阅读试题

ADDIS ABABA, Ethiopia― One of the world's most famous fossils (化石)― the 3.2 million-year-old Lucy skeleton (骨骼) unearthed in Ethiopia in 1974 —will go on an exhibition tour abroad for the first time in the United States, officials said Tuesday. Even the Ethiopian public has only seen Lucy twice. The Lucy on exhibition at the Ethiopian National Museum in the capital, Addis Ababa, is a replica while the real remains are usually locked in a secret storeroom. A team from the Museum of National Service in to Houston, Texas, spent four years discussing with the Ethiopians for the U.S. Tour., which will start in Houston next September.

"Ethiopia's rich culture of both the past and today, is one of the best kept secrets in the world,"said Joel Bartsch, director of the Houston museum.

The six-year tour will also go to Washington, New York, Denver and Chicago. Officials said six other U.S. cities may be on the tour. But they said plans had not yet been worked out.

Traveling with Lucy will be 190 other fossils.

Lucy, her name taken from a Beatles song that played in a camp the night of her discovery, is part of the skeleton of what was once a 31/2-foot-tall ape-man (猿人).

阅读试题

53. The author writes this text mainly to 　 .

A. introduce a few U.S. museums

B. describe some research work

C. discuss the value of an ape-man

D. report a coming event

54. What do the words "a replica" in Paragraph 2 refer to?

A. A painting of the skeleton.

B. A photograph of Lucy.

C. A copy of the skeleton.

D. A written record of Lucy.

55 How many cities has Lucy's U.S. tour plan already included?

A. Four.

B. Five.

C. Six.

D. Eleven.

56. What was the skeleton named after?

A. An ape-man.

B. A song.

C. A singer.

D. A camp

参考译文

亚的斯亚贝巴 埃塞俄比亚― 星期二，官方人士表示，世界著名的化石之一，于1974年在埃塞俄比亚被发掘出土的有三百二十万年的露西骨骼化石，也就是藏于埃塞俄比亚首都亚的斯亚贝巴的露西骨骼化石将会继续它在美国的第一次海外巡展。即使是埃塞俄比亚的民众也只见过露西两次。而在埃塞俄比亚首都亚的斯亚贝巴展出的露西是一件仿制品，然而真正的露西骨骼化石通常被锁在密室里。一支来自休斯顿和德克萨斯国民服务博物馆的团队花费了四年的时间就美国之行与埃塞俄比亚进行商讨，并且这一巡展将于明年九月从休斯顿开始。

休斯顿博物馆馆长约尔·巴尔其说：“不论是过去还是现在，埃塞俄比亚丰富的文化都是世界上最好的保持神秘的文化之一。”

六年的巡展还会去华盛顿、纽约、丹佛和芝加哥。官方表示另外还有六个美国城市也在巡展之列。但是他们说计划尚未推出。

与露西骨骼化石一起巡展的还有其他190种化石。

露西，她的名字来源于披头士的一首歌，而这首歌就是发现她的那个晚上一个露营里唱的。露西是那个曾经有着3.5英尺高的猿人骨骼的一部分。

答案解析

53. D 考查写作目的。本文是一则报道，第一段是文章的中心段，根据本段的内容可知，作者写本文的主要目的是报道一件即将发生的事情。

54. C 考查词义猜测。根据画线部分后面的"the real remains"可推知，画线部分指的是骨骼复制品。

55. B 考查细节理解。结合第二段后半部分的内容以及第四段的第一句可知，包括Houston，Washington，New York，Denver和Chicago五个城市。

56. B 考查细节理解。根据最后一段前半部分的内容可知，这个骨骼是根据甲壳虫乐队的一首歌曲命名的。