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要了解生活在如今墨西哥南部和中美洲地区的古代玛雅人以及他们所面临的生态困境，就必须首先考虑他们所处的环境，也就是我们所认为的“丛林”或“热带雨林”。

To understand the ancient Mayan people who lived in the area that is today southern Mexico and Central America and the ecological difficulties they faced, one must first consider their environment, which we think of as “jungle” or “tropical rainforest.”

这一观点虽不准确，但其理由被证明是重要的。

This view is inaccurate, and the reason proves to be important.

确切地说，生长于赤道多雨地区的热带雨林气候常年保持潮湿或湿润。

Properly speaking, tropical rainforests grow in high-rainfall equatorial areas that remain wet or humid all year round.

但玛雅人的家园位于距赤道1600多公里以外的北纬17到22度之间的区域，被称为“季节性热带雨林”的栖息地。

But the Maya homeland lies more than sixteen hundred kilometers from the equator, at latitudes 17 to 22 degrees north, in a habitat termed a “seasonal tropical forest.”

换言之，该地区5到10月为雨季，但1到4月为旱季。

That is, while there does tend to be a rainy season from May to October, there is also a dry season from January through April.

如果关注雨季，可以把玛雅人的家园称为“季节性热带雨林”；如果关注旱季，玛雅人的家园反而可以被称为“季节性沙漠”。

If one focuses on the wet months, one calls the Maya homeland a “seasonal tropical forest”; if one focuses on the dry months, one could instead describe it as a “seasonal desert.”

在玛雅人所生活的尤卡坦半岛上，年降雨量由北向南从18英尺上升至100英尺（457毫米至2540毫米），而且土壤逐渐增厚，因此半岛南部更适于农业生产，并养活了更多的人口。

From north to south in the Yucatan Peninsula, where the Maya lived, rainfall ranges from 18 to 100 inches (457 to 2,540 millimeters) per year, and the soils become thicker, so that the southern peninsula was agriculturally more productive and supported denser populations.

但玛雅人家园的年降雨量具有无法预测的多变性；最近一些年的降雨量要比其他年份多三到四倍。

But rainfall in the Maya homeland is unpredictably variable between years; some recent years have had three or four times more rain than other years.

其结果是，试图在古玛雅人家园种植谷物的现代农民经常要面对作物减产的情况，尤其是在半岛北部。

As a result, modern farmers attempting to grow corn in the ancient Maya homelands have faced frequent crop failures, especially in the north.

古玛雅人可能更具经验且做得更好，但是尽管如此，他们同样必须要面对来自干旱和飓风所导致的谷物欠收的风险。

The ancient Maya were presumably more experienced and did better, but nevertheless they too must have faced risks of crop failures from droughts and hurricanes.

虽然玛雅地区南部比北部的降雨量更多，然而在潮湿的南部地区用水问题反而更加严峻。

Although southern Maya areas received more rainfall than northern areas, problems of water were paradoxically more severe in the wet south.

这一情况使居住在南部的古马雅人的生活变得艰辛，也为现代考古学家带来了难题，他们很难理解为何古代旱情会给潮湿的南方比干燥的北方带来更大的麻烦。

While that made things hard for ancient Maya living in the south, it has also made things hard for modern archaeologists who have difficulty understanding why ancient droughts caused bigger problems in the wet south than in the dry north.

可能的解释是，尤卡坦半岛下方有一片含有地下淡水的区域，但表面高度由北向南逐渐升高，因此，越向南地表就越高于地下水位。

The likely explanation is that an area of underground freshwater underlies the Yucatan Peninsula, but surface elevation increases from north to south, so that as one moves south the land surface lies increasingly higher above the water table.

半岛北部海拔足够低，所以古马雅人可以通过被称为“天然井”的深落水洞或深洞来到达地下水位。

In the northern peninsula the elevation is sufficiently low that the ancient Maya were able to reach the water table at deep sinkholes called cenotes, or at deep caves.

在没有落水洞且海拔较低的北部沿海地区，玛雅人在当时已经能够通过向下掘井一直到75英尺（22米）深的地方来获取地下水。

In low-elevation north coastal areas without sinkholes, the Maya would have been able to get down to the water table by digging wells up to 75 feet (22 meters) deep.

但是南部大部分地区的地表位置高出地下水位太多，以至于天然井和人工井都无法向下到达地下水位。

But much of the south lies too high above the water table for cenotes or wells to reach down to it.

更糟的是，尤卡坦半岛大部分地区由喀斯特地貌（海绵状多孔的石灰岩地形）构成，在这种地形中，雨水会直接渗入地下，几乎没有留下可以利用的地表水。

Making matters worse, most of the Yucatan Peninsula consists of karst, a porous sponge-like limestone terrain where rain runs straight into the ground and where little or no surface water remains available.

那么南部人口稠密的玛雅人是如何应对由此产生的水资源问题的呢？

How did those dense southern Maya populations deal with the resulting water problem?

最初令我们惊讶的是，他们的很多城市并没有修建在河边，而是在起伏高地的较高地形之上。

It initially surprises us that many of their cities were not built next to the rivers but instead on high terrain in rolling uplands.

对此的解释是，玛雅人开凿洼地，或者改造自然洼地，然后通过在洼地底部涂抹灰泥来堵住喀斯特地貌中的裂缝从而建立水库，这些水库从抹上灰泥的大型集水盆地中收集雨水，储存起来以备旱季之用。

The explanation is that the Maya excavated depressions, or modified natural depressions, and then plugged up leaks in the karst by plastering the bottoms of the depressions in order to create reservoirs, which collected rain from large plastered catchment basins and stored it for use in the dry season.

例如，玛雅的蒂卡尔古城的水库贮存了足够的水源，以满足大约一万人18个月的饮水需求。

For example, reservoirs at the Maya city of Tikal held enough water to meet the drinking water needs of about 10,000 people for a period of 18 months.

在科巴城，玛雅人在湖泊周围建造堤坝来提升水位，并且使他们的供水系统更加可靠。

At the city of Coba the Maya built dikes around a lake in order to raise its level and make their water supply more reliable.

但是，如果18个月持续干旱且没有降雨的话，在蒂卡尔和其他城市中靠水库来提供饮水的居民便会深陷困境。

But the inhabitants of Tikal and other cities dependent on reservoirs for drinking water would still have been in deep trouble if 18 months passed without rain in a prolonged drought.

短期的干旱会耗费他们所储备的食物供应，这或许已经让他们麻烦缠身，因为农作物的生长需要雨水而不是来自水库中的水。

A shorter drought in which they exhausted their stored food supplies might already have gotten them in deep trouble, because growing crops required rain rather than reservoirs.

Why does the author call the Mayan homeland both a “seasonal tropical forest” and “seasonal desert”?

Which of the following is NOT mentioned in paragraph 2 as a difference between the northern and southern Yucatan Peninsula?

Which of the following statements about ancient and modern agriculture in the Yucatan Peninsula is supported by paragraph 2?

The phrase “The likely explanation” in the passage refers to the explanation for why

Which of the following statements about the availability of water in the Mayan homeland is supported by paragraph 3?

According to paragraph 3, why was the southern Mayan homeland hard to farm?

Which of the sentences below best expresses the essential information in the highlighted sentence in the passage? Incorrect choices change the meaning in important ways or leave out essential information.

What can be inferred from paragraph 4 about how residents of Tikal met their needs for water and food during most periods of drought?

Look at the four squares  that indicate where the following sentence could be added to the passage. The difference between the two climates challenged the Maya who had to deal with both.  Where would the sentence best fit? Click on a square  to add the sentence to the passage.

Directions: Select from the seven phrases below the phrases that correctly characterize the southern Mayan homeland and the phrases that correctly characterize the northern Mayan homeland. Drag each phrase you select into the appropriate column of the table. Two of the phrases will NOT be used. This question is worth 3 points.

Maya Water Problems To understand the ancient Mayan people who lived in the area that is today southern Mexico and Central America and the ecological difficulties they faced, one must first consider their environment, which we think of as “jungle” or “tropical rainforest.”  This view is inaccurate, and the reason proves to be important.  Properly speaking, tropical rainforests grow in high-rainfall equatorial areas that remain wet or humid all year round. But the Maya homeland lies more than sixteen hundred kilometers from the equator, at latitudes 17 to 22 degrees north, in a habitat termed a “seasonal tropical forest.”  That is, while there does tend to be a rainy season from May to October, there is also a dry season from January through April. If one focuses on the wet months, one calls the Maya homeland a “seasonal tropical forest”; if one focuses on the dry months, one could instead describe it as a “seasonal desert.”  From north to south in the Yucatan Peninsula, where the Maya lived, rainfall ranges from 18 to 100 inches (457 to 2,540 millimeters) per year, and the soils become thicker, so that the southern peninsula was agriculturally more productive and supported denser populations. But rainfall in the Maya homeland is unpredictably variable between years; some recent years have had three or four times more rain than other years. As a result, modern farmers attempting to grow corn in the ancient Maya homelands have faced frequent crop failures, especially in the north. The ancient Maya were presumably more experienced and did better, but nevertheless they too must have faced risks of crop failures from droughts and hurricanes. Although southern Maya areas received more rainfall than northern areas, problems of water were paradoxically more severe in the wet south. While that made things hard for ancient Maya living in the south, it has also made things hard for modern archaeologists who have difficulty understanding why ancient droughts caused bigger problems in the wet south than in the dry north. The likely explanation is that an area of underground freshwater underlies the Yucatan Peninsula, but surface elevation increases from north to south, so that as one moves south the land surface lies increasingly higher above the water table. In the northern peninsula the elevation is sufficiently low that the ancient Maya were able to reach the water table at deep sinkholes called cenotes, or at deep caves. In low-elevation north coastal areas without sinkholes, the Maya would have been able to get down to the water table by digging wells up to 75 feet (22 meters) deep. But much of the south lies too high above the water table for cenotes or wells to reach down to it. Making matters worse, most of the Yucatan Peninsula consists of karst, a porous sponge-like limestone terrain where rain runs straight into the ground and where little or no surface water remains available. How did those dense southern Maya populations deal with the resulting water problem? It initially surprises us that many of their cities were not built next to the rivers but instead on high terrain in rolling uplands. The explanation is that the Maya excavated depressions, or modified natural depressions, and then plugged up leaks in the karst by plastering the bottoms of the depressions in order to create reservoirs, which collected rain from large plastered catchment basins and stored it for use in the dry season. For example, reservoirs at the Maya city of Tikal held enough water to meet the drinking water needs of about 10,000 people for a period of 18 months. At the city of Coba the Maya built dikes around a lake in order to raise its level and make their water supply more reliable. But the inhabitants of Tikal and other cities dependent on reservoirs for drinking water would still have been in deep trouble if 18 months passed without rain in a prolonged drought. A shorter drought in which they exhausted their stored food supplies might already have gotten them in deep trouble, because growing crops required rain rather than reservoirs.