Human remains of ancient settlements will be reburied and lost to science under a law that threatens research into the history of humans in Britain, a group of leading archaeologists(考古学家) says. In a letter addressed to the justice secretary, Ken Clarke, 40 archaeologists write of their “deep and widespread concern” about the issue. It centers on the law introduced by the Ministry of Justice in 2008 which requires all human remains unearthed in England and Wales to be reburied within two years, regardless of their age. The decision means scientists have too little time to study bones and other human remains of national and cultural significance.
“Your current requirement that all archaeologically unearthed human remains should be reburied, whether after a standard period of two years or further special extension, is contrary to basic principles of archaeological and scientific research and of museum practice,” they write.
The law applies to any pieces of bone uncovered at around 400 dig sites, including the remains of 60 or so bodies found at Stonehenge in 2008 that date back to 3,000 BC. Archaeologists have been granted a temporary extension to give them more time, but eventually the bones will have to be returned to the ground.
The arrangements may result in the waste of future discoveries at sites such as Happisburgh in Norfolk, where digging is continuing after the discovery of stone tools made by early humans 950,000 years ago. If human remains were found at Happisburgh, they would be the oldest in northern Europe and the first indication of what this species was. Under the current practice of the law those remains would have to be reburied and effectively destroyed.
Before 2008, guidelines allowed for the proper preservation and study of bones of sufficient age and historical interest, while the Burial Act 1857 applied to more recent remains. The Ministry of Justice assured archaeologists two years ago that the law was temporary, but has so far failed to revise it.
Mike Parker Pearson, an archaeologist at Sheffield University, said: “Archaeologists have been extremely patient because we were led to believe the ministry was sorting out this problem, but we feel that we cannot wait any longer.”
The ministry has no guidelines on where or how remains should be reburied, or on what records should be kept.According to the passage, scientists are unhappy with the law mainly because _______.
A.it is only a temporary measure on the human remains |
B.it is unreasonable and thus destructive to scientific research |
C.it was introduced by the government without their knowledge |
D.it is vague about where and how to rebury human remains |
Which of the following statements is true according to the passage?
A.Temporary extension of two years will guarantee scientists enough time. |
B.Human remains of the oldest species were dug out at Happisburgh. |
C.Human remains will have to be reburied despite the extension of time. |
D.Scientists have been warned that the law can hardly be changed. |
What can be inferred about the British law governing human remains?
A.The Ministry of Justice did not intend it to protect human remains. |
B.The Burial Act 1857 only applied to remains uncovered before 1857. |
C.The law on human remains hasn’t changed in recent decades. |
D.The Ministry of Justice has not done enough about the law. |
Which of the following might be the best title of the passage?
A.New discoveries should be reburied, the government demands. |
B.Research time should be extended, scientists require. |
C.Law on human remains needs thorough discussion, authorities say. |
D.Law could bury ancient secrets for ever, archaeologists warn. |
Begin doing the work you love as soon as possible, even if you don’t get paid for it, or if you can only work at it part-time. Albert Einstein was unable to get a job as a physics professor. He could have said to himself, “Well, I just don’t have the work relative to physics. I should give up on it and settle for something else.” Instead, he wrote the two most famous papers when he was employed as a patent clerk. After their publication, there was not a major university in the world that would not have been glad to have him on their staff.
If you want to work as an artist and you are making a living as a waiter, don’t think of yourself as a waiter who hopes one day to become an artist. That puts the work you love somewhere off in the distant future. Rather, think of yourself as an artist, supporting yourself by waiter tables—and paint, or draw as much as you can. It is possible to earn a living wage as a waiter working 24 hours a week. That leaves plenty of time to devote to training or developing your craft(手艺)in the off hours.
While seeking the work you love, it helps to expand your awareness into the universe of all possibilities. You don’t want to be limited to the ideas of what you should do or what you have done before. Having opened to all possibilities, you can make a final decision and select the work you love as your own.
Doing the work you love requires that you be equally comfortable with the imaginative and the practical. It requires the ability to dream big dreams and the ability to face and master all the little details that make dreams come true.According to the passage, perhaps Einstein once said to himself, “_______.”
A.Well, I just don’t have the work relative to physics. I should give up on it and settle for something else |
B.The job is just what I want, I should work very hard at it |
C.I have to support myself by working as a patent clerk now, but I won’t give physics up |
D.I must wait until I find my favorite job |
If a person works 24 hours a week, he can________.
A.have enough spare time for his hobbies |
B.have no time left to make his dream come true |
C.do nothing else |
D.make a good living |
Which of the following is not implied in the last paragraph?
A.Sometimes the imaginative is different from the practical. |
B.We have to take care of a lot of details before we make our dreams come true. |
C.We shall do practical things rather than dream. |
D.We shall dream big dreams and practice as well. |
According to the passage, the author encourages us to ________.
A.start work quickly | B.select job carefully and patiently |
C.dream often | D.make up our minds quickly |
No one knows for certain why people dream, but some dreams misht be connected to the mental processes that help us learn. In a recent study, scientists found a connection between nap-time (午睡时间) dreams and better memory in people who were learning a new skill.
“I was astonished by this finding,” Robert Stickgold told Science News. He is a cognitive neuroscientist at Harvard Medical School who worked on the study of-how the brain and nervous system work, and cognitive studies look at how people learn and reason. So a cognitive neuroscientist may study the brain processes that help people learn.
In the study, 99 college students between the ages of 18 and 30 each spent an hour on a computer, trying to get through a virtual maze (虚拟迷宫). The maze was difficult, and the study participants had to start in a different place each time they tried - making it even more difficult. They were also told to find a particular picture of a tree and remember where it was.
For the first 90 minutes of a five-hour break, half of the particularity stayed awake and half were told to take a short nap. Participants who stayed awake were asked to describe their thoughts. Participants who took a nap were asked about their dreams before sleep and after steep - and they were awakened within a minute of sleep to describe their dreams.
About a dozen of the 50 people who slept said their dreams were connected to the maze. Some dreamed about the music that had been playing when they were working; others said they dreamed about seeing people in the maze. When these people tried the computer maze again, they were generally able to find the tree faster than before their naps. However, people who had other dreams, or people who didn’t take a nap, didn’t show the same improvement.
Stickgold suggests the dream itself doesn’t help a person learn - it’s the other way around.It is a cognitive scientists job to study__.
A.how people dream and learn |
B.the structure of the nervous system |
C.whether someone is reasonable |
D.the process of understanding |
The purpose of the study attended by 99 college students is to .
A.find the hidden tree in the maze |
B.test the design of a difficult virtual maze |
C.train people’s memory |
D.see how dreams and learning are connected |
The better performance in working out the maze is connected with .
A.how people dream | B.what people dream |
C.when people dream | D.where people dream |
The writer will probably continue to talk about in the 6th paragraph.
A.how learning process caused the dream |
B.how a dream helps a person learn |
C.how dreams and learning influence each other |
D.how to improve people’s memory |
Exited about landing your first job after graduation? Good, work hard and get learning. Don’t forget to listen to young professional’s advice about the “real world” you’re stepping into.
1. Keep up with current events.
In school, it’s easy to live in a cocoon, where you focus on studies and social life. But in the working world, not knowing who Alan Greenspan is or why North Korea is in the news so often can lead to potentially embarrassing conversations.
2. Consider living with parents, even if you have a job.
Think it over before you rule it out. Not only can you save a lot of money by living at home, but your parents may provide emotional support that you may need. They can help pave the way for you to move once you are settled into your new life.
3. Don’t compare yourself to other people your age.
Young adults are good at putting up impressive appearance, but you don’t really know what their lives are like. Those who seem to have the perfect job may spend part of the day making coffee and picking up boss’s dry-cleaning.
4. Pay attention to small jobs as well as big ones.
Don’t stress if, in your first job or internship(实习期), you get a lot more face time with the copy machine than with clients. You may wonder why you spent so much time studying in school only to do such tasks. But you may also be learning more about your new professional than you realize.
5. Know when it’s time to move on.
Give a new job a chance, perhaps a year, before you make up your mind to leave, especially if it’s your first job out of school. When you’re sure that the job isn’t for you, figure out what you want to do and how to do it. Zhang Yue, 26, spent three years working as an accountant in Shanghai before becoming a financial planner. He loves his new job and spent 10 months searching for it: “To find something you really want to do takes time.” By mentioning Alan Greenspan, the author wants to show ____.
A.how he succeeded |
B.why he is important to the world nowadays |
C.it is necessary to know key figures |
D.he has a strong effect on the world |
Which of the following is TRUE?
A.Comparing yourself to other people your age will make you harmed. |
B.If you don’t have impressive appearance, you can’t pick up boss’ dry-cleaning. |
C.What you have learned in school may come to nothing in your first job. |
D.Even a small job can do good. |
The last sentence means “____”.
A.It’s easy to find a new job once you have experience |
B.If you hope to do something, you need suffer too much |
C.You needn’t be worried, even though you are trying to find a good job |
D.It will take you time to find a job that suits you well |
The aim to write the passage is to ____.
A.show how and why to get a satisfying job after graduation |
B.give some advice about how to behave when you work |
C.encourage people to ask for help from parents |
D.expect people to fit in with the working conditions as soon as possibl |
Ideas about polite behavior are different from one culture to another.Some societies, such as America and Australia, for example, are mobile and very open.People here change jobs and move house quite often.As a result, they have a lot of relationships that often last only a short time, and they need to get to know people quickly.So it’s normal to have friendly conversations with people that they have just met, and you can talk about things that other cultures would regard as personal.
On the other hand there are more crowded and less mobile societies where long – term relationships are more important.A Malaysian or Mexican business person, for example, will want to get to know you very well before he or she feels happy to start business.But when you do get to know each other, the relationship becomes much deeper than it would in a mobile society.
To Americans, both Europeans and Asians seem cool and formal at first.On the other hand, as a passenger from a less mobile society puts it, it’s no fun spending several hours next to a stranger who wants to tell you all about his or her life and asks you all sorts of questions that you don’t want to answer.
Cross-cultural differences aren’t just a problem for travelers, but also for the flights that carry them.All flights want to provide the best service, but ideas about good service are different from place to place.This can be seen most clearly in the way that problems are dealt with.
Some societies have ‘universalistic’ cultures.These societies strongly respect rules, and they treat every person and situation in basically the same way.
‘Particularistic’ societies, on the other hand, also have rules, but they are less important than the society’s unwritten ideas about what is right or wrong for a particular situation or a particular person.So the normal rules are changed to fit the needs of the situation or the importance of the person.
This difference can cause problems.A traveler from a particularistic society, India, is checking in for a flight in Germany, a country which has a universalistic culture.The Indian traveler has two much luggage, but he explains that he has been away from home for a long time and the suitcases are full of presents for his family.He expects that the check – in official will understand his problem and will change the rules for him.The check – in official explains that if he was allowed to have too much luggage, it wouldn’t be fair to the other passengers.But the traveler thinks this is unfair, because the other passengers don’t have his problem.Often moving from one place to another makes people like Americans and Australians _____.
A.like traveling better | B.easy to communicate with |
C.difficult to make real friends | D.have a long–term relationship with their neighbors |
People like Malaysians prefer to associate with those _________.
A.who will tell them everything of their own |
B.who want to do business with them |
C.they know quite well |
D.who are good at talking |
A person from a less mobile society will feel it _______ when a stranger keeps talking to him or her, and asking him or her questions.
A.boring | B.friendly | C.normal | D.rough |
The writer of the passage thinks that the Indian and the German have different ideas about rules because of different _______.
A.interests | B.habits and customs | C.cultures | D.ways of life |
Impossible cases are not forever. While it is impossible for one person, it is possible for another. In a word, everything is possible.
Someone says, “Success belongs to those who can look at the complex challenges offered by the world as inspiration.” So your challenges are golden opportunities for success. How can there be miracles if there are no obstacles? How will you chase the storm if there is no storm? You need challenges to reveal your ability. Success doesn’t come out of nothing; success comes from the problems you face. Those who refuse to give in come out smiling.
Robert X. Perez says, “The seeds of success spring from failure’s ashes.” Failure is not defeat; it is the pointer to do better than what you just did. You have to know that you are in a constant study of life. What you face is for your training. Samuel Aidoo says, “Each failure is simply another chapter in the story of our lives. To fail is to understand what not to do. Remember it and don’t give up until your goal is achieved.”
What do you do when you face difficulty? Yeah, life is difficult, but you do not give up. Have a positive and calm outlook on your circumstances(状况) and make the best of them. You may learn something new. You can develop mental toughness. Mental toughness means to be able to see the long-term gains rather than be put off by short-term pains. Once you have this toughness, you have the winning edge(优势).
The only things in life you ever really regret are the chances you didn’t take. You will regret when you see the consequences of not seizing the opportunities when they arose. Take chances every day!The main point of the passage is that ____________.
A.success comes out of nothing |
B.never give up and you may achieve success |
C.everything is easy to deal with |
D.impossible things do not exist |
According to the author, success often comes to people who ____________.
A.have good opportunities | B.face failure | C.don’t fear difficulties | D.have a lot of luck |
Which of the following statements is TRUE according to the passage?
A.We can perform miracles by overcoming difficulty. |
B.We will seem greater after overcoming difficulty. |
C.Everyone will fail for numerous times because of difficulty. |
D.Most of us can’t show our ability because of difficulty. |
From Paragraph 3 we can learn that ____________.
A.failure means great success in the future to everyone |
B.all people can achieve success if they keep leaning |
C.most people end up with failure because it often happens |
D.failure can help people to achieve success if they don’t give up |