河北省2014年学士学位英语考试大纲(非英语专业)(12)

Passage Two The Mayan (玛雅) Indians lived in Mexico for thousands of years before the Spanish arrived in the 1500s. The Maya were an intelligent, culturally rich people whose achievements were many. They had farms, beautiful palaces, and cities with many buildings. The Mayan people knew a lot about nature and the world around them. This knowledge helped them to live a better life than most people of that time, because they could use it to make their lives more comfortable and rewarding. Knowledge about tools and farming, for instance, made their work easier and more productive. The Maya believed in many gods, including rain gods, sun gods, and corn gods. The people built large temples to honor them. Skillful workers built cities around these temples. It was difficult for them to construct these cities, because they had no horses to carry the heavy stones they used to build with. Workers had to carry all of the building materials themselves. Today, many of these ancient Mayan cities and temples are still standing. Usually, only the priests lived in the cities. The other people lived in small villages in the forests. Their houses were much simpler than the elaborate structures in the cities. They lived in small huts with no windows. Most Maya lived a simple life close to nature. Measuring time was important to the Maya, so the Mayan priests made a system to keep track of time, and they made a calendar in which the year was divided into 18 months of 20 days each with five days left over. The Mayan calendar was far more accurate than the European calendars of the time. 16. The Maya lived in Mexico ________. A. shortly before the Spanish arrived B. long before the Spanish arrived C. at the same time as the Spanish D. with the Spanish for thousands of years 17. Many Mayan cities and temples ________. A. were constructed by the priests