Caucasian Mummies Mystify Chinese

What is the main purpose of a news article?

• to entertain

• to analyze

• to inform

• to stimulate action

Part A: What is the main idea of the following portion of the text?

^{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 3000 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. "The questions kept nagging at me: Who were these people? How did they get here at such an early date?"}

• Mair was touring China.

• Mair makes an astonishing discovery.

• The museum is in Urumqi.

• Questions nag at Mair.

Part B: Which of the following details supports the main idea in the previous question?

• Mair was touring China.

• The mummies are in a museum in Urumqi.

• The mummies are Caucasian, apparently of European origin.

• The mummies are of a man, woman, and child.

"Caucasian Mummies Mystify Chinese" is a news article. What is its subject?

• 3000-year-old Caucasian mummies in China.

• A scholar named Victor Mair.

• A museum in China.

• Differences between east and west.

Why is Mair so interested in the Caucasian mummies?

• He wants to prove his own theory about Chinese development.

• He is intrigued by the questions they pose.

• He wishes to prove the Chinese scientists incorrect.

• He is proud to have found something monumental before anyone in the west.

Why is the DNA analysis on the mummies "tricky"?

• The analysis must be done very quickly.

• DNA analysis is a relatively new procedure.

• There is not enough of the DNA to analyze.

• The mummies' old DNA is very damaged.

Where did Mair find the mummies?

• In a cave in China.

• In a museum in Urumqi.

• In a mass grave in China.

• In a collection in Europe.

What is most likely Western scholars' opinion of the Chinese scholars' attitude toward the mummies?

• They sympathize with their Chinese colleagues.

• They are indifferent to their Chinese colleagues' ideas.

• They feel the Chinese scholars mistrust Western technology.

• They think the Chinese scholars are allowing preconceived notions about Chinese history to govern their attitudes.

Which detail indicates to archaeologists that the female mummy may have had two husbands?

• She was wearing a two-pointed hat.

• The grave had a mat at the bottom.

• She was wearing a fur lined coat.

• She was wearing brightly colored clothing.

What is the traditional view of how Chinese society evolved?

• The society evolved largely though trade with Japan.

• The society evolved with significant foreign input.

• The society evolved on its own with little foreign input.

• The society evolved much more slowly than other societies.