The heart of Mexico is a high, oval valley surrounded by mountains. Once, forests covered

The heart of Mexico is a high, oval valley surrounded by mountains. Once, forests covered the mountainsides, and broad, shining lakes covered nearly all the valley floor. Now, the mountains are bare and scarred with erosion（侵蚀）, and much of the valley floor is dry and dusty.
Cortez and his Spanish soldiers were the first Europeans to enter this valley. They saw the thriving Aztec city of Tenochtitlan rising from an island in one of the lakes. Surrounding it were green floating gardens. The Spaniards said it was as beautiful as a dream. Then the conquest began.
By 1521, when the Spaniards had conquered the fierce Aztecs, the island city was in ruins. Cortez decided to rebuild it after the pattern of European cities. Using the conquered Aztecs as slave laborers, Cortez built the new city, now Mexico City, in just four years.
“But a generation had scarcely passed after the conquest before a sad change came over these scenes so beautiful,” writes one historian. The broad, shining lakes began to dry up.
Modern historians believe that Cortez began the destruction of the valley’s lakes when be ordered the city rebuilt. A great deal of charcoal was needed to burn the limestone (石灰石) from which cement (水泥) and mortar were made. Wood was needed to finish the interiors of the buildings.
The mountainside forests were destroyed to provide the charcoal and wood. Once the sloped were bare, rainfall o longer seeped (渗漏) slowly into the earth to feed the springs that filled the valley’s lakes. Instead, rainfall poured off the mountainsides the city from floods, later rulers made a cut through the mountains so that the water drained away into another valley. Mexico City, once an island, had become a city of a dry plain.
【小题1】The underlined word “thriving” in the second paragraph means .A．developing successfullyB．increasing C．failingD．growing little【小题2】Which statement does this article lead you to believe?
Keeping nature’s balance is not important any more.
Men thought nature’s resources would last forever.
New forests always automatically replace old ones.
The Aztecs didn’t begin to flourish until Cortez came.
【小题3】Why did later rulers cut through the mountains ?
They wanted to fill the city with rainwater.
They wanted the valleys to flood regularly.
They wanted to plant more trees.
They wanted to protect the city from floods.
【小题4】 One the whole, the article tells about .
Mexico as it looked when it was a European city
Modern historians who write about Mexico City
Mexico city before and after the Spaniards came
The beautiful scenery in Mexico
【小题5】 What is the author’s purpose of writing this article?A．To tell the beauty and ugliness of Mexico City B．To introduce the terrible change of Mexico CityC．To explain how Mexico City changedD．To make people aware of the importance of nature balanceA

(答案→)A 解析：【小题1】本题考查根据上下文猜测特定词语含义的能力。由本段下文 “Surrounding it were green floating gardens. The Spaniards said it was as beautiful as a dream”.可知A为最佳答案。thriving 繁荣的。【小题2】本题考查根据文章相关信息进行正误判断的能力。通读全文可知，由于大肆乱砍乱伐，原来一个美丽的城市变成了干燥的平原，由此可推知保持自然的平衡很重要，A项错误；从故事的结局可知森林一去不复返，所以C错误；D项属事实错误，只有B项符合题意。【小题3】本题考查理解文章细节信息的能力。根据最后一段 “Instead, rainfall poured off the mountainsides the city from floods, later rulers made a cut through the mountains so that the water drained away into another valley.” 可知D为最佳答案。【小题4】本题考查理解文章主旨要义的能力。由文章第一段和文章结尾的一句话 “Mexico City, once an island, had become a city of a dry plain.”可知C为最佳答案。【小题5】本题考查根据文章内容判断作者写作意图能力。本文主要讲述了Mexico City原来一个美丽的城市,而现在却变成了干燥的平原，让人们意识到保护自然平衡的重要性。

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