READING COMPREHENSION

Read the text below and answer questions

The Navajo Indians live in the northeastern part of the state of Arizona in the United States. The
Navajos have very strong traditions from centuries ago. One of the traditions is sand painting.

There are rocks of many beautiful colors in this part of Arizona. A Navajo sand painter finds rocks of
several different colors. He grinds each rock into sand. Then he is ready to make a sand painting.
He always makes the painting on the floor inside a small Navajo house. He takes some colored sand
in his hand and puts it on the floor in a line. He changes to different colors and slowly makes a
picture. Sand paintings are very important to Navajos. Only a medicine man or a singer can make
them. He knows how because his father and grandfather taught him.

The Navajos use sand paintings as part of their religion. They use them to help sick people. The
singer always makes the picture exactly the same way. He does not make new pictures. He always
makes the ones he learned from his father. Navajos believe that when the picture is finished, the
person's sickness goes into the picture. Then the medicine man erases the picture from
the floor. The picture and the sickness are gone.

Navajos always welcome new ideas. They got sheep, horses, cows, and cloth from the Spanish. They
use the wool from their sheep to make fascinating rugs. In the 1880s they started using some of the
pictures from sand paintings in their rugs. The pictures were similar to the traditional ones, but not
exactly the same. The Indians always changed color or a line. They would not use their religious
pictures without changing them a little.

In the 1930s the Navajos started making sand paintings to sell. They put the painting on a board with
glue, and sold the beautiful pictures to tourists. However, the pictures were always a little different
from their religious pictures.

Most Navajo Indians are poor. They raise sheep, but farming is difficult because the land is very dry.
They have no factories, and it is not easy to find a job. They can earn a lot of money by selling their
sand paintings. They still use sand paintings for their religion. However, the medicine man or singer
never makes paintings to sell. Business and religion are always separate. Some Navajos think that
they should not sell sand paintings because they are part of their religion. Others think that it is a
good way to earn money, and they do not have many ways to earn money. People in other countries
have similar problems. They do not like to use their belief and traditions to earn money, but
sometimes it is necessary.
(Adapted from Concepts and Comments by Patricia Ackert)

Question 1: Which is the most suitable title for the text?

A. An art of painting in the Navajo religion.

B. A significant culture of an ancient tribe.

C. An overview of research on the Navajos.

Question 2: The word fascinating in paragraph 4 is closest in meaning with ______.

A. beautiful

B. amicable

C. brutal

D. inflatable

Question 3: According to paragraph 2, to make the sand used in the painting, what will the painter
do?

A. He will find a colorful rock and grind it into sand.

B. He will pick a rock out of those with different colors and make it into colorful sand.

C. He will go to the beach, get some sand and get ready for the painting.

D. He will mince a rock on the beach into sand.

Question 4: The word they in paragraph 6 refers to _____.

A. rugs

B. religions

C. paintings

D. The Navajos

Question 5: Why most of the Navajos are poor?

A. Because they were born poor.

B. Because they do not have any factories and it is not easy to find a job.

C. Because most of them do the hunting but the land is too dry for plants and animals.

D. Because most of them are conservative about selling products referring to their religion.

Question 6: Which of the following statements are NOT TRUE according to the text?

A. The Navajo sand painter make the sand used in the painting from rocks

B. The Navajos sell the sand painting to earn money in the 1930s

C. Sand paintings are used in curing a sick person by making a picture of sand then wipe it away and
the illness will go immediately.

D. Knowledge about sand paintings is only passed down to the medicine or singer families.

Question 7: Which of the following can be inferred from the text?

B. The sand pictures which are sold to tourists always have some significant features that distinguish
themselves from the original.

C. Some Navajos object to using their religion to make money, they only do that when necessary.

D. The Navajos always welcome new ideas because they have used materials from other countries to
make rugs and even use their primitive picture in it to make those fascinating rugs.

KEYS AND ANSWERS

1 2 3 4 5 6 7
A A B C B D A

Question 1: Đáp án A

Đáp án B sai ở ancient tribe (thực tế bộ tộc Navajos vẫn còn tồn tại)

Đáp án C sai vì bài đọc không nói tổng quan về bộ tộc mà nói về một nét đặc trưng trong văn hóa
Navajos

Đáp án D sai vì đề bài chỉ đề cập đến 1 nét văn hóa nghệ thuật là sand painting, không nói về nhiều nét
văn hóa (cultures)

Question 2: Đáp án A

Fascinating (adj): tuyệt mỹ, hoàn mỹ ~ Beautiful

Amicable (adj): thân mật

Brutal (adj): tàn nhẫn

Inflatable (adj): có thể thổi phồng

Question 3: Đáp án B

Đáp án A sai do viên đá được lấy để mài có màu riêng biệt, sau đó trộn vào tạo thành loại cát nhiều màu
( không phải mài từ một viên đá có nhiều màu )

-> Clue: “A Navajo sand painter finds rocks of several different colors. He grinds each rock into sand”

Đáp án C,D sai so với nội dung bài đọc

Question 4: Đáp án C
Some Navajos think that they should not sell sand paintings because they are part of their religion

-> they là sand paintings

Question 5: Đáp án B

Đáp án A sai do không phải vì họ sinh ra khi nghèo thì sau này họ cũng nghèo

Đáp án C sai do người Navajos chỉ làm nông (farming) không săn bắt (do the hunting)

Đáp án D sai vì người Navajos chỉ không muốn bán sản phẩm văn hóa của họ, không phải là họ bảo
thủ (conservative)

Question 6: Đáp án D

Đáp án D sai do kiến thức về tranh cát bao gồm cả sự hiện diện của tranh cát và cách làm ra chúng,
người Navajos biết về tranh cát và công dụng của chúng nhưng không phải tất cả đều biết cách làm
tranh. Vậy nên kiến thức về cách làm tranh mới là thứ chỉ được truyền lại trong gia đình thầy thuốc
hoặc ca sĩ

Question 7: Đáp án A

Đáp án B sai do các bức tranh được bán chỉ có sự khác biệt nhỏ so với bức tranh gốc (“the pictures
were always a little different from their religious pictures”) không phải sự khác biệt sắc nét
(significant features)

Đáp án C sai do người Navajo không bán tranh khi cần, chỉ có người ở các nước khác làm vậy

Đáp án D sai do người Navajo không bao giờ lấy bức tranh tín ngưỡng gốc (primitive picture) của họ
thêu vào thảm, họ luôn thay đổi nó một chút (“They would not use their religious pictures without
changing them a little”) chứ không dùng hoàn toàn bức tranh gốc