By modern standards, the hostile summit of Mount Llullaillaco, in the Argentine Andes, is no place fro kids. The ancient Inca saw things differently though, and so it was that one day, some 500 years ago, three children ascended the frigid and treacherous upper slopes of the 22,000-ft. peak. The three had spent time at the 17,000-ft. level, taking part in rituals that can only be guessed at. Now, accompanied by a retinue of adults, they moved steadily upward. They would not return. Once at the summit, the children-two girls and a boy, between eight and 15 years old-would be ritually sacrificed and entombed beneath 5 ft. of rocky rubble. They may even have been buried alive.
　　And there the story might have ended but for the tireless efforts of Johan Reinhard, an independent archaeologist funded by the National Geographic Society. Reinhard's specialty is scaling the Andes in search of sacrificial remains; he had already located 15 bodies, including the famed ice maiden he found in 1995. But these three, whose discovery he announced last week, are by far the most impressive. They were frozen solid within hours of their burial. Two of the bodies are almost perfectly preserved; the third was evidently damaged by lightening. The children's internal organs are not only intact but also still contain blood. Says Craig Morris, an expert on Andean archaeology at New York City's American Museum of Natural History: "It is truly a fantastic discovery."

　　What makes it so fantastic is not just the bodies themselves, but also the wealth of artifacts that were buried along with them: 36 gold and silver statues, small woven bags, a ceramic vessel, leather sandals, a small llama figure and seashell necklaces. One of the girls, says Reinhard, "Has a beautiful yellow, geometrically designed cover laid over her." Her head sports a plume of feathers and a golden mask.

　　Some of the bodies were provisioned with bundles of food wrapped in alpaca skin, which indicates that the children came from the Incan social elite-not surprising, since only people of high status would have been considered worthy of sacrifice. Little is known about the sacrificial ceremony itself; these objects, along with others found at the lower camp, should tell archaeologists plenty.

　　The preserved bodies, meanwhile, will give scientists an unprecedented look at Incan physiology. Reinhard and his team took care to pack the children in plastic, snow and insulating foam before hauling them down the mountain, and the Argentine military whisked them off to the nearby town of Salta. There, experts will analyze their stomachs to find out what they ate for their last meal, their organs for clues about their diet and their DNA to try and establish their relationship to other ethnic groups. Reinhard will head back into the mountains. There is no telling how many more bodies remain to be found.

1.From the first paragraph we learn that .
　　[A]　the summit of Mount Llullaillaco was not hostile in the past
　　[B]　ancient Incans used to hold sacrificial rituals on top of the mountain
　　[C]　burying children alive was a common practice in ancient Incan society
　　[D]　the three children made the mountain climbing by themselves

2.Which of the following statements is true according to the text?
　　[A]　Johan Reinhard works with the National Geographic Society.
　　[B]　Archaeological discoveries depend on the independent work of archaeologists.
　　[C]　The Andes is a treasure for archaeologists in search of sacrificial remain.
　　[D]　Andean archaeology focuses on unearthing human bodies.

3.Rehinhard's discovery shows that .
　　[A] ancient Incans were masters of body-preservation
　　[B] the children suffered a lot before they were buried
　　[C] Incan children from rich families were often made sacrifices
　　[D] ancient Incans had grasped a high level of craftsmanship

4.Which of the following best define the word "unprecedented"(line 1, paragraph 5)?
　　[A] unexampled
　　[B] unusual
　　[C] precious
　　[D] unpredictable

5.We can draw a conclusion from the text that .
　　[A] Johan Reinhard's discovery will shed light on the study of ancient Incans
　　[B] Reinhard will find a lot more bodies in the future
　　[C] Experts can now describe the sacrificial ceremony in detail
　　[D] Argentine military are also interested in archaeological activities

　　答案：B C D A A

　　篇章剖析

　　本篇文章讲述了安第斯山区的最新考古发现以及这一发现的重大意义。第一段想象了当年印加人参加活人祭祀前后的场景，引出话题；第二段简要介绍考古学家莱茵哈德及他这次发现的三具印加儿童遗体。第三段、第四段描述了同时发现的陪葬品，最后一段则说明这次发现对于考古学家的重要意义。文章层次分明，结构清晰。

　　词汇注释
　　Inca n. 印加人（古代秘鲁土著人）
　　retinue n. （要人的一批）随行人员
　　entomb n. 埋葬，成为...的坟墓
　　rubble n. 碎石
　　llama n. 骆驼
　　sport v. 夸耀地穿戴
　　plume n. 羽毛
　　provision v. 向...供应粮食[必需品]
　　alpaca n. [动]（南美的）羊驼，羊驼毛，羊驼呢（织物）
　　unprecedented adj. 空前的，没有前例的
　　insulate v. 使绝缘，隔离
　　whisk v. 快速移动，快速带走

　　题目分析
　　1. 答案为B，属推理判断题。这一段描述了古印加人把孩子送到山顶祭祀的事情，由此可见古印加人曾经在山顶举行祭祀仪式。hostile用于环境时通常表达的意思是"不利的，危险的，恶劣的"，山顶的自然环境在过去和现在并没有太大差别，因此A项是错误的。作者对于这些孩子的死亡方式用了might一词表示猜测，足见没有确凿的证据证明把孩子活埋是古印加社会常见的活动，所以C项不对。D项是错的，因为文中提到了accompanied by a retinue of adults，说明他们是在成人的护送下登山的。

　　2．答案为C，属事实细节题。文中提到Reinhard在安第斯山区搜寻祭祀遗物方面的多项考古发现，并引用其它考古学家的话说他最近的发现是"fantastic discovery"。文章最后文中第二段对Reinhard的身份说明中指出他是一个受国家地理协会资助的独立考古学家，因此A是错误的。独立考古学家的工作很重要，但不等于考古发现就依赖他们，所以B也是错误的。安第斯考古活动有很多方面的内容，遗体出土只是其中一项，文中也讲到陪葬物品的考古价值，所以D也不对。

　　3．答案为D，属推理判断题。由发现的陪葬品，尤其是那个"beautiful yellow, geometrically designed cover"可以看出古代印加人的工艺水平已经相当高了。遗体保存较好主要是由于冰雪的缘故，和印加人保存尸体的技术无关，A是错误的。文中并没有提到这些孩子们在死前的情况，所以B不能成立。文中讲到从陪葬品可以看出孩子们来自上层社会，但不等于"富有家庭的孩子经常成为祭物"，所以C项也不对。

　　4．答案为A，属猜测词义题。precedent是"先例"的意思，从构词法和上下文可以推知A为正确答案。

　　5．答案为A，属推理判断题。文中第二段最末引用其他科学家的话说这次发现"fantastic"，在第四段最末又说所发现的物品也将让考古学家对祭祀仪式有更多地了解。最后一段也介绍了科学家们将对这次发现展开研究工作，由此可见，这次发现可以促进对古印加人的研究工作。

　　难句突破

　　And there the story might have ended but for the tireless efforts of Johan Reinhard, an independent archaeologist funded by the National Geographic Society.

　　主体句式：the story might have ended there but for...

　　结构分析：本句中包含有虚拟语气，由but for引导一个虚拟条件，表示"要不是..."；"might have done"表示本来可能会发生某事，对于这一类由介词或者介词词组引起的虚拟条件，学习者应该特别留心，否则就容易产