SAT Example (Short Reading Comprehension)

In Madagascar, the custom of famadihana, or "turning of the bones," attests to many cultures' urgent concerns with burial and the spirit world. Practiced by the Merina and the Betsileo, two of the island's most important ethnic groups, famadihana involves temporarily removing the ancestors' remains, cleansing and rewrapping them in new shrouds, and then re-interring them in the existing tomb. Such a ceremony may seem rather startling to many Americans, but for the Merina and Betsileo it is typically celebrated with great festivity and helps to strengthen familial ties. In fact, many aspects of famadihana are reminiscent of an extended family reunion.

 

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