Most of these treasures are owned by museums or private collectors in the United States, Europe，Japan and Southeast Asian countries.There are more than 23，000 pieces in the British Museum, most of which were stolen or bought for pennies more than 100 years ago.

　　The major method to recover these national treasures was to buy them back.In some cases, private collectors donated the relics to the government.Also the government can turn to official channels to demand the return of relics.

　　In 2003，a priceless bronze pig's head dating from the Qing Dynasty was returned to its home in Beijing after it was removed by the Anglo­French Allied Army over 140 years ago.Macao entrepreneur (企业家)Stanley Ho donated 6 million yuan to buy it back from a US art collector and then donated it to the Poly Art Museum in Beijing.

　　Although buying­back is the most feasible way to recover the lost treasures, limited funding is always a big headache.

　　In recent years, the Chinese government has improved efforts to recover the precious cultural relics lost overseas.It has started a national project on the recovery of the treasures and has set up a database(数据库)collecting relevant information.It has signed several international agreements with many countries on this matter, and is also looking for international cooperation to recover the relics by working closely with several international organizations.

　　【语篇解读】　本文讲述了中国人民及政府为收回流失海外的文物所做的努力。

　　1．What is the passage mainly about?

　　A．How to recover cultural relics.

　　B．The efforts to recover Chinese cultural relics.

　　C．Stanley Ho donated a bronze pig's head to Beijing.

　　D．Chinese cultural relics were stolen by the Anglo­French Allied Army.

　　B　[主旨大意题。本文用大量篇幅讲述了中国人民及政府为收回流失海外的文物所做的努力，可见B项是文章的主旨。]

　　2．Most of lost Chinese cultural relics ．

A．have been recovered by the Chinese government