1 . In 1968 a grave dating from about 1100 was uncovered near Hattula, in Finland, Little remained of the occupant’s skeleton, but the inhumation included two swords and a knife. Such grave goods would normally suggest said occupant was a man. The skeleton was, ______ also decorated with brooches (胸针) and woollen clothing of types more usually worn at the time by women. This ______ guess that the burial was actually of a powerful woman, possibly a local ruler in her own right rather than just the wife of a male king.

This would be noteworthy enough. But a re-examination of the remains, just published in the European Journal of Archaeology by Ulla Moilanen of the University of Turku and Elina Salmela of the University of Helsinki, suggests the truth may be yet more ______. Ms. Moilanen and Dr Salmela suspect that the individual ______ may have had outward characteristics of both a man and a woman.

In 1968 working out the ______ of a skeleton in an ancient grave was tricky. After years of deterioration, the bones of men and women look pretty much ______. But that was before the use of DNA became possible. So Ms. Moilanen and Dr Salmela thought it worth trying again.

Most people have two sex chromosomes (染色体): XX in women and XY in men. Find DNA from a Y-chromosome in a skeleton and the chances are the body was ______. And, looking at a fragment of femur brought to her by Ms. Moilanen, who is the archaeologist in the ______, Dr. Salmela, who is the geneticist, did indeed find such DNA. But not much of it. That led her to wonder about contamination (污染), but also to consider whether the individual in the grave had had a(n) ______ X-chromosome that was swamping the signal from the Y.

Having an abnormal number of sex chromosomes is rare, but not vanishingly so. The particular ______ XXY leads to what is known as Klinefelter’s syndrome. To determine the occupant’s karyotype (染色体组型) from the tiny amount of DNA available, Dr. Salmela drew ______ with living people. The grave delivered 8,329 pieces, so she used a computer to draw samples of similar size from the genomes of living people with various karyotypes, including XXY, and also from mixtures of both sexes, to ______ contamination. She then compared these with the DNA from the grave and ______ it was 99.75% probable the individual concerned had indeed had Klinefelter’s syndrome.

While Dr Salmela was working all this out, Ms. Moilanen and her team had another look at the grave. They confirmed that it was a ______ burial. For instance, they found evidence of fine furs, probably from foxes. Clearly, this was a well-respected human being, but what led to that ______ in a world then dominated by male values is a matter of puzzle. Perhaps the person came from a family powerful enough for such things not to matter.

2 . Thatbyinnyu (达宾纽佛塔) is the tallest pagoda in Bagan, with seven storeys and a history of over 800 years. Over the course of hundreds of years, it has been _________ by time. Despite the constant prayers, the pagoda must still face the _________ of time. In 2016, a(n) _________ occurred in central Myanmar (缅甸) and hundreds of pagodas and Buddha statues were damaged. Thatbyinnyu was among the most seriously affected.

A team of _________ professionals from China are busily working with their Myanmar counterparts shortly after the earthquake. They must complete the reinforcement of the pagodas before the _________ season arrives. In Bagan, craftsmen hold on to the techniques passed down from generation to generation when _________ pagodas. Original local materials are used and all work is done by _________. All materials must be transported manually to the third storey of the pagoda. In order to avoid friction (摩擦) of the supporting steel pipes against the ground or the walls of the pagoda, the construction team must lay wooden boards on the third and fourth storeys. Moving a piece of board is a test of _________ and care.

The rainy season is approaching. Two days ago, the roof of the pagoda began to _________ after heavy rain. The construction team must identify the most suitable material quickly to __________ the external cracks on the roof of the pagoda to prevent new leakage. The restoration team carried out experiments using lime, sand, and Bagan’s __________ red brick powder in different proportions. In the end, they found the combination with the best overall __________ in terms of water absorption and strength. After more than a month of non-stop work, the team of Chinese and Myanmar professionals finally completes the emergency reinforcement of the Thatbyinnyu __________ the arrival of the rainy season.

Once the rainy season is over, China’s __________ to Myanmar to fully repair the Thatbyinnyu Pagoda will __________ start. This project may last for nine years.