1 . Every day people joined archaeologists and artists in finding some of the year’s most dramatic discoveries. Below are some examples of 2023.

“Naughty pupils”-ancient punishment method resurfaces

Archaeologists discovered 18,000 ink-carved pieces of pottery-known as “ostraca”—at the site of Athribis early this year, and among them were hundreds of fragments(碎片)with a single symbol repeated front and back.

Those scribbles(潦草的文字)are evidence of ‘naughty “pupils” being made to write lines, according to researchers a Germany’s University of Tuebingen. The fragments also included receipts, school texts, trade information and lists of names.

Van Gogh peers out in hidden portrait

There is one more known van Gogh’s self-portrait in the world, and it was hidden behind a painting of a peasant woman. People made the discovery when they took an X-ray of one of his portraits from 1885 and discovered the artist’s own image behind layers of cardboard and glue. While X-rays often reveal how artists-changed their compositions, the full self-portrait of van Gogh came as a huge surprise, who was known to reuse canvase(画布)to save money.

Another treasure collection from Sanxingdui

The Sanxingdui archaeological site has produced thousands of relics. The latest discovery, reported by Chinese state media in June includes 3,155 objects, a turtle shell-shaped box and a sacrificial altar among them. A team has been digging six places of the site, turning up more than 13,000 objects so far. Last year, the relics they uncovered included a golden mask, ivory artifacts(手工艺品)and a jade knife. The Sanxingdui culture still remains mysterious, as it left behind no written records or human remains, though many believe it to be part of the ancient kingdom of Shu, which ruled along the upper stream of the Yangtze River until it was conquered in 316 BC.

1. What led to the researchers’ conclusion about the fragments?

A．The repeated symbol.	B．Trade information.
C．Lists of pupils’ names.	D．The mark of ink.

2. Why did van Gogh hide his self-portrait in a painting?

A．To keep away from X-rays.

B．To save money.

C．To make his works more mysterious.

D．To help people find his composition.

3. Which is the newly-unearthed relic of 2023 in Sanxingdui site?

A．A jade knife.	B．A golden mask.
C．A written record.	D．A turtle shell-shaped box.

2 . 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.