ACTIVITY 58: Quickly
read the article below
by Philip Shehadi (Reuters). Choose the most appropriate title from the
menu and then, check the correct
answer. Don't worry if there are some words
you don't know: you should be able to get the general idea without
needing to use your dictionary.
1
Legend has it that, many centuries ago, Touareg tribesmen of the central Sahara
put on the veil to trick their enemies into thinking they were women.
2
The trick worked, the enemy was defeated and ever since then the Touareg, a
Berber tribe of North Africa, have clung to a tradition which sets them apart
from other Moslems: the men are veiled and the women are not.
3
Gone are the days of tribal raids, great camel caravans
and endless treks in search of desert pasture. But men in the oasis of Djanet,
near the Libyan and Niger borders, still wrap their faces in a long knotted
turban which at times leaves only a slit for the eyes.
4
'With family it's OK to let the turban down,' said Sakilil Dawdy, 34, a driver
with the Algerian state hydrocarbons firm Sonatrach. 'But on the street, in
front of strangers or as a guest, you must wear it. It's a question of honour.'
5
The Touareg turban, or shesh, has come to symbolise the identity of a proud
warrior tribe of nomads which has preserved its language and customs under
Turkish, French and Arab rule.
6
About 700,000 Touareg live in the Saharan and Sahel regions of Algeria, Libya,
Niger and Mali, although fewer than half maintain the nomadic or semi-nomadic
pastoral life of their forefathers.
7
The turban is increasingly discarded by the young, who
pick up Arab or Western ways at school and through television, beamed to Djanet
by satellite from Algiers 2,000 kilometres to the north-west.
8
But few men over 30 fail to cover their face when they leave home for the fields,
the office or a simple village errand. Even the young cover up on special
occasions and say that beneath their jeans and Western-style haircuts they
remain true to Touareg roots.
9
'There are old men whose women have never seen their mouths in 30 years of
marriage,' said Hamou Dahou, director of the Tim Betir travel agency.
10
The Touareg veil has fascinated visitors ever since the Arab traveller and
observer Ibn Khaldoun toured North Africa in the 14th century and found most
Berber desert tribesmen wrapped up tightly in a ball of cloth.
11
The turban humidifies the mouth and nose in the dry-desert air and protects them
like a filter when wind
whips up clouds of choking sand. But the custom is so closely linked to honour
that one French ethnologist spoke of a 'taboo of the mouth'.
12
'Showing your mouth was considered a sign of greed,' said Sheikh Amoud, 78,
son of a Touareg resistance hero of the same name who fought the French in the
Algerian Sahara and later the Italians in Libya's Fezzan province.
13
'In the old days, the first time a boy put on the turban there was a big
ceremony because it meant he had become a man,' said Hadj Suleiman, 60, a member
of Djanet's town council.
14
'A special indigo turban was brought from Niger and there was dancing and
music. The boy was given a dagger and taught the principles of our tradition -courage,
honesty, fidelity, never to cry and never to strike his wife. Now the young put
on the turban when they feel like it.'
ACTIVITY 59:
Now, read the article again carefully. For questions 1-5, choose the answer (A, B, C
or D) which you think fits best according to the article. Before looking
up a word you don't understand in your
dictionary,
decide if you really need to know what it means. Then
check your answers.
1.
According to legend, why did Touareg men first put on the veil?
A. to deceive their enemies B. to look like their wives C. to follow religious tradition D. to
protect their faces
2.
A Touareg man can remove his turban when he is
...
A. with other men B. in the
desert C. in a friend's house D. at home, in private
3.
What does the article say about young men and the
turban?
A. They prefer it to Arab and Western clothes. B. They wear it to go out in public. C. They wear it for important events. D. They use
it to hide trendy haircuts.
4.
What does 'them' (paragraph 11) refer to?
A. the Touareg. B. most Berber desert tribesmen. C. the mouth and nose. D. clouds of choking sand.
5.
According to the article, the Touareg turban is a
symbol of ...
A. the art of living in the desert. B. Touareg resistance to foreign rule. C. how the Touareg control their feelings. D. what it means to be a
male Touareg.
ACTIVITY 60:
Finally, find the words in the article which express
the explanations below. Then check
your answers.
1.
held tightly on (PARAGRAPH 2):
2.
food for domestic animals (e.g. camels, goats) (PARAGRAPH 3):
3.
place in the desert where there is water and plants
(PARAGRAPH 3):
4.
people who live by travelling from place to place,
rather than staying in one place (PARAGRAPH 5):
5.
dropped (PARAGRAPH 7):
6.
broadcast (PARAGRAPH 7):
7.
makes damp (PARAGRAPH 11):
8.
pointed, double-edged knife (PARAGRAPH 14):
Entretenidos tanto el artículo como la
actividad !! En la página siguiente, podrás
aprender diferentes tipos de carácter y personalidad ...
