题目内容：

When Mt. Vesuvius (维苏威火山)erupted in 79A.D.，it ______ the cities of Pompeii and Herculaneum.

The first ______were the people of Pompeii, who, returning of their city when the eruption had eased, dug down through the______ of their buried homes and salvaged what they could of their furniture and belongings. The ______ they drove through the solidified ash can still be seen in places. But a time came ______ Pompeii and Herculaneum were forgotten. Throughout the Middle Ages these two buried cities were not disturbed, and it was not until 1709 ______ an Austrian prince sank a shaft at Herculaneum and then, by ______ of underground tunnels, robbed the city of its treasures.

In 1729, systematic excavation began on the ______ site, but King Charles Ⅲ of Naples merely excavated the site to ______ archaeological specimens (考古标本) for his collection. A few years later, an accidental find at Pompeii led to excavations there; at first by tunneling, but afterwards by the actual uncovering of the city.

From the end of the ______ century to the present day, digging has gone on ______ continuously, though slowly, and often with ______ resources. Perhaps this slowness has not been entirely a(n) ______， since it has resulted in large, untouched sections of both cities being left ______  for modern, scientific excavation. ______ techniques have improved so much in the last fifty years that a site can now reveal far more archaeological  ______ than before.

Today most of ______ and a substantial section of Herculaneum have been cleared. They are the best known archaeological sites ______， and the most wonderful. For here, and nowhere else on earth, are ancient cities in which life did not die out but was suddenly ______.

“Behind these walls，” as one writer has said, “lies an ______ Italian town, stilled in a moment of time. To enter the gates of this city is to walk 2, 000 years into the past.”

1.A. destroyed    B. repaired    C. built    D. identified

2.A. explanation    B. excavations    C. pronunciation    D. affection

3.A. beliefs    B. relief    C. roofs    D. bottoms

4.A. tunnel    B. room    C. area    D. top

5.A. when    B. which    C. if    D. who

6.A. it    B. those    C. this    D. that

7.A. meaning    B. to mean    C. means    D. mean

8.A. different    B. same    C. ample    D. alternative

9.A. protect    B. sharpen    C. obtain    D. applaud

10.A. eighteenth    B. eight    C. eighteen    D. eighth

11.A. practically    B. finally    C. successfully    D. specially

12.A. a few    B. few    C. little    D. less

13.A. disadvantage    B. advantage    C. analysis    D. revision

14.A. preserved    B. accelerated    C. assumed    D. faded

15.A. Affectionate    B. Formal    C. Archaeological    D. Dizzy

16.A. information    B. botany    C. category    D. significance

17.A. London    B. Pompeii    C. New York    D. Egypt

18.A. in Europe    B. in Asia    C. in Africa    D. in America

19.A. overlooked    B. sobbed    C. interrupted    D. arrested

20.A. skilful    B. ancient    C. patient    D. effective