involving such ancient wood are rare, because it tends to rot leaving behind little trace for the historical record. But the high level of water at Kalambo Falls is believed to have preserved the structure over the centuries.

Excavations at the Kalambo site in the 1950s and 1960s unearthed some wood, but it was not able to be accurately dated. However, this time around, the researchers used a new method called luminescence dating, which determines age by measuring the last time certain minerals were exposed to sufficient heat or sunlight. This revealed that the structure was much older than the researchers had thought, dating back at least 476,000 years.

The discovery of the wooden structure “changed how I thought about these people”, Barham added. “They transformed their surroundings to make life easier, even if it was only by making a platform to sit on by the river to do their daily chores,” he said. “They used their intelligence, imagination and skills to create something they’d never seen before, something that had never previously existed.”

1. What can be learned about the wooden structure according to Paragraphs 1 and 2?

A．It was found in Tanzania.	B．It enjoyed a long history.
C．It was partially damaged.	D．It was used by Homo sapiens.

2. What might the wooden structure act as?

A．A bridge.

B．A weapon.

C．A walking stick.

D．A hunting tool.

3. What plays a key role in dating the wooden structure?

A．The shape of the wood.	B．The water in the wood.
C．The weight of the wood.	D．The certain minerals in the wood.

4. What is Barham’s attitude toward the research of the wooden structure?

A．Approving.

B．Worried.

C．Indifferent.

D．Objective.

8 . Lisa St. Coeur Cormier, a high school science teacher in Prince Edward Island (PEI), Canada, found a tree root. When she took a closer look, she found the shape was very strange. She realized it wasn’t a tree root though it shared the same color. She felt it was hard to break and noticed an impression of bones of what looked like some kind of animal.

Cormier sent a photo of the find to Laura MacNeil who used her knowledge in this field to confirm that what Cormier had seen really was a fossil (化石). MacNeil runs tours of sites where prehistoric fossils have been found and also helps people identify fossils. She visited the site of Cormier’s find to take more photos of it.

MacNeil contacted John Calder, a scientist, who examined the fossil and led a team of scientists to study it. John Calder said it could be as much as 300 million years old. He said it’s probably from a reptile (爬行动物) of some kind — likely one that is unknown to scientists. Scientists spent 5.5 hours carefully digging out the fossil from the ground so they could study it more in-depth and find out exactly what kind of animal it is. That research could take a year or more.

“This is an important discovery here on Prince Edward Island. It is the second of the only two articulated skeletons (关节相连的骨头) found on PEI,” Laura MacNeil said. “This creature lived about 300 million years ago. This find tells us there is a great possibility for future scientifically important fossils that could be discovered on PEI. It will lead to more researchers paying a visit.”

1. How might Cormier feel when looking at the root carefully?

A．Satisfied.

B．Surprised.

C．Concerned.

D．Proud.

2. What can we learn from the research work?

A．The scientists will have a detailed study on the fossil.

B．The scientists have identified the species of the fossil.

C．The scientists will keep the fossil under the ground.

D．The scientists discovered the first articulated skeleton.

3. What does Laura MacNeil stress about PEI in the last paragraph?

A．Its long history.	B．Its wide popularity.
C．Its scientific value.	D．Its economic importance.

4. Which of the following could be a suitable title for the text?

A．A scientist’s research on fossils	B．PEI is attracting more researchers
C．Cormier’s unforgettable tour in PEI	D．A science teacher discovered a fossil

9 . 听下面一段较长对话，回答以下小题。
1. What was the man doing when he found the statue?

A．He was fishing.

B．He was swimming.

C．He was hunting.

2. When was the statue built according to experts?

A．In the 1300s.

B．In the 1600s.

C．In the 1800s.

3. How will the man deal with the statue?

A．He’ll keep it to himself.

B．He’ll give it to a museum.

C．He’ll make money from it.

10 . 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。

Originally unearthed in the late 1920s, the Sanxingdui Ruins have been regarded as one of the world’s greatest archaeological     1     (finding) of the 20th century. In July this year, a     2     (new) completed exhibition hall at the world-famous Sanxingdui Museum opened in Guanghan, Sichuan Province.

    3     (cover) an area of nearly 55,000 square meters, the exhibition hall is now the largest single exhibition building showcasing the cultural relics     4     (dig) from historical sites in southwest China. The new hall     5     (hold) more than 1,500 cultural items, with 600 of them on show for the first time.

One iconic (标志性的) exhibit is the four-meter-tall bronze sacred tree,     6     takes up the central position in the new hall. And it makes a much     7     (strong) visual impression than it did in the old hall. The bronze altar (青铜神坛) that was discovered last year is also     8     impressive piece of artwork. It is made up of three parts and shows ancient sacrificial (献祭的) scenes.

Divided into three themed areas, the exhibition hall makes use of a range of new technologies     9     (celebrate) the cultural features and social development of the Shu civilization. It also shows China’s latest achievements     10     archaeological research.