1 . In ancient Maya civilization, cacao — which chocolate is made from — wasn’t just for the elites (精英). Traces of the sacred plant show up in antiques from all types of neighborhoods and in and around a former Maya city, researchers report in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. The finding suggests that, contrary to previous thinking, cacao was consumed at every social level of Maya society.

“Now we know that the ceremonies with cacao were likely played out by everyone,” says AnabelFord, an archaeologist at the University of California, Santa Barbara. Cacao was sacred to the ancient Maya, consumed in ceremonies and used as a currency. The cacao tree itself was linked to Hun Hunahpu, a Mayan god. Previous research found cacao in burials (墓地), suggesting that its use was restricted to those at the top.

To explore the extent to which cacao was used in broader Maya society, Ford and colleagues examined 54 antiques dating from A. D. 600 to 900. The antiques come from jars, mixing bowls, serving plates and vases thought to be drinking vessels. All the pieces were found in residential and ceremonial civic areas of varying size and status from city centers, foothills, upland areas and the valley around the former Maya city of El Pilar, on the present-day border of Guatemala and Belize.

To identify cacao, the researchers searched for theophylline, a compound found in trace amounts in the plant. The team found the compound on more than half of the samples, on all types of antiques and distributed throughout social contexts.

Future research will move beyond who consumed cacao and explore the role of farmers in managing the critical resource. “A better question is to understand who grew it,” Ford says, because those people probably had greater access to the valuable commodity.

Lin Zexu, a senior official of the Qing Dynasty, is remembered today among Chinese people as     1     role model for patriotism (爱国主义). He is also considered as a great hero,     2     fought against opium (鸦片) when seriously alarmed at the negative effect that the highly addictive drug was having     3     China.

At first, the Qing government tolerated the opium trade in order to promote economy. But in a few years, opium began to flood across the country, causing serious damage. Many people including soldiers became     4    (addict). He sent several memorials (奏折) to the emperor,     5    (try) to get opium banned nationwide. The indecisive emperor was finally moved by Lin Zexu, who said that if opium     6    (allow) to spread unchecked, within a few decades, China would fail to resist enemy     7     (force), let alone maintain national independence.

As a result, Lin Zexu was promoted to the post of special imperial envoy (特使), and sent to Guangdong, the main port of the opium trade, to wipe out opium. Official s of the foreign countries     8    (station) in China were determined to continue the business, and some even offered him treasures, hoping to buy him over. But, contrary to their expectations, Lin Zexu stuck to     9    (he)duty, declaring, “I will not return to Beijing     10     opium is destroyed.”

It was his perseverance and determination that contributed to the success of destroying opium at Humen.

The Silk Road is neither an actual road nor a single route. It instead refers to a trade network     1    (date) from the Han dynasty of China. German geographer and traveler Ferdinand first used the term “silk road” in1877 C.E.    2    (describe) the well-traveled pathway of goods between Europe and East Asia. Although the trade network is commonly referred     3     as the Silk Road, some historians favor the term Silk Routes because it better reflects the many paths     4     (take) by traders.

One of the most    5    (influence) travelers of the Silk Road was Marco Polo. He traveled with his father to China when he was just 17. Upon his return, he wrote about his adventures, which    6     (make) him and the routes he traveled famous.

From China, merchants carried silk to Europe,     7     it was well received by the nobility and wealthy people.     8    traveled together with silk from Asia were jade, porcelain, tea and spices. In exchange, horses, glassware, textiles and manufactured goods traveled eastward.

The significance of the Silk Road to human history has received widespread    9     (recognize). Towns along    10    routes grew into multicultural cities. The exchange of information gave rise to new technologies and innovations that would change the world. Today, parts of the Silk Road are listed on UNESCO’s World Heritage List.

5 . When Howard Carter opened King Tut’s tomb (墓穴), it was full of gold and other valuables. When he and his team then attempted to remove King Tut’s mummy (木乃伊), they did a great deal of damage to the mummy while removing it.

Decades later, in 1968, experts conducted an examination of King Tut’s mummy using simple X-ray technology. Three important discoveries led to various theories about his death. First, the X-rays showed that bones in Tut’s chest were missing. Some guessed the damage was caused by a war injury or an accident. Plus, there was a small hole in the back of the skull (头骨), and pieces of bone inside it, causing many to believe that Tut was killed by a blow to the back of the head. Was he murdered by people wanting to take control of Egypt? Finally, a serious broken bone was discovered on Tut’s left leg. Tut was hurt a few hours before his death. This could have been the result of an accident. Could an infection from the injury have killed Tut?

In 2005, scientists under the direction of Zahi Hawass used new X-ray technology to study the mummy. They discovered that the damage to Tut’s chest was caused by Howard Carter, and the hole in Tut’s skull was made when the body was gotten ready for burial. While this ruled out the theory of murder, it still doesn’t tell us exactly how he died.

Then, in 2008, when Hawass and his team analyzed the DNA of the mummies and other tombs nearby, they made some shocking discoveries. They found Tut’s father and mother, who had similar DNA, were actually brother and sister. The DNA they passed on to Tut may have made it easy for him to catch a disease. Did an infection that started in his broken leg cause his death? No one knows for sure. But Hawass and his team hope they will someday have an answer to this age-old mystery.

Archaeologists have made a stunning discovery of more than 80 stone carvings and building units, dating back about 1,300 years, at the Leigutai caves of the Longmen Grottoes in Luoyang, Henan province. The Longmen Grottoes Research Institute,     1     oversees the UNESCO World Heritage Site, made the announcement as the Leigutai caves reopened to the public on Wednesday after renovation.

The relics, unearthed during renovation inside the west wall of the south cave of Leigutai, are believed to have been used as materials     2     (strengthen) the wall during restoration work after an earthquake struck the area in the 16th century.

“This is the first time archaeologists     3     (find) statues inside a wall at the Longmen Grottoes,” Lu Wei, director of the history and humanities research center of the institute, told China Daily. A well-preserved stone Buddha head, 38 centimeters in height and 22 centimeters in     4     (wide), is among the stunning finds. “Judging     5     the overall appearance, it has a distinctive artistic style     6     (associate) with the zenith of the Tang Dynasty,” he said.

Lu said the relics inside the wall     7     (be) probably part of cave debris after the quake. “The discovery has shed light on Buddhist statue art during the Tang Dynasty, the development of the Leigutai area, ancient socioeconomic development     8     religious practices,” he said.

Luoyang was the national capital during Empress Wu’s reign. Many members of the royal family and aristocracy then held the belief     9     building caves would bring them good fortune, thus gradually forming the large-scale Longmen Grottoes. During the Northern Song period (960-1127), Emperor Zhenzong (968-1022) paid a visit to the grottoes and ordered a major renovation at the site, repairing more than 15,000 statues.

In November 2000, the Longmen Grottoes were included on the UNESCO World Heritage list,     10     first such honor for an archaeological site in Henan.

8 . The United Kingdom is hosting the AI Safety Summit, bringing politicians, computer scientists and big AI company leaders to a site chosen for its symbolism: Bletchley Park, the birthplace of computing and code-breaking (密码破译).

During World War II, a group of mathematicians, chess masters and other experts gathered at the Victorian country house 72 kilometers northwest of London to start a secret war against Nazi Germany. Their goal was to break a set of constantly changing codes produced by Nazi Germany’s Enigma machine. To do it, Bletchley Park’s wartime scientists—building on work done by Polish code-breakers—developed Colossus, the first programmable digital computer. Some historians say cracking the code helped shorten the war by up to two years.

“It has oversimplified its true contribution by describing Bletchley Park as a playground for Turing and other scientists.” said historian Chris Smith, author of The Hidden History of Bletchley Park. “Although it fits into the romantic idea that a group of smart men with a bit of wool and some yards of wire can win the war. In fact, almost 10,000 people worked at Bletchley Park during the war. Three quarters of them were women. It’s basically a factory... Twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week. When peace came, the code-breakers returned to civilian life and promised to keep secret about their wartime work. It was not until the 1970s that the work at Bletchley Park became widely known in Britain.”

In 1994, the site opened as a museum, after local historians banded together to prevent it from being pulled down to build a supermarket. It was restored to its 1940s appearance, complete with old typewriters, phones and cups—including the one tied to a heater in Hut 8, where Turing led the Enigma team.

The Yinxu Museum opens in Anyang, Henan province, to display the brilliance of the 3,000-year-old Shang civilization.

Nearly 4,000 unearthed cultural relics are displayed in the museum. More than three quarters of these have never been     1     (public) exhibited before. The 23 vehicles unearthed from Yinxu are the     2     (highlight) in the new galleries. Also on display     3     (be) Shang relics collected from across the rest of present-day China.

The Yinxu Ruins,     4     (list) as a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 2006, hosted a later period Shang capital city. The site also produced rich findings of 3,300-year-old bones,     5     (reveal) the oldest-known established writing system of Chinese characters,     6     are extraordinary and serve as a vital link in the development of the Chinese nation.

Many key breakthroughs     7     (make) in recent years at the Yinxu site and its surrounding areas. For example,     8     urban road system and the remains of an artificial lake in the royal temple area were found.

These discoveries further displayed a grand picture of a capital city     9     carried forward the project of tracking the origins of the Chinese civilization. Through the exhibits, the public can comprehensively understand the achievements made by the Shang Dynasty in terms     10     politics, economy, agriculture, military affairs, among others.