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As many as one thousand years ago in the Southwest, the Hopi and Zuni Indians of North
America were building with adobe-sunbaked brick plastered with mud. Their homes
looked remarkably like modern apartment houses. Some were four stories high and contained
quarters for perhaps thousand people, along with store rooms 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 town.
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.
The way of life of lesssettled 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 Mountains and the Pacific Ocean. They gathered seeds and hunted small animals
such as rabbits and snakes.In the Far North the ancestors 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.
The Cheyenne, Pawnee, and Sioux tribes, known as the Plains Indians, 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.
1. What does the text mainly discuss?
A. The architecture of early American Indian buildings.
B. The movement of American Indians across North America.
C. Ceremonies and rituals of American Indians.
D. The way of life of American Indian tribes in early North America.
2. It can be inferred from the text that the buildings of the Hopi and Zuni were ________.
A. very small
B. highly advanced
C. difficult to defend
D. quickly constructed
3. Which of the following is true?
A. The Spanish explorers didn't know what the buildings really was, as they called it "pueblos".
B. The Hopi and Zuni had no idea of how to farm.
C. The people of the pueblos were good at weaving.
D. Since water was so important, the people of the pueblos wove baskets to carry water.
4. What information can you get from the text?
A. The Plains Indians lived on bison.
B. The majority of the American Indians lived in igloos.
C. The Hopi and Zuni had a smaller population.
D. The lands between the Rocky Mountains and the Mississippi River were dry.
5. How many tribes are mentioned in the text?
A. 8.
B. 7.
C. 6.
D. 5.
