There are pyramids in the ancient Maya cities. TUCHONG
Deep in the jungle, the Maya built an empire. And now, scientists are unlocking more secrets about this ancient civilization with the discovery of 417 cities dating back to 2,000 years ago, said The Washington Post.
在丛林深处，玛雅人建造了自己的帝国。据华盛顿邮报报道，近日，科学家发现了417座两千年以前的玛雅城市遗址，进一步解开了玛雅古文明被埋藏的秘密。
The cities were found to be connected by 110 miles (177 kilometers) of “highways” in May, which consisted of the “world’s first-ever extensive system of highways”. The “highways”, as Reuters reported, were spacious roadways made in stone.
据路透社报道，今年5月科学家发现的这座城市遗址由长达177公里、由石头建造而成的“高速公路”连接，组成了“世界上首个巨大的高速公路系统”。
Plus, scientists also found pyramids, ball game courts and water engineering, including dams and irrigation canals.
另外，科学家还在该遗址发现了金字塔和球场，以及大坝、灌溉渠等水利工程。
The Maya civilization was “far more advanced than we thought”, noted The Washington Post.
华盛顿邮报称，玛雅文明“远比我们想象的更超前”。
As one of the greatest civilizations of the Western Hemisphere, the Maya first established settlements around 1,800 BC. Their empire spanned parts of Mexico and several countries in Central America, noted the website History Channel.
作为西半球最伟大的文明之一，玛雅人在公元前1800年左右就第一次建立定居村落。据历史频道网站记录，玛雅帝国版图囊括了现墨西哥部分国土以及中美洲的几个国家。
People long believed that the Maya were still just hunter-gatherers. But the new findings showed that they were already busy creating cities in world history at the time, CNN reported.
长期以来，研究者认为玛雅人是游猎采集部落。但据美国有线电视新闻网报道，新的发现表明，玛雅人已经创造了世界历史上的城市。
They did all this in a jungle environment, which is rare and impressive. They had to clear rainforest areas to farm and built large underground reservoirs to store rainwater.
在丛林环境中建造文明，是非常罕见的壮举。因为这需要在雨林地区清理出耕地，并建造大型地下水库来储存雨水。
However, by 900 BC, many Maya cities were abandoned, calling an end to the empire. Scientists still don’t know why. With new forms of technology, maybe this mystery and others could be uncovered, telling us even more about this fascinating civilization.
然而，及至公元前900年，许多玛雅城市被遗弃，玛雅帝国逐渐衰落。科学家们至今仍不知道原因。但随着科技的发展，也许这些谜团很快就会被逐一揭开，从而让我们深入了解神秘的玛雅文化。
以上文章内容选自《21世纪英文报》高一912期
