8.
阅读理解
Some American Indians grew corn, sunflowers, beans, and pumpkins in
their gardens. To prepare a garden, they first cut down trees. Some Indians put
a dead fish into the hole where they planted the corn in order to provide food
for the corn plant.
The Indians made little progress (进步) during the thousands of years before
the Europeans came. One reason for this was that horses, cows, sheep, pigs, and
chickens were not found in America. Without horses, the Indians had a hard time
digging up the soil, and they could only get animal food by hunting. Another
reason for their lack of progress was that they did not know how to use metals
to make tools. Stones and flat bones do not make good tools.
Indian hunters would sometimes hunt for days without finding anything.
They learned to follow animal tracks (足迹) . They learned to listen. In order to
get close to their prey (猎物), the Indians had to move
quietly. When they were close enough, they could shoot their arrows. Often, the
prey got away.
The Mayas were Indians. They were much more civilized (文明的) than American
Indians. The Mayas were great builders. They knew how to write down their
words, and some of their books still exist.