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 quartersnursed it. The east gave peace and light, the south gave wa
rmth, 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 circle, 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 move from round places
C. lived in round places, but were forced to live in square houses
D. lived in round places, but then decided to move into square houses
2. Two things being compared in the passage are _______.
A. the Indians' past and present living conditions
B. the Indians' past and modern beliefs
C. the Indians' old and new power
D. people and nature
3. In the second paragraph "the four quarters" refers to _______.
A. the four rooms of the Indian's house
B. the four kinds of natural power
C. the four seasons
D. the four directions
4. According to the author, once the Indians moved into square ho
uses, _______.
A. they had to move to other houses
B. boys took more time to grow into men
C. they forgot the old way of life
D. everyone was not happy