The Antonine Plague (瘟疫)

The year was 166 C.E., and the Roman Empire was in its prime. The triumphant Roman troops, under the command of Emperor Lucius Verrus, returned to Rome victorious after 【小题1】 (defeat) their Parthian enemies. As they marched west toward Rome, they carried with them more than the spoils of plundered Parthian temples; they also carried an epidemic that 【小题2】 (ruin) the Roman Empire over the course of the next two decades.

The Antonine Plague, 【小题3】 was known later, would reach every corner of the empire and is 【小题4】 most likely claimed the life of Lucius Verrus himself in 169 — and possibly that of his co-emperor Marcus Aurelius in 180.   

The effect of the epidemic on Rome’s armies was apparently devastating. Closeness to sick fellow soldiers and less-than-optimal living conditions made it possible for the outbreak to spread rapidly throughout the troops, such as those 【小题5】 (base) along the northern frontier at Aquileia. Troops elsewhere in the empire were similarly stricken. 【小题6】 (reverse) their shrinking soldiers, they sent the sons of soldiers to troops. Army discharge certificates from the Balkan region suggest that there was a significant decrease in the number of soldiers who were allowed to retire from military service during the period of the plague.

The effect on the civilian population was evidently by no means 【小题7】 (severe). In his letter to Athens in 174, Marcus Aurelius loosened the requirements for membership to the ruling council of Athens, 【小题8】 there were now too few surviving upper-class Athenians who met the requirements he had introduced prior to the outbreak.

It has been estimated that the death rate over the 23-year period of the Antonine Plague was 7—10 percent of the population. 【小题9】 the practical consequences of the outbreak, such as the destabilization of the Roman military and economy, the psychological impact on the populations could by no means be ignored. It is easy to imagine the sense of fear and helplessness ancient Romans 【小题10】 have felt in the face of such a ruthless, painful, disfiguring and frequently fatal disease.

In Asia, especially the so-called “rice bowl” cultures of China, Japan, Korea, and Vietnam, food is usually eaten with【小题1】(chopstick).

Chopsticks are usually two long, thin pieces of wood or bamboo. They can also【小题2】 (make) of plastic or mental. Sometimes chopsticks are quite artistic.【小题3】(true) elegant chopsticks might be with Chinese characters. Skilled workers also combine various hardwoods【小题4】metal to create special designs.

Five thousand years ago, Chinese people probably cooked their food in large pots,【小题5】(use) branches to remove it. Food in small pieces could be eaten easily with branches 【小题6】gradually turned into chopsticks.

Some people think that the great Chinese scholar Confucius, who lived 【小题7】551 to 479 BC, influenced the 【小题8】(develop) of chopsticks. Confucius believed knives would remind people of killings and 【小题9】(be) too violent for use at the table.

Chopsticks are not used everywhere in Asia. In India, most people traditionally eat 【小题10】their hands.

Ball games are a big source of modern amusement. But they're nothing new. For instance, consider a 4,500-year-old ball 【小题1】(find) in a child's tomb in Egypt or 3.600-year-old rubber balls from Central America-where the competitors were asked to play the balls with their hips(臀部）.

So far, researchers 【小题2】(make) sure of a date of the oldest sporting balls in Europe or Asia: three balls, dug up from the tombs of horsemen in the deserts of northwestern China and crafted three thousand 【小题3】(year) ago.

＂We are quite sure they were used in some sort of bat-and-ball game."Patrick Wertmann is an expert at the University of Zurich 【小题4】 analyzed the ancient sporting equipment. The balls are about three inches in diameter and filled 【小题5】leather hair. “And then, also, 【小题6】(look) at the Chinese character of "ball" itself, you'll find it quite 【小题7】(interest) because this character is made up of the ideograms(表意文字）of hair and leather.”

As for how this ancient ball-and-stick game 【小题8】 （play)? “lt could be something like polo. But it could also be something like 【小题9】 early form of golf.

Since we don't have any textural evidence and we don't have any sticks from the same period, we don't really know 【小题10】（exact).”