奇速英语官网—英语在线学习平台_让学英语更快乐_更快速

They say one person’s trash is another’s treasure, but a chunk of ‘rock’ used to keep a door open for decades is a treasure by pretty much anybody’s standard. The 3.5-kilogram (7.7-pound) stone was found in a stream bed in southeast Romania by an elderly woman, who brought it home and put it to use. Her discovery turned out to be one of the biggest intact chunks of amber (琥珀) in the world. Its value? Somewhere in the region of €1 million — around $1.1 million.

In Romania, pieces of amber can be found around the village of Colti in sandstone from the banks of the River Buzau, where it has been mined since the 1920s. Known as rumanite, this amber is famed and prized for its wide array of deep, reddish hues. The elderly woman who found this particular rumanite nugget lived in Colti, where it remained performing a function so humble that it was missed even by jewel thieves who once targeted the home.

After the woman died in 1991, the relative who inherited her home suspected the doorstop might be more than meets the eye. On learning what he had, he sold the amber to the Romanian state, which had it appraised by experts at the Museum of History in Krakow in Poland. According to these experts, the amber is likely around 38 to 70 million years old. “Its discovery represents a great significance both at a scientific level and at a museum level,” Daniel Costache, director of the Provincial Museum of Buzau, said. Classified as a national treasure of Romania, the nugget has had a home at the Provincial Museum of Buzau — the county in which the relic was found — since 2022.

The discovery resembles that of a man who kept a large piece of rock as a doorstop, only to find out decades later that he was keeping his doors in place with a meteorite (陨石) worth $100,000. Both the amber and meteorite worth that much aren’t a bad score, really. Just imagine how many doorstops you could buy!

1.1. What was the original use of the 3.5-kilogram stone?

A It was a decoration at home.

B It was used to stop a door.

C It was sold for a high price.

D It was studied by experts.

解析：选B。 B 细节理解题。第一段明确提到“a chunk of ‘rock’ used to keep a door open for decades”，表明这块3.5公斤的石头最初被用作门挡，B选项符合原文描述，A选项“作为家里的装饰品”、C选项“被高价出售”、D选项“被专家研究”均与原文表述不符。故选B。

2.2. What can we infer from the fact that jewel thieves missed the amber doorstop?

A The thieves didn’t notice the value of the doorstop.

B The thieves didn’t like the color of the amber.

C The thieves thought the amber was too heavy to carry.

D The thieves knew the amber was a national treasure.

解析：选A。A 推理判断题。文中提到琥珀门挡一直被用作普通门挡，连盗贼都忽略了它，说明盗贼没有察觉到这个门挡的价值。A选项合理推断；B选项盗贼不喜欢琥珀颜色、C选项琥珀太重搬不动、D选项盗贼知道琥珀是国宝，均在原文找不到依据。故选A。

3.3. What does “it” in Para.3 refer to?

A The home.

B The relative.

C The amber.

D The Museum of History.

解析：选C。C 词意指代题。结合前文“he sold the amber to the Romanian state”可知，罗马尼亚政府请专家鉴定的对象是琥珀，所以“it”指代的是琥珀，C选项正确；A选项家、B选项亲戚、D选项历史博物馆均不符合语境。故选C。

4.4. What’s the main idea of the passage?

A How an elderly woman made a fortune in Romania.

B Why pieces of amber were common in Romania.

C How the Romanian national treasure amber was found.

D Why both amber and meteorite are valuable.

解析：选C。C 主旨大意题。本文主要介绍了罗马尼亚国宝级文物——一块罕见的Rumanit琥珀被发现的过程。故选C。