Before contact with Europeans, the Haudenosaune, a group of nations in

Question

Before contact with Europeans, the Haudenosaune,
a group of nations in northeastern North America also
known as the Iroquois, had been developing a form of
communication, primarily for political purposes, that
  (5)   used wampum, a bead carved from seashell. Most
historians have insisted that wampum was primarily a
form of money. While wampum certainly did become
a medium of exchange among Europeans and
Haudenosaune alike, this was due to the Europeans,
  (10)   who misinterpreted the significance of wampum and
used it solely to purchase goods from the Haudenosaune.
However, the true significance of wampum for the
Haudenosaune lies in its gradual development from
objects with religious significance into a method for
  (15)   maintaining permanent peace among distinct nations.
Over time wampum came to be used to record and
convey key sociopolitical messages.

Wampum came in two colors, white and deep
purple. Loose beads constituted the simplest and oldest
  (20)   form of wampum. Even in the form ofloose beads,
wampum could represent certain basic ideas. For
example, white was associated with the sky-yearning
spirit, Sapling, whose terrestrial creations, such as
trees, were often beneficial to humanity; deep purple
  (25)   was associated with Sapling's twin brother, Flint, the
earth-loving spirit whose frequent mischievous
vandalism (e.g., in the form of storms) often severely
disrupted human life. Legend indicates, for example,
that ancient Haudenosaune anglers threw the beads
  (30)   into the water in which they fished to communicate
with Sapling or Flint (differing versions of the
Haudenosaune cosmology attribute the creation of fish
to one or the other of these spirits). Later, loose beads
were strung together forming string wampum. It is
  (35)   thought that string wampum was used to send simple
political messages such as truce requests.

It was, however, the formation of the Haudenosaune
Confederacy from a group of warring tribes, believed
by some to have occurred around 1451 , that supplied
  (40)   the major impetus for making wampum a deliberate
system of both arbitrary and pictorially derived
symbols designed primarily for political purposes.
This is evident in the invention of wampum belts to
encode the provisions of the Haudenosaune
  (45)   Confederacy's constitution. These belts combined
string wampum to form icons that could be deciphered
by those knowing the significance of the stylized
symbols. For example, longhouses, depicted in
front-view outline, usually meant a particular nation
  (50)   of the confederacy. Council fires, possibly indicating
talks in progress, were diamond outlines that could
appear alone or within trees or longhouses. Lines
between humanlike figures seem to have indicated the
current state of relations between peoples; belts
  (55)   containing such images were often used as
safe-conduct passes. The arrangements of the two
colors also directed interpretation of the symbols.
Thus, the belts served to record, store, and make
publicly available items of governmental business.
  (60)   Although the wampum symbol system had a limited
lexicon, it served to effectively frame and enforce the
law of the confederacy for hundreds of years.    1 
 1. Which one of the following most accurately expresses the main point of the passage?

(A) The Haudenosaune's use of wampum originated with combinations of strings of beads with religious significance, but the need for communication between nations led to more complex uses of wampum including the transmission of political messages.
(B) For the Haudenosaune, wampum did not originally serve as a form of money but as an evolving form of communication that, through the use of colors and symbols, conveyed information and that eventually encoded the provisions of the Haudenosaune Confederacy's constitution.
(C) Wampum's significance for the Haudenosauneas a form of communication linking their traditions with the need for the sharing of information within the confederacy-was changed through European contact so that it became exclusively a medium of commercial exchange.
(D) There is substantial evidence that the Haudenosaune's use of wampum as a medium of communication based on color combinations had its origin in the political events surrounding the establishment of the Haudenosaune Confederacy.
(E) Because of the role played by wampum in relations between the Haudenosaune and Europeans, many historians have overlooked the communicative role that bead combinations played in Haudenosaune culture prior to contact with Europeans.

2 
 2. The fishing practice mentioned in the second paragraph is offered primarily as an instance of

(A) a type of knowledge that was encoded and passed on through the use of wampum
(B) a traditional practice that was altered by contact with Europeans
(C) an activity that was regulated by the laws of the Haudenosaune Confederacy
(D) a practice that many historians learned of by studying wampum
(E) a traditional practice that reflects a stage in the evolution of wampum's uses

3 
 3. The last paragraph of the passage serves primarily to

(A) detail how wampum belts evolved from other forms of wampum
(B) distinguish between wampum belts and less complex forms of string wampum
(C) illustrate how wampum functioned as a system of symbolic representation
(D) outline the Haudenosaune Confederacy's constitution as it was encoded using wampum
(E) give evidence of wampum's effectiveness as a means of ensuring compliance with the law of the Haudenosaune Confederacy

4 
 4. It can be inferred from the passage that the author would be most likely to agree with which one of the following?

(A) Even if the evolution of wampum had not been altered by the arrival of Europeans, wampum would likely have become a form of currency because of its compactness.
(B) The use of colors in wampum to express meaning arose in response to the formation of the Haudenosaune Confederacy.
(C) The ancient associations of colors with spirits were important precursors to, and foundations of, later wampum representations that did not depend directly on these associations for their meaning.
(D) Because the associations with certain colors shifted over time, the same color beads acquired different meanings on belt wampum as opposed to string wampum.
(E) If the Europeans who first began trading with the Haudenosaune had been aware that wampum was used as a means of communication, they would not have used wampum as a medium of exchange.

5 
 5. The passage provides the most support for inferring which one of the following?

(A) Wampum was probably used on occasion as a medium of economic exchange long before the Haudenosaune had contact with Europeans.
(B) The formation of the Haudenosaune Confederacy called for a more complex method of communication than wampum as used until then had provided.
(C) Once wampum came to be used as currency in trade with Europeans, the constitution of the Haudenosaune Confederacy had to be recodified using other methods of representation.
(D) Prior to Haudenosaune contact with Europeans, wampum served primarily as a means of promulgating official edicts and policies of the Haudenosaune Confederacy.
(E) As belt wampum superseded string wampum as a method of communication, wampum beads acquired subtler shadings in the colors used to represent abstract ideas.

6 
 6. It can be inferred from the passage that the author would be most likely to agree with which one of the following?

(A) There is evidence that objects similar to wampum were used for symbolic representation by other peoples in addition to the Haudenosaune.
(B) The Europeans who first came in contact with the Haudenosaune insisted on using wampum as a form of currency in spite of their awareness of its true significance.
(C) There is evidence that Europeans who came in contact with the Haudenosaune adopted some long-standing Haudenosaune uses of wampum.
(D) A long-term peaceful association among the groups that formed the Haudenosaune Confederacy was an important precondition for the use of wampum as a means of communication.
(E) Present day interpretations of the significance of some of the symbols used in wampum belts are not conclusive

Sajjad1994 · Answer

Explanation

4. It can be inferred from the passage that the author would be most likely to agree with which one of the following?

Explanation

The correct answer will be the statement that is best supported by evidence within the passage text.

A. No.  This answer is unsupported. The passage does not discuss an alternate reality.

B. No.  The author discusses the use of color prior to the Haudenosaune Confederacy.

C.  Yes.   In the third paragraph, the passage discusses combining string wampum to form stylized symbols.

D. No.  The passage does not argue that the color associations shifted over time, only that the arrangements of the colors directed interpretation of symbols.

E. No.  This answer is unsupported. The passage does not discuss what would have happened if the Europeans had had different information.

Answer: C

Sajjad1994 · Answer

Explanation

5. The passage provides the most support for inferring which one of the following?

Explanation

The correct answer will be the statement that is best supported by evidence within the passage text.

A. No.  The passage does not discuss the use of wampum for commercial purposes prior to contact with the Europeans.

B.  Yes.   The third paragraph states that the formation of the Haudenosaune Confederacy was the major impetus for a more deliberate system of use of wampum.

C. No.  The passage does not discuss recodification of the laws of the Haudenosaune Confederacy.

D. No.  The passage does not provide a timeline of whether contact with Europeans came before or after the use of wampum to codify the laws of the Haudenosaune Confederacy.

E. No.  The passage does not discuss any changing of the wampum bead colors.

Answer: B

Sajjad1994 · Answer

Explanation

6. It can be inferred from the passage that the author would be most likely to agree with which one of the following?

Explanation

The correct answer will be the statement that is best supported by evidence within the passage text.

A. No.  The passage does not discuss other peoples.

B. No.  This answer choice is extreme and unsupported. The passage does not mention whether Europeans were aware of wampum’s true significance.

C. No.  The first paragraph states that Europeans used wampum solely to purchase goods.

D. No.  The passage states that the peoples who made up the Haudenosaune Confederacy had been warring tribes.

E.  Yes.   The passage uses language such as  “possibly indicating”  in the third paragraph.

Answer: E

Sajjad1994 · Answer

Explanation

3. The last paragraph of the passage serves primarily to

Explanation

The correct answer will paraphrase the main point of the last paragraph, which describes wampum belts and how they were used within the Haudenosaune Confederacy to frame and enforce its laws.

A. No.  While the passage mentions that wampum belts combined string wampum, the focus of the paragraph is on the symbolism and usage of the belts.

B. No.  The focus of the paragraph is on wampum belts and their symbolism and usage.

C.  Yes.   This accurately describes the contents of the final paragraph.

D. No.  The passage does not detail the contents of the Haudenosaune Confederacy’s constitution.

E. No.  While the passage claims that the wampum symbol system was effective, there was no evidence given.

Answer: C

Sajjad1994 · Answer

Explanation

1. Which one of the following most accurately expresses the main point of the passage?

Explanation

The main point of the first paragraph is that wampum was used for political purposes, though it became a medium of exchange due to misinterpretations by Europeans. The second paragraph describes the two types of wampum and what they represented. The third paragraph describes wampum belts and how they were used within the Haudenosaune Confederacy to frame and enforce its laws. The Bottom Line of the passage as a whole is that the wampum symbol system evolved from religious significance into a powerful and effective political tool for the Haudenosaune group of nations.

Use your Bottom Line of the passage to help you to evaluate the choices. The correct answer will describe the main idea of the passage.

A. No.  This answer is untrue. The passage states that loose beads were the simplest and oldest form of wampum.

B. Yes.   This accurately paraphrases the Bottom Line.

C. No.  This answer is extreme and untrue. While the Europeans used wampum solely for commercial exchange, its use within the Haudenosaune was spiritual and political.

D. No.  Wampum was used to communicate prior to the Haudenosaune Confederacy.

E. No.  While this is suggested by the first paragraph of the passage, it is not the main idea.

Answer: B

Sajjad1994 · Answer

Explanation

2. The fishing practice mentioned in the second paragraph is offered primarily as an instance of

Explanation

The question is asking why the author mentions the fishing practice in the second paragraph. The passage describes the use of wampum to communicate with the spirits thought to have created fish as an example of how the beads were used.

A. No.  The beads were thrown into the water in this example, which would not pass on knowledge.

B. No.  There is no discussion of whether this practice changed after contact with the Europeans.

C. No.  The fishing practice is an example of an early religious use of wampum that came before the more formal use in the Haudenosaune Confederacy.

D. No.  The author does not argue that this practice was learned of by studying wampum.

E. Yes.   The author is discussing the simplest use of wampum to represent basic ideas such as the sky-yearning or earthloving spirits who created fish.

Answer: E

VerbalBot · Answer

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Before contact with Europeans, the Haudenosaune, a group of nations in

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Before contact with Europeans, the Haudenosaune, a group of nations in

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