Ahead of its time

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题目与答案

1. 1 The Ruamahanga River often floods.
   • TRUE
   • FALSE
   • NOT GIVEN

   答案：TRUE

   原文定位：The family farm borders the river and a four-metre-high flood bank testifies to its natural tendency to flood

2. The problem of the skull’s origins

   – Old bones common in NZ- Maori living there for 800 years

   – Ruahahanga skull surprising because of its:

   + age

   + 10_____

   + gender

   答案：race

   原文定位：The fascinating question, however, was how a skull of this race, let alone this gender, had reached these remote islands in the South Pacific at such a time

3. Mendana expedition

   – Possible source of skull

   – But probably did not visit NZ

   – 11 Evidence of this expedition found elsewhere by _____ .

   答案：archaeologists

   原文定位：while a team of archaeologists working in the Solomon Islands in 1970 did discover the remains of European vessels dating from the 16th century

4. New Zealand

   – First European explorer arrived in 1642

   – 12 Hagerty and Edgar arrived in 1806 from _____ where they had been imprisoned

   答案：Australia

   原文定位：Two centuries were to pass before the first recorded European females arrived in New Zealand, both having escaped from prison in Australia;Kathleen Hagerty and Charlotte Edgar are known to have reached the country in 1806

5. Possible solution

   – 13 Ruamahange skull may have reached NZ in 17th century after a _____ .

   答案：shipwreck

   原文定位：the most likely explanation is that a Spanish or Portuguese trading-ship was washed onto these wild shores as a result of a shipwreck and a woman got ashore

6. 3 Tobin could not decide what part of the body the bone came from.
   • TRUE
   • FALSE
   • NOT GIVEN

   答案：FALSE

   原文定位：But as he scraped aside the stones he realised it was a human bone, something quite new in his experience. As he picked it up, he saw it was a skull, discoloured with age

7. 2 When Tobin first found the object in the river, he mistook it for something else.
   • TRUE
   • FALSE
   • NOT GIVEN

   答案：TRUE

   原文定位：Tobin stepped out onto a broad shoulder of river sand, where he noticed what he initially took to be a whitish rock, lit by the sun. Then, getting closer, he realised it was a bone;As he picked it up, he saw it was a skull, discoloured with age

8. 4 Tobin’s mother was surprised that the skull caused debate among specialists.
   • TRUE
   • FALSE
   • NOT GIVEN

   答案：NOT GIVEN

   原文定位：Tobin replaced the skull and hurried home to tell his mother what the river had delivered to their doorstep. It would prove to be a spectacular find, setting in motion an investigation by some of the country’s most respected specialists, and ultimately challenging our most firmly held assertions about the human settlement of New Zealand

9. The events after the river flooded

   Stage 1: Tobin found a human skull

   Stage 2: 5 The _____ were initially involved in trying to explain the presence of the skull.

   答案：police

   原文定位：The police were immediately called, but despite a thorough search could find nothing that might shed light on the identity of the Ruamahanga skull, or the circumstances of its sudden appearance

10. Stage 3: Dr Ferris believed the skull belonged to a female

    Stage 4: 6 Dr Koelmeyer suggested it was a _____ skull

    答案：European

    原文定位：Dr Koelmeyer, who believed that the deterioration of the bone placed the time of death before living memory’ and, most significantly as it would turn out, the skull appeared to be European in origin

11. Stage 5: 7 Dr Watt recommended _____ to establish the skull’s age.

    答案：radiocarbon

    原文定位：He believed that it could be the remains of an old farm burial, but was not certain, and proposed the use of radiocarbon dating to make sure it wasn’t a recent death

12. Stage 6: 8 A bone _____ was sent to the GNS

    答案：sample

    原文定位：In a little over three weeks the seemingly astonishing results from the GNS laboratory came back. Cutting through the bewildering complexity of the scientific analysis was a single line reading: conventional radiocarbon age approximately 296 years

13. Stage 7: 9 The age of the skull was about _____ years

    答案：296

    原文定位：Cutting through the bewildering complexity of the scientific analysis was a single line reading: conventional radiocarbon age approximately 296 years