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2013 ‫מועד אוקטובר‬ - 41 - ‫ פרק ראשו ן‬- ‫ אנגלית‬

Text II (Questions 18-22)

(1) Chinese archaeologists have unearthed what is believed to be the oldest playable
musical instrument, a seven-holed flute fashioned 9,000 years ago from the hollow wing
bone of a large bird. The 20-centimeter-long instrument is the best preserved of six
flutes that were found intact – along with pieces of about 30 others – at Jiahu, a

(5) remarkably rich but little-known archaeological site in central China. Radiocarbon
dating indicates that the site was occupied for 1,300 years, beginning around 7000 B.C.E.

While fragments of what seem to be flutes made from animal bones have been
found at much older sites, the Chinese instruments are the oldest ones that are still

whole. They were discovered more than a decade ago, but are only now being
(10) publicized in the West, as a result of an unusual collaboration between Chinese

researchers and Garman Harbottle, an American scientist from Brookhaven National
Laboratory in New York.

The Chinese scientists had published their work only in their own country, which in
terms of making it known around the world "is as effective as burying it in an ancient

(15) funerary urn," according to Harbottle. An expert in using nuclear science in
archaeological and fine arts applications, Dr. Harbottle was invited to China to meet
with local archaeologists and specialists in radiocarbon dating. On a side trip, he was
taken to Jiahu and shown an astonishing number and variety of items from the dig,
including ceramic, stone and bone artifacts. The finds – particularly the flutes – were so

(20) astounding, according to Harbottle, that he urged his colleagues to publish their
discoveries in the West. Harbottle and the Chinese scientists then collaborated on a
paper about the flutes, which appeared in the journal Nature.

While the flutes are the most remarkable artifacts recovered thus far from Jiahu,
less than five percent of the site has been excavated. Harbottle anticipates that many

(25) more treasures await researchers and that Jiahu will prove to be an extraordinarily
valuable resource for understanding life in ancient China.

Questions

18. The main purpose of the first paragraph is to -

(1) explain why the Jiahu site was not well known and why it has begun to attract more
attention

(2) show how radiocarbon dating was used to date both the Jiahu site and the flutes
found there

(3) suggest that the Jiahu site may be one of the most important in China, and perhaps
in the entire world

(4) discuss the age of the Jiahu site and describe one of the most impressive findings
from it

)‫© כל הזכויות שמורות למרכז ארצי לבחינות ולהערכה (ע"ר‬

.‫ בלא אישור בכתב מהמרכז הארצי לבחינות ולהערכה‬- ‫ כולה או חלקים ממנה‬- ‫ או ללמדה‬,‫אין להעתיק או להפיץ בחינה זו או קטעים ממנה בכל צורה ובכל אמצעי‬