The Mayan（玛雅的）Indians lived in Mexico for thousands of years before the Spanish arrived in the 1500s. The Mayan achievements were many. They had farms, beautiful palaces, and cities with many buildings. The Mayan people knew a lot about nature and the world around them. This knowledge helped them to live a better life than most people of that time, because they could use it to make their lives more comfortable and rewarding（值得的）. Knowledge about tools and farming, for example, made their work easier and more productive. The Maya believed in many gods, including rain gods, sun gods, and corn gods. The people built large temples to honor the Mayan gods. Skillful workers built cities around these temples. It was difficult for them to build these cities, because they had no horses to carry the heavy stone they used to build with. Workers had to carry all of the building materials themselves. Today, many of these ancient Mayan cities and temples are still standing. Although the cities that the Maya built were beautiful, and the people worked hard to build them, very few of the people lived in them. Usually, only the priests（牧师）lived in the cities. The other people lived in small villages in the forests. Their houses were much simpler than the elaborate buildings in the cities. They lived in small huts（小屋）with no windows. The walls were made of poles covered with dried mud, and the roof was made of grass or leaves. Most Maya lived a simple life close to nature. The Mayan priests studied the Sun, the Moon, stars, and planets. They made a calendar from what they learned. The year was divided into 18 months of 20 days each with five days left over. The Mayan calendar was far more exact than the European calendars of the time. Around the year 800, the Maya left their villages and beautiful cities, never to return. No one knows why this happened. They may have died from some disease. They may have left because the soil could no longer grow crops. Archaeologists（考古学家）are still trying to find the lost secrets of the Maya. 小题1:What does the underlined word “elaborate’’ mean?
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