Ⅰ.阅读理解
No one is sure how the ancient Egyptians built the pyramids near Cairo.But a new study suggests they used a little rock‘n’roll.Longago builders could have attached wooden poles to the stones and rolled them across the sand, the scientists say.
“Technically, I think what they're proposing is possible，” physicist Daniel Bonn said.
People have long puzzled over how the Egyptians moved such huge rocks.And there's no obvious answer.On average, each of the two million big stones weighed about as much as a large pickup truck.The Egyptians somehow moved the stone blocks to the pyramid site from about one kilometer away.
The most popular view is that Egyptian workers slid the blocks along smooth paths.Many scientists suspect workers first would have put the blocks on sleds (滑板)．Then they would have dragged them along paths.To make the work easier, workers may have lubricated_the_paths either with wet clay or with the fat from cattle.Bonn has now tested this idea by building small sleds and dragging heavy objects over sand.
Evidence from the sand supports this idea.Researchers found small amounts of fat, as well as a large amount of stone and the remains of paths.
However, physicist Joseph West thinks there might have been a simpler way, who led the new study.West said, “I was inspired while watching a television program showing how sleds might have helped with pyramid construction.I thought, ‘Why don't they just try rolling the things？’”A square could be turned into a rough sort of wheel by attaching wooden poles to its sides, he realized.That, he notes, should make a block of stone “a lot easier to roll than a square”．
So he tried it.
He and his students tied some poles to each of four sides of a 30kilogram stone block.That action turned the block into somewhat a wheel.Then they placed the block on the ground.
They wrapped one end of a rope around the block and pulled.The researchers found they could easily roll the block along different kinds of paths.They calculated that rolling the block required about as much force as moving it along a slippery (滑的) path.
West hasn't tested his idea on larger blocks, but he thinks rolling has clear advantages over sliding.At least, workers wouldn't have needed to carry cattle fat or water to smooth the paths.
没人知道古埃及人如何建造开罗附近的金字塔。一项新的研究表明古埃及人可能是采用“滚动”的方法。
1．It's widely believed that the stone blocks were moved to the pyramid site by ________.
A．rolling them on roads
B．pushing them over the sand
C．sliding them on smooth paths
D．dragging them on some poles
答案：C
解析：细节理解题。第四段中的“The most popular view is that Egyptian workers slid the blocks along smooth paths.”告诉我们，很多人认为古埃及人通过光滑的道路滑动巨石。
2．The underlined part“lubricated the paths”in Paragraph 4 means ________.
A．made the paths wet B．made the paths hard
C．made the paths wide D．made the paths slippery
答案：D
解析：词义猜测题。由该短语所在段中的“either with wet clay or with the fat from cattle”可推知，lubricated the paths意为“让路变滑”。
3．Why is rolling better than sliding according to West?
A．Because more force is needed for sliding.
B．Because rolling work can be done by fewer cattle.
C．Because sliding on smooth roads is more dangerous.
D．Because less preparation on paths is needed for rolling.
答案：D
解析：细节理解题。由最后两段中的“They calculated that rolling the block required about as much force as moving it along a slippery (滑的) path.”“At least, workers wouldn't have needed to carry cattle fat or water to smooth the paths.”可知，用“滚动”的方法所需的准备较少一些。
