Intermediate passages 1 The best recruiting agents

24 Life after death

Nearly all religions include the belief that human beings survive death in some form. For many people, such as the Balinese, a funeral symbolizes the passage from one life to another, rather than the end of a person's existence. In Bali, a cremation is therefore a time of joy and celebration. On the morning of the cremation, friends and relatives gather to pay their last respects and to eat and drink § with the family. There is then a procession to the cremation ground, some men carrying the corpse in a tower built of bamboo and paper, and other men carrying a special container called a sarcophagus, which may be in the shape of a cow or a bull. At the cremation ground the body is transferred to the sarcophagus and when it has been reduced to ashes and the soul released, there is a happy noisy procession to the sea, where the ashes are scattered. This last section of the ceremony represents cleansing and purification.

1. It's clear from the passage that

1. 
   in Bali, the closest relatives carry the corpse to the cremation ground
   
2. 
   Balinese people burn dead bodies and scatter the ashes into the sea
   
3. 
   Balinese people put the ashes of the dead person in a special container called a sarcophagus
   
4. 
   in Bali, the family of the dead person has to sacrifice a cow or a bull before the cremation
   

2. 
   For Balinese people, funerals are not sad occasions because A) for them, death means the end of a sorrowful life on earth
   

B) all the members of a family come together on the morning of the funeral C) they believe that the dead continue to live in another life

D) they think funerals enable them to show their respect for the dead

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3. 
   The writer states that, according to the beliefs of almost all religions A) people continue to exist in some form after death
   

B) cremation is essential for cleansing and purification C) funerals are celebrated with joy and happiness

D) relatives gather on the morning of the funeral to pay their last respects to the dead person