As many as one thousand years ago in the southwest, the Hopi and Zuni Indians of North America were building with adobe-sun-baked brick plastered with mud. Their homes looked remarkably like modern apartement houses. Some were four stories high and contained quarters for perhaps a thousand people, along with storerooms for grain and other goods. These buildings were usually put up against cliffs, both to make construction easier and for defense against enemies. They were really villages in themselves, as later Spanish explorers must have realized since they called them “pueblos” which is Spanish for towns. (Line 5)
The people of the pueblos raised what are called “the three sisters”-corn, beans, and squash. They made excellent pottery and wove marvelous baskets, some so fine that they could hold water. The southwest has always been a dry country. Where water is scarce. The Hopi and Zuni brought water from streams to their fields and gardens through irrigation ditches. Water was so important that it played a major role in their religion. They developed elaborate ceremonies and religious rituals to bring rain. (Line 10)
The way of life of less-settled groups was simpler and more strongly influenced by nature. Small tribes such as the Shoshone and Ute wandered the dry and mountainous lands between the Rocky Montains and the Pacific Ocean. They gathered seeds and hunted small animals such as rabbits and snakes. In the far North the ancertors of today’s Inuit hunted seals, walruses and the great whales. They lived right on the frozen seas in shelters called igloos built of blocks of packed snow. When summer came, they fished for salmon and hunted the lordly caribou. (Line 15)
The Cheyenne, Pawnee, and Sioux tribes, known as the Plains Indian, lived on the grasslands between the Rocky Mountains and the Mississippi River. They hunted bison, commonly called the buffalo. Its meat was the chief food of these tribes, and its hide was used to make their clothing and the covering of their tents and tipis. (Line 20)
1. What does the passage mainly discuss?
(A) The architecture of early American Indian buildings
(B) The movement of America Indians across North American
(C) Ceremonies and rituals of American Indians
(D) The way of life of American Indian tribes in early North America
2. According to the passage, the Hopi and Zuni typically built their homes?
(A) In valleys
(B) Next to streams
(C) On open plains
(D) Against cliffs
3. The word “They” in line 6 refers to?
(A) Goods
(B) Buildings
(C) Cliffs
(D) Enemies
4. It can be inferred from the passage that the dwellings of the Hopi and Zumi were?
(A) Very small
(B) Highly advanced
(C) Difficult to defend
(D) Quickly constructed
5. The author uses the phrase “the three sisters” in line 8 to refer to
(A) Hopi Women
(B) Family Members
(C) Important Crops
(D) Rain Ceremonies
6. The Word “Scare” in line 10 is closet in meaning to
(A) Limited
(B) Hidden
(C) Pure
(D) Necessary
7. Which of the following is true of the Shoshone and Ute?
(A) They were not as settled as the Hopi and Zuni
(B) They hunted caribou
(C) They built their homes with adobe
(D) They did not have many religious ceremonies
8. According to the passage, which of the following tribes lived in the grasslands?
(A) The Shoshone and Ute
(B) The Cheyenne and Sioux
(C) The Hopi and Zuni
(D) The pawnee and Inuit
9. Which of the following animals was most important to the Plains Indians?
(A) The salmon
(B) The caribou
(C) The seal
(D) The buffalo
10. Which of the following is NOT mentioned by the author as a dwelling place of early North Americans?
(A) Log cabins
(B) Adobe houses
(C) Tipis
(D) Igloos
