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  3. The latest Archaeological Discovery in the Ancles By modern standards, the hostile summit of Mount Llullaillaco, in the Arge

The latest Archaeological Discovery in the Ancles By modern standards, the hostile summit of Mount Llullaillaco, in the Arge

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问题                  The latest Archaeological Discovery in the Ancles
    By modern standards, the hostile summit of Mount Llullaillaco, in the Argentine Andes, is no place for kids. The ancient Inca saw things differently though, and so it was that one day, some 500 years ago, three children ascended the frigid and treacherous upper slopes of the 22,000-ft. peak. The three had spent time at the 17, 000-ft. level, taking part in rituals that can only be guessed at. Now, accompanied by a retinue of adults, they moved steadily upward. They would not return. Once at the summit, the children— two girls and a boy, between 8 and 15 years old—would be ritually sacrificed and entombed beneath 5 ft. of rocky rubble. They may even have been buried alive.
    And there the story might have ended but for the tireless efforts of Johan Reinhard, an independent archaeologist funded by the National Geographic Society. Reinhard’s specialty is scaling the Andes in search of sacrificial remains; he had already located 15 bodies, including the famed ice maiden he found in 1995. But these three, whose discovery he announced last week, are by far the most impressive. They were frozen solid within hours of their burial. Two of the bodies are almost perfectly preserved; the third was evidently (damaged by lightning. The children’s internal organs are not only intact but also still contain blood. Says Craig Morris, an expert on Andean archaeology at New York City’s American Museum of Natural History: "It is truly a fantastic discovery."
    What makes it so fantastic is not just the bodies themselves, but also the wealth of artifacts that were buried along with them: 36 gold and silver statues, small woven bags, a ceramic vessel, leather sandals, a small llama figure and seashell necklaces. One of the girls, says Reinhard, "has a beautiful yellow, geometrically designed cover laid over her." Her head sports a plume of feathers and a golden mask.
    Some of the bodies were provisioned with bundles of food wrapped in alpaca skin, which indicates that the children came from the Incan social elite—not surprising, since only people of high status would have been considered worthy of sacrifice. Little is known about the sacrificial ceremony itself; these objects, along with others found at the lower camp, should tell archaeologists plenty.
    The preserved bodies, meanwhile, will give scientists an unprecedented look at Incan physiology. Reinhard and his team took care to pack the children in plastic, snow and insulating foam before hauling them down the mountain, and the Argentine military whisked them off to the nearby town of Salta. There, experts will analyze their stomachs to find out what they ate for their last meal, their organs for clues about their diet and their DNA to try and establish their relationship to other ethnic groups. Reinhard will head back into the mountains. There is no telling how many more bodies remain to be found.
Which of the following statements is TRUE according to the text?
选项 A、Johan Reinhard works with the National Geographic Society.
B、Archaeological discoveries depend on the independent work of archaeologists.
C、The Andes is a treasure for archaeologists in search of sacrificial remains.
D、Andean archaeology focuses on unearthing human bodies.
答案C
解析 事实细节题。文中提到Reinhard在安第斯山区搜寻祭祀遗物方面的多项考古发现，并引用其他考古学家的话认为Reinhard最近的发现是“fantastic discovery”。文中第二段对Reinhard的身份说明中指出他是一个受国家地理协会资助的独立考古学家，因此[A]是错误的。虽然独立考古学家的工作很重要，但不等于考古发现就依赖他们，所以[B]也是错误的。安第斯山考古活动有很多方面的内容，遗体出土只是其中一项，文中也讲到陪葬物品的考古价值，所以[D]也不对。
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考研英语一

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