1 . The TV dramas concerning the unique Empress of China are always hot among audiences. Actresses who play the role of Empress Wu Zetian, are indeed all beauties. What did Wu Zetian, China’s only female emperor, look like in real life? Let’s explore the possibilities.

The famous Chinese scholar Guo Moruo researched this, and he thought that an empress in a painting by Tang Dynasty painter Zhang Xuan is Wu Zetian. Zhang left many famous paintings, such as Paintings of Lady of Guoguo on a Spring Outing of the Tang Dynasty, Court Ladies Preparing Newly-Woven Silk and Lady of Wei. It is guessed that Zhang Xuan was a court painter and had met Wu Zetian before, so the portrait by him is quite reliable.

Another frequently seen image of Wu Zetian is the block-painted edition of Images of Ancient People in History, created in 1498, during the government of Emperor Hongzhi in the Ming Dynasty. However, as the painting was recreated by Ming people, it is not very reliable and possibly a portrait born out of imagination.

There are also many stone statues of Empress Wu Zetian, and the most ancient one is now at her birthplace, Guangyuan in Sichuan province. The statue is said to be very close to the real appearance of Wu Zetian. When Empress Wu Zetian came into power, she built many temples and Buddha statues. Many Buddha statues in the Longmen Grottoes in today’s Luoyang in Henan province were constructed during her reign. Among them, a large Vairocana Buddha in Fengxian Temple is considered to be a “portrait” of Wu Zetian at 44 years old. The Buddha has characteristics of an oriental beauty’s face and is honored as the most beautiful Buddha in the world. At 17.14 meters high, the face of the Buddha looks pretty and has a mysterious smile. Wu Zetian funded the statue’s construction and took part in the consecration(神圣)ceremony when it was completed. Ancient people assumed that the statue was a vivid portrait of Empress Wu Zetian.

1. What is the passage mainly about?

A．A discussion about what Empress Wu Zetian looked like.

B．A brief introduction to Empress Wu Zetian.

C．why many stone statues were built.

D．The development of people’s ideas about Wu Zetian’s apprearance.

2. Why are people especially curious about what Wu Zetian looked like according to the passage?

A．Because there are too many puzzling possibilities.

B．Because even the famous Chinese scholar Guo Moruo researched this.

C．Because Wu Zetian is the only female empress in Chinese history.

D．Because it is human to be curious.

3. What does the last paragraph mainly talk about?

A．How and why ancient people made stone statues resembling Wu Zetian.

B．Different stone statues assumed close to the appearance of Wu Zetian.

C．The development of Buddha statues resembling Wu Zetian.

D．The reason why Buddha statues were built during Wu’s government.

4. Which of the following can be inferred from the passage?

A．Wu Zetian admired Buddhism.

B．The empress portrayed by Zhang Xuan is Wu Zetian.

C．Images of Ancient People in History was created during Wu’s government.

D．People now assume Vairocana is an vivid portrait of Wu Zetian.

2 . 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。

Scientists in Peru have discovered the skull(颅骨) of an ancestor of modern-day whales. The fossilized skull is believed     1    (be) about 36 million years old. Researchers say the discovery suggests that the animal lived in an ocean once     2    (cover) Peru’s southern Ocucaje desert.

The scientists reported the skull was in good condition when     3    (dig) up last year. It has a series of long, pointy     4    (tooth), said Rodolfo Salas, chief of paleontology at Peru’s National University of San Marcos.

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     5    (think) to have been about 12 meters long. But it was not a reptile(爬行动物) although     6    (it) long body might have moved like a large snake.

Salas called the animal “a marine monster” that may belong     7     a new species of basilosaurus. “When it was searching for its food, it     8    (sure) did a lot of damage,” he added.

Salas explained that when the ancient basilosaurus died out, its skull likely sank to the bottom of the ocean,     9     it was quickly buried and remained.

“Back during this age,     10     conditions for fossilization were very good in Ocucaje,” Salas said.

3 . 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。

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     1     (find) in a dry lake bed in White Sands National Park in 2009. Scientists at the US Geological Survey recently analyzed seeds stuck in the footprints     2     (determine) their approximate age.     3     evidence suggested they were from 21, 130 to 22, 800 years ago.

The findings may help scientists solve a mystery that has long attracted scientists: When did people first arrive in the Americas, after     4     (leave) Africa and Asia?

Most scientists     5     (strong) believe that they came by way of a land bridge, now under water, that connected Asia to Alaska. According to various discoveries including stone tools and bones other researchers have offered a range of possible     6     (date) for human arrival in the Americas, from 13, 000 to 26, 000 years ago or more.

“    7     (we) study provides a more solid baseline for when humans were in North America, although they could have arrived even earlier,” they wrote in the journal Science, which published the study Thursday. “Fossil footprints are more     8     (rely) than cultural evidence.     9     we present here is evidence of a firm time and location.”

Based     10     the size of the footprints, researchers believe that at least some were made by children and teenagers who lived during the last ice age.

4 . Many people today think of the pyramids of Giza as the symbol of ancient Egyptian culture. But who actually built them? For years, we did not know for sure. Now, however, archaeologists have discovered an ancient city near the pyramids. Close by, there is a cemetery (墓地) where the pyramid builders were buried. From studying these places, archaeologists are sure that the pyramids were not built by slaves or foreigners.    1    

It took about 80 years to build the pyramids. Archaeologists believe that about 20,000-30,000 people took part in the construction.     2     Some dug up the rock, some moved it, and some shaped it into blocks. People also worked on different teams, each with its own name. Workers often competed to see whose team could do a job faster.

“We can see that in their skeletons(骨骼),” says Azza Mohamed Sarry El-Din, a scientist studying bones found in the cemetery. According to her research, the bones show signs of arthritis (关节炎)．    3     Archaeologists have also found many female skeletons in the ancient city and cemetery. The damage to their bones is similar to that of the men.    4     Male workers generally lived to age 40-45, but women to only 30-35. However, workers usually had enough food, and they also received medical care if they got sick or hurt.

    5     On a wall in Khufu's Great Pyramid, for example, a group of workers wrote Friends of Khufu. “It's because they were not just building the tomb of their king,” says Egyptian archaeologist Zahi Hawass. “They were building Egypt. It was a national project, and everyone was a part.”

A．It still remains a mystery.

B．Ordinary Egyptians built them.

C．The workers took on different roles.

D．In fact, their lives may have been even harder.

E．They worked on the same jobs but competed to be the best.

F．The task was challenging, but builders were proud of their work.

G．This probably developed from carrying heavy things for a long time.

5 . 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。

Sanxingdui is believed to have sat at the heart of the Shu state, which historians know     1     (relative) little about due to few little written records.

More than 50,000 ancient artifacts     2     (find) at Sanxingdui since the 1920s,    3     a local farmer accidentally came upon a number of relics at the site. A major breakthrough     4     (occur) in 1986, with the discovery of two ceremonial pits     5     (contain) over 1,000 items, elaborate and well-preserved bronze masks included. Many of the items are now     6     display at an on-site museum.

The site has revolutionized experts' understanding of how civilization developed in ancient China. In particular, evidence of a unique Shu culture suggested that the kingdom developed independently of neighboring societies in the Yellow River Valley, which was considered to be     7     cradle (摇篮)of Chinese civilization.

The discovery of silk fibers and the remains of textiles may also expand     8     (we) understanding of the Shu. Head of the excavation team, Tang Fei, said in a press conference that the discovery indicates that the kingdom “was one of the important     9    (origin) of silk in ancient China”.

Though not yet     10    (recognize) as a UNESCO World Heritage Site, Sanxingdui is on the organization's "tentative list"   for possible future inclusion.