E
Each Indian tribe(部落) had a
different language. Many Indians never learned any language except their own.
Do you know how Indians from different tribes talked to each other? They had
two ways to talk without sound. One way was by sign language; another was by
signals.
Sign language is a way of talking by using signs.
Indians used sign language when they met strangers. In this way, they could
find out whether the stranger was a friend or an enemy. In Indian sign
language, signs were made with the hands. One sign meant “man”. Another meant
“horse”. To tell the time of the day when something happened, an Indian pointed
to the sky. He showed where the sun had been at the time.
Indians usually used signals when they wanted to send
messages to someone far away. To make signals, an Indian might use a pony(小马). He might use a blanket. Or he might use smoke, a
mirror or fire arrows.
To signal that he had seen many animals, an Indian
rode his pony in a large circle. Sometimes the Indian gave a signal like this
and then went away to hide. This meant that there was danger.
The blanket signal was visible from far away. An
Indian held the corners of a blanket in his hands. Then he began to swing the
blanket from side to side in front of him. An Indian could send many different
signals with his blanket.
He could also send many signals with mirror. He
usually used the mirror to warn someone of danger. Of course, mirrors could be
used only when the sun was shining. At night, Indians used fire arrows for
signaling. Now you can see that Indians didn’t need to learn each other’s
language. They could talk to one another by using signals or sign language.
72. The story tells about __________.
A. people living
in Indian
B. the Indians
who had many kinds of languages
C. the Indians
who didn’t use their languages
D. how Indians
communicated between different tribes.
73. Sign language is _______________.
A.
a
language only for Indians
B. a way to express one’s ideas by making gestures
C. a way of talking by signing on paper
D. a secret way of talking to strangers
74. Which of the following is true?
A. When an Indian
wanted to say “man” , he pointed to himself.
B. When an Indian
wanted to say “horse” , he rode his horse.
C. When an Indian
wanted to say “sun” , he pointed to the sky.
D. Indians used sign
language to find out whether a stranger was a friend or an enemy.
75. Indians didn’t need to learn each other’s language
because ____________.
A. they never met each other
B. they could use signals or sign language
C. they could write
messages
D. they thought they could easily make themselves understood
