复合题

One of the best sources modern scholars have for learning about Hellenistic Egypt is the large supply of papyrus fragments that have turned up in the Egyptian desert over the last century. Papyrus is a thick type of paper made from a reedy plant found in Egypt. Papyrus is much tougher than the wood- pulp paper used in modern society; whereas a book produced today will most likely fall apart within a century, there are papyrus fragments that are still legible over 2,000 years after scribes wrote on them.

It is primarily by accident that any of these fragments have survived. Most of the surviving fragments have been found in ancient garbage dumps that were covered over by the desert and preserved in the dry heat. The benefit of this type of archeological find is that these discarded scraps often give us a more accurate picture of the daily lives of ancient Egyptians—their business affairs, personal correspondence, and religious pleas—than the stone engravings and recorded texts that were intended to be passed down to later generations.

One of the most important papyrus discoveries of recent years was the revelation in 2001 that a scrap of papyrus that had been discarded and used to wrap a mummy contained 110 previously unknown epigrams (short, witty poems) by the Hellenistic poet Posidippus (ca. 280-240 B.C.). Posidippus lived in Alexandria and benefited from the support of King Ptolemy II Philadelphos (ruled 284-246 B.C.). These new epigrams have yielded fascinating insight into the court culture and literary sensibilities of early Hellenistic Egypt.

King Ptolemy, of course, was also a sponsor of the famous library of Alexandria, the greatest depository of knowledge in the ancient world. According to the twelfth-century Byzantine writer John Tzetzes, the ancient library contained nearly half a million papyrus scrolls. If that library had not burned down, maybe archeologists today would not have to spend so much of their time sorting through ancient trash!

单选题 The author’s primary intention in this passage appears to be which of the following?

【正确答案】 C

【答案解析】文章第一段开头就提到纸莎草纸是现代学者了解古希腊埃及时代最好的途径之一，由此可推测，作者最初的目的是介绍纸莎草纸在哪些方面可以帮助学者了解古希腊埃及。 A项提到的波斯迪普斯诗人以及D项的亚历山大图书馆，都是在文章后半部分提到的，并不是作者文章最初的目的。 B项只是作者为了突出纸莎草纸厚的特点而做的比较，作者文章的主要目的不是对比古代与现代用纸的区别，目的是与考古探究相关。故选C。

单选题 Which of the following would best illustrate how a discarded fragment of papyrus might give us a more accurate picture of the daily lives of ancient Egyptians than a record intended to be permanent?

A、 A poet such as Posidippus may have composed rough drafts of his epigrams on papyrus fragments prior to writing them in their final form.
B、 Grocery lists, which give insights into the diets of ancient people, would never be included in stone inscriptions but could be scribbled on scraps of papyrus.
C、 Some papyrus fragments may have been used for purposes other than writing, such as binding wounds or wrapping small packages.
D、 Stone inscriptions describing military events often embellish the truth to favor whoever is paying for the inscription.

【正确答案】 B

【答案解析】文章第二段最后一句提到，这些被遗弃的纸莎草碎片的优势在于它们能够向我们展示当时人民的日常生活， B项中的grocery lists和diets of ancient people体现了日常生活的特点。A项提到的是波斯迪普斯的诗，但文章并没有提到这些碎片是他的正式诗集发表前的手稿。C项体现的是碎片包扎和包裹的功能，与它的文字能反映日常生活无关。 D项提到的军事史实的记载文中并未提及。故选B。

单选题 The mention of the discovery of 110 previously unknown epigrams by the poet Posidippus in the third paragraph serves what purpose in the passage?

单选题 According to information given in the passage, which of the following locations would probably yield the highest probability of finding a previously undiscovered papyrus fragment?

A、 The ship of a royal messenger that sank off the Egyptian coast of the Mediterranean Sea in the third century B.C.
B、 The charred remnants of an ancient Egyptian palace that was burned by Roman troops in the first century B.C.
C、 The refuse heap of an ancient Egyptian town that was buried in the desert in the fifth century A.D.
D、 The private collections of French and British explorers from the nineteenth century A.D. who first uncovered many of the principal sites of Egyptian archeology.

【正确答案】 B

【答案解析】由文章最后一段可知，托勒密国王建造了亚历山大图书馆，馆内藏有大量纸莎草书籍。而托勒密国王的任期为公元前284年到公元前246年。综合这些条件， B项地点为烧毁后的古埃及宫殿，时间为公元前1世纪，符合上述条件。 A项发生在公元前3世纪，在托勒密国王任期之前，故排除。 C项的地点是一座古埃及村庄，不是纸莎草书籍集中地，故排除。 D项时间在19世纪，时间间隔过于久远，纸莎草碎片难以轻易被发现。故选B。

单选题 What does the author imply by the final statement: “If that library had not burned down, maybe archeologists today would not have to spend so much of their time sorting through ancient trash!”?

A、 The author implies that if the library had not burned down, archeologists would be able to appreciate the full cultural legacy of King Ptolemy II Philadelphos.
B、 The author implies that if the library had not burned down, the scrolls contained within the library would have decomposed before modem times in any event, because they would not have been preserved in the dry heat of the desert.
C、 The author implies that if the library had not burned down, it might have contained more complete details about the life and culture of Hellenistic Egypt than can be found in the papyrus fragments from ancient refuse dumps.
D、 The author implies that if the library had not burned down, the cultural awakening of the Renaissance might have occurred centuries earlier.

【正确答案】 C

【答案解析】原句的大致意思为：如果亚历山大图书馆没有被烧毁，考古学家们现在就不用花这么多时间在垃圾里搜索古埃及遗迹了。由此可推测，作者是在暗示亚历山大图书馆中的书籍记录着更多更完整的古埃及生活、文化历史。 A项中的“full cultural legacy”过于绝对； B项中提到的书籍腐烂不是作者想表达的意思。 D项中的文艺复兴文中并未提及，属于过度延伸。故选C。