Archaeologists have uncovered an ancient
“This is one of the most important ancient
According to Michael, future research at the site has the potential to clarify a range of topics, including the rise of one of Africa's first complex societies. Currently, they plan to do a further
People worldwide have enjoyed noodles for thousands of years. But did you ever stop
Some people claim that Marco Polo brought pasta (意粉) to Italy. The tale of his discovery was likely enhanced to promote pasta consumption in America. Marco Polo’s writings suggest that noodles were already present in Italy during his time, as he compared Chinese noodles to
So who REALLYinvented noodles? We may never know-the history of noodles is as complicated as a bowl of pasta. But
Many people are
In the 16th century, the nearby country of Wales
Even though the four countries
The ancient Chinese built two great engineering wonders: the Great Wall and the Grand Canal. Though the Great Wall’s effect in military
The Grand Canal,
In ancient times, the Grand Canal served
Years ago, it
The four countries that
Studying the history of the country will make your visit much more
The Silk Road was a network of ancient trade routes,
However, in the 17th century when Francis Bacon (1561-1626) suggested that this type of thinking was the way to gain knowledge, he was going against the views of the day. Although Bacon held an important rank in King James’ royal court of England, his true interest was not the day-to-day, slow and inefficient working style of the government, but the worthy search for knowledge. This was certainly not the interest of most people in his days. At that time, people believed more in the church than in facts, and people like Galileo Galilei (1564-1642), who proved the idea that “the Earth is not the centre of the universe”, were often punished by the church with no one coming to their defence. The church and many people tended to ignore the facts and didn’t want to challenge what they had always comfortably believed. In fact, when Galilei proved that the Earth was not the centre of the universe, instead of believing him, people chose to believe views that were almost 2, 000 years old!
It is not surprising that people wanted to believe these primitive ideas as they had been put forward by the great philosopher Aristotle (384-322 BCE). He said that the Earth must be the centre of the universe because it felt like the Earth was standing still. Galilei disagreed. At first, people approved of his studies and urged him to continue, but later when he proved Aristotle wrong, they grew angry and put him in prison. They didn’t want to abandon what they’d always thought as true. And this is still often true today. People make the assumption that if someone important and respected says that something is right, then it must be so. But even though Aristotle was a great man who inspired many great scientists and philosophers after him, he was wrong at times. And Galilei also made mistakes. He is now known as the father of astronomy but he believed that the Earth moved round the sun in a perfect circle. He was wrong.
1. What was Bacon’s true interest?| A．The worthy search for knowledge. | B．The interest of most people in his days. |
| C．The important rank in royal court of England. | D．The efficient working style of the government. |
| A．Because they believed more in church than in facts. |
| B．Because they didn’t want to challenge what they had always believed. |
| C．Because they didn’t want to give up what they’d always thought as true. |
| D．Because they chose to believe the views put forward by great philosophers. |
9 . Human faces cut into stone up to 2,000 years ago have again been found on a rocky area along the Amazon River in northern Brazil. The stone carvings (雕刻品) appeared as a result of a big drop in water levels because of dry weather in parts of northern Brazil. The water level had dropped to the lowest level in the history of the river.
“People had reported some of the stone carvings before during periods when water levels were low. But now a greater number have been identified. That will help researchers establish the history of the carvings, and more secrets of historical relics will come to light,” researcher Jaime de Santana Oliveira said recently.
One area shows smooth marks in the rock thought to be where natives once sharpened their tools such as arrows and spears before European settlers arrived.
“The carvings are prehistoric, or precolonial (殖民地时期前的). We can’t be sure of their precise date but based on the evidence of human living places of the area, we believe they are about 1, 000 to 2, 000 years old.” Oliveira said.
The rocky area is on the north shore of the Amazon River near the place where the Rio Negro River joins it.
Oliveira said the carvings were first seen in 2010, but this year’s drought has been more serious than earlier dry periods. The Rio Negro’s levels have dropped 15 meters since July, uncovering large areas of rocks and sand where there had been no beaches.
“This time we found not just more carvings, but the statue of a human face cut into the rock,” said Oliveira, who works for the Brazilian government’s National Historic and Artistic Heritage Institute. The organization watches the care of historic places in Brazil.
1. What plays a key role in finding the stone carvings?| A．People’s report. | B．Natural disaster. |
| C．High technology. | D．Researchers’ effort. |
| A．Explore the history of historical sites. | B．Move the valuable carvings to safety. |
| C．Discover more underwater stone carvings. | D．Make the carvings popular among visitors. |
| A．Fixed. | B．Exact. | C．Best. | D．Future. |
| A．The human face stone carvings. | B．The number of stone carvings. |
| C．The real value of stone carvings. | D．The place where stone carvings were found. |
The Terracotta Army (兵马俑) was found in 1974 near Xi’an. It is formed of more than 8,000 sculptures, which
