"Caucasian Mummies Mystify Chinese" by Keay Davidson
Test Critical Reading
1. What is the main purpose of a news article?
a. To entertain
b. To analyze
c. To inform
d. To stimulate action
2. What is the main idea of the following passage from "Caucasian Mummies
Mystify Chinese"?
In 1987, Mair happened to be touring China when he entered a museum in
Urumqi that displayed mummies of a man, woman, and child-a family, as it
appeared. They had died 3,000 years earlier, "yet the bodies looked as if
they were buried yesterday," he said. What left him "thunderstruck,"
though, was their faces: They were Caucasians, apparently of European
origin. liThe questions kept nagging at me: Who were these people? How
did they get out here at such an early date?"
a. Mair was touring China.
b. Mair makes an astonishing discovery.
c. The museum is in Urumqi.
d. Questions nag at Mair.
3. Which of the following details supports the main idea in the passage?
a. Mair was touring China.
b. The mummies are in a museum in Urumqi.
c. The mummies are Caucasian, apparently of European origin.
d. The mummies are of a man, woman, and child.
4. "Caucasian Mummies Mystify Chinese" is a news article. What is its subject?
a. 3,000-year-old Caucasian mummies in China
b. A scholar named Victor Mair
c. A museum in China
d. Differences between east and west
5. Why is Mair so interested in the Caucasian mummies?
a. He wants to prove his own theory about Chinese development.
b. He is intrigued by the questions they pose.
c. He wishes to prove Chinese scientists incorrect.
d. He is proud to have found something monumental before anyone else in the
west.
6. Why is the DNA analysis on the mummies "tricky"?
a. The analysis must be done very quickly.
b. DNA analysis is a relatively new procedure.
c. There is not enough of the DNA to analyze.
d. The mummies' old DNA is very damaged.
7. Where did Mair find the mummies?
a. In a cave in China
b. In a museum in Urumqi
c. In a mass grave in China
d. In a collection in
8. What do you think the Western scholars think of the Chinese scholars' attitude
toward the mummies?
a. They sympathize with their Chinese colleagues.
b. They are indifferent to their Chinese colleagues' ideas.
c. They feel the Chinese scholars mistrust Western technology.
d. They think the Chinese scholars are allowing preconceived notions about
Chinese history to govern their attitudes.
9. What is the traditional Chinese view of how Chinese society evolved?
a. The society evolved largely through trade with Japan.
b. The society evolved with significant foreign input.
c. The society evolved on its own with little foreign input.
d. The society evolved much more slowly than other societies.
10. Which detail indicates to archaeologists that the female mummy may have
had two husbands?
a. She was wearing a two-pointed hat.
b. Her grave had a mat at the bottom.
c. She was wearing a fur-lined coat.
d. She was wearing brightly colored clothing.
Test key Critical Reading/Vocabulary and Grammar 1. c 2. b 3. c 4. a 5. b 6. d 7. b 8. d 9. c 10.a
1. What is the main purpose of a news article?
a. To entertain
b. To analyze
c. To inform
d. To stimulate action
2. What is the main idea of the following passage from "Caucasian Mummies
Mystify Chinese"?
In 1987, Mair happened to be touring China when he entered a museum in
Urumqi that displayed mummies of a man, woman, and child-a family, as it
appeared. They had died 3,000 years earlier, "yet the bodies looked as if
they were buried yesterday," he said. What left him "thunderstruck,"
though, was their faces: They were Caucasians, apparently of European
origin. liThe questions kept nagging at me: Who were these people? How
did they get out here at such an early date?"
a. Mair was touring China.
b. Mair makes an astonishing discovery.
c. The museum is in Urumqi.
d. Questions nag at Mair.
3. Which of the following details supports the main idea in the passage?
a. Mair was touring China.
b. The mummies are in a museum in Urumqi.
c. The mummies are Caucasian, apparently of European origin.
d. The mummies are of a man, woman, and child.
4. "Caucasian Mummies Mystify Chinese" is a news article. What is its subject?
a. 3,000-year-old Caucasian mummies in China
b. A scholar named Victor Mair
c. A museum in China
d. Differences between east and west
5. Why is Mair so interested in the Caucasian mummies?
a. He wants to prove his own theory about Chinese development.
b. He is intrigued by the questions they pose.
c. He wishes to prove Chinese scientists incorrect.
d. He is proud to have found something monumental before anyone else in the
west.
6. Why is the DNA analysis on the mummies "tricky"?
a. The analysis must be done very quickly.
b. DNA analysis is a relatively new procedure.
c. There is not enough of the DNA to analyze.
d. The mummies' old DNA is very damaged.
7. Where did Mair find the mummies?
a. In a cave in China
b. In a museum in Urumqi
c. In a mass grave in China
d. In a collection in
8. What do you think the Western scholars think of the Chinese scholars' attitude
toward the mummies?
a. They sympathize with their Chinese colleagues.
b. They are indifferent to their Chinese colleagues' ideas.
c. They feel the Chinese scholars mistrust Western technology.
d. They think the Chinese scholars are allowing preconceived notions about
Chinese history to govern their attitudes.
9. What is the traditional Chinese view of how Chinese society evolved?
a. The society evolved largely through trade with Japan.
b. The society evolved with significant foreign input.
c. The society evolved on its own with little foreign input.
d. The society evolved much more slowly than other societies.
10. Which detail indicates to archaeologists that the female mummy may have
had two husbands?
a. She was wearing a two-pointed hat.
b. Her grave had a mat at the bottom.
c. She was wearing a fur-lined coat.
d. She was wearing brightly colored clothing.