The Quechua world is submerged, so to speak, in a cosmic magma that we

Question

The Quechua world is submerged, so to speak, in a cosmic magma that weighs heavily upon it. It possesses the rare quality of being as it were interjected into the midst of antagonistic forces, which in turn implies a whole body of social and aesthetic structures whose innermost meaning must be the administration of energy. This gives rise to the social organism known as the ayllu, the agrarian community that regulates the procurement of food. The ayllu formed the basic structure of the whole Inca empire.

The central idea of this organization was a kind of closed economy, just the opposite of our economic practices, which can be described as open. The closed economy rested on the fact that the Inca controlled both the production and consumption of food. When one adds to this fact the religious ideas noted in the Quechua texts cited by the chronicler Santa Cruz Pachacuti, one comes to the conclusion that in the Andean zone the margin of life was minimal and was made possible only by the system of magic the Quechua constructed through his religion.

Adversities, moreover, were numerous, for the harvest might fail at any time and bring starvation to millions. Hence the whole purpose of the Quechua administrative and ideological system was to carry on the arduous task of achieving abundance and staving off shortages. This kind of structure presupposes a state of unremitting anxiety, which could not be resolved by action. The Quechua could not do so because his primordial response to problems was the use of magic, that is, recourse to the unconscious for the solution of external problems. Thus the struggle against the world was a struggle against the dark depths of the Quechua’s own psyche, where the solution was found. By overcoming the unconscious, the outer world was also vanquished.

These considerations permit us to classify Quechua culture as absolutely static or, more accurately, as the expression of a mere state of being. Only in this way can we understand the refuge that it took in the germinative center of the cosmic mandala as revealed by Quechua art. The Quechua empire was nothing more than a mandala, for it was divided into four zones, with Cuzco in the center. Here the Quechua ensconced himself to contemplate the decline of the world as though it were caused by an alien and autonomous force.    1 
 1. The term “mandala” as used in the last paragraph most likely means

A. an agrarian community
B. a kind of superstition
C. a closed economic pattern
D. a philosophy or way of regarding the world
E. a figure composed of four divisions

2  
 2. The author implies that the Quechua world was

A. uncivilized
B. highly introspective
C. vitally energetic
D. free of major worries
E. well organized

3  
 3. With which of the following statements would the author most likely agree?

A. Only psychological solutions can remedy economic ills.
B. The Quechua were renowned for equanimity and unconcern.
C. The Quechua limited themselves to realizable goals.
D. Much of Quechua existence was harsh and frustrating.
E. Modern Western society should adopt some Quechua economic ideas.

Sajjad1994 · Answer

OE

1. The term “mandala” as used in the last paragraph most likely means

The passage compares the Quechua empire to a mandala because  “it was divided into four parts.”  Thus, a mandala is most likely a  “figure composed of four divisions.”  
 
  Answer: E

Sajjad1994 · Answer

OE

2. The author implies that the Quechua world was

The author refers to the Quechua as existing in  “a state of unremitting anxiety, which could not be resolved by action”  and which the Quechua could only deal with by looking into himself and struggling with the depths of his own psyche. This suggests that the Quechua world was highly introspective. 
 
  Answer: B

Sajjad1994 · Answer

OE

3. With which of the following statements would the author most likely agree?

Both the unremitting anxiety of Quechua life and the recurring harvest failures that brought starvation to millions illustrate the harshness and frustration of Quechua existence. 
 
  Answer: D

The Quechua world is submerged, so to speak, in a cosmic magma that we

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