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    Critical Reading Questions Are Based On The Following Passages

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    Weixuan See
    The passage discusses the representation of Native Americans throughout US history. It notes that Native Americans were often seen as fundamentally different and motivated more by mysticism than intelligence by European thinkers. While some saw Native Americans as "noble savages", they were rarely understood on their own terms due to prevailing biases. The passage argues that Native American cultures must have had internal logic and practical knowledge to survive, despite the reluctance to see their viewpoints as equally valid due to beliefs of Western superiority.

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    Critical Reading Questions Are Based On The Following Passages

    Uploaded by

    Weixuan See
    48 views8 pages
    The passage discusses the representation of Native Americans throughout US history. It notes that Native Americans were often seen as fundamentally different and motivated more by mysticism than intelligence by European thinkers. While some saw Native Americans as "noble savages", they were rarely understood on their own terms due to prevailing biases. The passage argues that Native American cultures must have had internal logic and practical knowledge to survive, despite the reluctance to see their viewpoints as equally valid due to beliefs of Western superiority.

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    Critical Reading

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    Critical Reading

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    The passage discusses the representation of Native Americans throughout US history. It notes that Native Americans were often seen as fundamentally different and motivated more by mysticism than intelligence by European thinkers. While some saw Native Americans as "noble savages", they were rarely understood on their own terms due to prevailing biases. The passage argues that Native American cultures must have had internal logic and practical knowledge to survive, despite the reluctance to see their viewpoints as equally valid due to beliefs of Western superiority.

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    © All Rights Reserved
    Download as DOCX, PDF, TXT or read online from Scribd
    Download as docx, pdf, or txt
    48 views8 pages

    Critical Reading Questions Are Based On The Following Passages

    Uploaded by

    Weixuan See
    The passage discusses the representation of Native Americans throughout US history. It notes that Native Americans were often seen as fundamentally different and motivated more by mysticism than intelligence by European thinkers. While some saw Native Americans as "noble savages", they were rarely understood on their own terms due to prevailing biases. The passage argues that Native American cultures must have had internal logic and practical knowledge to survive, despite the reluctance to see their viewpoints as equally valid due to beliefs of Western superiority.

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    © All Rights Reserved
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    of 8

    Critical Reading

    Questions are based on the following passages.

    Passage 1

    The intelligence of dolphins is well documented by science.


    Studies show that dolphins are able to understand
    sign language, solve puzzles, and use objects in their
    environment as tools. Scientists also believe that dolphins
    possess a sophisticated language: numerous instances have Line5
    been recorded in which dolphins transmitted information
    from one individual to another. A recent experiment proved
    that dolphins can even recognize themselves in a mirror
    something achieved by very few animals. This behavior
    demonstrates that dolphins are aware of their own individuality, Line10
    indicating a level of intelligence that may be
    very near our own.

    Passage 2
    Are dolphins unusually intelligent? Dolphins have
    large brains, but we know that brain size alone does
    not determine either the nature or extent of intelligence. Line15
    Some researchers have suggested that dolphins have big
    brains because they need them for sonar and sound
    processing and for social interactions. Others have argued
    that regardless of brain size, dolphins have an intelligence
    level somewhere between that of a dog and a chimpanzee. Line20
    The fact is, we don't know, and comparisons may not be
    especially helpful. Just as human intelligence is appropriate
    for human needs, dolphin intelligence is right for the
    dolphin's way of life. Until we know more, all we can say
    is that dolphin intelligence is different. Line25

    1. In lines 2-8, the author of Passage 1 mentions activities that suggest dolphins

    A. are unusually sensitive to their environment

    B. do not generally thrive in captivity

    C. have a unique type of intelligence .

    D. are uncommonly playful animals

    E. have skills usually associated with humans


    2. The author of Passage 2 would most likely respond to the last sentence of Passage 1 by

    A. suggesting that intelligence in animals is virtually impossible to measure

    B. observing that intelligence does not mean the same thing for every species

    C. questioning the objectivity of the studies already conducted

    D. noting that dolphin activities do not require a high level of intelligence

    E. arguing that little is actually known about dolphin social behavior

    3. The two passages differ in their views of dolphin intelligence in that Passage 1 states that dolphins

    A. share a sophisticated culture, while Passage 2contends that dolphin intelligence is roughly
    equal to human intelligence

    B. are as intelligent as humans, while Passage 2 notes that dolphins outperform other animals

    C. are more intelligent than most other animals, while Passage 2 points out that dolphins are less
    intelligent than other mammals

    D. are highly intelligent, while Passage 2 suggests that there is not enough evidence to
    understand dolphin intelligence fully

    E. have large brains, while Passage 2 argues that brain size does not signify intelligence

    4. Which generalization about dolphins is supported by both passages?

    A. They display self-awareness.

    B. They are more emotional than other animals.

    C. They learn at a rapid rate.

    D. They have a certain degree of intelligence.

    E. They have shown the ability to use tools.


    Passage 3

    The following passage appeared in an essay written in 1987 in which the author, who is of Native
    American descent, examines the representation of Native Americans during the course of United
    States history.

    In many respects living Native Americans remain as


    mysterious, exotic, and unfathomable to their contempo-
    raries at the end of the twentieth century as they were to the
    Pilgrim settlers over three hundred fifty years ago. Native
    rights, motives, customs, languages, and aspirations are Line5
    misunderstood by Euro-Americans out of a culpable igno-
    rance that is both self-serving and self-righteous. Part of
    the problem may well stem from the long.b standing ten-
    dency of European or Euro-American thinkers to regard
    Native Americans as fundamentally and profoundly Line10
    different, motivated more often by mysticism than by
    ambition, charged more by unfathomable visions than
    by intelligence or introspection.
    This idea is certainly not new. Rousseau's* "noble
    savages" wandered, pure of heart, through a pristine world. Line15
    Since native people were simply assumed to be incompre-
    hensible, they were seldom comprehended. Their societies
    were simply beheld, often through cloudy glasses, and
    rarely probed by the tools of logic and deductive analysis
    automatically reserved for cultures prejudged to be Line20
    "civilized ."And on those occasions when Europeans
    did attempt to formulate an encompassing theory, it was
    not, ordinarily, on a human-being-to-human-being basis,
    but rather through an ancestor-descendant model. Native
    Americans, though obviously contemporary with their Line25
    observers, were somehow regarded as ancient, examples
    of what Stone Age Europeans must have been like.
    It' s a great story, an international crowd pleaser, but
    there is a difficulty: Native Americans were, and are,
    Homo sapiens sapiens. Though often equipped with a Line30
    shovel-shaped incisor tooth, eyes with epicanthic folds,
    or an extra molar cusp, Native American people have had
    to cope, for the last forty thousand years or so, just like
    everyone else. Their cultures have had to make internal
    sense, their medicines have had to work consistently and Line35
    practically, their philosophical explanations have had to be
    reasonably satisfying and dependable, or else the ancestors
    of those now called Native Americans would truly have
    vanished long ago.
    The reluctance in accepting this obvious fact comes Line40
    from the Eurocentric conviction that the West holds a
    monopoly on science, logic, and clear thinking. To
    admit that other, culturally divergent viewpoints are
    equally plausible is to cast doubt on the monolithic
    center of Judeo-Christian belief: that there is but one Line45
    of everything God, right way, truth ---and Europeans
    alone knew what that was. If Native American cultures
    were acknowledged as viable, then European societies
    were something less than an exclusive club. It is little
    wonder, therefore, that Native Americans were perceived Line50
    not so much as they were but as they had to be, from a
    European viewpoint. They dealt in magic, not method.
    They were stuck in their past, not guided by its precedents.
    Such expedient misconception argues strongly for the
    development and dissemination of a more accurate, more Line55
    objective historical account of native peoples a goal
    easier stated than accomplished. Native American societies
    were nonliterate before and during much of.the early period
    of their contact with Europe, making the task of piecing
    together a history particularly demanding. The familiar and Line60
    reassuring kinds of written documentation found in European
    societies of equivalent chronological periods do not exist,
    and the forms of tribal record preservation available oral
    history, tales, mnemonic devices, and religious rituals-
    strike university-trained academics as inexact, unreliable, Line65
    and suspect. Western historians, culture-bound by their
    own approach to knowledge, are apt to declaim that next to
    nothing, save the evidence of archaeology, can be known
    of early Native American life. To them, an absolute void
    is more acceptable and rigorous than an educated guess. Line70
    However, it is na to assume that any culture's history
    is perceived without subjective prejudice. Every modern
    observer, whether he or she was schooled in the traditions
    of the South Pacific or Zaire, of Hanover, New Hampshire,
    or Vienna, Austria, was exposed at an early age to one or Line75
    another form of folklore about Native Americans. For some,
    the very impressions about Native American tribes
    that initially attracted them to the field of American history
    are aspects most firmly rooted in popular myth and stereo-
    type. Serious scholarship about Native American culture and Line80
    history is unique in that it requires an initial, abrupt, and
    wrenching demythologizing. Most students do not start
    from point zero, but from minus zero, and in the process are
    often required to abandon cherished childhood fantasies of
    superheroes or larger-than-life villains. Line85
    * Rousseau was an eighteenth-century French philosopher.

    5. The reference to "the Pilgrim settlers"(lines 3-4) is used to

    A. invite reflection about a less complicated era

    B. suggest the lasting relevance of religious issues

    C. establish a contrast with today's reformers

    D. debunk a myth about early colonial life

    E. draw a parallel to a current condition

    6. In line 12, "charged" most nearly means

    A. commanded

    B. indicated

    C. replenished

    D. inspired

    E. attacked

    7. In line 14, the reference to Rousseau is used to emphasize the

    A. philosophical origins of cultural bias

    B. longevity of certain types of misconceptions

    C. tendency to fear the unknown

    D. diversity among European intellectual traditions

    E. argument that even great thinkers are fallible

    8. The phrase "international crowd pleaser" (line 28) refers to

    A. an anthropological fallacy

    B. an entertaining novelty

    C. a harmless deception

    D. a beneficial error

    E. a cultural revolution
    9. The "difficulty"referred to in line 29 most directly undermines

    A. the ancestor-descendant model used by European observers .

    B. the possibility for consensus in anthropological inquiry

    C. efforts to rid popular culture of false stereotypes

    D. theories based exclusively on logic and deductive reasoning

    E. unfounded beliefs about early European communities

    10. Lines 34-37 ("Their cultures . . . dependable") describe

    A. customs that fuel myths about a society

    B. contradictions that conventional logic cannot resolve

    C. characteristics that are essential to the survival of any people

    D. criteria that Western historians traditionally use to assess cultures

    E. preconditions that must be met before a culture can influence others

    11. The two sentences that begin with "They" in lines 52-53 serve to express the

    A. way one group perceived another

    B. results of the latest research

    C. theories of Native Americans about Europeans

    D. external criticisms that some Native Americans accepted

    E. survival techniques adopted by early human societies

    12. In lines 66-70, the author portrays Western historians as

    A. oblivious to the value of archaeological research

    B. disadvantaged by an overly narrow methodology

    C. excessively impressed by prestigious credentials

    D. well meaning but apt to do more harm than good

    E. anxious to contradict the faulty conclusions of their predecessors

    13. The "educated guess"mentioned in line 70 would most likely be based on

    A. compilations of government population statistics

    B. sources such as oral histories and religious rituals

    C. analyses of ancient building structures by archaeologists


    D. measurements of fossils to determine things such as physical characteristics

    E. studies of artifacts discovered in areas associated with particular tribes

    14. The geographical references in lines 74-75 serve to underscore the

    A. influence Native American culture has had outside the United States

    B. argument that academic training is undergoing increasing homogenization

    C. universality of certain notions about Native American peoples

    D. idea that Native Americans have more in common with other peoples than is acknowledged

    E. unlikelihood that scholars of Native American history will settle their differences

    15. The passage suggests that "Most students" (line 82) need to undergo a process of

    A. rebelliousness

    B. disillusionment

    C. hopelessness

    D. inertia

    E. self-denial

    16. In line 83, "minus zero" refers to the

    A. nature of the preconceptions held by most beginning scholars of Native American culture

    B. quality of scholarship about Native American cultures as currently practiced at most


    universities

    C. reception that progressive scholars of Native American history have received in academia

    D. shortage of written sources available to students of Native American history

    E. challenges that face those seeking grants to conduct original research about Native American
    history

    Passage 4
    Sometimes the meaning of old phrases is self-evident,
    as with to move like greased lightning and a close shave.
    But quite often we are left with language that seems to
    have sprung out of the blue and does not appear to signify
    anything in particular even steven, fit as a fiddle, or to Line5
    paint the town red. Explanations are frequently posited
    but are too often unpersuasive. One popular dictionary, for
    example, suggests that to be joshing might be connected to
    the humorist Josh Billings, but in fact the term was current
    as early as 1845. Josh Billings was unknown outside his Line10
    neighborhood until 1860.

    17. Which of the following phrases would the author he most likely to add to the list in lines 5-6?

    A. To take a chance

    B. To jump for joy

    C. To lend an ear

    D. To talk through your hat

    E. To flareup

    18. The last sentence of the passage primarily serves to

    A. cite a well-known fact

    B. invalidate a theory

    C. make a veiled accusation

    D. note a puzzling incident

    E. explain the origins of a phrase

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