▶ Your Answer : In the reading passage, there is ample support for the author’s claim that there are plausible theories to account for the fall of Maya Empire. However, the professor in the lecture gives several reasons as a rebuttal to the author’s point. First, the professor argues that there is no record of the revolution by lower rank. Since Maya had sustained well-built writing system, there should be specific written remains. Also, revolt could not be spread to entire kingdom as the Maya society was decentralized by respective government. This casts doubt on the reading passage’s claim that the collapse of the civilization was brought about by the peasant, being tired of built massive construction. Next, the professor insists that it is not correspond to the record of reorganizing trade route. Even though Teotihuacan was hub node for its market system, their size and population had been decreased long before the downturn of nation. This counters the reading passage’s assertion that the one of the main reason for Maya to demise is the change to trade course led by diminished hub city, making people unsustainable for basic goods. Finally, the professor contends that it is hard to find the epidemic evidence to explain the Maya disappear. Yellow fever, for example, was brought by spanish conqueror, which is after few centuries. Moreover, the researcher’s are not able to find mass graves to match the date between the collapse of Maya and the mass destruction by such disease. This refutes the reading passage’s suggetion that tropical climate made ideal for parasite to be spread to all around the world, making densely populated region vulnerable to catastrophe.
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