Reading Comprehension Test 53

The following passage is from a 1979 essay by a Native American writer.
An understanding of any national literature depends very much on an awareness of the larger cultural context. Without some knowledge of language, of history, of inflection, of the position of the storyteller within the group, without a hint of the social roles played by males 5 and females in the culture, without a sense of the societys humor or priorities without such knowledge, how can we, as reader or listener, penetrate to the core of meaning in an expression of art? The difficulty of gaining access to the literature of a 10 different culture may be illustrated by an exemplary folktale (in translation) from the Tanaina (Athabaskan) culture of south-central Alaska. It would typically be told to a general audience within the society, including the full range of ages from young children to grandparents; it would be 15 recounted with gesticulation and exaggeration by a performance specialist. It would be expected to have different meanings to the various categories of listeners instructive, entertaining, reinforcing, or all three. Here is a brief version of the story:
Once upon a time there was a porcupine woman who decided to do some hunting on the far side of the river. She went to the bank, where she met a beaver. Hello, she said to him. I need to do some hunting over there. Will you ride me across on your back? 25 Id be glad to, replied the beaver. Hop on. So the porcupine woman climbed on his back, and he started swimming for the other side. When he had almost made it, the porcupine woman said, Oh my! Ive forgotten to bring my sack. Ill need to go back to the other bank and 30 get it. All right, said the beaver, and swam back. He was panting while the porcupine woman went to get her sack. Okay, she said. Lets go. So they started across again. The beaver was swimming much more slowly. When 35 they had practically reached the other side, she said, Oh my! Ive forgotten to bring my needle. Well have to go back and get it. This time the beaver didnt say anything he didnt have enough breath! But he turned around and pulled them 40 back to the shore and nearly passed out while she got her needle
Hurry up, now, the porcupine woman said as she climbed back on his back. He could hardly keep his nose above water, but he had almost made it to the far bank again when she said, Oh my! Ive forgotten my staff. Well have to . . . . Before she had finished her sentence the beaver had flipped over in the water and dragged himself onto the bank, where he lay half dead. The porcupine woman managed to make the shore too, and climbed up onto a bear path. When she had caught her breath, she turned on the beaver and quilled him to death.
The Tanaina live in an environment that could euphemistically be described as difficult. Survival, especially 55 in the wild, is always precarious. Further, they were, in the precontact period, a nonliterate people. Oral communication was therefore the method of cultural transmission, legal understanding, and meaningful communication. It is also necessary to know that a staff, as mentioned in the story, functions as both a walking stick and a weapon, and that in the Tanaina symbol system, porcupines were supposed to be rather ponderous, dull-witted creatures, and beavers were thought to be energetic and industrious but overly spontaneous and erratic. For the reader armed with these data, the story becomes more accessible as a lesson in contract law, with several additional minor themes. A culturally attuned listener would notice, for instance, that when the porcupine woman proposed passage to the beaver, he agreed without any stipulations or clarifications of the terms. He gave a basically open-ended agreement made a contract and hence the porcupine woman was perfectly within her rights both in demanding that he return three times and in quilling him to death when he reneged.
The story is not, however, without its moral for the porcupine women of this world. Her stated aim is to go hunting, and yet she sets out without the three essentials of that endeavor: a sack in which to carry home her game, a needle with which to sew up the intestines, and, most important, an implement with which to hunt and defend herself. True, she had an open-ended contract, but where does she wind up at the conclusion of the story? Sitting, exhausted, quills used up, weaponless, and not only on the wrong side of the river from her home but on a bear path! The hunter is about to become the hunted, and all because of her own improvidence.

The following passage is from a 1979 essay by a Native American writer.
An understanding of any national literature depends very much on an awareness of the larger cultural context. Without some knowledge of language, of history, of inflection, of the position of the storyteller within the group, without a hint of the social roles played by males 5 and females in the culture, without a sense of the societys humor or priorities without such knowledge, how can we, as reader or listener, penetrate to the core of meaning in an expression of art? The difficulty of gaining access to the literature of a 10 different culture may be illustrated by an exemplary folktale (in translation) from the Tanaina (Athabaskan) culture of south-central Alaska. It would typically be told to a general audience within the society, including the full range of ages from young children to grandparents; it would be 15 recounted with gesticulation and exaggeration by a performance specialist. It would be expected to have different meanings to the various categories of listeners instructive, entertaining, reinforcing, or all three. Here is a brief version of the story:
Once upon a time there was a porcupine woman who decided to do some hunting on the far side of the river. She went to the bank, where she met a beaver. Hello, she said to him. I need to do some hunting over there. Will you ride me across on your back? 25 Id be glad to, replied the beaver. Hop on. So the porcupine woman climbed on his back, and he started swimming for the other side. When he had almost made it, the porcupine woman said, Oh my! Ive forgotten to bring my sack. Ill need to go back to the other bank and 30 get it. All right, said the beaver, and swam back. He was panting while the porcupine woman went to get her sack. Okay, she said. Lets go. So they started across again. The beaver was swimming much more slowly. When 35 they had practically reached the other side, she said, Oh my! Ive forgotten to bring my needle. Well have to go back and get it. This time the beaver didnt say anything he didnt have enough breath! But he turned around and pulled them 40 back to the shore and nearly passed out while she got her needle
Hurry up, now, the porcupine woman said as she climbed back on his back. He could hardly keep his nose above water, but he had almost made it to the far bank again when she said, Oh my! Ive forgotten my staff. Well have to . . . . Before she had finished her sentence the beaver had flipped over in the water and dragged himself onto the bank, where he lay half dead. The porcupine woman managed to make the shore too, and climbed up onto a bear path. When she had caught her breath, she turned on the beaver and quilled him to death.
The Tanaina live in an environment that could euphemistically be described as difficult. Survival, especially 55 in the wild, is always precarious. Further, they were, in the precontact period, a nonliterate people. Oral communication was therefore the method of cultural transmission, legal understanding, and meaningful communication. It is also necessary to know that a staff, as mentioned in the story, functions as both a walking stick and a weapon, and that in the Tanaina symbol system, porcupines were supposed to be rather ponderous, dull-witted creatures, and beavers were thought to be energetic and industrious but overly spontaneous and erratic. For the reader armed with these data, the story becomes more accessible as a lesson in contract law, with several additional minor themes. A culturally attuned listener would notice, for instance, that when the porcupine woman proposed passage to the beaver, he agreed without any stipulations or clarifications of the terms. He gave a basically open-ended agreement made a contract and hence the porcupine woman was perfectly within her rights both in demanding that he return three times and in quilling him to death when he reneged.
The story is not, however, without its moral for the porcupine women of this world. Her stated aim is to go hunting, and yet she sets out without the three essentials of that endeavor: a sack in which to carry home her game, a needle with which to sew up the intestines, and, most important, an implement with which to hunt and defend herself. True, she had an open-ended contract, but where does she wind up at the conclusion of the story? Sitting, exhausted, quills used up, weaponless, and not only on the wrong side of the river from her home but on a bear path! The hunter is about to become the hunted, and all because of her own improvidence.

[passage-header]Read the passage given below and answer the question that follows. [/passage-header]1. We often make all things around us the way we want them. Even during our pilgrimages we have begun to look for whatever makes our heart happy, gives comfort to our body and peace to the mind. It is as if external solutions will fulfil our needs, and we do not want to make any special efforts even in our spiritual search. Our mind is resourceful - it works to find shortcuts in simple and easy ways.
2. Even pilgrimages have been converted into tourism opportunities. Instead, we must awaken our conscience and souls and understand the truth. Let us not tamper with our own nature of that of the Supreme.
3. All our cleverness is rendered ineffective when nature does a dance of destruction. Its fury can and will wash away all imperfections. Indian culture, based on Vedic treatises, assists in human evolution, but we are using our entire energy in distorting these traditions according to our convenience instead of making efforts to make ourselves worthy of them.
4. The irony is that humans are not even aware of the complacent attitude they have allowed themselves to sink to. Nature is everyone's Amma and her fierce blows will sooner or later corner us and force us to understand this truth. Earlier, pilgrimages to places of spiritual significance were rituals that were undertaken when people became free from their worldly duties. Even now some seekers take up this pious religious journey as a path to peace and knowledge. Anyone travelling with this attitude feels and travels with only a few essential items that his body can carry. 'Pilgrims traditionally travelled light, on foot, eating light, dried chickpeas and fruits or whatever was available. Pilgrims of olden days did not feel the need to stay in special AC bedrooms, or travel by luxury cars or indulge themselves with delicious food and savouries.
5. Pilgrims traditionally moved ahead, creating a feeling of belonging towards all, conveying a message of brotherhood among all they came across whether in small caves, ashrams or local settlements. They received the blessings and congregations of yogis and mahatmas in return while conducting the dharma of their pilgrimage. A pilgrimage is like penance of sadhana to stay near nature and to experience a feeling of oneness with it, to keep the body healthy and fulfilled with the amount of food, while seeking freedom from attachments and yet remaining happy while staying away from relatives and associates.
6. This is how a pilgrimage should be rather than making it like a picnic by taking a large group along and living in comfort, packing in entertainment, and tampering with the environment. What is worse is giving a boost to the ego of having had a special darshan. Now alms are distributed, charity is done while they brag about their spiritual experience!
7. We must embark on our spiritual journey by first understanding the grace and significance of a pilgrimage and following it up into the ultimate and beautiful medium of spiritual evolution. There is no justification for tampering with nature.
8. A pilgrimage is symbolic of contemplation, meditation, and acceptance, and is a metaphor for the constant growth or movement and love for nature that we should hold in our hearts.
9. This is the truth!

"The Dying Christian to His Soul"

The following passage is from a 1979 essay by a Native American writer.
An understanding of any national literature depends very much on an awareness of the larger cultural context. Without some knowledge of language, of history, of inflection, of the position of the storyteller within the group, without a hint of the social roles played by males 5 and females in the culture, without a sense of the societys humor or priorities without such knowledge, how can we, as reader or listener, penetrate to the core of meaning in an expression of art? The difficulty of gaining access to the literature of a 10 different culture may be illustrated by an exemplary folktale (in translation) from the Tanaina (Athabaskan) culture of south-central Alaska. It would typically be told to a general audience within the society, including the full range of ages from young children to grandparents; it would be 15 recounted with gesticulation and exaggeration by a performance specialist. It would be expected to have different meanings to the various categories of listeners instructive, entertaining, reinforcing, or all three. Here is a brief version of the story:
Once upon a time there was a porcupine woman who decided to do some hunting on the far side of the river. She went to the bank, where she met a beaver. Hello, she said to him. I need to do some hunting over there. Will you ride me across on your back? 25 Id be glad to, replied the beaver. Hop on. So the porcupine woman climbed on his back, and he started swimming for the other side. When he had almost made it, the porcupine woman said, Oh my! Ive forgotten to bring my sack. Ill need to go back to the other bank and 30 get it. All right, said the beaver, and swam back. He was panting while the porcupine woman went to get her sack. Okay, she said. Lets go. So they started across again. The beaver was swimming much more slowly. When 35 they had practically reached the other side, she said, Oh my! Ive forgotten to bring my needle. Well have to go back and get it. This time the beaver didnt say anything he didnt have enough breath! But he turned around and pulled them 40 back to the shore and nearly passed out while she got her needle
Hurry up, now, the porcupine woman said as she climbed back on his back. He could hardly keep his nose above water, but he had almost made it to the far bank again when she said, Oh my! Ive forgotten my staff. Well have to . . . . Before she had finished her sentence the beaver had flipped over in the water and dragged himself onto the bank, where he lay half dead. The porcupine woman managed to make the shore too, and climbed up onto a bear path. When she had caught her breath, she turned on the beaver and quilled him to death.
The Tanaina live in an environment that could euphemistically be described as difficult. Survival, especially 55 in the wild, is always precarious. Further, they were, in the precontact period, a nonliterate people. Oral communication was therefore the method of cultural transmission, legal understanding, and meaningful communication. It is also necessary to know that a staff, as mentioned in the story, functions as both a walking stick and a weapon, and that in the Tanaina symbol system, porcupines were supposed to be rather ponderous, dull-witted creatures, and beavers were thought to be energetic and industrious but overly spontaneous and erratic. For the reader armed with these data, the story becomes more accessible as a lesson in contract law, with several additional minor themes. A culturally attuned listener would notice, for instance, that when the porcupine woman proposed passage to the beaver, he agreed without any stipulations or clarifications of the terms. He gave a basically open-ended agreement made a contract and hence the porcupine woman was perfectly within her rights both in demanding that he return three times and in quilling him to death when he reneged.
The story is not, however, without its moral for the porcupine women of this world. Her stated aim is to go hunting, and yet she sets out without the three essentials of that endeavor: a sack in which to carry home her game, a needle with which to sew up the intestines, and, most important, an implement with which to hunt and defend herself. True, she had an open-ended contract, but where does she wind up at the conclusion of the story? Sitting, exhausted, quills used up, weaponless, and not only on the wrong side of the river from her home but on a bear path! The hunter is about to become the hunted, and all because of her own improvidence.

"The Dying Christian to His Soul"

"The Dying Christian to His Soul"

The following passage is from a 1979 essay by a Native American writer.
An understanding of any national literature depends very much on an awareness of the larger cultural context. Without some knowledge of language, of history, of inflection, of the position of the storyteller within the group, without a hint of the social roles played by males 5 and females in the culture, without a sense of the societys humor or priorities without such knowledge, how can we, as reader or listener, penetrate to the core of meaning in an expression of art? The difficulty of gaining access to the literature of a 10 different culture may be illustrated by an exemplary folktale (in translation) from the Tanaina (Athabaskan) culture of south-central Alaska. It would typically be told to a general audience within the society, including the full range of ages from young children to grandparents; it would be 15 recounted with gesticulation and exaggeration by a performance specialist. It would be expected to have different meanings to the various categories of listeners instructive, entertaining, reinforcing, or all three. Here is a brief version of the story:
Once upon a time there was a porcupine woman who decided to do some hunting on the far side of the river. She went to the bank, where she met a beaver. Hello, she said to him. I need to do some hunting over there. Will you ride me across on your back? 25 Id be glad to, replied the beaver. Hop on. So the porcupine woman climbed on his back, and he started swimming for the other side. When he had almost made it, the porcupine woman said, Oh my! Ive forgotten to bring my sack. Ill need to go back to the other bank and 30 get it. All right, said the beaver, and swam back. He was panting while the porcupine woman went to get her sack. Okay, she said. Lets go. So they started across again. The beaver was swimming much more slowly. When 35 they had practically reached the other side, she said, Oh my! Ive forgotten to bring my needle. Well have to go back and get it. This time the beaver didnt say anything he didnt have enough breath! But he turned around and pulled them 40 back to the shore and nearly passed out while she got her needle
Hurry up, now, the porcupine woman said as she climbed back on his back. He could hardly keep his nose above water, but he had almost made it to the far bank again when she said, Oh my! Ive forgotten my staff. Well have to . . . . Before she had finished her sentence the beaver had flipped over in the water and dragged himself onto the bank, where he lay half dead. The porcupine woman managed to make the shore too, and climbed up onto a bear path. When she had caught her breath, she turned on the beaver and quilled him to death.
The Tanaina live in an environment that could euphemistically be described as difficult. Survival, especially 55 in the wild, is always precarious. Further, they were, in the precontact period, a nonliterate people. Oral communication was therefore the method of cultural transmission, legal understanding, and meaningful communication. It is also necessary to know that a staff, as mentioned in the story, functions as both a walking stick and a weapon, and that in the Tanaina symbol system, porcupines were supposed to be rather ponderous, dull-witted creatures, and beavers were thought to be energetic and industrious but overly spontaneous and erratic. For the reader armed with these data, the story becomes more accessible as a lesson in contract law, with several additional minor themes. A culturally attuned listener would notice, for instance, that when the porcupine woman proposed passage to the beaver, he agreed without any stipulations or clarifications of the terms. He gave a basically open-ended agreement made a contract and hence the porcupine woman was perfectly within her rights both in demanding that he return three times and in quilling him to death when he reneged.
The story is not, however, without its moral for the porcupine women of this world. Her stated aim is to go hunting, and yet she sets out without the three essentials of that endeavor: a sack in which to carry home her game, a needle with which to sew up the intestines, and, most important, an implement with which to hunt and defend herself. True, she had an open-ended contract, but where does she wind up at the conclusion of the story? Sitting, exhausted, quills used up, weaponless, and not only on the wrong side of the river from her home but on a bear path! The hunter is about to become the hunted, and all because of her own improvidence.

The following passage is from a 1979 essay by a Native American writer.
An understanding of any national literature depends very much on an awareness of the larger cultural context. Without some knowledge of language, of history, of inflection, of the position of the storyteller within the group, without a hint of the social roles played by males 5 and females in the culture, without a sense of the societys humor or priorities without such knowledge, how can we, as reader or listener, penetrate to the core of meaning in an expression of art? The difficulty of gaining access to the literature of a 10 different culture may be illustrated by an exemplary folktale (in translation) from the Tanaina (Athabaskan) culture of south-central Alaska. It would typically be told to a general audience within the society, including the full range of ages from young children to grandparents; it would be 15 recounted with gesticulation and exaggeration by a performance specialist. It would be expected to have different meanings to the various categories of listeners instructive, entertaining, reinforcing, or all three. Here is a brief version of the story:
Once upon a time there was a porcupine woman who decided to do some hunting on the far side of the river. She went to the bank, where she met a beaver. Hello, she said to him. I need to do some hunting over there. Will you ride me across on your back? 25 Id be glad to, replied the beaver. Hop on. So the porcupine woman climbed on his back, and he started swimming for the other side. When he had almost made it, the porcupine woman said, Oh my! Ive forgotten to bring my sack. Ill need to go back to the other bank and 30 get it. All right, said the beaver, and swam back. He was panting while the porcupine woman went to get her sack. Okay, she said. Lets go. So they started across again. The beaver was swimming much more slowly. When 35 they had practically reached the other side, she said, Oh my! Ive forgotten to bring my needle. Well have to go back and get it. This time the beaver didnt say anything he didnt have enough breath! But he turned around and pulled them 40 back to the shore and nearly passed out while she got her needle
Hurry up, now, the porcupine woman said as she climbed back on his back. He could hardly keep his nose above water, but he had almost made it to the far bank again when she said, Oh my! Ive forgotten my staff. Well have to . . . . Before she had finished her sentence the beaver had flipped over in the water and dragged himself onto the bank, where he lay half dead. The porcupine woman managed to make the shore too, and climbed up onto a bear path. When she had caught her breath, she turned on the beaver and quilled him to death.
The Tanaina live in an environment that could euphemistically be described as difficult. Survival, especially 55 in the wild, is always precarious. Further, they were, in the precontact period, a nonliterate people. Oral communication was therefore the method of cultural transmission, legal understanding, and meaningful communication. It is also necessary to know that a staff, as mentioned in the story, functions as both a walking stick and a weapon, and that in the Tanaina symbol system, porcupines were supposed to be rather ponderous, dull-witted creatures, and beavers were thought to be energetic and industrious but overly spontaneous and erratic. For the reader armed with these data, the story becomes more accessible as a lesson in contract law, with several additional minor themes. A culturally attuned listener would notice, for instance, that when the porcupine woman proposed passage to the beaver, he agreed without any stipulations or clarifications of the terms. He gave a basically open-ended agreement made a contract and hence the porcupine woman was perfectly within her rights both in demanding that he return three times and in quilling him to death when he reneged.
The story is not, however, without its moral for the porcupine women of this world. Her stated aim is to go hunting, and yet she sets out without the three essentials of that endeavor: a sack in which to carry home her game, a needle with which to sew up the intestines, and, most important, an implement with which to hunt and defend herself. True, she had an open-ended contract, but where does she wind up at the conclusion of the story? Sitting, exhausted, quills used up, weaponless, and not only on the wrong side of the river from her home but on a bear path! The hunter is about to become the hunted, and all because of her own improvidence.

       [A street in London]
Enter LORD MAYOR (Sir Roger Otley) and EARL OF LINCOLN
LINC: My Lord Mayor, you have sundry times
feasted myself, and many courtiers more;
Seldom or never can we be so king
To make requital of your courtesy.
But, leaving this, I hear my cousin Lacy
Is much affected to your daughter Rose.
L. MAYOR: True, My good Lord, and she loves him so well
That I mislike her boldness in the chase.
LINC: Why, my Lord Mayor, think you it then a
shame
To join a Lacy with an Otley's name?
L. MAYOR: Too mean is my poor girl for his high
birth;
Poor citizens must not with courtiers wed,
Who will in silks and gay apparel spend
More in one year than I am worth by far;
Therefore your honour need not doubt my girl.
LINC: Take heed, my Lord, advise you what you do;
A verier unthrift lives not in the world
Than is my cousin; for I'll tell you what,
'Tis now almost a year since he requested
To travel countries for experience;
I furnish'd him with coin, bills of exchange,
Letters of credit, men to wait on him,
Solicited my friends in Italy
Well to respect him; but to see the end:
Scant had he journey'd through half Germany
But all his coin was spent, his men cast off, 
His bills embezzl'd, and my jolly coz,
Asham'd to show his bankrupt presence here,
Became a shoemaker in Wittenberg.
99804A goodly science for a gentleman
Of such descent!78796 Now judge the rest by this:
Suppose your daughter have a thousand pound,
He did consume me more in one half-year:
And make him heir to all the wealth you have,
One twelvemonth's rioting will wast it all.
Then seek, my Lord, some honest citizen
To wed your daughter to.
L.MAYOR: I thank your lordship.
(Aside) 64980Well, fox, I understand your subtlety.
As for your nephew, let your lordship's eye
But watch his actions, and you need not fear,
For I have sent my daughter far enough.
And yet your cousin Rowland might do well
Now he hath learn'd an occupation;
(Aside.) And yet I scorn to call him son-in-law.

LINC: Ay, but I have a better trade for him;
I thank His Grace he hath appointed him
Chief colonel of all those companies
Muster'd in London and the shires about
To serve His Highness in those wars of France.
See where he comes.