Native American Storytelling

Transcription

1 Reading 1 Read quickly this extract of a legend. Then check ( ) the correct words to complete the sentences. / 0.2 point a. The authors of the myth are the people. ( ) Thunder ( ) Cherokee b. The characters of the myth are. ( ) animals ( ) native Americans Native American Storytelling The Cherokee legend about the origin of the world In the beginning there was no fire, and the world was cold, until the Thunders sent their lightning and put fire into the bottom of a hollow sycamore tree which grew on an island. The animals knew it was there, because they could see the smoke coming out at the top, but they could not get to it on account of the water, so they had a council to decide what to do. Every animal that could fly or swim was anxious to go after the fire. The Raven offered, and because he was so large and strong they thought he could surely do the job, so he was sent first. He flew high and far across the water and alighted on the sycamore tree, but while he was wondering what to do next, the heat had scorched all his feathers black, and he was frightened and came back without the fire. The little Screech Owl volunteered to go, and reached the place safely, but while he was looking down into the hollow tree a blast of hot air came up and nearly burned out his eyes. He managed to fly home, but it was a long time before he could see well, and his eyes are red to this day. Then the Hooting Owl and the Horned Owl went, but by the time they got to the hollow tree the fire was burning so fiercely that the smoke nearly blinded them, and the ashes carried up by the wind made white rings around their eyes. They had to come home again without the fire, but with all their rubbing they were never able to get rid of the white rings. [ ] KROEBER, Karl. Native American Storytelling: A Reader of Myths and Legends. Malden, MA: Blackwell Pub., 2004, p

2 2 Read the legend. Then write YES or NO. /0. 8 point a. According to the legend, there wasn t fire in the beginning of the world. b. The lightning set fire to a tree. This was the origin of fire in the world. c. Five different animals reached the tree. d. All the animals in the world were physically affected by the fire. 3 Read the legend again. Then answer the questions using the words in the box. / 0.8 point island Thunders council smoke a. According to the legend, who sent the lightning to the world? b. How did the animals know there was fire inside the tree? c. Why couldn t the animals get easily to the tree? d. What did the animals do to decide on a strategy to get to the tree? 4 Read the legend once more. Then match the animals with the problems they had and the physical characteristics they acquired in the legend. / 0.4 point a. Raven b Screech Owl a. Anolis01 istockphoto/getty Images / b. Jens_Lambert_Photography /istockphoto/getty Images/ c. Ivkuzmin/Dreamstime.coms / d. Kojihirano/Dreamstime.com c. Hooting Owl d. Horned Owl ( ) These birds almost got blind because of the fire. They got white circles around their eyes. ( ) Hot air from the fire almost burned out the eyes of this bird. Their eyes became red. ( ) The fire burned lightly the feathers of this bird. They became black.

3 Vocabulary 5 Look at the world map. Then name the continents and the oceans. / 0.9 point f a i b c g Antarctica h d e a. b. c. d. e. f. g. h. i. j. 6 Complete the definitions with the words from the box. / 0.8 point ocean land Earth continent vegetation country island tectonic plate a. : one of the very large areas of land on Earth that are usually divided into several countries. b. : plants and trees in a particular area or habitat. c. : one of the large areas of salty water that cover most of the Earth s surface. d. : an area of land that has its own government and official borders. e. : a piece of land that is completely surrounded by water. f. : the part of the Earth s surface that is not the ocean. g. : the planet we live on, considering all the people and countries on it. h. : one of the very large areas into which the Earth s surface broken up and which move against 7 Use the words in Act. 6 to complete the sentences. Use plural when necessary. /0.8 point a. Oceania is the smallest in the world, with 8,112,000 square km. b. The Titanic sank in the middle of the in 1912, after striking an iceberg. c. I don t know how many there are in Central America. d. The vast majority of human activity occurs in areas that support agriculture, habitat, and various natural resources. e. The native in that area of the country is sparse, with very few trees and plants. f. Earthquakes happen when move past one another. g. There are seven continents and five oceans on. h. Visitors need to take a ferryboat to visit that.

4 Monkeybusinessimages/ Dreamstime.com Choreograph/iStockphoto/Getty Images fuchs-photography/istockphoto/ Getty Images ajkkafe/istockphoto/getty Images Grammar 8 Complete the sentences with the past continuous form of the verbs in brackets. / 0.8 point a. Look at this picture! I (learn) to swim! I was three years old. b. Daniel and his brothers (sleep neg.) at the time of the accident. c. What you (do) at 7 p.m. yesterday evening? d. I saw Glenda at the mall last Saturday. She (buy) a new jacket. e. My cousins (go) to the movies tonight, but one of them had to study for a test. f. Carl (study neg.) during the earthquake. He was in the bathroom. g. Katie (ride) her bike at the park this morning? I think I saw her there h. Wow, you got an A in the history test! you (expect) this grade? 9 Why didn t the people in the pictures answer the phone last night? Write the answers. / 0.8 point a. Erick b. Megan d. Caleb c. Emma and Alexis

5 10 Complete the conversations with the simple past or past continuous forms of the verbs in brackets. / 1.2 point 1. Will: What a. your dad (do) when he b. (hurt) his arm? John: He c. (ride) his bike to work. Will: d. he (carry) your little brother? John: No, David e. (be) at home, with my mom. 2. Kayla: Guess what! I f. (see) Tyler and Isabella at the movies last night! Abbie: No kidding! g. they (hold) hands? Kayla: Oh, yeah! And they h. (watch) Love Bonds Us All, a very romantic movie. I i. (see) them buying the tickets. 3. Andrew: j. you (watch) the hockey game yesterday evening? Zach: Not really. I k. (have) a pizza at Gennaro s with my family at the time of the game. I l. (see) part of it on a TV set at the restaurant, but then we m. (leave). Listening 11 Listen to the fable The Ant and the Grasshopper, by Aesop. Check ( ) the statements that are true about it. / 1 point grasshopper Ant

6 a. The Ant and the Grasshopper first met during the winter. ( ) b. The Grasshopper was singing and having fun. ( ) c. The Ant was carrying some leaves to the nest. ( ) d. The Grasshopper invited the Ant to sing with him. ( ) e. The Ant was stocking food for the summer. ( ) f. The Ant accepted the Grasshopper s invitation. ( ) g. The Grasshopper thinks it s important to stock food. ( ) h. In the winter, the Grasshopper didn t have food. ( ) i. The ants have enough food for the winter. ( ) j. The fable is about the importance of preparation for difficult times. ( ) Writing 12 What were the people in your family, your friends and teacher doing when your classes started yesterday morning? Write a paragraph about the activities of five different people. / 1.5 point