By modern standards, the hostile summit of Mount Llullaillaco, in the Argentine Andes, is no place for 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 lightning. 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.

　　注（1）：本文選自Time；04/19/99, p46
　　注（2）：本文習題命題模仿對象為2002年真題(1、2、4、題模仿text4對應題，第3、5題模仿text3第3、4題);

［考研英語閱讀真題模擬］
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 remains.
[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 defines 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］
　　本篇文章講述了安第斯山區(qū)的比較新考古發(fā)現(xiàn)以及這一發(fā)現(xiàn)的重大意義。第一段想象了當年印加人參加活人祭祀前后的場景，引出話題；第二段簡要介紹考古學家萊茵哈德及他這次發(fā)現(xiàn)的三具印加兒童遺體。第三段、第四段描述了同時發(fā)現(xiàn)的陪葬品，比較后一段則說明這次發(fā)現(xiàn)對于考古學家的重要意義。文章層次分明，結(jié)構(gòu)清晰。

［詞匯注釋］
Inca   n 印加人（古代秘魯土著人）
retinue   n.(要人的一批)隨行人員,
entomb   v. 埋葬, 成為...的墳墓
rubble    n. 碎石
llama    n.駱駝
sport   v.夸耀地穿戴；
plume   n.羽毛
provision    v.向... 供應糧食 [必需品]
alpaca   n.[動](南美的)羊駝, 羊駝毛, 羊駝呢(織物)
unprecedented   adj.空前的；沒有前例的
insulate   v.使絕緣, 隔離
whisk   v. 快速移動; 快速帶走

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

　　主體句式：the story might have ended there but for …

　　結(jié)構(gòu)分析：本句中包含有虛擬語氣，由but for 引導一個虛擬條件，表示“要不是…”；“might have done”表示本來可能會發(fā)生某事，對于這一類由介詞或者介詞詞組引起的虛擬條件，學習者應該特別留心，否則就容易產(chǎn)生理解錯誤。可以引導虛擬條件的詞還有without，otherwise等。

　　句子譯文：要不是約翰•萊茵哈德的不懈努力，故事本來也許到此就結(jié)束了。萊茵哈德是一位由國家地理協(xié)會資助的獨立考古學家。

題目分析：
　　1. 答案是B，屬推理判斷題。這一段描述了古印加人把孩子送到山頂祭祀的事情，由此可見古印加人曾經(jīng)在山頂舉行祭祀儀式。hostile用于環(huán)境時通常表達的意思是“不利的，危險的，惡劣的”，山頂?shù)淖匀画h(huán)境在過去和現(xiàn)并沒有太大差別，因此A項是錯誤的。作者對于這些孩子的死亡方式用了might一詞表示猜測，足見沒有確鑿的證據(jù)證明把孩子活埋是古印加社會常見的活動，所以C項不對。D項是錯的，因為文中提到了accompanied by a retinue of adults，說明他們是在成人的護送下登山的。

　　2. 答案是C，屬事實細節(jié)題。文中提到Reinhard在安第斯山區(qū)搜尋祭祀遺物方面的多項考古發(fā)現(xiàn)，并引用其它考古學家的話說他比較近的發(fā)現(xiàn)是“fantastic discovery”。文章比較后文中第二段對Reinhard的身份說明中指出他是一個受國家地理協(xié)會資助的獨立考古學家，因此A是錯誤的。獨立考古學家的工作很重要，但不等于考古發(fā)現(xiàn)就依賴他們，所以B也是錯誤的。安第斯考古活動有很多方面的內(nèi)容，遺體出土只是其中一項，文中也講到陪葬物品的考古價值，所以D也不對。

　　3. 答案是D，屬推理判斷題。由發(fā)現(xiàn)的陪葬品，尤其是那個“beautiful yellow, geometrically designed cover”可以看出古代印加人的工藝水平已經(jīng)相當高了。遺體保存較好主要是由于冰雪的緣故，和印加人保存尸體的技術(shù)無關，A是錯誤的。文中并沒有提到這些孩子們在死前的情況，所以B不能成立。文中講到從陪葬品可以看出孩子們來自上層社會，但不等于“富有家庭的孩子經(jīng)常成為祭物”，所以C項不對。

　　4. 答案是A，屬猜測詞義題。precedent是“先例”的意思，從構(gòu)詞法和上下文可以推知A為正確答案。

　　5. 答案是A，屬推理判斷題。文中第二段比較末引用其他科學家的話說這次發(fā)現(xiàn)“fantastic”，
在第四段比較末又說所發(fā)現(xiàn)的物品也將讓考古學家對祭祀儀式有更多的了解。比較后一段也介紹了科學家們將對這次發(fā)現(xiàn)展開研究工作，由此可見，這次發(fā)現(xiàn)可以促進對古印加人的研究工作。

［參考譯文］
　　按照現(xiàn)代的標準，阿根廷安第斯山區(qū)的魯萊拉克山寒冷的山頂決不是孩子涉足的地方。不過古代印加人對此的看法卻大相徑庭，所以，大約五百年前的某一天，三個孩子登上了這座海拔22000英尺的山峰上部那嚴寒而危險的山坡。他們在海拔17000米處停留了一段時間，參加了某些不為人知的儀式。接著，在一群成年人的護送下，他們繼續(xù)不斷向上攀登。對他們來說，這是一條不歸之路。一到山頂，這些孩子---兩個女孩和一個男孩，年齡在8到15歲之間---就會成為獻祭儀式的祭品并會被埋葬在5英尺深的石塊下面。他們甚至可能是被活埋的。

　　要不是約翰•萊茵哈德的不懈努力，故事本來也許到此就結(jié)束了。萊茵哈德是一位由國家地理協(xié)會資助的獨立考古學家，他的專業(yè)就是攀登安第斯山，尋找祭祀品的遺跡；他已經(jīng)發(fā)現(xiàn)了15具古人遺體，包括1995年發(fā)現(xiàn)的著名的“冰凍女尸”。但他上周宣布發(fā)現(xiàn)的這三具遺體是到目前為止比較讓人難忘的印加人遺體。他們的尸體在被埋葬后數(shù)小時就被凍結(jié)了。其中兩具保存得十分完好，第三具顯然受到了閃電的破壞。這些孩子的內(nèi)部器官不僅完好無損，而且還含有血液。紐約市自然歷史博物館專門從事安第斯考古研究的專家克雷格•莫里斯說：“這的確是一個非同尋常的發(fā)現(xiàn)�！�

　　不僅這三具遺體本身，隨他們陪葬的眾多人工制品也使這次發(fā)現(xiàn)的意義非同尋常：36件金銀雕像，一些小編織袋，一個陶罐，皮涼鞋，一個小駱駝像和一些貝殼項鏈。萊茵哈德說其中一個女孩“身上蓋著一塊很漂亮的，繪有幾何圖案的黃布套�！彼�的頭部帶著羽毛做成的羽飾和一個黃金面具。

　　有些遺體周圍有一包包用羊馱皮裹著的食物，說明這些孩子來自印加的社會精英階層---這倒也不足為奇，因為只有上層社會的人才被認為有獻祭的價值。至于祭祀儀式本身人們所知甚少；這些物品，以及在較低海拔處發(fā)現(xiàn)的其他物品可以告訴考古學家很多事情。

　　此外，這些保存下來的遺體還可以讓科學家們頭一次看到印加人的生理特點。萊茵哈德和他的考古隊用塑料，雪和絕緣泡沫將這些孩子小心的包裹起來，然后才把他們拖下山，阿根廷軍隊迅速將他們運送到了附近的薩爾塔鎮(zhèn)。專家們將在那里分析他們的胃部，以了解他們比較后一頓飯吃了些什么，還要分析他們的器官以便找到關于他們的飲食結(jié)構(gòu)和DNA的線索，從而嘗試確定他們和其他種族之間的關系。萊茵哈德還會回到山里去。到底還有多少具遺體等待發(fā)現(xiàn)目前仍然是個未知數(shù)。