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Reading (20 points)

Please read the text below and answer the questions about it on the next page. They are worth
two points each.
An Excerpt from Fatima Mernissi, Women and Islam: An Historical and Theological Inquiry.
1

Can a woman be a leader of Muslims? I asked my grocer, who, like most grocers in

Morocco, is a true barometer of public opinion.


2

I take refuge in Allah! he exclaimed, shocked, despite the friendly relations between

us. 3Aghast at the idea, he almost dropped the half-dozen eggs I had come to buy.
4

May God protect us from the catastrophes of the times! mumbled a customer who

was buying olives, as he made as if to spit. 5My grocer is a fanatic about cleanliness, and not
even denouncing a heresy justifies dirtying the floor in his view.
6

A second customer, a schoolteacher whom I vaguely knew from the newsstand, stood

slowly caressing his wet mint leaves, and then hit me with a Hadith that he knew would be
fatal: Those who entrust their affairs to a woman will never know prosperity! 7Silence fell
on the scene. 8There was nothing I could say. 9In a Muslim theocracy, a Hadith (tradition) is
no small matter. 10The Hadith collections are works that record in minute detail what the
Prophet said and did. 11They constitute, along with the Koran (the book revealed by God),
both the source of law and the standard for distinguishing the true from the false, the
permitted from the forbidden they have shaped Muslim ethics and values.
12

I discreetly left the grocery store without another word. 13What could I have said to

counterbalance the force of that political aphorism, which is as implacable as it is popular?


14

Silenced, defeated, and furious, I suddenly felt the urgent need to inform myself

about this Hadith and to search out the texts where it is mentioned, to understand better its
extraordinary power over the ordinary citizens of a modern state.

1. Why was asking the grocer for his opinion important to the author?
a) He was a leader in public opinion.
b) He expresses public opinion.
c) He helped to shape public opinion.
2. How many people are in the store?
a) at least 3
b) at least 5
c) at least 4
3. What was the response of the first customer in the store?
a) He almost dropped the eggs.
b) He almost spit on the floor.
c) He spat on the floor.
4. What is the best synonym for the word denouncing in sentence 5?
a)
rejecting
d)
arguing
b)
embracing
e)
questioning
c)
mentioning
5. What is the best synonym for the word fatal in sentence 6?
a)
rude
d)
effective
b)
dangerous
e)
relevant
c)
important
6. Which of the following is the best paraphrase of the quote in sentence 6?
a) People should never trust women.
b) Women should not work.
c) Women should never be leaders.
7. In sentence 8, why does the author say she could say nothing?
a) She was a woman among men.
b) She was shocked that the customer had hit her.
c) She couldnt object to religion.
8. What is the best synonym for the word theocracy in sentence 9?
a)
religion
d)
country
b)
government
e)
culture
c)
society

9. In sentence 13, what does counterbalance mean?


a) to offer an equally strong different opinion
b) to hold the counter for balance
c) to answer politically
10. How does she feel when she leaves the store?
a) quieted now that she knows their thoughts
b) angry that she didnt have an appropriate response
c) lost between the two opinions
11. Writing (15 points)
12.
13. Offer your own interpretation of the quote: Those who entrust their affairs to a
woman will never know prosperity. What do you think the quote means for men? For
women? Do you agree or disagree and why? Explain your opinion in a paragraph/short
essay. You will be graded on: 1) understandability, 2) grammatical accuracy, and 3)
structure/organization.
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