Indeed，what surprised Piperno most about the new research was the diversity of corn- from corncob shapes to kernel (玉米粒) colors discovered in the new­found remains."Farmers like to experiment and grow cool things，"she said.

　　语篇解读　一项新的考古研究发现人类在距今约6 700年前已开始食用玉米。

　　1．What would be the best title for the passage?

　　A．Ancient popcorn was made 2,000 years earlier than thought in Peru

　　B．A new discovery revealed the mystery about corn

　　C．How was corn cooked in ancient Peru and South America

　　D．National Popcorn Day and the new­found corn remains in Peru

　　解析：　主旨大意题。文章第一段提出了全文的主旨a new study says that people in what's now Peru were eating the snack 2,000 years earlier than thought并在后文具体说明了这一发现。

　　答案：　A

　　2．From the passage we can learn that microfossils of corn________.

　　A．showed that people began cooking corn about 5,000 years ago

　　B．offered detailed information on the size of the ancient corncobs

　　C．showed the specific shape of the ancient corncobs

　　D．were analyzed by scientists via radiocarbon dating

　　解析：　细节理解题。根据第三段Previously，evidence of corn as a food about 5,000 years ago had mostly come from what are called microfossils可知，玉米微化石显示人们在大约5 000年已经开始以玉米为食物。

　　答案：　A

　　3．What can we know about the new­found corn remains?

　　A．They revealed people in Paredones and Huaca Prieta never roasted a corncob directly over a flame.

　　B．They revealed people in Paredones and Huaca Prieta lived mainly on corn­based foods.

　　C．They showed us how ancient farmers bred corn from a wild grass.

　　D．They offered more information on ancient corn than microfossils of corn.

　　解析：　推理判断题。根据第三段．..microscopic remains that do not offer information on the size and shape of the corncobs.But the new­found corn remains revealed a lot...可知新发现的玉米遗迹能够比玉米微化石提供更多的关于古代玉米的信息。

　　答案：　D

4．What can we know from the last paragraph?