Passage Three
American Indians have a proud heritage and find strength there to renew their cultures. They are, as a people, generally both proud to be American and proud soldiers for this country. At any Indian gathering, the first people onto the dance floor, or introduced politically, or recognized for contributions to the tribe are the elder male veterans, then the elder women, then all other veterans, and only then people who have not served in the US military.
Indian People have many problems to solve, but new social services, generally run and funded by the tribes themselves, along with new recognition of Indian People’s contributions to society, are ways that tribes and individuals are trying to change things.
Today, many Indian tribes are seeing a great development, such as in California, with government programs working to reunite urban Indians with both their reservation families and other urban tribal members; programs set up both by the tribe themselves to teach their languages and open schools that focus on a tribal way of life.
Most tribes have been granted some limited power in self governance as well, significantly in the area of the sentencing of tribal members in various criminal and civil issues. Special tax breaks have helped Indian people and Indian reservations become more self-sufficient. Laws have been enacted in some States that give Indians special privileges in allowing gambling in the form of slot machines and other gaming, resulting in economic gains but with increased addictive behavior, and at the expense of spiritual and social values.
Questions 22 to 25 are based on the passage you have just heard.
22. Who enjoys the priority to be introduced first at an Indian gathering?
23. What could help to solve the problems Indian people are facing?
24. What happened to Indian people in California?
25. How does the author consider gambling in Indian tribes?
Section C
I’m pretty sure we all have people in our lives that we are greatly thankful for. I’m sure you can think of a few off the top of your head. I have more than I can 26. count. However, it is very rare that I actually communicate my gratitude to the people I 27. care about in my heart. I know I am supposed to be more 28. intentional about letting people know when they impact me in a 29. positive way, but I rarely take the time to extend my gratitude.
One of the hardest parts about expressing gratitude for me, especially to other guys, is the difficulty of 30. getting over the awkwardness it takes to randomly send someone a message of thanks. It is easy after I have recently 31. interacted with them; however, many of the people I’m extremely grateful for I do not see very often. I actually received an email 32. unexpectedly from a really good friend. It was a simple thanks note for being a friend but it was very 33. encouraging. In addition, the subtle joy of a quick message was just enough to 34. motivate me to pass along some gratitude myself.
Who are you grateful for? I know we have moved past the traditional thankfulness season, but I think it is worth extending and possibly building lasting habits of being grateful. Have you let the people you care about know recently how much you 35. appreciate them? Do you think it is possible that unexpressed gratitude can actually communicate ingratitude?