Page 234 - Grammar_Explorer_3_Amy_Cooper_&_Samuela_Eckstut_Didier1_1 (1)_Neat

A=Ste)\ 48 Possibility and Logical Conclusions: Past

Q 1 READ the article about an archaeological discovery of a strange army. What questions did
the discovery raise?

The Emperor’s Terra Cotta Army

Near the city of Xian, China, in 1974, two farmers found a piece of terra cotta! that looked like a
human head. Archaeologists began digging at the site, and they soon realized that the head belonged
to a clay soldier. Over time, the archaeologists uncovered an entire army of such soldiers . . . over
6000 of them. These soldiers and their weapons? were found near the tomb of China’s first emperor,
Qin Shi Huang Di. Oin must have wanted the clay army to protect him in the afterlife.
Creating the soldiers must have been extremely challenging. The craftsmen? first had to
find clay that was strong enough to shape into huge figures. Each soldier is about six feet tall (1.8
meters) and weighs over 600 pounds (272.2 kilograms). The most surprising finding was that
each figure is unique—no two are exactly alike. How could the craftsmen have produced this
collection? It’s a mystery.

According to some sources, the workers may have used molds.* Molds allow for mass
production because they produce objects that are the same. However, with molds it isn’t possible
to make individual features. That’s why some scholars now believe that the craftsmen must have
added details to the molded pieces by hand. They might have wanted the figures to look like
people in the emperor’s service, but no one knows for sure.
Archaeologists have explored only a fraction of the emperor’s burial ground so far.
In the coming years, they hope to learn even more about his unusual army, created
over 2000 years ago.

‘ terra cotta: brownish-red clay that has been baked and is used for making things
2 weapon: a tool used to harm or kill
8 craftsman: a man who is skilled at making things with his hands
4 mold: a form with an empty space inside into which materials are put to shape objects

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