题文
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).
小题1:The Maya lived better than most people of their times because _____.A．they had skillful workersB．they believed in many godsC．they knew better about natureD．they could measure time correctly小题2:It can be inferred from the passage that _____.A．the calendar was first invented by the ancient MayaB．the ancient Mayan cities and temples were well builtC．the ancient Mayan people led a happy life in the citiesD．the priests were not highly respected by the ancient Maya小题3:The underlined word “they” in the passage refers to _____.A．the Mayan peopleB．the Mayan villagesC．the Mayan citiesD．the lost secrets of the Maya小题4:Which of the following would be the best title for this passage?A．The Life of the MayaB．The Cities of the MayaC．The Mystery of the MayaD．The Belief of the Maya 题型：未知 难度：其他题型
答案
小题1:C
小题2:B
小题3:D
小题4:C
解析
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。
小题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。
小题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。
小题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
小题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。
点评：本文主要介绍神秘的玛雅人。文章所设试题主要考察细节查找，做题关键是找出原文的根据，认真核查题支和原文的异同，常犯错误有：绝对化语言，范围扩大或缩小，以偏概全，张冠李戴等。
考点
据考高分专家说，试题“The Mayan Indians li.....”主要考查你对 [新闻报道类阅读 ]考点的理解。新闻报道类阅读
新闻报道类阅读的概念：
阅读理解的选材明显地呈现出关注实际生活的趋势，这种趋势与当前基础教育改革的目标是一致的，而中学生学习语言的根本目标与基础教育学会求知，学会做事，学会合作，学会做人的目标是一致的，真实新颖的选材对基础英语教学课程改革具有重要的反作用。
新闻报道类阅读理解技巧点拨：
新闻报道类类文章有一共同特点，即都是由标题（Headline）、导语（Lead）、主体（Mainbody）、背景（Background）和结尾（End）五部分构成。标题是新闻报道中心思想高度而又精辟的概括；导语位于新闻报道的首段，高度概括新闻事实；主体则对导语概括的新闻事实进行详细叙述；新闻背景是指新闻事实之外，对新闻事实或新闻事实的某个部分进行解释或补充的材料；结尾往往是新闻事件的结果或动态展望，也是中心思想的概括并常常与新闻导语相呼应。
新闻报道中的导语非常重要，它位于文章的第一段，通过它点出新闻的主题，五个W和一个H(When,Where,Who,What,Why和How)通常是构成一则完整消息不可缺少的要素。文章往往呈现出“倒金字塔”的特征，因此读懂首句或首段至关重要。
另外，从句的使用也是此类文章的一大语言特色，因为从句信息量大，适合新闻报道的要求。此外，大量的副词和插入语的使用也是此类文章的特点。为使文章更客观、更具信服力，常用The study said…, Scientists believe that…Experts said…, It's reported that…, According to the survey…等语言。同事在阅读过程中，我们要对材料所提供信息如when, where, who, how, why等进行提问，将信息迅速提炼出来。
新闻报道类阅读应试策略：
【命题趋势】
阅读理解的选材明显地呈现出关注实际生活的趋势，这种趋势与当前基础教育改革的目标是一致的，而中学生学习语言的根本目标与基础教育学会求知，学会做事，学会合作，学会做人的目标是一致的，真实新颖的选材对基础英语教学课程改革具有重要的反作用。时文报道就在文章中体现了这一要求。主要表现在以下几个方面：
1、反映海内外事件，文章结构严谨，内容贴近生活，用现代英语反映现代生活。
2、如果是新闻报道，都有比较固定的写作格式，如文首通常有报道的地点或时间，第一句话常常是文章的导语，有助于了解文章的大致内容和主题。
3、如果是新闻报道则是记叙文，有地点、时间、人物、事物等要素。
4、有许多大量反映当代社会变化的新词汇和表达方式。
5、命题既重细节，又重推理和主旨。
6、大背景中的小事件，大事件中的小插曲往往是选材的热点。
【应试对策】
1、在平时学习中，关注生活，阅读新闻报道和广告类文章、把阅读时事文章作为学习英语的重要途径。
2、了解新的词汇和表达方式。如：tsunami海啸，MP3players(MP3)播放器，well_offsociety小康社会等。
3、抓住文章主题，准确捕捉细节和内涵，进行合理的推理。
4、品味新闻的标题，联系平时所积累的知识，为了解材料大意作铺垫。
5、了解新闻报道的特殊规律，其内容和多含何人、何地、何事、何时等，阅读时要抓住新闻的这一主要特点去理解判断。
6、要注意文中以黑体、大写、下划线等方式加以提示的文字，因为这很有可能是材料的核心或至少是一部分内容的概括。
