Question

The Mayan Indians lived in Mexico for thousands of years. The Maya were so bright that they achieved a lot. They had farms, temples and cities with many buildings. They knew much about nature and the world around them. This knowledge helped them to live a better life than most people of that time.

In ancient Mexico there were many small clearings in the forest. In each clearing was a village with fields of crops around it. The Maya planted seeds after they cleared the land. A farmer was able to grow crops that produced for several people. But not every Maya had to be a farmer. Some were builders or priests (祭司).

The Maya believed in many gods. They built large temples to honor them. Skillful workers built cities around these temples. It was difficult because they had to carry all of the building materials themselves. Today, many of these ancient Mayan cities and temples are still standing.

Although the Maya worked hard to build the beautiful cities, very few of them lived in them. Usually, only the priests lived in the cities. The other people lived in small villages in the forests. Their houses were much simpler. Most Maya lived a simple life close to nature.

Measuring time correctly was important to the Maya, so Mayan priests made a system to keep track of time. They wrote numbers as dots ( … ) and bars ( — ). They also made a calendar (日历). The year was divided into 18 months of 20 days each with five days left over.

Around the year 800, the Maya left their villages and beautiful cities, never to return. No one knows why this happened. They may have died from a deadly disease. They may have left because the soil could no longer grow crops. The lost secrets of the Maya are still beyond the reach of modern people. They are still one of our greatest mysteries (神秘).

1.The Maya lived better than most people of their times because _____.

A．they had skillful workers

B．they believed in many gods

C．they knew better about nature

D．they could measure time correctly

2.It can be inferred from the passage that _____.

A．the calendar was first invented by the ancient Maya

B．the ancient Mayan cities and temples were well built

C．the ancient Mayan people led a happy life in the cities

D．the priests were not highly respected by the ancient Maya

3.The underlined word “they” in the passage refers to _____.

A．the Mayan people                       B．the Mayan villages

C．the Mayan cities                        D．the lost secrets of the Maya

4.Which of the following would be the best title for this passage?

A．The Life of the Maya                     B．The Cities of the Maya

C．The Mystery of the Maya                  D．The Belief of the Maya

Answer

1.C

2.B

3.D

4.C

【解析】

试题分析：本文主要介绍神秘的玛雅人的生活，信仰等，从而说明神秘的玛雅人。

1. 从第一段 They knew much about nature and the world around them. This knowledge helped them to live a better life than most people of that time可知与C答案一致。

2.从第三段最后一行Today, many of these ancient Mayan cities and temples are still standing说明古玛雅的城市和寺庙很坚固，建筑的非常好。

3.承前指代，they 指的是前一句提到的玛雅人的失踪之谜，故选Ｄ

4.纵观全文，分别介绍了玛雅人的生活，城市，信仰等都是为了说明玛雅人的神秘，故C答案是正确的，ABＤ都只是说明玛雅人的神秘的例子而已。

考点：说明文。