2017年高考英语一轮复习讲练测：必修1.4《 Earthquakes》（测）（原卷版）_高考复习指南

2017年高考英语一轮复习讲练测：必修1.4《 Earthquakes》（测）（原卷版）

　　【浙江省杭州市五校联盟2016届高三年级上学期第一次诊断】

　　Tens of thousands of ancient pictures carved into the rocks at one of France’s most important tourist sites are being gradually destroyed. Scientists and researchers fear that the 36,000 drawings on rocks in Mont Bego in the French Alps are being damaged so rapidly that they will not survive for future generations.

　　The mountain, believed to have once been a site for prayer, is scattered (散布) with 4,000-year-old drawings cut into bare rock. They include pictures of cows with horns, cultivated fields (耕地) and various gods and goddesses. But as the popularity of the site increases, the pictures are being ruined by thoughtless graffiti (涂鸦).

　　Jean Clottes is the chairman of the International Committee on Rock Art. He says, “People think that because the pictures have been there so long they will always continue to be there. But if the damage continues at this rate there will be nothing left in 50 years.”

　　He describes seeing tourists stamping on the drawings, wearing away the rock and definition (清晰) of the artwork as they do so. Some visitors, he says, even cut off parts to take home as souvenirs. “When people think they can’t take a good enough photograph, they rub the drawings to get a clearer picture,” he said. “The drawings are polished by the weather, and if the sun is shining and the visitors can’t see them properly they simply rub them to make them look fresher.” Other researchers describe how people arrive carrying long sticks with sharp ends to scratch (刮) their own drawings, or even their names, in the rocks.