1. Why did the young worker hide the skull?
| A．He wanted to keep it safe. | B．He wanted to sell it later. | C．He wanted to do research on it. |
| A．In 1978. | B．In 2018. | C．In 2021. |
| A．The location where it was found. |
| B．The dragon-like features. |
| C．The name of its finder. |
| A．Heilongjiang. | B．Hebei. | C．Shaanxi. |
2 . Roughly 2,000 years ago, Mount Vesuvius erupted, destroying the Roman cities of Pompeii and Herculaneum. In 1752, workers digging in Herculaneum uncovered a home that had belonged to a rich person. Inside, workers discovered over 600 scrolls (卷轴) , most of which were made from papyrus — a paper-like material.
The heat from the volcano had burned the scrolls so much that they looked like chunks of charcoal (木炭块) . These 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. Brent Seales, a computer scientist at Kentucky University, has been working on this for over 20 years.
Dr. Seales has developed a method of using a CT scanner to take 3D X-ray images of a papyrus scroll. Then he uses a computer program to "unroll" the scroll, and gets pictures of what it looks like on the inside. In 2016, his team used this method to read a burned scroll found near the Dead Sea. But the ink in the scrolls from Herculaneum was made from charcoal and water and didn't show up well in CT scans. So he decided to train an AI program, hoping to find the writing on the scrolls by looking for places where the papyrus was rougher.
Though Dr. Seales was making progress, it was slow going. Then he encountered two businessmen, who had the idea of creating a contest for decoding (破译) the scrolls. The contest, called the Vesuvius Challenge, was announced in March. About 1,500 people have participated in the contest and they're sharing information as they make progress. In August, Casey Handmer found a pattern that revealed where the ink had been on the scrolls.
Following Mr. Handmer's lead, Luke Farritor, a 21-year-old student at Nebraska University, created an AI program that found a whole word: “
”, or “porphyras” which means “purple”. This was the first word ever read from these ancient scrolls. For his efforts, Mr. Handmer won $10,000.
“Now it is time to explore these words,” Dr. Seales says.
1. What is paragraph 1 intended to show about the scrolls?| A．Their features. | B．Their creation process. |
| C．Their source. | D．Their historic value. |
| A．The CT scanner couldn't work well for all scrolls. |
| B．The materials of the Herculaneum scrolls were rare. |
| C．An AI program is the most useful in decoding the scrolls. |
| D．Seales went to the Dead Sea to search for decoding methods. |
| A．To share scroll-reading technologies. | B．To develop ways to write on the scrolls. |
| C．To push researchers to study AI. | D．To attract people to explore the scrolls. |
| A．Reading Burned Ancient Scrolls Without Opening Them |
| B．Organizing an International Contest to Write Scrolls |
| C．Developing Technology to Help Appreciate Scrolls |
| D．Unearthing Many Ancient Scrolls in Herculaneum |
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 . 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. |
| 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. |
| A．Its long history. | B．Its wide popularity. |
| C．Its scientific value. | D．Its economic importance. |
| 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 |
5 . 听下面一段较长对话，回答以下小题。
1. How old are the paintings?| A．About 500 years old. | B．About 1,000 years old. | C．About 17,000 years old. |
| A．A professor. | B．A tour guide. | C．A painter. |
| A．In a cave. | B．In a hotel. | C．In a college. |
A Stone Age bird sculpture uncovered in China could be a “missing link” in our understanding of prehistoric art. Dating back almost 13,500 years, the sculpture is now the oldest known example of three-dimensional art in East Asia.
Described
1. What did the divers do when they found the objects?
| A．They gave them to their company. |
| B．They kept on digging deeper. |
| C．They told a historical expert. |
| A．By doing research in museums. |
| B．By analyzing the goods on the ship. |
| C．By collecting information from a story. |
| A．Looking for gold. |
| B．Delivering big guns. |
| C．Seeking metal. |
Archaeologists (考古学家) have found two shipwrecks (沉船) deep in the South China Sea, which serve as a witness to
The No. 1 shipwreck
This is one of the most important archaeological
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
10 . “Some inconspicuous (不起眼的) artifacts, once unearthed and cleaned, can transport me back across time as I touch them. It’s as though I were in the same space with ancient people who lived millions of years ago.” This is what Xu Danyang, a young member of the Communist Party of China responsible for excavation of the No. 4 sacrificial pit (祭祀坑) at the Sanxingdui ruins site in Deyang, Sichuan province, says of his view of his job.
Archaeology used to be a field few university students wanted to study, Xu says. However, discoveries at Sanxingdui have changed students’ preconceptions. The increasing popularity of Sanxingdui is a good thing, Xu says. The reason why the site has attracted international attention is that bronze ware and gold decorations unearthed there have given people fresh glimpses of the ancient Shu Kingdom, illustrating the inclusiveness of Chinese civilization.
Speaking of the pit team, Xu says more than half the members were born in the 1990s. The daily work of Xu and his team can be split into two parts: the indoor work of reorganizing materials and conducting research, and the outdoor archaeological fieldwork, both of which require great meticulousness (谨小慎微). The process of dig needs careful teamwork, and everyone performs their duties extremely. One does not expect quick success or instant rewards. So patience is a must. The infinite nature of human history can be reflected as one connects seemingly insignificant discoveries.
1. What does the underlined words “excavation” in paragraph 1 mean?| A．Discovery. | B．Dig. | C．Invention. | D．Breakthrough. |
| A．Decreased interest in studying archaeology. |
| B．No change in people’s view. |
| C．Decreased attention on Sanxingdui. |
| D．Increased interest in studying archaeology. |
| A．Unearthed bronze ware and gold decorations. |
| B．Careful teamwork. |
| C．Xu Danyang’s view of his job. |
| D．The inclusive nature of Chinese civilization. |
| A．Quick success and instant rewards. |
| B．Careful teamwork and patience. |
| C．Decreased attention. |
| D．Reorganizing materials. |
