EMSAT Practice – Reading Comprehension

This test is designed to help 10th-grade students practice their reading comprehension skills as part of the EMSAT exam preparation. It covers various reading passages and questions that test the students' ability to understand and interpret different texts. The test follows the curriculum guidelines and aims to prepare students for their EMSAT exams.

Elhadji Mohammed Koumama is a member of the Tuareg people. Long ago, the Tuareg were a group of people who once lived as nomads in the Sahara Desert. Like most of the Tuareg people, his skin is dyed blue from the traditional blue clothes that he wears. He is married to one woman and the father of six children. They are three boys and three girls. As the father, he is the leader of the family. He is also the provider. To provide for his family, he practices the traditional Tuareg art of jewelry making. Elhadji says that his ancestors have been jewelers for thousands of years. These days, the Tuareg are no longer nomads. They mostly live in modern cities and work modern jobs, but Elhadji continues to make his jewelry in the traditional way. He uses just a few simple tools like a file, a hammer and a bellows. A bellows is a machine for blowing air on coals to make them hot. His traditional bellows is made of goatskin. According to Tuareg tradition, jewelers have special powers because they can touch fire when they make their jewelry. Maybe Elhadji actually has special powers. Maybe he really doesn't. But, he can make beautiful jewelry out of silver. He makes his silver jewelry by the ancient “lost wax” method. First, Elhadji molds by hand the shape he wants out of some wax. Next, he covers the wax shape with a layer of clay. When the clay is dry and hard, he puts it in a fire. The fire cooks the clay and melts the wax. The wax runs out of the clay into the fire. Next, Elhadji melts some silver and pours it into the clay form, called a mold. When the silver is hard, he breaks open the mold with his small hammer. Finally, he takes the piece of silver and finishes it. He uses a small file to make the piece smooth, then he uses a normal screwdriver to draw designs on the silver. In Tuareg communities, the people say that only women should wear silver. This is because Tuareg tradition says that it is bad luck for men to wear silver. Sometimes, Elhadji does not follow the Tuareg tradition and wears the best examples of his silver work. However, Elhadji makes his beautiful jewelry in the traditional Tuareg way and says that making silver jewelry is "a tradition forever".