The first field season is now over at the hut village of the workmen who built the tombs in the Valley of the Kings. However，the archaeologists working on the excavation(挖掘)have found that they still have a great deal to do. The sun, the wind and tourists have left their mark on the village, originally discovered by Bernard Bruyhre in 1935．
“From our modern perspective，it is upsetting to see how the village was first excavated and then left to be destroyed. Passers-by have used the huts as rubbish dumps and restrooms,”says Jaana Toivari—Viitala, a teacher at the University of Helsinki.“Fortunately, while we still have some surface cleaning to do, conservation are off to a good start.”
The hut village offers rare insight into everyday life in ancient Egypt.
“In the early twentieth century，archaeologists were only interested in the tombs of kings. The workmen’s huts they discovered were seen as a neces
sary evil in the quest for the real treasures.”
“Now several international research groups on different excavations are examining everyday life and work in the Valley of the Kings. This seems to be a trend in archaeology right now.” Toivari-Viitala says．
Her research group wants to find out why the hut village was built on the slope of a mountain，halfway between the construction site and Deir-el-Medina. They are also interested in how many workers lived in the village at a time, when they lived there, and what their role was in the construction work.
“Comparing the names found in the village and in Deir-el-Medina provides useful information．Judging from the construction methods，settlement in the village can be divided into two separate periods: the initial settlement and a later one.”
For the time being，much is up to guessing, but Toivari-Viitala believes that the coming four field seasons, three months each, will see results.
“The working conditions are not nearly as difficult as I thought they would be. The cool winds in the mountains nicely alleviate the heat.”
The research group working on the “Workmen’s huts in the Theban mountains” project is planning to return to the Valley of the Kings in October.
小题1:.
What does the passage mainly talk about? ________
A．The hut village in the Valley of the Kings.
B．The excavation of the tombs in the Valley.
C．The archaeologists working on the excavation.
D．Everyday life and work in the Valley of the Kings.小题2:.
Which of the following is NOT true of the hut village according to the passage? _______
A．It has been damaged a lot.
B．It can tell us something about ancient Egypt.
C．It has attracted archaeologists’ attention.
D．It has a lot of real treasures somewhere in it.小题3:.
What’s the new trend in archaeology right now acco
rding to Toivari-Viitala?
A．Being interested in the tombs of kings．
B．Examining everyday life and work in the Valley of the Kings.
C．Using the huts as rubbish dumps and restrooms．
D．Guessing what the result will be beforehand．小题4: We can infer from the passage that__________.
A．people know little about the hut village by now
B．the workmen’s huts were not discovered until very recently
C．the research group wor
king on the workmen’s huts will suffer a lot
D．the hut village is much more valued by archaeologists than the tombs
