The Mighty Maya

The Maya in central America is one of the world’s (1) __________ well-known ancient civilizations. Its classical period lasted (2) __________ the year A.D. 250 and 900.

Though far from Europe, the Maya civilization had a lot in common (3) __________ Greece and Egypt. Just like the Greeks, the Maya had stone buildings and they (4) __________ gods. They also had many independent cities-state similar to those of ancient Greece. (5) __________ the Egyptians, the Maya built very tall Pyramids. The Maya achieved a lot of things that (6) __________ unique to their civilization. Some of their cities were very large. The city of Tikal had 100,000 to 200,000 people. The Maya also invented things like rubber balls and shoes. They were very (7) __________ at mathematics and astronomy.

The Maya also knew how to (8) __________ fun. They had courts for ceremonial ball games. When adult played, it was quite dangerous. Children played a (9) __________ version for fun. The Maya civilization started to decline after A.D. 900, but we can still visit their old sites and cities. Even after thousands of (10) __________, the Maya achievements are still impressive.