Question

    It was in the archives (档案室) of the Archbishop of York that Matthew Collins had a sudden insight: He was surrounded by millions of animal skins.

Another person might say they were surrounded by books and manuscripts written on parchment, which is made from skins, usually of cows and sheep. Collins, however, had been trying to make sense of animal-bone fragments from archaeological digs, and he began to think about the advantages of studying animal skins, already cut into rectangles and arranged neatly on a shelf. Archaeologists consider themselves lucky to get a few dozen samples, and here were millions of skins just sitting there.

In recent years, archaeologists and historians have awakened to the potential of ancient DNA extracted from human bones and teeth. DNA evidence has enriched — and complicated — stories of prehistoric human migrations. It has provided tantalizing clues to epidemics such as the black death. It has identified the remains of King Richard III, found under a parking lot. But Collins isn’t just interested in human remains. He’s interested in the things these humans made; the animals they bred, slaughtered, and ate; and the economies they created.

That’s why he was studying DNA from the bones of livestock — and why his lab is now at the forefront of studying DNA from objects such as parchment and beeswax. These objects can fill in gaps in the written record, revealing new aspects of historical production and trade. How much beeswax came from North Africa, for example?

Collins splits his time between Cambridge and the University of Copenhagen, and it’s hard to nail down exactly what kind of — ologist he is. He has a knack for gathering experts as diverse as parchment specialists, veterinarians, geneticists, archivists, economic historians, and protein scientists (his own background). “All I do is connect people together,” he said. “I’m just the ignorant one in the middle.”

However, it didn’t take long for his group to hit their first culture conflict. In science and archaeology, destructive sampling is at least tolerated, if not encouraged. But book conservators were not going to let people in white coats come in and cut up their books. Instead of giving up or fighting through it, Sarah Fiddyment, a postdoctoral research fellow working with Collins, shadowed conservationists for several weeks. She saw that they used white Staedtler erasers to clean the manuscripts, and wondered whether that rubbed off enough DNA to do the trick. It did; the team found a way to extract DNA and proteins from eraser pieces, a compromise that satisfied the team found a way to extract DNA and proteins from eraser pieces, a compromise that satisfied everyone. The team has since sampled 5,000 animals from parchment this way.

Collins is not the first person to think of getting DNA from parchment, but he’s been the first to do it at scale. Studying the DNA in artifacts is still a relatively new field, with many prospects that remain unexplored. But in our own modern world, we’ve already started to change the biological record, and future archaeologists will not find the same treasure of hidden information in our petroleum-laden material culture. Collins pointed out that we no longer rely as much on natural materials to create the objects we need. What might have once been leather or wood or wool is now all plastic.

1.How is Collin’s study different from the study of other archaeologists?

A.He studies human skins and bones.

B.He is the first person to study animal skins.

C.He studies objects related to humans and their lives.

D.His study can provide clues to previous epidemics.

2.Collin thinks of himself as ignorant because _____.

A.his major doesn’t help his research

B.he can’t connect experts of different fields

C.he finds it hard to identify what kind of — ologist he is

D.his study covers a wide range of subjects beyond his knowledge

3.What can be inferred form the passage?

A.Destructive sampling is not allowed in the field of science and archeology.

B.Collin made a compromise by only studying copies of books made of animal skins.

C.Book protectors were opposed to Collin’s study because his group tracked them for several weeks.

D.It is difficult for future archeologists to study what society is like today due to plastic objects.

4.What may be the appropriate title of this passage?

A.A new discovery in archaeology

B.A lab discovering DNA in old books

C.Archaeology on animals seeing a breakthrough

D.Collin’s contributions to the identification of old books

Answer

1.C

2.D

3.D

4.B

【解析】

本文是一篇记叙文。文章讲述了考古学家马修·柯林斯在旧书中提取DNA进行研究的事情。

1.细节理解题。根据第三段中的In recent years, archaeologists and historians have awakened to the potential of ancient DNA extracted from human bones and teeth.及But Collins isn’t just interested in human remains. He’s interested in the things these humans made; the animals they bred, slaughtered, and ate; and the economies they created.可知，近年来，考古学家和历史学家已经意识到从人类骨骼和牙齿中提取的古代DNA的潜力。但是柯林斯感兴趣的不仅仅是人类遗骸。他对这些人类制造的东西很感兴趣；他们饲养、屠宰和食用的动物；以及他们创造的经济。由此可知，柯林斯的研究与其他考古学家的不同之处在于，他研究的是与人类及其生活相关的物体。故选C。

2.推理判断题。根据第五段中的Collins splits his time between Cambridge and the University of Copenhagen, and it’s hard to nail down exactly what kind of — ologist he is. He has a knack for gathering experts as diverse as parchment specialists, veterinarians, geneticists, archivists, economic historians, and protein scientists (his own background).可知，柯林斯在剑桥大学和哥本哈根大学之间奔波，很难确定他究竟是哪种类型的学者。他善于召集各类专家，包括羊皮纸专家、兽医、遗传学家、档案保管员、经济历史学家和蛋白质科学家（他自己的背景）。由此推知，柯林斯召集各类专家，并说自己是无知的，是因为他的研究涉及的范围很广，超出了他的知识范围。故选D。

3.推理判断题。根据最后一段中的But in our own modern world, we’ve already started to change the biological record, and future archaeologists will not find the same treasure of hidden information in our petroleum-laden material culture. Collins pointed out that we no longer rely as much on natural materials to create the objects we need. What might have once been leather or wood or wool is now all plastic.可知，但在我们这个现代世界，我们已经开始改变生物记录，未来的考古学家将不会在我们充满石油的物质文化中发现同样的隐藏信息宝藏。柯林斯指出，我们不再那么依赖自然材料来制造我们需要的物品。过去可能是皮革、木材或羊毛，现在都是塑料。由此推知，由于塑料制品的存在，未来的考古学家很难提取相关的DNA，因此很难研究今天的社会是什么样子。故选D。

4.主旨大意题。根据第一段It was in the archives (档案室) of the Archbishop of York that Matthew Collins had a sudden insight: He was surrounded by millions of animal skins.(在约克大主教的档案中，马修·柯林斯突然顿悟:他被数百万张兽皮包围着)及最后一段中的Collins is not the first person to think of getting DNA from parchment, but he’s been the first to do it at scale.(柯林斯并不是第一个想到从羊皮纸中提取DNA的人，但他是第一个大规模提取DNA的人)可知，本文主要讲述了柯林斯在旧书中提取DNA进行研究的事情。由此可知，A lab discovering DNA in old books(一个在旧书中发现DNA的实验室)适合做本文标题。故选B。