Glossary
Palaeontologists 古生物学家
Aurochs 欧洲野牛
Neanderthal (人类学)尼安德特人,旧石器时代的古人类。
Permafrost (地理)永冻层
Questions 1-6 Answer the following questions by using NO MORE THAN THREE WORDS for each answer.
1. How did people traditionally treat fossils?
2. What suggestions do Geigl and her colleagues give on what should be done when fossils are found?
3. What problems may be posed if fossil bones are washed on-site? Name ONE.
4. What characteristic do fossil bones have to make them susceptible to be contaminated with contemporary DNA when they are washed?
5. What could be better understood when conservation treatments are improved?
6. The passage mentioned several animal species studied by researchers. How many of them are mentioned?
Questions 7-11 Do the following statements agree with the information given in the passage? Please writeTRUE if the statement agrees with the writer;FALSE if the statement does not agree with the writer;NOT GIVEN if there is no information about this in the passage
7. In their paper published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences , Geigl and her colleagues have shown what conservation practices should be followed to preserve ancient DNA.
8. The fossil bones that Geigl and her colleagues studied are all from the same aurochs.
9. Geneticists don’t have to work on site.
10. Only newly excavated fossil bones using new conservation methods suggested by Geigl and her colleagues contain ancient DNA.
11. Paabo is still worried about the potential problems caused by treatments of fossils in traditional way.
Questions 12-13 Complete the following the statements by choosing letter A-D for each answer.
12. “This information” in paragraph 3 indicates:
[A] It is critical to follow proper practices in preserving ancient DNA.
[B] The best way of getting good DNA is to handle fossils with gloves.
[C] Fossil hunters should wear home-made hammers while digging up bones.
[D] Many palaeontologists know how one should do in treating fossils.
13. The study conducted by Geigl and her colleagues suggests:
[A] the fact that ancient DNA can not be recovered from fossil bones excavated in the past.
[B] the correlation between the amount of burying time and that of the recovered DNA.
[C] the pace at which DNA degrades.
[D] the correlation between conservation practices and degradation of DNA.