閱讀難度：

A former Devon taxi driver's body has been mummified in a project to test the processes used 3,000 years ago, the BBC reported.

Alan Billis died in January aged 61 after contracting lung cancer.

Mr Billis read a news story about a Channel 4 mummification project and decided to donate his body to the experiment after his death.

Dr Stephen Buckley, from the University of York, and archaeologist Dr Jo Fletcher used modern equipment to identify materials such as beeswax, oils and resins which were used in mummification by the ancient Egyptians.

The results may help in developing an alternative to formaldehyde in tissue preservation.

（點擊英國廣播公司網(wǎng)站查看原文）

男子捐出遺體作木乃伊

?????? 據(jù)英國廣播公司報道，英國德文郡有位退休司機捐獻出了自己的遺體，供研究者制作成木乃伊來驗證三千年前的制作流程。

?????? 艾倫?比利斯今年1月死于肺癌，享年61歲。

?????? 此前，英國電視四臺啟動制作木乃伊項目，看到這條新聞，他決定將自己的遺體捐給該項目。

?????? 來自約克大學(xué)的史蒂芬?巴克利博士和考古學(xué)家喬?弗萊徹博士，用現(xiàn)代手段探尋古埃及人如何使用蜂蠟、油、松香等物質(zhì)制作木乃伊。

?????? 試驗結(jié)果有望找到替代甲醛用于保存活體組織的物質(zhì)。

(China.org.cn October 20, 2011)