Passage 3
No matter how many times you have seen images of the golden mask of boy king Tutankhamen, come face to face with it in Egypt's Cairo museum, and you will suck in your breath.
It was on Nov 4, 1923, that British archaeologist Howard Carter stumbled on a stone at the base of the. tomb of another pharaoh(法老) in Luxor that eventually led to a sealed doorway.
Then, on Nov 23, Carter found a second door and when he stuck his head through it, what he saw was to stun the world. Inside lay the great stone coffin, enclosing three chests of gilded wood.
A few months later, when a crane lifted its granite cover and one coffin after another was removed, Carter found a solid block of gold weighing 110kg. In it was the mummy(木乃伊) of the 19-year-old Tutankhamen,covered in gold with that splendid funeral mask. And all this, lay buried for more than 3,000 years.
Months after my trip to Egypt, I can relive the rush of emotion I felt and sense the hush that descended on the crammed Cairo museum's Tutankhamen gallery.
Cairo, a dusty city of 20 million people, is a place where time seems to both stand still and rush into utter chaos. It is a place where the ancient and contemporary happily go along on parallel tracks.
Take the Great Pyramids of Giza, sitting on the western edge of the city. Even as the setting sun silhouettes these gigantic structures against the great desert expanse, a call for prayer floats over semi-finished apartment blocks filled with the activity of city life.
While careful planning for the afterlife may lie buried underground in Cairo, it is noise and confusion on the streets. Donkey carts battle for space with pedestrians and the only operative road rule is “might is right.” But it is a city that is full of life—from the small roadside restaurants to the coffee shops where men and women smoke the shisha(水烟壶).
Donkey carts piled high with flat-breads magically find their way in and out the maddening traffic; young women in long skirts and headscarves hold hands with young men in open collar shirts, while conversations dwell on Kuwait's chances at the soccer World Cup.
According to the context, “suck in your breath” means “feel a sense of ________”.
文章开篇第一句使用了no matter how的句型引出话题。“无论你 看过多少次少年法老图Tutankhamen纯金面具的图片”，此处的“no matter how”暗含否定意味，即作者认为图片和亲眼所见(come face to face with it)是完全不同的感受，当人们亲眼见到这副面具时，都会无 比惊叹。选项A的awe符合语境。
Which of the following statements about the discovery of the mummy is INCORRECT?
文章第二至第四段简要介绍了埃及木乃伊被发现的经过。在 1923年，英国考古学家Howard Carter不小心被墓穴附近的石头绊了一 跤，由此才发现了这一世界奇观。因此A, B选项正确。第四段倒数第 二句提到“In it was the mummy(木乃伊) of the 19-year-old Tutankhamen, covered in gold”，故D正确。第三段中说“Inside lay the great stone coffin, enclosing three chests of gilded wood”在巨大的石棺内，里面套 着三个黄金棺材，木乃伊在最里面。所以C项中的“lying right inside the stone coffin”表述不正确。
Which word CANNOT be used to describe the city of Cairo?
文章第六段中介绍了开罗是一个有着“2000万人口的城市”，由 此可知A项crowdedness正确。倒数第二段第一句作者描述“it is noise and confusion on the street”开罗很嘈杂，混乱，因此C、D两项正确。
Which pair of words/phrases indicates contrast?
文章倒数第三段第二句“Even as the setting sun silhouettes these gigantic structures against the great desert expanse.”巨大的建筑和广袤的 沙漠形成鲜明的对比。由此可知A项正确。
What is the author's attitude towards Cairo?
从用词、语气可以看出，作者全文都是对埃及木乃伊、开罗市井的真实描述，并未掺杂个人情感。因此作者对开罗的描述是比较客观的。