LUYỆN TẬP SHORT – ANSWER SKILLS FOR READING
Pratice 1
Our Vanishing Night
” Most city skies have become virtually empty of stars “
A. If humans were truly at home under the light of the moon and stars,
it would make no difference to us whether we were out and about at
night or during the day, the midnight world as visible to us as it is to
the vast number of nocturnal species on this planet. Instead, we are
diurnal creatures, meaning our eyes are adapted to living in the sun’s
light. This is a basic evolutionary fact, even though most of us don’t
think of ourselves as diurnal beings any more th`an as primates or
mammals or Earthlings. Yet it’s the only way to explain what we’ve
done to the night: we’ve engineered it to meet our needs by filling it
with light.
B. This kind of engineering is no different from damming a river. Its
benefits come with consequences – called light pollution – whose
effects scientists are only now beginning to study. Light pollution is
largely the result of bad lighting design, which allows artificial light to
shine outward and upward into the sky, where it is not wanted, instead
of focusing it downward, where it is. Wherever human light spills into
the natural world, some aspect of life – migration, reproduction,
feeding – is affected. For most of human history, the phrase “light
pollution” would have made no sense. Imagine walking toward
London on a moonlit night around 1800, when it was one of Earth’s
most populous cities. Nearly a million people lived there, making do,
as they always had, with candles and lanterns. There would be no
gaslights in the streets or squares for another seven years.
Questions 1-4
Using NO MORE THAN FIVE WORDS, answer the following
questions.
Write your answers in boxes 1-4 on your answer sheet.
1. What are humans referred to as?
2. What have humans done to the night?
3. What resulted in light pollution?
4. What are the factors impacted by human lights?
Practice 2
Zulu Beadwork
The South African province of KwaZulu-Natal, more commonly referred
to as the Zulu Kingdom, is named after the Zulu people who have
inhabited the area since the late 1400s. KwaZulu translates to mean
“Place of Heaven.” “Natal” was the name the Portuguese explorers gave
this region when they arrived in 1497. At that time, only a few Zulu
clans occupied the area. By the late 1700s, the AmaZulu clan, meaning
“People of Heaven,” constituted a significant nation. Today the Zulu
clan represents the largest ethnic group in South Africa, with at least 11
million people in the kingdom. The Zulu people are known around the
world for their elaborate glass beadwork, which they wear not only in
their traditional costumes but as part of their everyday apparel. It is
possible to learn much about the culture of the Zulu clan through their
beadwork.
The glass bead trade in the province of KwaZulu-Natal is believed to be
a fairly recent industry. In 1824, an Englishman named Henry Francis
Fynn brought glass beads to the region to sell to the African people.
Though the British are not considered the first to introduce glass beads,
they were a main source through which the Zulu people could access the
merchandise they needed. Glass beads had already been manufactured
by the Egyptians centuries earlier around the same time when glass was
discovered. Some research points to the idea that Egyptians tried to fool
South Africans with glass by passing it off as jewels similar in value to
gold or ivory. Phoenician mariners brought cargoes of these beads to
Africa along with other wares. Before the Europeans arrived, many Arab
traders brought glass beads down to the southern countries via
camelback. During colonization’, the Europeans facilitated and
monopolized the glass bead market, and the Zulu nation became even
more closely tied to this art form.
The Zulu people were not fooled into believing that glass beads were
precious stones but, rather, used the beads to establish certain codes and
rituals in their society. In the African tradition, kings were known to
wear beaded regalia so heavy that they required the help of attendants to
get out of their thrones. Zulu beadwork is involved in every realm of
society, from religion and politics to family and marriage. Among the
Zulu women, the craft of beadwork is used as an educational tool as well
as a source of recreation and fashion. Personal adornment items include
jewellery, skirts, neckbands, and aprons. Besides clothing and
accessories, there are many other beaded objects in the Zulu culture,
such as bead-covered gourds, which are carried around by women who
are having fertility problems. Most importantly, however, Zulu
beadwork is a source of communication. In the Zulu tradition, beads are
a part of the language with certain words and symbols that can be easily
read. A finished product is considered by many artists and collectors to
be extremely poetic.
The code behind Zulu beadwork is relatively basic and extremely
resistant to change. A simple triangle is the geometric shape used in
almost all beaded items. A triangle with the apex pointing downward
signifies an unmarried man, while one with the tip pointing upward is
worn by an unmarried woman. Married women wear items with two
triangles that form a diamond shape, and married men signify their
marital status with two triangles that form an hourglass shape. Colors are
also significant, though slightly more complicated since each color can
have a negative and a positive meaning. Educated by their older sisters,
young Zulu girls quickly learn how to send the appropriate messages to
a courting male. Similarly, males learn how to interpret the messages
and how to wear certain beads that express their interest in marriage.
The codes of the beads are so strong that cultural analysts fear that the
beadwork tradition could prevent the Zulu people from progressing
technologically and economically. Socioeconomic data shows that the
more a culture resists change the more risk there is in a value system
falling apart. Though traditional beadwork still holds a serious place in
Zulu culture, the decorative art form is often modified for tourists, with
popular items such as the beaded fertility doll.
Answer the questions below.
Write NO MORE THAN THREE WORDS for each answer.
• Which country does the Zulu clan reside in?
• When did the Portuguese arrive in KwaZulu-Natal?
• How many members of the Zulu Kingdom are there?
Practice 3
Nature on display in American zoos
by Elizabeth Hanson
A. The first zoo in the United States opened in Philadelphia in 1874,
followed by the Cincinnati Zoo the next year. By 1940 there were zoos
in more than one hundred American cities. The Philadelphia Zoo was
more thoroughly planned and better financed than most of the hundreds
of zoos that would open later. But in its landscape and its mission – to
both educate and entertain, it embodied ideas about how to build a zoo
that stayed consistent for decades. The zoos came into existence in the
late nineteenth century during the transition of the United States from a
rural and agricultural nation to an industrial one.
B. The population more than doubled between 1860 and 1990. As more
middle-class people lived in cities, they began seeking new
relationships with the natural world as a place for recreation, self-
improvement, and Spiritual renewal. Cities established systems of
public parks, and nature tourism – already popular – became even more
fashionable with the establishment of national parks. Nature was
thought to be good for people of all ages and classes. Nature study was
incorporated into the school curriculum, and natural history collecting
became an increasingly popular pastime.
Questions 1-4
Using NO MORE THAN FIVE WORDS, answer the following
questions.
Write your answers in boxes 1-4 on your answer sheet.
1. In which year did the US have its second zoo?
2. What transition did the US see in the late 19th century?
3. What were the reasons behind city people connecting to nature?
4. What additions did the school curriculum see?
