1 . Every year thousands of tourists visit Pompeii, Italy. They see the sights that Pompeii is famous for, like its stadium and theatres, its shops, and restaurants. The tourists do not, however, see Pompeii’s people. They do not see them because Pompeii has no people. No one has lived in Pompeii for almost 2,000 years.
Once, Pompeii was a busy city of 22,000 people. It lay at the foot of Mount Vesuvius, a grass-covered volcano. Mount Vesuvius had not erupted for centuries, so the people of Pompeii felt safe. But they were not.
In August of AD 79, Mount Vesuvius erupted. The entire top of the mountain exploded, and a huge black cloud rose into the air. Soon hot rocks and ash began to fall on Pompeii. When the eruption ended two days later, Pompeii was buried under 20 feet of stones and ashes. Almost all of its people were dead.
For centuries, Pompeii lay buried under stones and ashes. Then, in the year 1861, an Italian scientist named Ginseppe began to uncover Pompeii. Slowly, carefully, Ginseppe and his men dug. The city looked almost the same as it had looked in AD 79. There were streets and fountains, houses, and shops. There was a stadium with 20,000 seats. Perhaps the most important of all, there were everyday objects, which tell us a great deal about the people who lived in Pompeii. Many glasses and jars had some dark blue colour in the bottom, so we know that the people of Pompeii liked wine. They liked bread, too; metal bread pans were in every bakery. In one bakery there were 81 round, flat loaves of bread — a type of bread that is still sold in Italy today.
Ginseppe has died, but his work continues. One-fourth has not been uncovered yet. Scientists are still digging, still making discoveries that draw the tourists to Pompeii.
1. Why do large numbers of people come to Pompeii each year?| A．To visit the volcano. |
| B．To shop and eat there. |
| C．To watch sports and plays. |
| D．To see how the people of Pompeii lived. |
| A．Because the city nearby offered kinds of fun. |
| B．Because the area produced the finest wine in Italy. |
| C．Because few people expected the volcano to erupt again. |
| D．Because the mountain was beautiful and covered with grass. |
| A．Because Ginseppe and his men dug it slowly and carefully. |
| B．Because the city was buried alive and remained untouched. |
| C．Because scientists successfully rebuilt the city with everyday objects. |
| D．Because nobody had lived in the city ever since the volcano erupted. |
2 . A city in the jungle
In the summer of 1848, in Guatemala, a man called Ambrosio Tut went out into the jungle (丛林), as he did almost every day. Tut was a gum (树胶) collector, looking for gum in the jungle.
For a long time before that day, local people had known that somewhere in the jungle there was an old Mayan city.
Seven years before Tut found Tikal, two British explorers had gone to Guatemala and had written a report about Mayan treasures in the jungle—but they hadn’t mentioned Tikal. Even earlier than this, local Indians had told people about a great city hidden in the trees, but no one had listened to them.
| A．But no one had seen it for centuries. |
| B．To do this, he had to climb the trees. |
| C．And then people forgot that it was there. |
| D．So they lost the chance to find the treasure. |
| E．Tut found many other treasures after that. |
| F．More and more scientists began to study the Mayan city. |
| G．Tut didn’t really know what he had seen but he knew it was something special. |
When it comes to ancient civilizations, most people think of the Greeks and Romans. It’s understandable as both
The Jiahu settlement is located in the central plain of ancient China,
The settlement’s end came around 5700 BCE when the nearby rivers overflowed and flooded the area. It is assumed that the Jiahu people left their home
4 . Ninety years ago a man named Howard Carter made a great find. But he didn’t discover an unknown people group or a new plant. He found the resting place of a king.
People had seen signs of King Tutankhamun’s tomb (坟墓) but had never found it. Finally, Carter’s team discovered a set of steps that led down to some underground rooms. There Carter found the king’s body and many of his treasures.
Carter recorded his first impression in his popular book, The Tomb of Tut-Ankh-Amen:
At first I could see nothing, the hot air coming from the room causing the candle light to flicker (闪烁), but later, as my eyes grew used to the light, details of the room within appeared slowly and clearly, strange animals and gold — everywhere the light of gold... I was struck speechless with amazement, and when Lord Carnarvon, unable to stand the silence any longer, asked anxiously, “Can you see anything?” it was all I could do to get out the words, “Yes, wonderful things.”
The discovery has made King Tutankhamun, Tut for short, one of the best-remembered kings of Egypt. Tut became king when he was only 9 years old and ruled ancient Egypt from 1332 to 1323 B.C. No one is sure why, but he died suddenly before he turned 20. Because he died so young, there wasn’t time to prepare a great tomb for him. So he ended up with a smaller tomb. Its small size was actually the reason why it stayed hidden for so long. And, Tut’s tomb was not like other Egyptian kings’— it was not as damaged by time or robbers as other tombs. King Tut’s tomb remains the best-kept royal (皇室的) tomb ever discovered. The discovery of this little tomb has helped people learn a great deal about ancient Egypt.
1. We can learn from Paragraphs 1 and 2 that________.| A．Howard Carter found Tut’s tomb in the 1930s |
| B．there were a lot of treasures in Tut’s tomb |
| C．Howard Carter found Tut’s tomb by accident |
| D．a new plant was found in Tut’s tomb |
| A．Calm. | B．Proud. |
| C．Disappointed. | D．Shocked. |
| A．He died of a strange disease. | B．He ruled Egypt for about nine years. |
| C．He is known to few people today. | D．He built his own tomb over a long time. |
| A．King Tut’s story. | B．How to find a tomb. |
| C．Howard Carter’s achievement. | D．King Tut’s tomb. |
