The Egyptian Museum in Cairo acknowledged on Saturday that one of its greatest treasures, the mask of King Tutankhamun, had been glued back together after being damaged, but insisted the item could be restored to its former glory.
The golden mask's beard was separated in August, something the museum had not made public until photographs on the Internet showing a line of glue around its chin.
"The beard broke off when museum workers were changing the lights in its display case and accidentally touched the mask, "the antiquities ministry said.
Christian Eckmann, a German conservator brought in to evaluate the damage, told reporters on Saturday that the seriousness of the damage had been exaggerated.
"The use of epoxy is not the best, but it is a solution," he said at a news conference alongside the minister of antiquities. "However, this measure was unfortunately done not really properly, so you can see now some remains of glue at the beard."
However, gluing the king's beard on is not exceptional. The beard was not fixed to the mask when it was dug out, Eckmann said, and it was brought to the Egyptian Museum with its beard unattached in 1924. It was not until 1941 that the beard piece was reattached to the mask with glue that has deteriorated over the past 70 years, making the accident in August more likely, Eckmann said.
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2.What is the opposite word of “accidentally” in Paragraph 3?
A Intentionally.
B Properly.
C Especially.
D Unfortunately.
解析：选A。词义猜测题。accidentally“意外地”，其反义词应为“故意地”，故选A。
3.What is the gender of Tutankhamun?
A Male.
B Female.
C Ladyboy.
D Unknown.
解析：选A。细节理解题。根据最后一段第一句However, gluing the boy king's beard on is not exceptional.可知，故选A。
4.When was the beard first glued to the mask?
A In 1927.
B In 2015.
C In 1941.
D In 1970.
解析：选C。细节理解题。根据最后一段最后一句It was not until 1941 that the beard piece was reattached to the mask with glue…可知，故选C。
5.What can we infer from Christian Eckmann’s words?
A The damage of the mask is very serious.
B It is a perfect solution to use epoxy.
C It is the second time that the beard has been glued to the mask.
D It is completely the museum workers’ fault to broke the beard.
解析：选C。推理判断题。根据Eckmann的话可知，法老面具上的胡须刚挖掘出来时就是分离的，直到1941年才用胶水重新粘上，可知这次是第二次用胶水粘上了，故选C。
