托福阅读笔记。说到托福阅读备考，TPO是必不可少的备考神器，通过TPO练习来更好的适应阅读考试的节奏。本文小编带来的是TPO14 Maya Water Problems的学习笔记，希望能够与正在备考的大家一起进步。
TPO14 Maya Water Problems
文章题材：自然学科——玛雅的水问题
文章结构：本文介绍玛雅的水问题。古玛雅人生活的季节性热带雨林分旱季和雨季，降水分布极不均匀，因此他们的农业生产面临重重困难。北部的玛雅人可能是通过天然井、洞穴或者人工挖井取水，南部的玛雅人通过挖掘或改造低地建造蓄水池的方法积累饮用水。
第一段：介绍玛雅人生活的生态环境，季节性热带雨林的旱季和雨季差别很大。
第二段：降水对农业的影响，因为从北向南降水量增加，所以南部农业更发达，但是降水量变幻莫测。
第三段：介绍了解决这种问题的方法，北部利用地下水资源。
第四段：南部利用蓄水池来储备水源，但是仅靠蓄水池供水不足以抵挡长期干旱。
常见词汇：
Ecological 生态的;生态学的
Tropical 热带的
Equatorial 赤道的;近赤道的
Peninsula 半岛
Presumably 大概;推测起来
Hurricane 飓风;暴风
Paradoxically 矛盾地;反常地
Sinkhole 排水口;污水池
Elevation 提高;提升;海拔
Porous 多空的;能渗透的
Excavate 挖掘;开凿
Reservoir 水库;蓄水池
Plastered 涂得厚厚的;涂以灰泥
Exhausted 耗尽的;疲惫的
易错题解析：
Paragraph 1: 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."
1. Why does the author call the Mayan homeland both a “seasonal tropical forest” and "seasonal desert”?
○To illustrate how the climate of the Mayan homeland varied from region to region
○To explain how the climate of the Mayan homeland is similar to that of a jungle or tropical rainforest
○To emphasize the vast size of the area that comprised the Mayan homeland in ancient times
○To make the point that the Mayan homeland is climatically more complex than is generally assumed
题型：事实信息题。答案是(D)
解析：本题为事实信息题，但是看似修辞目的题。题干关键词为“seasonal tropical forest” and "seasonal desert”，回归原文定位在最后一句，而前一句话T说的是出现seasonal tropical forest” and "seasonal desert”的具体原因。That is表明这句话又是对前面信息的说明，往前追根溯源发现“one must first consider their environment, which we think of as "jungle" or "tropical rainforest." This view is inaccurate,”，也就是一般人们认为古玛雅地区的气候特点是"jungle" or "tropical rainforest."。本题的具体信息只是在反驳此看法，旨在说古玛雅的气候特点更复杂。所以答案选D。
易错选项：(B)。
Paragraph 4: 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.
8. 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.
○Southern Maya populations obtained the water they needed for the dry season by collecting and storing rainwater in sealed depressions.
○The Maya are credited with creating methods for modifying natural rainwater and storing it.
○Leaks in the karst caused difficulties in the creation of reservoirs, which were needed to store water for the dry season.
○Southern Mayans were more successful at collecting rain than storing it during dry seasons.
题型：句子简化题。答案是(A)
解析：原句主语为the explanation，is后为表语从句，其实质是主语补足语。因此原句的主要意思为表语从句部分，这个句子的主干是the Maya excavated depressions, or modified natural depressions, and then plugged up leaks。By plastering the bottoms of the depressions是方式状语;in order to create reservoirs为目的状语;which collected rain from large plastered catchment basins and stored it for use in the dry season为定语从句，修饰reservoirs。整句话的主要意思是“玛雅人开凿低地或者改造自然的低地，然后用石膏来堵住水蚀石灰岩的的漏口使之形成水库来收集雨水以备旱季之用”。
这个句子主要说的就是南方的玛雅人获取水的方式，所以答案是A，本选项概括了原句的意思。
易错选项：(C)。
以上就是小编带来的托福阅读笔记之TPO14 Maya Water Problems，希望能够和备考的大家一起学习。更多托福考试资讯请关注前程百利。
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