托福阅读真题+题目+答案：Agricultural Practices of the Maya

托福阅读真题+题目+答案：Agricultural Practices of the Maya

The Maya civilization flourished for centuries on the Yucatán Peninsula and other areas of Mesoamerica, reaching its peak around A.D. 800. But over the next two hundred years its population dropped from as many as six million people to less than half a million. There has been a vigorous debate about what caused this decline, but there is wide agreement that agricultural practices played some role. ▋Maya agriculture began with a system known as slash-and-burn agriculture, in which a patch of jungle was cleared with stone axes and then burned before the onset of the rains, when maize and beans were planted. ▋Ash from burning the cleared forest fertilized the soil and guaranteed good crops for a few years, after which fertility of the nutrient-poor tropical soil fell rapidly. Cleared patches could not be farmed for long before being abandoned to the jungle to restore soil fertility. ▋

1.According to paragraph 1, which of the following statements is true about the Maya civilization?

A.It first appeared on the Yucatán Peninsula around A.D. 800.

B.It took two hundred years for the Maya population to reach its peak.

C.Its population was reduced to less than half a million people around A.D. 1000.

D.It employed slash-and-burn agriculture in some areas but not in others.

2.According to paragraph 1, scholars are NOT yet certain about which of the following questions about the Maya civilization?

A.When did the Maya civilization reach its peak?

B.How did the Maya make land usable for agriculture?

C.How long did the Maya civilization flourish before beginning to decline?

D.What factors other than agricultural practices caused the decline of the Maya civilization?

Slash-and-burn agriculture worked well while the population density remained low and there was enough land for farmers to move their fields every few years. ▋As the great Maya cities rose from the jungle, people kept clearing land as their ancestors had done, but they stopped moving their fields. The tropical soils of the Yucatán Peninsula are thin and easily eroded (worn away) by wind and water Under sustained cultivation, the high productivity obtained right after clearing and burning rapidly declines. Compounding this problem, the lack of domesticated animals meant no manure for replenishing the soil. Just as in Greece and Rome, rising demand for food and declining productivity compelled cultivation of increasingly poor land.

3.What do paragraphs 1 and 2 suggest about slash-and-burn agriculture?

A.It was used by the Maya people for only 200 years.

B.It resulted in poor soil quality right after it was practiced.

C.It was usually employed right after maize and beans were harvested.

D.It probably would have remained an effective practice if the Maya population had not increased.

4.According to paragraph 2, which of the following changed as the Maya population density increased?

A.The way the land was cleared

B.The kind of crops that farmers planted

C.The availability of animal manure for use in replenishing the soil

D.The frequency with which fields were moved

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