Chapter 14 Practice Test 4 With Answers - Mcgraw-Hill'S Psat/nmsqt Page 18
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45490
M
GRAW-HILL’S PSAT/NMSQT
C
pyramids. They have been burnt on pyres, and
Many primitive tribes even today simply run
the ashes have been preserved in urns or have
away from their dead, leaving them to rot.
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been scattered to
the winds. They have even
Zoroastrians similarly allow their dead to
been exposed to be eaten by carrion birds or by
simply rot or be devoured by vultures. They
scavenging wild animals—not because they
75
consider fire to
be too sacred to be put to use
were held in honor, but because earth, fire, and
disposing of the dead, and burial is thought to
water were held in still greater honor, and these
be a defilement and injury to mother earth.
Æ
30
elements were thought
to be defiled and
Others place the body deep in the jungle to
z
3
dishonored by contact with a human corpse.
be devoured by wild beasts. In Tibet and among
But, however diverse man’s funerary rites have
80
the Kamchatkan
Indians, dogs are used for this
been, they have all had a common signification.
purpose because they believe that those eaten
They have signified that a human being has a
by dogs will be better off in the other world.
35
dignity in virtue of
his being human; that his
Herodotus tells us that the Calatians ate
dignity survives his death.
their own dead. It was considered a sacred
In our present-day society, this attitude of
85
honor and duty of the family.
Queen Artemisia
reverence towards the dead, and this feeling of
supposedly mixed the ashes of her beloved with
obligation to give them “decent burial,” are as
wine and drank it. To this day, certain African
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lively and as
compelling as ever, even among
tribes are known to grind the bones of their
present-day people who believe, with their
dead and mingle them with their food.
minds, that the idea of human dignity is an
90
The Zulus burn all of the
belongings of the
illusion and that, in terms of value, a human
deceased to prevent the evil spirits from even
being is on par with any non-human living
hovering in the vicinity. Some tribes would set
45
creature and indeed
with any other natural
up a ring of fire around the bodies of their dead
phenomenon, animate or inanimate. In
to singe the wings of the spirits and prevent
95
practice, people who believe this still pay
them from attacking other
members of the
reverence to the dead, even though this
community. Other tribes would throw spears
behavior of theirs may be in conflict with their
and arrows into the air to kill hovering spirits or
50
beliefs and even their
principles.
would eat bitter herbs to drive away or kill
spirits that may have already invaded their
100
bodies.
B
The phrase “for all that we know” (line 8)
37
Passage 2
suggests a limited knowledge about
Primitive man lived in a world of fear. He
reacted to most natural phenomena such as
(A) the death rites of particular cultures
weather events based on that fear.
(B) what geographical region Neanderthals
He eventually attributed many life events to
came from
55
his instinctive
knowledge of a higher being or
(C) whether Neanderthals differed from
power. In his primitive mind, life and death
homo sapiens
events were the acts of spirits. Since he was not
(D) the relative age of Neanderthals and
able to see or sense these spirits, he lived in a
homo sapiens
world of terror.
(E) whether all current races belong to the
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In an effort to enact
some type of truce with
species homo sapiens
these “gods” or “spirits,” man devised charms,
ceremonies and rituals to placate these spirits.
Although we may find ancient burial
B
In line 29, the phrase “held in” most nearly
38
customs to be strange or in some cases
means
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repugnant, they obviously
arose for a reason.
(A) inclined to
The first burial customs, then, were crude
(B) devoid of
efforts to protect the living from the spirits
(C) denied
which caused the death of the person. Fear of
(D) imprisoned by
the dead caused the burning of bodies to
(E) regarded with
70
destroy evil
spirits.
Passage 1: Man’s Concern with Death, Arnold Toynbee. #1968
McGraw-Hill
Passage 2:
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