SESSION 5 (05/09/2021)

READING (HUMANITIES – SHORT ANSWER/COMPLETE SENTENCE)

I. Important keywords and sentences: (Please search for the meaning and
study by yourself. If you have any question, ask me by the next session)

CLASSIFYING SOCIETIES

Although humans have established many types of societies throughout history,

sociologists and anthropologists tend to classify different societies according to the
degree to which different groups within a society have unequal access to advantages
such as resources, prestige or power, and usually refer to four basic types of societies.
From least to most socially complex they are clans, tribes, chiefdoms and states.

Clan
These are small-scale societies of hunters and gatherers, generally of fewer than 100
people, who move seasonally to exploit wild (undomesticated) food resources. Most
surviving hunter-gatherer groups are of this kind, such as the Hadza of Tanzania or
the San of southern Africa. Clan members are generally kinsfolk, related by descent
or marriage. Clans lack formal leaders, so there are no marked economic differences
or disparities in status among their members.
Because clans are composed of mobile groups of hunter-gatherers, their sites consist
mainly of seasonally occupied camps, and other smaller and more specialised sites.
Among the latter are kill or butchery sites—locations where large mammals are killed
and sometimes butchered— and work sites, where (1) tools are made or other specific
activities carried out. The base camp of such a group may give evidence of rather
insubstantial dwellings or temporary shelters, along with the debris of residential
occupation.

Tribe
These are generally larger than mobile hunter-gatherer groups, but rarely number
more than a few thousand, and their diet or subsistence is based largely on cultivated
plants and domesticated animals. Typically, they are settled farmers, but they may be
(2) nomadic with a very different, mobile economy based on the intensive
exploitation of livestock. These are generally multi-community societies, with the
individual communities integrated into the larger society through kinship ties.
Although some tribes have officials and even a "capital" or seat of government, such
officials lack the economic base necessary for effective use of
The typical settlement pattern for tribes is one of settled agricultural homesteads or
villages. Characteristically, no one settlement dominates any of the others in the
region. Instead, the archaeologist finds evidence for isolated, permanently occupied
houses or for permanent villages. Such villages may be made up of a collection of
free-standing houses, like those of the first farms of the Danube valley in Europe. Or
they may be clusters of buildings (3) grouped together, for example, the pueblos of
the American Southwest, and the early farming village or small town of Catalhoyuk in
modern Turkey.

Chiefdom
These operate on the principle of ranking—differences in social status between
people. Different lineages (a lineage is a group claiming descent from a common
ancestor) are graded on a scale of prestige, and the senior lineage, and hence the
society as a whole, is governed by a chief. Prestige and rank are determined by how
closely related one is to the chief, and there is no true stratification into classes. The
role of the chief is crucial.
Often, there is local specialisation in craft products, and surpluses of these and of (4)
foodstuffs are periodically paid as obligation to the chief. He uses these to maintain
his retainers, and may use them for redistribution to his subjects. The chiefdom
generally has a center of power, often with temples, residences of the chief and his
retainers, and craft specialists. Chiefdoms vary greatly in size, but the range is
generally between about 5000 and (5) 20,000 persons.

Early State
These preserve many of the features of chiefdoms, but the ruler (perhaps a king or
sometimes a queen) has explicit authority to establish laws and also to enforce them
by the use of a standing army. Society no longer depends totally upon kin
relationships: it is now stratified into different classes. Agricultural workers (=farmer)
and the poorer urban dwellers form the lowest classes (= bottom), with the (6) craft
specialists above, and the priests and kinsfolk of the ruler higher still. The functions of
the ruler are often separated from those of the priest: palace is distinguished from
temple. The society is viewed as a territory owned by the ruling lineage and populated
by tenants who have an obligation to pay taxes. The central capital houses a
bureaucratic administration of officials; one of their principal purposes is to collect
revenue (often in the form of taxes and tolls) and distribute it to government, army
and craft specialists. Many early states developed complex redistribution systems to
support these essential services.
This rather simple social typology, set out by Elman Service and elaborated by
William Sanders and Joseph Marino, can be criticised, and it should not be used
unthinkingly. Nevertheless, if we are seeking to talk about early societies, we must
use words and hence concepts to do so. Service’s categories provide a good
framework to help organise our thoughts.
 PART 1: VOCABULARY

Passive Voice
A: S + V + O
P: S + to be + V3/Ved + O

 Prestige (n): reputation and achievement / Prestigious (adj)

 The Master degree is the prestige project of his career.
 The prestigious project asset of his career is the Master degree.
 Harvard is a prestigious university.

 chiefdom (n)

 Exploit (v): use or deprive the benefit from a resource / Exploitation (n) /
Exploitative (adj)
 Nowadays, people exploit the forest too much and cause deforestation.
 Nowadays, the forest is exploited (by people) too much that causes deforestation.
 Nowadays, the driving force of deforestation is exploiting the forest too much.
 The high level of exploitation on the forest can cause deforestation.
 The exploited forest can be recovered by growing more trees.
 In Japan, the working culture is very exploitative.

 Kinsfolk (n) / Kin = relative / Folk = guy

 Ho Chi Minh considered all Vietnamese to be his own kin.

 disparity (n): a vast difference between 2 things (more formal than

“difference”)
 There are many disparities between the rich and the poor.

 insubstantial >< substantial: a considerable size/important (adj)

 The amount of sugar in that snack is insubstantial.
 The number of students in this room is substantial.

 cluster

 pueblo

 discriminate (v)

 distinguished (adj) / distinguishing (adj) / distinguish (v)

 During his course of study in this university, he has achieved various
distinguished certificates.
 Children cannot distinguish between reality and fantasy.

redistribution (n) / redistribute (v)  distribute (v)

 Yesterday, the company distributes their posters everywhere.
 Today, they company redistributes their posters again.
 Vocabulary Meaning Without Dictionary

1. Sometimes, the meaning of a high-leveled vocabulary or terminology exists in

the text, sometime it is right next to the word.
For example
- kinsfolk = Clan member
- chiefdom

2. In the case of a high-level vocabulary/terminology that includes a familiar word,

you can guess its meaning (or main idea) based on that familiar word.
For example
- framework
- home-steads

3. In most cases, you can guess the meaning of a word based on the context of the
sentence.
For example
clusters of buildings grouped together

PART 2: SHORT ANSWER/COMPLETE SENTENCE

Choose NO MORE THAN TWO WORDS OR/AND A NUMBER from the passage
for each answer.

1. What are made at the clan work sites? Tools

2. What is the other way of life for tribes besides settled farming? Nomadic

3. How are Catalhoyuk’s housing units arranged? Elaborate (=Detailed) Explain

4. What does a chief give to his subjects as rewards besides crafted goods? Foodstuffs

5. What is the largest possible population of a chiefdom? 20,000

6. Which group of people is at the bottom of an early state but higher than the
farmers? Craft specialists
 SHORT ANSWER + COMPLETE A SENTENCE QUESTIONS

1. Identify the keywords in the questions

2. Use keywords (or synonyms of keywords) to locate the information in the
passage
3. The order of the questions follow the order of information in the passage
4. Skip harder questions to do the easier 1st.
5. Give the answer based on the passage (not your opinion/knowledge)
6. Your answer should be the exact typing as the word in the text.
7. Pay close attention to the word limit
 A number counts 1 word
 A word with hyphen will be counted as 1 word (e.g. co-worker)

II. Next Session’s Preparation (Topic: Writing: Paragraph/Essay Structure –

Speaking: Study)

1. Paraphrase these sentences:

 Because clans are composed of mobile groups of hunter-gatherers, their sites
consist mainly of seasonally occupied camps, and other smaller and more
specialised sites.
 The clan's sites consisted essentially of seasonal occupation camps and another
more narrow and more specialized place, for they are composed of the mobile
hunter-gatherer group.
 Typically, they are settled farmers, but they may be nomadic with a very
different, mobile economy based on the intensive exploitation of livestock.
 Usually, they are settled agricultural workers, but they can be nomadic with a
different, mobile economy, depend on intensive cattle exploitation.
 Chiefdoms operate on the principle of ranking—differences in social status
between people.
 The kingdoms work on the principle of ranking - the dissimilarity in social class
between people.
 Society no longer depends totally upon kin relationships: it is now stratified into
different classes.
 Society is currently stratified into different classes and no longer based entirely
on kinship relationships.
2. Make sentence with these new words:
 elaborate (v/adj) / elaboration (n)
 In preparation for this event, she had made careful and elaborate
arrangements.
  The key idea of the paragraph is expressed in the title and elaborated in the
text.
 This dress was simple but made with elaboration.
 framework (v)
 I was attracted by a little flower put carefully in a glass framework.

3. Next Session’s Preparation

 Read p.11-24 and p. 56-74
 Write a paragraph (about 100 words) to describe a festival that you
enjoyed (submission is required)
Tet Holiday is my favorite festival, it usually takes place at the end of January or the
beginning of February. Some days before Tet, people prepare things, tidy, and decorate their
house to get ready for the Tet holiday. They often cook some traditional cakes such as “Banh
Chung”, and buy stunning flower pots from the market. Some can go back to their hometown.
For example, my family always went to Hanoi on those days to rest and to meet relatives. On
new year's evening, people hang out to watch fireworks, then they come back home and
watch tv programs together. In my home, we play some small games and my grandma cooks
really nice food for us. During the next three days, they visit their relatives, their friends, and
give their best wishes. Children received lucky money from the adults. Some people go to the
pagoda to pray for a happy and prosperous new year. The thing that makes me feel fulfilled at
this festival is that I can come back to my hometown and spend time with my whole family.
(Submit the Word file or copy/paste the paragraph to the chat on Skype before
next session)