Question 1
Choose the word that is closest in meaning to the underlined part of each sentence.
In many cultures around the world, young boys are circumcised in a traditional ceremony.
Ritual can be used as an adjective that means done as part of a fixed, traditional ceremony, so a ritual ceremony means a traditional ceremony. Example: a ritual dance.
Question 2
It is difficult to tame a bird that was born in the wild.
To domesticate an animal means to tame it so that it can live with people or be kept by them. Example: Dogs were domesticated thousands of years ago.
Question 3
Based on the oral legends about the fire, researchers estimate that about half of the townspeople died in the blaze.
Folklore means the traditional stories and beliefs of a group of people, usually passed on by word of mouth. That is the same idea as oral legends.
Question 4
After the burning of the body, the remaining bits of bone are transferred to a large urn.
Cremation is the burning of a dead person's body, after which the ashes are often kept in an urn. Not ritual: a ritual is a ceremony in general, not the burning itself.
Question 5
Her husband could never fit into her family’s way of life.
To assimilate means to become part of a group or culture and fit into its way of life. Example: Immigrants often assimilate into their new country over time.
Question 6
Find the best word for each definition. Use each word only once.
to harden after death
To fossilize means that the remains of a dead plant or animal slowly turn hard, like stone, over a very long time. It is the only verb among the options.
Question 7
a customary act
A rite is a customary act, often a ceremony, that people perform in a fixed way. Example: Weddings are important rites in many cultures.
Question 8
a memento
A relic is an object from the past that is kept as a memento, often because of its history. Not vestige: a vestige is a small trace of something that has mostly disappeared, not an object kept as a souvenir.
Question 9
something remaining from the past
A vestige is a small part or trace of something from the past that still remains. Example: vestiges of an ancient city. Not relic, which is already used for a memento.
Question 10
a long story
A saga is a long story, often about a family, a people or heroic events over many years. Example: the saga of their long journey.
Question 11
Read the passage to review the vocabulary you have learned. Answer the questions that follow.
The Aborigines of Australia may have been some of the first people on the planet. Recent discoveries of relics, including stone tools, show that humans lived near Penrith, New South Wales, about 47,000 years ago. Australian Aborigines migrated from northern lands by sea, when the water passages were narrower than they are today. This is the first evidence of sea travel by prehistoric humans. The saga of this water passing survives in modern-day Aboriginal folklore. To put this in perspective, remember that 50,000 years ago, humans were nomadic. Early Aborigines did not cultivate crops, and in Australia at the time there were no animals that could be domesticated. No one knows how long it took Aboriginal people to reach Australia, but archaeologists are searching through ancient campsites for vestiges of their early lifestyle. Fossilized remains indicate that these nomadic people not only gathered food from the land, but they also subsisted on meat from large animals that no longer exist today. As part of their hunting tradition, Aborigines ritually covered themselves in mud to mask their own scent or for camouflage. Aboriginal society marked the major events of life with rites such as circumcision, marriage, and cremation. Older people were revered and cared for as great sources of wisdom. When Westerners arrived in Australia in 1788, the 300,000 Aborigines who lived there were not eager to assimilate their ways. In the following years, disease, loss of land, and loss of identity shaped the Aborigines’ history perhaps as much as their first prehistoric crossing from the north.
Bonus Structure — To put this in perspective means “to give some background information.”
Which sentence best expresses the essential information in this passage?
The passage opens with its main idea: the Aborigines may have been some of the first people on the planet. The rest gives evidence and background for this. Not the Africa option: the passage says they came from northern lands by sea, not from Africa.
Question 12
In this passage, the word ritually is closest in meaning to _____.
Ritually here means doing something as a fixed, repeated custom, so the hunters regularly covered themselves in mud as part of their hunting tradition. Not superstitiously: the passage gives practical reasons, to mask their own scent or for camouflage.
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Word List
assimilate [əˈsɪməˌleɪt] v.
To consume and incorporate; to become similar
→ Not all of the overseas students could assimilate into the rigidly controlled school.
Usage tips Assimilate is often followed by into.
Parts of speech assimilation n.
cremation [krəˈmeɪʃ(ə)n] n.
The act of burning the dead
→ Cremation is particularly common in Japan, where land for burial is very limited.
Parts of speech cremate v.
domesticate [dəˈmestɪkeɪt] v.
To make something suitable for being in a home
→ The Barnes family hoped to domesticate the tiger, but their neighbors were skeptical.
Usage tips The object of domesticate is usually a plant or animal.
Parts of speech domestic adj.
folklore [ˈfəʊklɔːr] n.
Traditional myths of a people transmitted orally
→ Through folklore, archaeologists have learned about the migration of Native Americans in North America.
Parts of speech folkloric adj.
fossilize [ˈfɑsəˌlaɪz] v.
To become preserved in clay or stone or ash after death, so that a natural record is left of the original organism; to become rigid and stuck in old ways
→ The dinosaur eggs had fossilized over thousands of years.
Parts of speech fossilization n., fossil n.
relic [ˈrelɪk] n.
Something left from a long-ago culture, time period, or person
→ Relics of the war can still be found in the sand dunes along this shore.
rite [raɪt] n.
A ceremony meant to achieve a certain purpose
→ Many cultures have fertility rites that supposedly make it more likely for women to bear children.
ritually [ˈrɪtʃ(u)əli] adv.
As part of a traditional ceremony or habit
→ The children ritually kissed their parents on the cheek before bed.
Parts of speech ritual n., ritual adj.
saga [ˈsɑːgə] n.
A long story about important events long ago
→ Many American families tell sagas about their ancestors’ arrival in the United States.
vestige [ˈvestɪdʒ] n.
A visible trace that something once existed
→ The wilted flowers were the only vestige of their romantic weekend.