专四专八考试

【单选题】Questions 1 to 5 are based on an interview.At the end of the interview you will be given 10 seconds to answer each of the following five questions.
Now listen to the interview. The average life expectancy of ancientEgyptians is about ______.A．32
B．37
C．50
D．60

网考网参考答案：A
网考网解析：
[听力原文]1-5 Dr Simons: Well, as I said, there were three areas of interest, so perhaps we should take each in turn. Presenter: Fine. Let’s take the medical and physical evidence first. Dr Simons: Mm. Well first of all, life expectancy. Although some very old individuals were encountered, and Rameses is a case in point-he was probably over 90! (Good Lord!) It seemed the average Egyptian died rather young. From about 30 to 35 years old on the whole, although the nobility, as might be expected, tended to live longer-some of them have been found to be 50 or 60 years old. Well, naturally, the older, they got the more medical problems were encountered, but some modern disorders have so far not been found. There is no evidence yet of any malignant tumours, for example, although the fact that most of the people studied were comparatively young could account for this. Another modern problem-dental decay-was also absent, probably due to the plain diet and absence of sugar, though there was another problem with the teeth caused by the same diet. The stones on which their flour was ground caused a lot of grit to get into the break and this eroded the teeth-so much that many older people must have suffered greatly and could have been confined to a liquid diet. An abscess on the jaw caused by this kind of erosion may in fact have contributed to the death of Rameses the Second. Analysis of the internal organs of several mummies has revealed that intestinal parasites were common, even among the upper classes (Really)-evidence of a generally low standard of public hygiene. And another widespread disorder was a form of anemia. Naturally, the Ancient Egyptians didn’t smoke, but er lesions of the lungs were widespread. These, however, are the sort that we associate today with workers in mines and quarries, and must be due in the case of the Egyptians, to living in sandy desert conditions. (Hm) Actually-on the smoking issue-there was a temporary sensation when traces of what appeared to be tobacco were found in Rameses, sarcophagus! But, er botanists later confirmed that it was not in fact tobacco itself, but a related plant which is native to Egypt. In the meantime, the cynics were commenting that it probably had come from the cigarette of some careless Egyptologist or museum attendant of the past! Presenter: Hah, hah and what about their physical appearance Dr Simons: Well, very much what you would expect from seeing Egyptian art. They were light and slight in build. The average height for both men and women was about 1 metre 60-and er studies of the skeletons from which the covering of flesh can be extrapolated suggest that they weighed much less in relation to their height than most modern people-from about 10 to 15 kilograms less than someone of a similar height today is the estimate. Presenter: And what about mummification Dr Simons: Ah well, the first thing to be said is that it wasn’t always done in the same way and it was by no means infallible, as many people tend to think. Many bodies, including that of the famous king Tukanhamun, were almost entirely destroyed by overuse of one or other of the substances generally employed. The basic procedure was much the same however-most of the internal organs, including the brain, were removed and preserved separately in a jar. The brain was got out through the nose (uh) using a sort of hook. Presenter: Oh dear! Dr Simons: Yes. It used to be thought that the heart was always removed too, but in the case of Rameses it was found in place. The body was then immersed in a substance called natron-that’s a form of sodium carbonate-which occurred naturally in Egypt-for 40 to 70 days. It was then washed, made up and wrapped in linen bandages and placed in its coffin or sarcophagus. Then it was soaked in oils, resins and perfumes to help preserve it further. Presenter: You said the body was made up. Do you mean its face was painted Dr Simons: Yes. Yes. Rameses was not o 查看试题解析出处>>