▶ Your Answer :
The reading passage contends that there are
several plausible theories which elucidate why the Maya Empire collapsed. On
the other hand, the lecturer brings up several points that contradict this argument.
First, the speaker points out that there’s
no evidence of a revolution as to the Maya Empire. Because the Maya Empire is
highly sophisticated, there have to be some records if any revolts happened. However,
there’s no clear trace related to them. Furthermore, as Maya society was well-decentralized
with multiple governments, some turmoils in a group could not be spread to others.
Therefore, it refutes the reading passage’s assertion that social turmoil in
the form of a peasant revolt caused the downfall of Maya society.
Second, the professor claims that the
destruction of Teotihuacan could not be responsible for a breakdown of Maya
society. It is true that Teotihuacan played a significant role as a trade hub in
Maya-controlled territory. However, the destruction of Teotihuacan happened in the sixth century,
while the collapse of the Maya Empire was on the twelfth century. This indicates that residents
in the Maya Empire might already supplant the previous trade routes with new ones.
Hence, the second argument of the author that a sudden change to the trading
routes of the region like the devastation of Teotihuacan does not make sense.
The last logical basis of the lecturer is
that there are no links between an epidemic and the collapse of the Maya
Empire. There was a severe epidemic in the section of the Maya Empire on the sixteenth century, which
was preceded by the Maya collapse. Moreover, there are no records that many
people died from a epidemic like yellow fever or malaria at that time. This weakens
the assertion of the reading passage that an epidemic might be the cause of the
Maya Empire collapse.
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