雅思阅读真题（Part 3）
Part 3 · 最近考试：2026.10.20杭州IDP拱墅区
本篇为雅思阅读真题（Part 3）《The Antikythera mechanism》，共 14 题，2026.10.20杭州IDP拱墅区雅思考试真题回忆，页面提供完整原文、题目、答案与解析，并支持在线机考模式免费练习。本页同时提供 Markdown 版本 供 AI 助手与搜索引擎直接读取。
A
One spring day in 1900, a party of Greek sponge divers took shelter from a storm near the island of Antikythera, which lies about 50 kilometres northwest of the western tip of Crete. After the storm, one of the group, Elias Stadiatis, decided to dive in search of giant clams to eat for their dinner. On a shelf about 43 metres below the surface of the water, he chanced upon the wreck of an ancient ship. Fragments of statues, looking like body parts, covered this ledge. The diver returned to the surface, bearing an arm made of bronze as proof of what he had discovered. He reported his find to the authorities and, in the autumn, he and his companions returned to dive on the Antikythera wreck on behalf of the Greek government. They spent the next ten months bringing up pieces of marble and bronze statues, amphorae, lamps and coins, all of which were sent to the National Museum in Athens for cleaning and restoration.
B
Among the artefacts retrieved from the shipwreck was a rather unprepossessing lump of bronze inside what seemed to be a wooden casing. This object was covered in barnacles and badly corroded by seawater, and didn't attract much attention at first. It wasn't until May 1902 that the leading Greek archaeologist Valerios Stais noticed that the wooden covering had dried out and split open, and the fused lump of metal inside it had separated into several pieces. The largest of these fragments was a dial about 14 cm in diameter, with some inscriptions on it. Some other fragments also appeared to be parts of dials with perfectly formed triangular teeth, like gear wheels. The evidence seemed to point to this being part of a kind of mechanical clock, but the researchers ultimately rejected this possibility, as the wreck had been dated to the first century BCE, and it was known that precise gears like these had not existed until fourteen centuries after that.
C
Little progress on identifying either the purpose or origins of the mechanism was made until the late 1950s, when the device attracted the attention of a British-born polymath, Derek de Solla Price, who was working at Princeton University in the United States. Price realised that the inscriptions on the large dial indicated days, months and zodiac signs and theorised that the device used gears to trace the paths of the sun, moon and other planets in relation to the earth and to indicate their position at any given moment by means of pointers that had since been lost. Although his interpretation was basically sound, further research was hampered by the fact that only a few of the gears appear on the surface of the fused metal fragments of the mechanism.
D
In 1971, the National Museum in Athens gave permission for Price, working with a Greek radiographer, to X-ray the fragments of the Antikythera mechanism. These two-dimensional images revealed many of the hidden gears and allowed Price to develop schematic drawings of how the mechanism must have worked. What he discovered confounded all previous theories of technology in the Hellenistic era and indicated that the ancient Greeks' mechanical know-how and knowledge of astronomy came close to that of modern times. However, despite positive scholarly reviews of Price's work, his idea that the Antikythera mechanism is an ancient analogue computer, published in his 1974 book Gears from the Greeks, fell on deaf ears where mainstream historians were concerned. This may have been due, at least in part, to the contemporaneous popularity of books by the Swiss writer Erich von Daniken, who postulated that ancient aliens had brought advanced technology to Earth; Price's work may have inadvertently become associated with fringe theories and UFO-hunters as a result.
E
Whatever the reason, little more official research was conducted on the mechanism until the 2005 launch of the Antikythera Mechanism Research Project, an international, multidisciplinary study that operates under the supervision of the Hellenic Ministry of Culture. The project examined the fragments of the Antikythera mechanism using state-of-the-art imaging equipment. One machine, nicknamed BladeRunner, was originally designed to detect cracks in aircraft turbine blades by means of three-dimensional X-ray technology. This project is ongoing, and new findings are being constantly made and revealed. Enough has already been discovered to vindicate Price.
F
This modern research places the construction of the mechanism towards the end of the second century BCE and confirms that its bronze dials and gears would have been housed in a wooden box roughly the size of a modern shoebox. Like the clocks our grandparents' generation kept on the mantelpiece, the mechanism had a circular dial at the front with rotating hands. Rather than showing hours and minutes, however, these hands indicated the positions of the sun and the moon in the sky at any given time, as well as of Mercury, Venus, Mars, Jupiter and Saturn, the five planets that are visible to the naked human eye.
G
In addition, the mechanism also allowed for the fact that the orbit of some planets around the sun appears to go backwards, or 'retrograde', at certain times during the celestial cycle. It has also been discovered that there were two dials on the back of the mechanism, one of which was a calendar and the other of which showed when solar and lunar eclipses would take place. A number of breathtaking models of the mechanism have been produced, including one made out of Lego blocks. These reveal the outstanding mechanical skills and astronomical knowledge of whoever built the Antikythera mechanism two thousand years or more before we developed the technological skills to start unlocking its secrets.
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答案：giant clams
原文定位：After the storm, one of the group, Elias Stadiatis, decided to dive in search of giant clams to eat for their dinner
同义替换：「was looking for」↔「in search of」
答案：ten months
原文定位：He reported his find to the authorities and, in the autumn, he and his companions returned to dive on the Antikythera wreck on behalf of the Greek government. They spent the next ten months bringing up pieces of marble and bronze statues, amphorae, lamps and coins, all of which were sent to the National Museum in Athens for cleaning and restoration
同义替换：「retrieving」↔「bringing up」，「Having been commissioned to recover the relics」↔「on behalf of the Greek government」
答案：marble and bronze
原文定位：He reported his find to the authorities and, in the autumn, he and his companions returned to dive on the Antikythera wreck on behalf of the Greek government. They spent the next ten months bringing up pieces of marble and bronze statues, amphorae, lamps and coins, all of which were sent to the National Museum in Athens for cleaning and restoration
同义替换：「for the National Museum」↔「sent to the National Museum in Athens」
答案：wooden casing
原文定位：Among the artefacts retrieved from the shipwreck was a rather unprepossessing lump of bronze inside what seemed to be a wooden casing
同义替换：「Another item they found」↔「Among the artefacts retrieved from the shipwreck」，「a piece of metal」↔「lump of bronze」
答案：inscriptions
原文定位：The largest of these fragments was a dial about 14 cm in diameter, with some inscriptions on it
同义替换：「one of which」↔「The largest of these fragments」
答案：mechanical clock
原文定位：The evidence seemed to point to this being part of a kind of mechanical clock, but the researchers ultimately rejected this possibility, as the wreck had been dated to the first century BCE, and it was known that precise gears like these had not existed until fourteen centuries after that
同义替换：「leading the investigators to think at first」↔「The evidence seemed to point to this」，「might have been a」↔「being part of a kind of」，「although the historical origin of it suggested this was impossible」↔「but the researchers ultimately rejected this possibility」
答案：to discover historical artifacts.
原文定位：After the storm, one of the group, Elias Stadiatis, decided to dive in search of giant clams to eat for their dinner. On a shelf about 43 metres below the surface of the water, he chanced upon the wreck of an ancient ship
同义替换：「Elias Stadiatis」↔「Elias Stadiatis」，「had not intended」↔「decided to dive in search of giant clams」
答案：to retrieve the outstanding relics.
原文定位：He reported his find to the authorities and, in the autumn, he and his companions returned to dive on the Antikythera wreck on behalf of the Greek government. They spent the next ten months bringing up pieces of marble and bronze statues, amphorae, lamps and coins
同义替换：「The group of divers」↔「he and his companions」，「were asked」↔「on behalf of the Greek government」，「to retrieve the outstanding relics」↔「bringing up pieces of marble and bronze statues」
答案：to discover that there was more to the mechanism than first thought.
原文定位：It wasn't until May 1902 that the leading Greek archaeologist Valerios Stais noticed that the wooden covering had dried out and split open, and the fused lump of metal inside it had separated into several pieces. The largest of these fragments was a dial about 14 cm in diameter, with some inscriptions on it. Some other fragments also appeared to be parts of dials with perfectly formed triangular teeth, like gear wheels
同义替换：「Valerios Stais」↔「Valerios Stais」
答案：to create a visual representation of the inside of the mechanism.
原文定位：In 1971, the National Museum in Athens gave permission for Price, working with a Greek radiographer, to X‑ray the fragments of the Antikythera mechanism. These two‑dimensional images revealed many of the hidden gears and allowed Price to develop schematic drawings of how the mechanism must have worked
同义替换：「Derek de Solla Price」↔「Price」，「visual representation」↔「schematic drawings」
答案：to identify problems in aeronautical components.
原文定位：One machine, nicknamed BladeRunner, was originally designed to detect cracks in aircraft turbine blades by means of three‑dimensional X‑ray technology
同义替换：「originally created」↔「originally designed」，「identify problems」↔「detect cracks」，「aeronautical components」↔「aircraft turbine blades」
答案：It has hands which turn around in a circle.
原文定位：Like the clocks our grandparents' generation kept on the mantelpiece, the mechanism had a circular dial at the front with rotating hands
同义替换：「similar to more contemporary clock designs」↔「Like the clocks our grandparents' generation kept on the mantelpiece」，「hands which turn around」↔「rotating hands」
答案：The number of moons belonging to Mars.
原文定位：Rather than showing hours and minutes, however, these hands indicated the positions of the sun and the moon in the sky at any given time, as well as of Mercury, Venus, Mars, Jupiter and Saturn, the five planets that are visible to the naked human eye;It has also been discovered that there were two dials on the back of the mechanism, one of which was a calendar and the other of which showed when solar and lunar eclipses would take place
同义替换：「The current position of the moon in the sky」↔「indicated the positions of the sun and the moon」，「Where to look」↔「indicated the positions of」，「The date of the next lunar eclipse」↔「showed when solar and lunar eclipses would take place」
答案：The mechanism is so advanced in design we couldn't understand it until modern times.
原文定位：A number of breathtaking models of the mechanism have been produced, including one made out of Lego blocks. These reveal the outstanding mechanical skills and astronomical knowledge of whoever built the Antikythera mechanism two thousand years or more before we developed the technological skills to start unlocking its secrets
同义替换：「our current models of the mechanism」↔「A number of breathtaking models of the mechanism have been produced」，「show」↔「reveal」，「we couldn't understand it until modern times」↔「two thousand years or more before we developed the technological skills to start unlocking its secrets」