Human remains of ancient settlements will be reburied and lost to science under a law that threatens research into the history of humans in Britain, a group of leading archeologists (考古学家) says. In a letter addressed to the justice secretary, Ken Clarke, 40 archaeologists write of their “deep and widespread concern” about the issue. It centers on the law introduced by the Ministry of Justice in 2008 which requires all human remains unearthed in England and Wales to be reburied within two years, regardless of their age. The decision means scientists have too little time to study bones and other human remains of national and cultural significance.
“Your current requirement that all archaeologically unearthed human remains should be reburied, whether after a standard period of two years or a further special extension, is contrary to basic principles of archaeological and scientific research and of museum practice,” they write.
The law applies to any pieces of bone uncovered at around 400 dig sites, including the remains of 60 or so bodies found at Stonehenge in 2008 that date back to 3,000 BC. Archaeologists have been granted a temporary extension to give them more time, but eventuallly the bones will have to be returned to the ground.
The arrangements may result in the waste of future discoveries at sites such as Happisburgh in Norfolk, where digging is continuing after the discovery of stone tools made by early humans 950,000 years ago. If human remains were found at Happisburgh, they would be the oldest in northern Europe and the first indication of what this species was. Under the current practice of the law those remains would have to be reburied and effectively destroyed.
Before 2008, guidelines allowed for the proper preservation and study of bones of sufficient age and historical interest, while the Burial Act 1857 applied to more recent remains. The Ministry of Justice assured archaeologists two years ago that the law was temporary, but has so far failed to revise it.
Mike Parker Pearson, an archaeologist at Sheffield University, said: “Archaeologists have been extremely patient because we were led to believe the ministry was sorting out this problem, but we feel that we cannot wait any longer.”
The ministry has no guidelines on where or how remains should be reburied, or on what records should be kept.
1.According to the passage, scientists are unhappy with the law mainly because ______.
A. it is only a temporary measure on the human remains
B. it is unreasonable and thus destructive to scientific research
C. it was introduced by the government without their knowledge
D. it is vague about where and how to rebury human remains
2.Which of the following statements is true according to the passage?
A. Temporary extension of two years will guarantee scientists enough time.
B. Human remains of the oldest species were dug out at Happisburgh.
C. Human remains will have to be reburied despite the extension of time.
D. Scientists have been warned that the law can hardly be changed.
3.What can be inferred about the British law governing human remains?
A. The Ministry of Justice did not intend it to protect human remains.
B. The Burial Act 1857 only applied to remains uncovered before 1857.
C. The law on human remains hasn’t changed in recent decades.
D. The Ministry of Justice has not done enough about the law.
4.Which of the following might be the best title of the passage?
A. New discoveries should be reburied, the government demands.
B. Research time should be extended, scientists require.
C. Law on human remains needs thorough discussion, authorities say.
D. Law could bury ancient secrets for ever, archeologists warn.
科目:高中英语 来源: 题型:阅读理解
There was one thought that air pollution affected only the area immediately around large cities with factories and heavy automobile traffic. At present, we realize that although these are the areas with the worst air pollution, the problem is worldwide. On several occasions over the past decade, a heavy cloud of air pollution has covered the east of the United States and brought health warnings in rural areas away from any major concentration (集中)of manufacturing and automobile traffic. In fact, the very climate of the entire earth may be infected by air pollution.
Some scientists consider that the increasing concentration of carbon dioxide in the air resulting from the burning of coal and oil is creating a “greenhouse effect” - raising the world’s average temperature. If this view is correct and the world’s temperature is raised only a few degrees, much of the polar ice will melt and cities such as New York, Boston, Miami, and New Orleans will be in water.
Another view, less widely held, is that increasing particular matter in the atmosphere is preventing sunlight and lowering the earth’s temperature - a result that would be equally disastrous. A drop of just a few degrees could create something close to a new ice age, and would make agriculture difficult or impossible in many of our top farming areas. Today we do not know for sure that either of these conditions will happen though one recent government reports that the greenhouse effect is very possible. Perhaps, if we are lucky enough, the two tendencies will offset(抵消)each other and the world’s temperature will stay about the same as it is now. Driven by economic profits, people don’t think about the damage on our environment caused by the “advanced civilization”. Maybe the air pollution is the price the human beings have to pay for their development. But is it really worth?
As pointed out at the beginning of the passage, people used to think that air pollution ________.
A. caused widespread damage in the countryside
B. affected the entire eastern half of the United States
C. had damaged effect on health
D. existed only in urban and industrial areas
As to the greenhouse effect, the author ________.
A. shares the same view with the scientists
B. is uncertain of its happening
C. rejects it as being ungrounded
D. thinks it will destroy the world soon
It can be concluded from the last paragraph that ________.
A. lowering the world’s temperature only a few degrees would lead major farming areas to disaster
B. raising the world’s temperature only a few degrees would not do much harm to life on earth
C. almost no temperature variations have occurred over the past decade
D. the world’s temperature will remain constant in the years to come
This passage is mainly about ________.
A. the greenhouse effect
B. the burning of coal and oil
C. the potential effect of air pollution
D. the likelihood of a new ice age
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科目:高中英语 来源:河南省郑州市2010年高中毕业年级第二次质量预测 题型:阅读理解
E
There was one thought that air pollution affected only the area immediately around large cities with factories and heavy automobile traffic. At present, we realize that although these are the areas with the worst air pollution, the problem is worldwide. On several occasions over the past decade, a heavy cloud of air pollution has covered the east of the United States and brought health warnings in rural areas away from any major concentration (集中)of manufacturing and automobile traffic. In fact, the very climate of the entire earth may be infected by air pollution.
Some scientists consider that the increasing concentration of carbon dioxide in the air resulting from the burning of coal and oil is creating a “greenhouse effect” - raising the world’s average temperature. If this view is correct and the world’s temperature is raised only a few degrees, much of the polar ice will melt and cities such as New York, Boston, Miami, and New Orleans will be in water.
Another view, less widely held, is that increasing particular matter in the atmosphere is preventing sunlight and lowering the earth’s temperature - a result that would be equally disastrous. A drop of just a few degrees could create something close to a new ice age, and would make agriculture difficult or impossible in many of our top farming areas. Today we do not know for sure that either of these conditions will happen though one recent government reports that the greenhouse effect is very possible. Perhaps, if we are lucky enough, the two tendencies will offset(抵消)each other and the world’s temperature will stay about the same as it is now. Driven by economic profits, people don’t think about the damage on our environment caused by the “advanced civilization”. Maybe the air pollution is the price the human beings have to pay for their development. But is it really worth?
72. As pointed out at the beginning of the passage, people used to think that air pollution ________.
A. caused widespread damage in the countryside
B. affected the entire eastern half of the United States
C. had damaged effect on health
D. existed only in urban and industrial areas
73. As to the greenhouse effect, the author ________.
A. shares the same view with the scientists
B. is uncertain of its happening
C. rejects it as being ungrounded
D. thinks it will destroy the world soon
74. It can be concluded from the last paragraph that ________.
A. lowering the world’s temperature only a few degrees would lead major farming areas to disaster
B. raising the world’s temperature only a few degrees would not do much harm to life on earth
C. almost no temperature variations have occurred over the past decade
D. the world’s temperature will remain constant in the years to come
75. This passage is mainly about ________.
A. the greenhouse effect
B. the burning of coal and oil
C. the potential effect of air pollution
D. the likelihood of a new ice age
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科目:高中英语 来源:安徽省安庆市2010届高三第二学期重点中学联考 题型:阅读理解
D
The food we eat seems to have deep effects on our health.Although science has made enormous steps in making food more fit to eat ,it has, at the same time,made many foods unfit to eat. Some research has shown that perhaps eighty percent of all human illnesses are related to diet and forty percent of cancer is related to the diet as well,especially cancer of the colon. Different cultures are more likely to cause certain different illnesses because of the food that is characteristic in these cultures. That food is related to illness is into a new discovery. In 1945, about 35 years ago, government researchers realized that nitrates(硝盐酸), commonly used to preserve color in meats,and other food additives,caused cancer. Yet, these carcinogenic additives remain in our food, and it becomes more difficult all the time to know which things on the packaging labels of processed food are helpful or harmful. The additives which we eat are not all so direct. Farmers often give penicillin to beef and living animals, and because of this ,penicillin has been found in the milk of treated cow. Sometimes similar drugs are given to animals not for medical purposes,but for financial reasons. The farmers are simply trying to fatten the animals in order to obtain a higher price on the market. Although the Food and Drug Administration(FDA) has tried repeatedly to control these procedures, the practices continue.
67.What is the best possible title of the passage?
A.Drug and Food B.Cancer and Health
C.Food and Health D.Health and Drug
68.The word “carcinogenic” underlined most nearly means '_____'.
A.trouble-making B.color-retaining C.money-making D.cancer-causing
69.Which of the following statements is NOT true?
A.Drugs are always given to animals for medical reasons
B.Some of the additives in our food are added to the food itself and some are
given to the living animals
C.Researchers have known about the potential dangers of food additives for over
thirty-five years.
D.Food may cause forty percent of cancer in the world.
70.How has science done something harmful to mankind?
A.Because of science , diseases caused by polluted food have been virtually wiped out
B.It has caused a lack of information concerning the value of food.
C.Because of the application of science,some potentially harmful substances have been added
to food.
D.The scientists have preserved the color of meats,but not of vegetables.
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科目:高中英语 来源:吉林省辽源五中2009-2010学年高二下学期期中考试试题(英语) 题型:阅读理解
Ms Lo could hardly bear her sorrow when she received the call that her husband had died in a car accident. Her pain quickly turn to shock---- the car involved in the accident was driven by a friend. That friend, Henry Lee, had chosen to remain silent on the accident details in court. Her shock soon turned to extreme anger when Lee decided not to let out what had happened.
Her husband, Mr. Tan, was 21 when he died after an accident outside Las Vegas KTV at Havelock Road. That night, he was discussing supper plans with a group of friends, which included Lee. Later, Mr. Tan was found unconscious on the ground, next to the car driven by Lee. Mr. Tan died in the hospital a few hours later. Due to drinking driving, Lee was fined $3,000 and banned from driving for two years last month.
Lee, Ms Lo and her husband were colleagues at Asia Pacific-Breweries(APB).
She only heard of the accident and her husband’s death the next morning after the accident as she had switched off her band-phone that night. She told The New Paper, “Receiving the call, I thought it was a joke. I thought he had got his friend to call me to ask me out.” Ms Lo had moved out to live alone for three weeks because of a disagreement with her husband. “The next time I saw him was at the mortuary.(太平间)” She said that Lee went to visit her some days ago but didn’t apologize to her. “He looked sorry but he didn’t speak to me. I wanted to forgive him, but now I have no chance to tell him.” she said.
Ms Lo, who was a human resource manager in APB, left the company after the accident. She is now working in a photo studio.
1.Why Ms Lo was made pretty angry?
A. Her husband was knocked down by his friend
B. Henry Lee drove their car in the car accident
C. She was informed only after the accident occurred
D. The person involved did not tell the truth in court
2.Ms Lo hadn’t seen her husband for three weeks because______.
A. they did not sign a contract
B.she began working in a photo studio
C.there was a quarrel between them
D.she was busy writing a paper
3.Why did Ms Lo leave APB for another job?
A. To escape the pain caused by the accident.
B. To find out facts related to the accident.
C. To force Henry Lee to let out the truth.
D. To avoid meeting the dishonest man.
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科目:高中英语 来源:2012-2013学年浙江省临海市高三上学期第三次段考英语试卷(解析版) 题型:完型填空
I had just finished high school when a disaster hit our family. It was October 1962, and 21 was out of the question. So I found a job. In 1971, my employer announced only graduates(大学毕业生) would get 22 . My job seemed at a dead end unless I 23 further. And to graduate, I had to pass the higher secondary examination first.
I 24 an admission form(表格) and rode to the Human Resource(人力资源) Management office. On arriving there, I was 25 ---I couldn’t find the form. It was the last day to 26 the form, and no blank forms were 27 at the office. I was standing there, disappointed, 28 an elderly gentleman asked me why I looked so 29 . I told him what happened, 30 , “Now I’ll have to wait another year.”
“Well,” he said, “if you’re really serious about studying further, come with me. I have a 31 blank form at home.”
It was 12:30 pm. The counter(柜台) would 32 at 2 pm. His home was 10 km away and I had a slight 33 of going somewhere with a stranger. Anyway, this was my last chance. We reached his house on my bike. He advised me to remain 34 , and gave me a pen and the form. When it was 35 , he told me to rush back and 36 carefully. I reached the office at 1:58 pm. There were two people in line, waiting for their 37 . Just then, the counter official announced that no more forms would be 38 after mine. I breathed a sigh of 39 .
I passed the exam and later got a bachelor’s degree. I also got the promotions. I 40 it all to the timely help from a true gentleman whose name I forgot to ask.
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