The Classic Mayan Collapse The Classic Mayan civilization, located in the lowlands of present-day southern Mexico and Central America, began a precipitous decline around A.D. 900. The majority of the people abandoned their great urban centers,buildings were no longer kept up, and carved monuments – a hallmark of thecivilization – were no longer created. Various theories about this collapsehave been explored, such as invasion from foreigners, natural disaster,disease, failure of agricultural techniques, and internal revolt, although it is acombination of factors that probably constitutes the ultimate explanation.According to paragraph 1, which of the following indicated the collapse of Mayan civilization around A.D. 900? •A.The Maya stopped carving stone monuments.•B.The Maya no longer explored foreign lands.•C.Most of the Maya moved to urban centers.•D.The Maya adopted foreign agricultural techniques.When one looks at the remains of a city, it is difficult to determine why a building collapsed. Whether caused by natural disaster, natural decay, or structural weakness, the rubble and remains can look very similar. There is no historical record of earthquakes in the central Mayan lowland area at the end of the Classic period, although some evidence suggests that Mayan centers in the southern lowlands experienced earthquakes. Hurricanes can destroy significant quantities of crops and are therefore another possibility; however, the effects of both hurricanes and earthquakes are generally local and not so widespread as to cause the abandonment of the entire lowlands. An ill-timed natural disaster certainly could have compounded other problems brewing in Mayan civilization. What point does the author want to make in paragraph 2 about earthquakes? •A.Earthquakes were the most likely cause for the collapse of ClassicMayan civilization.•B.It cannot be determined from examination of the remains of Mayanbuildings whether or not they were destroyed by earthquakes.•C.The historical records of earthquakes in Mayan lowlands are notaccurate.•D.Many different earthquakes contributed to the abandonment of theentire Mayan lowlands.According to paragraph 2, why is it unlikely that a natural disaster was the only cause of the collapse of Mayan civilization? •A.There were no earthquakes or hurricanes at the end of the Classicperiod.•B.Buildings collapsed as a result of natural decay and structuralweaknesses.•C.Natural disasters did not occur often enough to cause lasting damageto Mayan crops.•D.The effects of natural disasters tend to be limited to areas smaller thanthe area of the Mayan collapse.The word “compounded” in the passage is closest in meaning to •A.outweighed•B.created•C.raised awareness to•D.added toThe possibility of drought throughout the area has also been considered and to date stands as likely contributor to the collapse. Lake Chichancanab, located...
