Answer key: Living With the Dead

Lesson Plan:  The Philippines: Living With The Dead  To Survive

II. While Reading Activities: Word Inference

  1. mausoleum |ˌmôsəˈlēəmˌmôzəˈlēəm| -noun (pl. mausolea |-ˈlēə| or mausoleums) a building, especially a large and stately one, housing a tomb or tombs.
  2. headstone |ˈhedˌstōn| noun-a slab of stone set up at the head of a grave, typically inscribed with the name of the dead person.
  3. tomb |to͞om|noun-a large vault, typically an underground one, for burying the dead.
  4. devout |dəˈvout| adjective-having or showing deep religious feeling or commitment: she was a devout Catholic | a rabbi’s devout prayers.
  5. jury-rigged |ˈjo͝orēˌriɡd| adjective-(of a ship) having temporary makeshift rigging.
  6. crypt|kript| noun 1 an underground room or vault beneath a church, used as a chapel or burial place.
  7. crackdown |ˈkrakˌdoun| noun [ usu. in sing. ]severe measures to restrict or discourage undesirable or illegal people or behavior: a crackdown on crime and corruption.
  8. modest |ˈmädəst| adjective-1 unassuming or moderate in the estimation of one’s abilities or achievements: he was a very modest man, refusing to take any credit for the enterprise.
  9. scavenge |ˈskavənj| verb [ with obj. ]search for and collect (anything usable) from discarded waste: people sell junk scavenged from the garbage | [ no obj. ] : the city dump where the squatters scavenge to survive.
  10. ghost |ɡōst| noun-an apparition of a dead person that is believed to appear or become manifest to the living, typically as a nebulous image: the building is haunted by the ghost of a monk | figurative : the ghosts of past deeds.

Source: New Oxford American Dictionary

Reading Comprehension

True /False/NA-Statements

  1. F-Manila North Cemetery opened in 1904.
  2. T-As many as a quarter of Manila’s 12 million people are informal settlers in the cemetery.
  3. F-In mausoleums, and in makeshift structures built over tombs, families chat, play cards and watch soap operas on TVs.
  4. F- They don’t always have electricity and have no running water.
  5. T- At night, people sleep on the tombs.
  6. T-Electricity in these converted homes is jury-rigged, and most residents don’t have running water.
  7. T-Amid all of this, the normal business of a cemetery goes on.
  8. F-Tombs are generally rented for five years.
  9. T-People leave offerings of snacks, drinks and sometimes cigarettes at their relatives’ gravesides.
  10. F-Residents say drug use and crime have been on the rise in recent years.