The Collap of the Maya
中队简介
The Mayan society of Central America (2000 B.C-A.D 1500), like other ancient states, was characterized by populations unprecedented both in their size and density. It was not just the number of people that lived in the Mayan city-states but also the relatively small area into which they were concentrated. To support such populations, societies developed various intensive agricultural including large-scale irrigation and hill-slope (the cutting of horizontal ridges into hillsides so they can be farmed). The were designed both to increa yields from a given area and to increa the absolute amount of land under cultivation. The strategies were in esnce very successful: they made it possible to feed larger populations than ever before and supported the growth of cites. But they also placed considerable strains on the environment and rendered it increasingly fragile and vulnerable to unexpected climatic events, and even to short-term fluctuations. Thus, the argument is that becau of their size and ever more intensive agriculture, the Mayan and other ancient state societies were fundamentally unsustainable.
Claims about environment degradation and disaster have figured prominently in discussion of the collap of the Mayan city-states of the Central American lowlands. When two explorers came upon the Mayan cities in the 1830s, they were struck by the sight of tall pyramids and elaborately carved sto
nes among luxuriant forest growth. Here was the archetypal picture of a great lost civilization: abandoned cities submerged in vegetation. Theories of catastrophic collap or apocalyptic overthrow came naturally to mind to explain the dramatic scenes.
Recent studies of the Mayan collap (beginning around A.D 900) have emphasized the gradual and progressive nature of the process, beginning in the earliest in the South and advancing northward. It was not a single, sudden event, as had once been thought. Warfare and social unrest are thought to have played a part, but the may well have arin through pressure from other caus. The Mayan cities had, after all, flourished for over 500 years and had frequently been at war with each other.
But what about the possibility of food shortages? The could have come about through either natural or humanly induced changes in the environment. Increasingly fierce competition between Mayan cities led to an upsurge of monument construction during the eighth and ninth centuries A.D, which would have placed added strain on agricultural production and expansion. Interstate
rivalry may hence have pushed the Maya toward overexploitation of their fragile ecosystem. Deforestation and soil erosion might ultimately have destroyed the capacity of the land to support the high population levels of the Mayan cities, leading to famine, social unrest, and the collap of the major Mayan centers.
Yet it may be incorrect to lay the blame entirely on human action. Several of the lowland cities, such as Tikal, appear to have depended heavily on the cultivation of raid fields t in the marshy depressions known as bajos, which today flood intermittently in the rainy ason but may originally have been permanent lakes. The rai-field system of intensive cultivation (created by digging surrounding canals and using the soil removed to elevate the fields for planting) allows year-round food production through the constant supply of soil nutrients that erode into the drainage ditches dug around the raid fields, nutrients that are then collected and replaced. Stable water levels were esntial to this subsistence system, but evidence from Lake Chichancanab in Yucatan shows that between A.D 800 and A.D 1000 this region suffered its driest period of climate in veral thousand years. We may expect that as a result water level fell, and the raid fields in many areas became unusable. But the human respon must be viewed through the lens of the social, political, and cultural circumstances. The exerted a powerful mediating effect on the way the Maya endeavored to cope with their difficulties. Had population levels been lower, the impact of the drought may not have been catastrophic, as it was, the Maya were already reaching the limits of the available subsistence capacity, and Mayan elites had espoud certain social and political agendas (including expensive warfare and competition with each other). It was against this specific background that a period of drought led quickly to crisis and collap.
Paragraph 1
The Mayan society of Central America (2000 B.C-A.D 1500), like other ancient states, was characterized by populations unprecedented both in their size and density. It was not just the number of people that lived in the Mayan city-states but also the relatively small area into which they were concentrated. To support such populations, societies developed various intensive agricultural including large-scale irrigation and hill-slope (the cutting of horizontal ridges into hillsides so they can be farmed). The were designed both to increa yields from a given area and to increa the absolute amount of land under cultivation. The
strategies were in esnce very successful: they made it possible to feed larger populations than ever before and supported the growth of cites. But they also placed considerable strains on the environment and rendered it increasingly fragile and vulnerable to unexpected climatic events, and even to short-term fluctuations. Thus, the argument is that becau of their size and ever more intensive agriculture, the Mayan and other ancient state societies were fundamentally unsustainable.
1.According to paragraph 1, ancient societies incread their agricultural output by
千两
A. increasing the percentage of the population that worked as farmers
excel密码B. creating large irrigation systems
坚持的英文C. being highly lective of the fields they would farm
D. moving more people into the city to free up farmland
2.Which of the following can be inferred from paragraph 1 about the intensive agricultural methods of the Maya?
A. They helped the Maya overcome shot-term fluctuations in the climate.
B. They could not supply all of the food required for the growth of Mayan cities.
C. They strained the environment more than the Maya’s previous farming
techniques did.
D. They were invented by the Maya to help them grow new kinds of crops. Paragraph2
Claims about environment degradation and disaster have figured prominently in discussion of the collap of the Mayan city-states of the Central American lowlands. When two explorers came upon
the Mayan cities in the 1830s, they were struck by the sight of tall pyramids and elaborately carved stones among luxuriant forest growth. Here was the archetypal picture of a great lost civilization: abandoned cities submerged in vegetation. Theories of catastrophic collap or apocalyptic overthrow came naturally to mind to explain the dramatic scenes.
3.The word “elaborately” in the passage is clost in meaning to
A. with great detail
B. artistically
C. mysteriously
D. gently hand-made
4.The word “abandoned” in the passage is clost in meaning to
A. carefully hidden
B. destroyed
C. enormous
D. no longer occupied
5.In paragraph 2, the author implies which of the following about the collap of the Mayan city-states?
A. The fact that vegetation had grow over the ruins of Mayan buildings indicates
that environmental degradation did not contribute to the Mayan collap.
B. Early explorers suppod that there was a catastrophic collap of the Mayan
city states largely becau this view fit their preconceived ideas about lost civilizations.女生游泳
C. The condition of the tall pyramids and carved stones discovered by early
explorers proves that Mayan city-states were violently overthrown.
D. The Mayan cities were abandoned becau they became submerged in
vegetation
Paragraph 3
Recent studies of the Mayan collap (beginning around A.D 900) have emphasized the gradual and progressive nature of the process, beginning in the earliest in the South and advancing northward. It was not a single, sudden event, as had once been thought. Warfare and social unrest are thought to have played a part, but the may well have arin through pressure from other caus. The Mayan cities had, after all, flourished for over 500years and had frequently been at war with each other.
6.Why does the author include the information that Mayan cities had “flourished for over 500 years and had frequently been at war with each other”?
A. To identify a possible reason for the eventual collap of Mayan society
B. To make the point that war and social unrest alone do not account for the
Mayan collap
C. To explain why recent studies argue that human actions were responsible for
the Mayan collap
没办法忘记你D. To provide evidence that frequent wars weakened Mayan society only very
gradually
7.According to paragraph 3, recent studies claim which of the following about the Mayan collap?
A. It was caud primarily by frequent wars between rival city-states.
B. It was caud by a single sudden event.
C. It was preceded by social unrest in northern city-states.
D. It began in southern city-states and spread to others.木瓜花生鸡脚汤
Paragraph 4
But what about the possibility of food shortage? The could have come about through either natural or humanly induced changes in the environment. Increasingly fierce competition between Mayan cities led to an upsurge of monument construction during the eighth and ninth centuries A.D, which would have placed added strain on agricultural production and expansion. Interstate rivalry may hence have pushed the Maya toward overexploitation of
their fragile ecosystem. Deforestation and soil erosion might ultimately have destroyed the capacity of the land to support the high population levels of the Mayan cities, leading to famine, social unrest, and the collap of the major Mayan centers.
8.All of the following are mentioned in paragraph 4 as possible direct or indirect caud of food shortages EXCEPT
A. incread monument construction
B. rivalries between states
C. deforestation and station
D. introduction of new crops
Paragraph 5
Yet it may be incorrect to lay the blame entirely on human action. Several of the lowland cities, such as Tikal, appear to have depended heavily on the cultivation of raid fields t in the marshy depressions known as bajos, which today flood intermittently in the rainy ason but may originally
have been permanent lakes. The rai-field system of intensive cultivation (created by digging surrounding canals and using the soil removed to elevate the fields for planting) allows year-round food production through the constant supply of soil nutrients that erode into the drainage ditches dug around the raid fields, nutrients that are then collected and replaced. Stable water levels were esntial to this subsistence system, but evidence from Lake Chichancanab in Yucatan shows that between迷途少年
