Question

A Spanish soldier describes Tenochtitlan:

"The great city…has many broad streets, though among these are two or three pre-eminent. All travel by…canoes, as I have said, and without these they could neither leave their houses nor return to them." —Anonymous Spanish soldier
Aztec Civilization by Lois Warburton, Lucent Books, 1995, page 60.

Which of the following does this excerpt imply?

Tenochtitlan is a cramped city.

Tenochtitlan often gets flooded.

Tenochtitlan has water canals throughout the city.

Tenochtitlan has one main street that runs through the city's center.

Answer 1

It's C.

Tenochtitlan has water canals throughout the city.

Answer 2

The excerpt implies that Tenochtitlan has water canals throughout the city.

The soldier describes that there are "broad streets" that are traveled by canoes. Canoes are only used in water, and the fact that he describes broad streets means he is referring to a city. Finally, the soldier describes that canoes are people's transportation in the city, since without them "they could neither leaver their houses nor return to them."

Tenochtitlan was located in Mexico. It was an efficient way in which indigenous people (Aztecs) would raise their crops in chinampas (little islands).