单选题 Who has never heard of King David? There are probably not too many Christians who have not heard of King David. What many Christians probably do not realize is that, until recently, other than David"s occurrence in the Bible , there has never been actual proof that he ever existed. Over the years this has given fuel to certain groups wishing to view the Bible as a huge trip into the allegorical. However, all of this changed in 1993. Recently, your author learned for the first time what I am going to attempt to tell about here. You might think that given your faith, it doesn"t really matter whether there is proof of David or not. But think for a moment of the implications of our Bible being definitively proven by actual physical evidence. It would be like having your cake, and someone putting icing on it!!!
In 1993 (as told in the March/April 1994 issue of Biblical Archaeology Review ), Avraham Biran and his team of archaeologists unearthed a piece of stone with fragments of writing on it. In the writings was the words "House of David". It was the first mention of David in ancient inscription outside the Bible . The fragment was found at Tel Dan which lies by the head waters of the Jordan River, near Israel"s northern border. The large piece of basalt was part of what must have been a large monumental inscription. It contains 13 lines, but no single line is complete. The surviving letters are clear, however. Line 9 contains the words "House of David". After the complete translation, it was determined that the fragment was part of a victory stela erected in Dan by an Aramean boasting a military victory over the House of David. Many questions are raised as well as many possibilities upon comparing the fragment with the Biblical history. For instance the victory of the Aramean would conflict with the episode in the Bible . However as BAR points out, there were probably many battles and not all were recorded in the Bible . We do know that Israel must have regained control of Dan. This find would perhaps seem simple and to the point, but that is far from the truth. The find began a debate in earnest.
Immediately following the find, many came forward to state that the stone did not actually mention the "House of David." Along with this claim came the accusation that those believing that it did mention David were "Biblical Maximizers." The arguing was fast and furious. The debate inspired letters to the editors displaying the anger, emotion, and dismay from Christians. How could this new proof be denied? While the verbal debate raged, researchers and scientists quietly built a case on the very evidence the naysayers demanded. Another scholar, Andre" Lemaire wrote an article in BAR stating that there was another mention of David in an earlier find. It was called the Mesha Stela proclaiming victory for the Moabite king Mesha over the Israelites.
Then in the Impact section of our own The State in December of last year, an article appeared proclaiming that scientists have found that the Bible is built on facts as well as faith. Many fragments have been found in the same area, all mentioning David. Finally, scholars have reached the consensus that David was real, something many of us have never doubted, even before the stelas were found. Although scholars are not ready to admit the Bible is historically true across the board, they are willing to concede that the " Bible has a sound historical core." One thing is certain, these finds don"t only have repercussions in a religious sense, they reach into many domains—political, personal faith, historical. I can"t say in learning about these finds that my faith has grown any stronger, I can say that I have a new appreciation for the Bible as an accurate historical record as well as a basis of faith.
单选题 King David"s only occurrence in the Bible has prompted some people to regard the Bible as ______.
【正确答案】 B
【答案解析】[解析] 根据题干中的King David"s only occurrence in the Bible 定位到第1段第4句。原文该句中的the allegorical表明有些人将《圣经》当作一本寓言故事，因此本题应选B。即使不懂allegorical一词，从上一句的内容也可以知道第4句说的是对《圣经》持怀疑态度的人，这样，其他三项都可以排除。
单选题 According to the second paragraph, the first mention of David outside the Bible was found ______.
【正确答案】 A
【答案解析】[解析] 第2段第9句中的stela是一个生词，结合上下文和下一段第1句中的the stone可以推断victory stela是一个“胜利纪念碑”，因此本题应选A。
单选题 What is the correct description of the "naysayers"?
【正确答案】 C
【答案解析】[解析] 第3段第6句表明the naysayers要求得到“证据”，结合本段前几句的内容可以知道naysayers要求得到“大卫确实存在”的证据，由此可见，naysayers是对大卫的存在持怀疑态度的人，因此本题应选C。B的内容和the naysayers的观点相反，不能选；D中的Biblical Maximizers是指相信大卫真实存在的人，这也与the naysayers的观点相反；naysayers针对的是“大卫”，而不是“圣经”，因此A的内容与the naysayers无关。
单选题 The author is most likely to agree that ______.
【正确答案】 C
【答案解析】[解析] 原文最后一句中的historical record as well as a basis of faith表明作者认为《圣经》是以历史事实和信念为基础的，这与C的内容相同。
单选题 What do scholars think about the existence of David?
【正确答案】 D
【答案解析】[解析] 最后一段第3句中的reached the consensus表明学者们已经对David的存在达成了共识，他们认同David是真正存在过的，因此，本题应选D。A中的have never doubted不符合原文内容；原文没有提及学者们还会不会继续研究有关David的史实，因此B不正确；C中的divided与原文中的consensus相反。