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阅读材料： As early as the twelfth century A.D., the settlements of Chaco Canyon in New Mexico in the American Southwest were notable for their great houses, massive stone buildings that contain hundreds of rooms and often stand three or four stories high. Archaeologists have been trying to determine how the buildings were used. While there is still no universally agreed upon explanation, there are three competing theories. 早在12世纪，美国西南部墨西哥地区查科峡谷的居民就以他们的巨屋而闻名。这种石质材料建成的巨屋包好有数百个房间，而且通常有三到四层高。很多考古学家都试图解释这些建筑的用途。尽管业界尚未达成一致，但现在有三个比较有竞争力的理论。 One theory holds that the Chaco structures were purely residential, with each housing hundreds of people. Supporters of this theory have interpreted Chaco great houses as earlier versions of the architecture seen in more recent Southwest societies. In particular, the Chaco houses appear strikingly similar to the large, well-known apartment buildings at Taos, New Mexico, in which many people have been living for centuries. 一个理论认为这些巨屋是单纯用来居住的，每个可以容纳数百人。持有这种理论的人解释说查科巨屋同时间较近的一些西南族群早期建筑的雏形。尤其值得一提的是，查科的这些建筑同新墨西哥陶斯镇著名的寓所式建筑非常相似。这些寓所式建筑供很多人居住了数个世纪。 | 
