Around 2,500 years ago, Amerindian peoples began to live in settled communities in what is now the southwestern United States, growingmaize—a cropuniqueto the New World—together withsquashand, later, beans. These cultures developedadvancedtechnologies that allowed them tomanipulatetheir environment andthrivein itsaridconditions, thoughultimatelyenvironmentalfactors may also have led to their disappearance.

One of these cultures, the Hohokam, practiced irrigation-basedagriculture. Knowledge of Hohokamirrigationsystems is based onarchaeologicalremains found in southern Arizona as well as on extrapolation from technologies currently in use. Because the land wasdesertwith less than 10 inches ofrainfalla year,agriculturerequired catchment dams,irrigationcanals, and waterconservation. Between A.D. 300 and 900, the Hohokam manipulated thearidenvironment by building large canals, some as wide as 30 feetacross, 7 feet deep, and 8 miles long, that couldfertilizeas many as 8,000 acres at a time with water from the Salt and Gila river systems. The Hohokam could grow crops and store themthroughoutthe year, producing acontinualsupplyof food. Anenvironmentalconsequenceof irrigatedagriculture, however, is that water from the rivers leaches out salts, drawing them up from the subsoil and leaving salinated (salty) topsoils. Just as the Mesopotamian settlements of the Near East were abandoned owing tosalinizationof the land, the Hohokam may have been forced toabandontheir villages. Alternatively, they may have remained, evolving and adapting to changed conditions. By the time the Spanish arrived in theregionin the sixteenthcentury, they met Amerindians called Akimel O’odham, who were still practicing a form ofirrigation, but not on theenormousscaledeveloped by the Hohokam. Other explanations for the disappearance of Hohokamcultureinclude flooding,drought, earthquakes, anddeforestation.

Asecondgroup of southwestern peoples, the Anasazi, also developedadvancedtechnologies for manipulating their environment. They constructed large multistoriedcommunalhouses in villages, or pueblos,alongthe edges of a river in the bottom of New Mexico’s ChacoCanyonwhere they planted crops. The communities consisted of many small villages with larger central cities containing four-story apartments and ramrod-straight roads that linked ChacoCanyonwith other communities in the Southwest.

One Anasazipueblo, Mesa Verde, illustrates the sophistication with which these peoples transformed their environment. Mesa Verde issituated7,000 to 8,000 feet above sealevelon avastforestedplateauinto whicherosionhas cutnumeroussteep- walled canyons. Mesa Verdecultureandagriculturedevelopedgraduallyover time. The people of the earliestculture, from around A.D 500 to 750, were basket weavers who livedundergroundinpithouses. Around A.D 750 to 1100, they addedceremonialchambers called kivas and began building houses above ground out of bricks. Between A.D 1100 and 1300, they reached thepeakof theircomplexculture, building laddersascendingto thecliffareas as well as pathways descending to agricultural fields in the valleys. Thevastagricultural network covered some 80squaremiles ofdevelopment, supportingnumerouspueblos located about 1,800 to 2,000 feet above the river.

Not only did the Anasazi build roads and pueblos, they also put their understanding ofastronomytopracticaluse. Inparticular, the Anasazi attained theabilitytopredicttheadventof growing and harvesting seasons based on arrival of solstices (longest and shortest days) around June 21 and December 21 and equinoxes (days withequalperiods of light and darkness) aroundMarch21 and September 23. They did so by building an observatory on Fajada Butte in ChacoCanyon, a stone-slab structure assembled so that on solstices and equinoxes, a sliver of sunlight entered between two stones and fell on a petroglyph (animagecarved onto a rock) in acharacteristicway. With this knowledge they gained ameasureof control over the hazards of anaridenvironment.

The Anasazi disappeared from their homeland at the height of their culturaldevelopmentaround the end of the thirteenthcentury. Deforestation, social disruption， and the onset of an 11-yeardroughtaround A.D. 1280 (as evidenced by the narrowness of tree-ring growth) may have been factorsleadingto the abandonment of the pueblos.

Questions:
question_stem: 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.
choices: tag: A
text: The advanced technologies developed by these cultures to cope with the desert environment have since disappeared.

tag: B
text: These cultures came up with sophisticated ways of adapting to their environments, especially the arid conditions of the desert.

tag: C
text: Although these cultures became skilled at controlling their arid environment, environmental conditions may have caused their disappearance.

tag: D
text: Because environmental conditions were so difficult, these cultures eventually abandoned the desert.
answer_key: C
explanation: 分析高亮句主干：(1)technologies allowed them to manipulate their environment and thrive in its arid conditions，(2)environmental factors led to disappearance，两点信息用 though“尽管”转折逻辑衔接。C 选项保留了原文的转折逻辑和两点信息，故选 C。A 主干讨论 technologies have disappeared，未提及；B 缺失（2）信息；D 因果逻辑未提及。

question_stem: Why does the author mention that “Mesopotamian settlements of the Near East were abandoned owing to salinization of the land”?
choices: tag: A
text: To provide a historical analogy that supports a hypothesis about the abandonment of Hohokam villages

tag: B
text: To contrast the problems caused by Hohokam irrigation with problems in another early culture that used irrigation

tag: C
text: To imply that wherever it is found, the salinization of soil makes an area uninhabitable

tag: D
text: To suggest that the fate of the Hohokam villages may help us understand similar events in ancient Mesopotamia
answer_key: A
explanation: 题干提问“作者为什么提及 Mesopotamian settlements of the Near East were abandoned owing to salinization of the land”，定位原文 Just as the Mesopotamian settlements of the Near East were abandoned owing to salinization of the land, the Hohokam may have been forced to abandon their villages.由 Just as“正如”的类比关系得知，Hohokam abandoned their villages 与 Mesopotamian settlements abandoned 的原因相同，故选 A。BCD 不能与中心论点对应。

question_stem: Paragraph 2 suggests which of the following about the Akimel O'odham culture?
choices: tag: A
text: The Akimel O'odham culture created more extensive irrigation systems than the Hohokam culture did.

tag: B
text: The Akimel O'odham culture may have evolved from the Hohokam culture as a result of the new conditions that existed after A.D. 900.

tag: C
text: The Akimel O'odham culture probably destroyed the Hohokam culture at about the time the Spanish arrived in the southwest.

tag: D
text: The Akimel O'odham culture was not as environmentally conservative as the Hohokam culture was.
answer_key: B
explanation: 题干提问“Akimel O'odham culture”，定位 By the time the Spanish arrived in the region in the sixteenth century, they met Amerindians called Akimel O’odham, who were still practicing a form of irrigation, but not on the enormous scale developed by the Hohokam. 得知 Akimel O'odham 仍然延续着 Hohokam 的灌溉体系，只不过没有 Hohokam 规模大。由 still 可理解为“延续前人行为”，对应 B 的 evolved from，故选 B。A 的 more extensive 与原文 not on the enormous scale 说反，C 的 destroyed the Hohokam culture、D 的 not as environmentally conservative 均未提及。

question_stem: Which of the following questions about Anasazi culture is answered in paragraph 3?
choices: tag: A
text: Why did the Anasazi culture need roads connecting its communities?

tag: B
text: Did the Anasazi and Hohokam cultures have contact with each other?

tag: C
text: Why was the irrigation agriculture of the Anasazi culture superior to that of the Hohokam?

tag: D
text: What was the physical organization of Anasazi culture?
answer_key: D
explanation: 题干提问“第3段能回答选项中有关 Anasazi culture 的哪个问题”，建议先看完四个选项，再逐一对应文本。定位第3段最后一句 The communities consisted of many small villages with larger central cities containing four-story apartments and ramrod-straight roads that linked Chaco Canyon with other communities in the Southwest.回答 D 的实体组织，故选 D。

question_stem: The word "sophistication" in the passage is closest in meaning to
choices: tag: A
text: expertise

tag: B
text: purpose

tag: C
text: success

tag: D
text: technology
answer_key: A
explanation: sophistication n.世故；复杂巧妙；高水平。文中取“高水平”之意，与 expertise 同义，故选 A。

question_stem: In paragraph 4, which of the following is NOT mentioned as a significant change in Mesa Verde culture after A.D. 750?
choices: tag: A
text: The construction of specialized building types

tag: B
text: The expansion of settlement to the neighboring cliffs

tag: C
text: The use of new construction materials

tag: D
text: The development of trade in handmade objects
answer_key: D
explanation: 题干提问“公元750年以后，以下哪一个选项不是 Mesa Verde 文化中的重要改变”，建议先看完四个选项，再逐一对应文本。根据 A.D. 750定位第4段第5句，they added ceremonial chambers called kivas 对应 A，began building houses above ground out of bricks 对应 C，building ladders ascending to the cliff areas 对应 B。D 未提及，故选 D。

question_stem: According to paragraph 5, why was knowledge of astronomy important to the Anasazi?
choices: tag: A
text: It helped them decide on the best location for roads and pueblos.

tag: B
text: It allowed them to predict the long periods of drought.

tag: C
text: It helped them determine when to plant and harvest crops.

tag: D
text: It inspired them to create stone structures and rock carvings.
answer_key: C
explanation: 题干提问“为什么天文学知识对 Anasazi 重要”，对应第5段第1句 put their understanding of astronomy to practical use 表明将天文学知识应用于实践，第2句 predict the advent of growing and harvesting seasons 得知利用天文学预测耕种、丰收的时节，故选 C。ABD 未提及。

question_stem: The word “hazards”in the passage is closest in meaning to
choices: tag: A
text: resources

tag: B
text: precipitation

tag: C
text: changes

tag: D
text: risks
answer_key: D
explanation: hazard （1）n. 危险，危害；（2）v. 冒失地提出；使处于危险。文中取 n.“危险”之意，与 risk 同义，故选 D。