阅读理解
I came to live here where I am now between Wounded Knee Greek and Grass Greek. Others.
came too,and we made these little grey houses of logs that you see, and they are square. It is a bad
way to live , for there can be no power in a square.
You have noticed that everything an Indian does is in a circle. and that is because the Power of the
World always works in circles. and everything tries to be round. In the old days when we were a strong
and happy people, all our power came to us from the respectful circle of the nation, and so long as the
circle was unbroken,the people were getting rich. The flowering tree was the living center of the circle,
and the circle of the four quarters nursed it. The east gave peace and light, the south gave warmth. the
west gave rain,and the north with its cold and strong wind gave strength and continuous power. This
knowledge came to us from the outer world with our brief. Everything the Power of the World does is
done in a circle. The sky is round , and I have heard that the earth is round like a ball ,and so are all the
stars. Birds make their nests in circles .for theirs are the same as ours. The sun comes forth and goes
down again in a circle. The moon does the same , and both are round. Even the seasons form a great
circle in their changing, and always come back again to where they were. The life of a man is a circle
from childhood to childhood, and so it is in everything where power moves. Our places were like the
nests of birds , and these were always set in a circle , the nation's circle , a nest of many nests.where
the Great Spirit meant for us to nurse our children.
But the Wasichus ( Indian word for " white people" ) have put us in these square boxes. Our
power is gone and we are dying , for the power is not in us any more. You can look at our boys and
see how it is with us. Where we were living by the power of the circle in the way we should, boys
were men at twelve or thirteen years of age. But now it takes them very much longer to be bull-grown.
1 . According to the passage , the Indians ____________ .
A. don't have modern instruments in their homes
B. refused to take themselves away from round places
C. lived in round places, but then decided to move into square houses
D. lived in round places , but were forced to live in square houses
2. TWO things being compared in the passage are___________.
A. the Indians' today's and tomorrow's living beliefs
B. the Indians' past and present living conditions
C. the Indians' old and new power
D. man's power versus natural power
3. In the second paragraph "the four quarters" refers to_________.
A. the four directions
B. the four rooms of the Indian's house
C. the four seasons
D. the four kinds of natural power
4. According to the author, once the Indians moved into square houses,_______________.
A. they had to move to other houses
B. they forgot the old way of life
C. boys took more time to grow into men
D. everyone was not happy
