Unit One Exploring The Past PDF
Unit One Exploring The Past PDF
1Get the students acquainted with the project outcome by referring them to page 42 so as to
Where are these monuments located? Etc.....
Chichen Itza-
Mexico-
Taj Mahal
Changed with the DEMO VERSION of CAD-KAS PDF-Editor (http://www.cadkas.com).
Christ the
Redeemer
Thamugadi -Timgad-
Colosseum
Machu Picchu-
Peru-
1
LISTEN & CONSIDER
Language Outcomes
Go through the language outcomes with your students so they will have a clear
understanding of what the learning objectives of the section are.
•
•
Informing: asking and answering questions with ago …...
•
Narrating: using had to, used to, was able to &past simple of to be.
•
Using dependent prepositions: adj + prep and vb+ prep
•
Pronuncing: was/were/wasn’t/weren’t/ in connected speech.
Giving a talk about changes in lifestyles.
• Look at the map below and answer the questions that follow:
Getting started
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with civilization (E.g. sculpture, literature, astronomy…) on the board and justify their
choice.
An advanced state of intellectual, cultural, and material development in human
society, marked by progress in the arts and sciences, the extensive use of record-keeping,
including writing, and the appearance of complex political and social institutions.
The type of culture and society developed by a particular nation or region or in a particular
epoch.
Cultural or intellectual refinement; good taste. / Modern society with its conveniences.
Let’s Hear it
Unit 1, Script 1: Listen and Consider
First part of the radio interview
Dr. Victor Skipp, a professor of ancient civilizations, is answering questions during a radio
broadcast.
Radio interviewer: I'll start with a tricky question if you don't mind. How many civilizations
has the world known so far?
Dr. Skipp: Well, historians don't agree on the exact number. According to some of them, there
have been 26 or 27 civilizations on the whole.
Radio interviewer: And which one is the world's earliest civilization?
Dr. Skipp: The world's earliest civilization is probably the Sumerian civilization. It
flourished on the banks of the Tigris and Euphrates rivers in Mesopotamia (present-day Iraq)
about 5,500 years ago. As for the Egyptian civilization, it emerged about 5,000 years ago. It
was based along the Nile Valley. Then came the Indus Valley civilization about 4,500 years
ago and the Chinese civilization along the lower valley of the Yellow River about 4,200 years
ago.
Radio interviewer: What about what is known as Ancient Greek civilization?
Dr. Skipp: Well, Ancient Greek civilization started in the Island of Crete some 4,000 years ago
and then spread to mainland Greece where it flourished approximately 150 B.C.
Radio interviewer: This was when the Romans took over, I suppose. Now, what about the
New World? Did any ancient civilizations emerge there?
Dr Skipp: Yes, in the New World similar civilizations evolved in Mesoamerica (the Olmec
about 3,200 years ago) and in Peru (the Chavin about 2,800 years ago).
1- Listen to the first part of the radio interview about ancient civilizations & note
down each of the five boxes below how long ago each of them began.
Ancient Greek Ancient Egyptian Sumerian Indus Valley Chinese
Civilization Civilization Civilization Civilization Civilization
4,000 years ago 5,000 years ago 5,500 years ago 4,500 years ago 4,200 years ago
2- Compare your answers to task 1 above with those of your partner. Then order the
civilizations chronologically using the wheel below.
1 Sumerian civilization (5,500 ago) - 2 Ancient Egyptian civilization (5,000 years ago) –
3 Indus Valley civilization (4,500 years ago) - 4 Chinese civilization (4,200 years ago) –
5 Ancient Greek civilization (4,000 years ago)
3
1 SUMERIAN
5 GREEK 2 EGYPTIAN
4 CHINESE 3 INDUS
3- Listen to the second part of the radio interview. Put a tick ( ) in the right box to
indicate whether statements (A-F) are true (T), false (F), or not mentioned (NM) in
the interview. An example is provided.
Second part of the radio interview
Radio Interviewer: Right. How can you explain that practically all of the civilizations you
mentioned developed around rivers?
Dr. Skipp: That's a good point. If you allow me, I'll begin by defining what we exactly mean
by civilization. I would say that civilization is 'the art of living in cities'. But before the first
cities could be built and with them the earliest civilizations, people had to learn how to farm the
land, how to tame wild animals and how to live the simple life of a farming village. What I
mean is that the foundations of civilization were laid by the first farmers and craftsmen. And
naturally, where could these farmers find a more fertile land to cultivate and sustain city life
than on the banks of rivers like the Tigris, the Euphrates, or the Nile?
Radio interviewer: And I suppose that it must have taken a long time for civilization to
become 'visible' and develop even on the banks of these rivers.
Dr. Skipp: That's right. Let's take the case of the Sumerian civilization. As you can imagine,
hardly any rain fell in Mesopotamia even at that time. So away from the rivers the soil was too
dry for farming. On the other hand; every year the rivers flooded, which meant that close to
them most of the land was a permanent swamp. In some places there was too little water, in
others too much. So if progress from village life to city life was to be made, the Sumerians had
to control a great river. This they were able to do. First, they built huge banks on both sides of
the Euphrates, so that even at flood time, it could be contained within its own bed. Then, they
constructed an irrigation system constituted of canals, reservoirs and dams to control the
distribution of water.
Radio Interviewer: I imagine that before the Sumerians were able to build their cities and
develop their civilization, they had other difficulties to overcome.
Dr. Skipp: Certainly. For example the Sumerians had to import many raw materials necessary
for civilized life because they were not available in Mesopotamia. They imported these raw
materials from different localities of the world situated in Syria, Oman, Afghanistan, and even
in Europe. The Sumerians had no money. But their farming was so efficient by this time that
the land was producing far more than the inhabitants actually needed for themselves. So they
used to barter their products, exchanging their own surplus of corn and dates, leather, wool, and
pottery for the goods they needed.
Radio interviewer: I see. Another question, if you allow me.
Dr. Skipp: Please, go ahead.
Radio interviewer: Is there any explanation as to why ancient civilizations collapsed after
having built imposing cities, fine palaces and temples?
Dr. Skipp: Well, the explanation is simple. For the most part, progress from cave life to
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civilization had taken place in peaceful and settled conditions. But at one stage of Ancient
History, these civilized countries were invaded and destroyed by less civilized ones in search of
food. Often the cities were unable to protect themselves because they had internal problems,
and their people had become too soft and easygoing as a result of their wealth and prosperity.
The invaders, on the other hand, though they were less clever, were tough, vigorous and
determined_
(Adapted from Victor Skipp, Out of the Ancient World)
T F NM
A. The Sumerian civilization is the oldest civilization in the world. T
B. Most of the ancient civilizations rose along rivers. T
C. Agriculture did not form the basis of ancient civilizations. F
D. Ancient civilizations flourished during periods of peace. T
E. Most ancient civilizations fell into ruins because of war. T
F. Ancient Egyptians invented agriculture. F
4- Compare your answers to task 3 above with those of your partner.
Have the students compare their answers. Then engage them in a discussion
particularly with reference to answers to question D and E. These are important issues and
should develop consciousness about the importance of peace for development, refinement in the
arts and so on.
5- Use as much information as you can from tasks 1, 2 and 3 on the previous page to
complete the dialogue below. Pay attention to the framed information.
You: How many civilizations has the world known so far?
Your partner: Well, according to some historians the world has known 26 or 27 civilizations so far.
You: Which one is the oldest / earliest civilization?
Your partner: The world's earliest civilization is probably the Sumerian civilization.
You: How long ago did it start / begin / flourish / rise?
Your partner: It started in Mesopotamia some 4000 years ago
You: What about the Ancient Egyptian Civilization? When and where did it start?
Your partner: Well, Ancient Egyptian civilization started some 5,000 years ago along the Nile
Valley.
You : What was the major cause of the collapse of these civilizations?
Your partner: According to most historians, the major cause was war. Most of the ancient
civilizations fell into ruins as a result of external invasions.
AROUND THE TEXT
Grammar Explorer I
Fill in each of the blanks in the text below with a zero article, a definite, or an Indefinite
article. Then explain why you have used each of them.
Encourage students to explain the use of the three types of articles in English. Place
emphasis on the zero article before abstract nouns. Refer students to the Grammar Reference
on pp.211-212) only once they have tried to do the task. If necessary, devise a task of your own
to consolidate the students’ knowledge of articles.
For me (zero article) (1) civilization is synonymous with (zero article) (2) refinement /
improvement, (zero article) (3) refinement in (zero article) (4) architecture, in (zero article) (5)
law, and in (zero article) (6) life styles. (The) (7) culture & (The) (8) literature of (a ) (9)
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society also contribute to (The) (10) flourishing of its civilization.
A zero article: (zero article) (1) civilization. abstract nouns
A definite: (The) (7) culture. Definite as it refers to a particular culture.
An indefinite article: …. (a) (9) society. Indefinite as it refers to any society.
See Grammar Reference, pp.211-212
GRAMMAR REFERENCE
Articles
Units 1 - 6
There are two articles in English: the definite and the indefinite. Sometimes nouns require
no article at all; in which case the term zero (0) article is used.
The indefinite article
1The indefinite article is /∂n/, written ‘an’ before vowel sounds and /∂/, written ‘a’ in
other cases. There are also stressed forms /æn/ and /eІ/ used when the word is emphasized or
pronounced by itself.
1 We use a/an in the following ways:
1. before singular countable nouns which we know nothing about.
E.g. My father works in a factory.
2. with the names of professions and occupations.
E.g. She is an executive, and he is a waiter
3. in expressions of measurements.
E.g. We hired this tractor for DZD 3,000 an hour.
Olive oil costs DZD 300.00 a liter this year.
4. before a noun which means all things of the same kind.
E.g. A detective is a man/woman whose job consists in investigating crimes.
A friend in need is a friend indeed.
The definite article
1 The definite article, written ‘the’, is pronounced / I/ before vowel sounds, (/ ∂ /, in
rapid speech, /∂/ in other cases. There is also a stressed form / i:/ chiefly used when the word
is pronounced by itself or for purposes of emphasis.
1 We use ‘the’ in the following ways:
1. when it is clear from the context what particular person, animal, thing or place we're talking about.
E.g. I'll meet you in front of the post office.
2. before a noun that we have mentioned before.
E.g. He had a villa and a yacht, but he sold the villa a month ago.
3. before adjectives to specify a category of people or things.
E.g. the rich, the poor, the unemployed, the Welsh, the World Wide Web
4. when the object or group of objects is the only one that exists or has existed.
E.g. the stars, the sun, the pyramids, the human race
5. when we talk about an institution shared by the people as a whole.
E.g. the radio, the television, the telephone
6. when we refer to what is general or typical for a whole class of objects or animals.
E.g. The tiger is a beautiful animal. (We mean here all tigers.)
Zero article (0)
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1. We do not put an article before uncountable (or mass) nouns used in general statements.
E.g. (0) Money is the root of all (0) evil.
2. There is no article before abstractions (abstract nouns).
E.g. All nations should work for (0) peace, (0) honesty, (0) generosity and (0) courage.
3. There is no article before names of places and people.
E.g. (0) Poland, (0) Queen Elizabeth II, (0) Houari Boumediene Airport.
4. We do not normally use the with the names of meals.
E.g. What time is (0) lunch ?
What did you have for (0) breakfast ?
5. There is no definite article before prison, school, hospital, university when these institutions
are used for the purpose for which they exist.
E.g. When I leave (0) school, I'll go to (0) university.
6. But when these institutions are not used for the purpose for which they exist, we use the definite article.
E.g. Mr Chaib went to the school to meet his daughter's teacher
7. There is zero article before plural nouns.
E.g. We're expecting (0) visitors.
Grammar Explorer II
Consider sentences 1-3 below. Then answer questions A-B on the next page.
1- The Sumerians had to import many of the raw materials necessary for civilized life
because they were not available in Mesopotamia.
2- They were able to control the Euphrates.
3- They used to barter their goods.
A.What meaning does each of the items in bold type convey?
A. ‘Had to’, ‘were able to’, and ‘used to’ express in this order: obligation/necessity in the
past, ability in the past, habit in the past (or contrast between present and past realities).
B. What the negative and interrogative forms of the items are in bold? Illustrate them in
sentences of your own.
B. The negative of had to, were able to, and used to are in this order: ‘didn’t have to’
(absence of obligation), ‘were unable to’, and ‘didn’t use to’.
Make sure the students use these negative in sentences for illustration.
Native Indian Americans didn’t have to make a choice so as where to live.
After 1830, most of native Indian Americans were unable to live in eastern lands.
Native Indian Americans didn’t use to live in southern rich lands.
Have another look at was able to, had to in SE2 Grammar Reference, pp 197-198
$ Add used to, was/were able to or had to to the verbs in brackets to make the text below
meaningful.
Today, most native Americans live in reservations and nearly 97% of them west of
Mississippi. But centuries ago, their ancestors used to live all across America. They used to
hunt the buffalo in the prairies. They also used to farm maize, manioc, potatoes, peanuts, cacao
& pepper. But after 1830, most of them had to migrate westward to reservations because of the
US government’s policy of forced migration. Though the living conditions in the reservations
were difficult, the Indians were able to survive & contribute to what it is called American
civilization today.
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VOCABULARY EXPLORER
Each of the three categories contains verbs which are more or less similar in meaning. So it
doesn’t really matter which comes first in its category.
1- Look up in the dictionary the meaning of the words in the blue box. Then place them on
the curved line to represent the rise & fall of civilizations.
Flourish evolve develop mature bloom expand
Emerge vanish / disappear
Begin fall to decay/ to ruin
start decline
originate collapse
Rise Fall
Each of the three categories contains verbs which are more or less similar in meaning. So it doesn’t really
matter which comes first in its category.
Emerge, flourish, evolve, develop, collapse, rise, originate, decline, spread, fall to decay/to
ruin, vanish, mature; disappear, start, begin, bloom, expand
2- Fill in the blanks in the text on the next page with appropriate words from the curved line
in task 1 above. Use the right tense. There are some irrelevant words. Look up in the
dictionary the meaning of the words in the blue box. Then place them on the curved line
to represent the rise & fall of civilizations.
Make sure the students realize the importance of appropriacy in the choice of the words. Synonyms
should be used to avoid repetition
History shows that civilizations rise (1), and Emerge (2), and then disappear (3),
sometimes without a trace. This is the case of ancient Maya civilization in the New
World. The Maya civilization started (4) in the Yucatan Peninsula in Central America
about 2000 BC. Later, it expanded (5) to Mexico, Guatemala, and Belize. The Maya
civilization developed (6) a form of writing that could express all types of thought and
language. It also evolved (7) a highly developed system of government and of agriculture,
as well as an incredibly accurate system for measuring time. It flourished (8) in the
classical period between 325-925 A.D. After that, it gradually declined (9) before it
finally collapsed / fell into ruins / fell to decay (10) in the fifteenth century, probably
because of diseases, or epidemics, or sudden environmental changes.
3- Have a look at the tips below. Then rewrite the parts of sentences that follow
using the dependent prepositions in red type.
Go through the tips to make the students aware of what dependent prepositons are before
setting them to task.
The sentences should be rearranged in the form of a paragraph. Refer the students to the
Grammar Reference pp.212-215 to check some of their answers to task 3 above.
TIPS
Some adjectives and verbs in English are always followed by specific prepositions called
dependent prepositions. There are no specific rules as to which preposition goes with which
particular verb or adjective. It takes practice and memorizing to learn to associate verbs and
adjectives with suitable prepositions. E.g.
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A. The Egyptians were good at building canals.
B. Ancient Greeks believed in many gods.
A preposition is a word which, as its name implies, is placed before a pronoun or a noun
phrase, i.e. a phrase whose most important word is a noun.
E.g. [...] by us - Pronoun- [....] with my best friend- noun phrase –
A preposition usually indicates the temporal, spatial or logical relationship of its object to
the rest of the sentence as in the following examples:
E.g. The book is on / beneath / against / beside / over the table.
E.g. She read the book during class.
Common prepositions
• The most common English prepositions are simple, i.e. they consist of one word only. Here
is a list of common simple prepositions:
about around by over under
above as down past until
across with on opposite
after behind from than within
against below in through without
along between into to
among beyond like toward(s)
at during round up
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• Other prepositions, consisting of more than one word, are called complex prepositions. Here
are some of them:
According to due to by means of along with except for in comparison with as for
out of in relation to away from owing to in addition to because of up to in connection to
Adjective + preposition
h In order to have their meaning complete some adjectives are followed by prepositions. Here
are some of the most useful ones.
• Adjective + of
afraid of proud of suspicious of envious of
ashamed of jealous of conscious of tired of
aware of scared of fond of short of
Nice / kind / generous / mean / stupid / silly/ (im)polite / rude / unreasonable of someone to...
E.g. • Are you afraid of snakes?
E.g. • Thank you. It was very kind of you to help me.
• Adjective + with
angry with annoyed with familiar with bored with delighted with furious with
pleasant with satisfied with. E.g. I'm delighted with my new camera.
Verb + preposition
• Some verbs always or typically have a particular preposition after them.
apologize (to someone) for something - apply for a job - approve/disapprove of something -
believe in something - belong to someone - care about someone - care for someone/something
– collide with someone/something - complain to someone about something –
dream about someone/something - dream of being something/doing something-concentrate on
something - consist of - crash into someone/something - deal with something - depend on
someone/something - die of an illness - happen to someone/something - hear about someone
/something - hear from someone - laugh at someone/something - listen to someone/something
- look after someone/something – listen to someone/something - meet with someone - pay
someone for something- profit from something - rely on someone/something - refer to
something- search for someone/something - shout at someone – smile at someone - suffer
from an illness - think about someone/something - think of someone/something - wait for
someone/something - write to someone
• The verb and the preposition together sometimes express a single idea.
E.g. She takes after (= resembles) her grandmother.
• Other verbs may be followed by one or another preposition depending on the meaning which
we want to convey.
E.g. A. Our problems result from our negligence. (cause)
B. The change of policy has resulted in failure. (consequence)
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A. Our success consists in our ability to respond quickly to new problems.
B. The team consists of experienced players.
A. We've agreed on a date for the marriage.
B. We've agreed to see her this afternoon.
C. I agree with you entirely.
• We do not use a preposition with these verbs.
Phone someone E.g. Did you phone your sister yesterday?
Discuss something E.g. We shall discuss many items at the meeting.
Enter (=go into a place) E.g. The candidate felt nervous as she entered the examination hall.
Resist someone/something E.g. They have resisted occupation for half a century.
Emphasize/stress something E.g. She emphasized/stressed the importance of careful driving.
Verb+ object +preposition
Study this list and remember the structure:
• Accuse someone of (doing) something
E.g. Said accused Rashid of being selfish.
• Ask someone for something
E.g. He wrote to the travel agency asking them for a refund.
• Borrow something from someone
E.g. I had no money left. I had to borrow £ 20 from a colleague of mine.
• Prefer someone/something to someone/something
E.g. I prefer oranges to apples.
• Protect someone/something from someone/something
E.g. She wears sunglasses to protect her eyes from the sun.
• Provide someone with something
E.g. The school provides poor students with books.
• Remind someone of something
E.g. She reminds me of my mother.
• Warn someone about someone/something
E.g. Meteorologists have warned all the citizens about climate change.
PRONUNCIATION & SPELLING
The weak form is used when the auxiliary verb is at the beginning or in the middle of a
sentence, and when it is not stressed.
The strong form is used when the auxiliary verb is at the end of sentence, or stressed.
In the phonology of stress-timed languages, the weak form of a word is a form that may be used when
the word has no stress, and which is phonemically distinct from the strong form used when the word
is stressed. The strong form serves as the citation form. A weak form is an unstressed syllable, and is
therefore distinct from a clitic form, which is not a syllable at all but rather fused with the end syllable
of an adjacent word. A word may have multiple weak forms, or none. In some contexts, the strong
form may be used even where the word is unstressed.
1. How do you expect speakers A and B in the dialogue below to pronounce the past forms
of the auxiliary ‘be’? Circle what you think is the correct pronunciation.
A: When was /w∂z/ /w z/ Christopher Columbus born ?
B: It was /w∂z/ /w z/ in 1450.
A: Was /w∂z/ /w z/ he a Spaniard?
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B: No, he wasn't /w∂znt/ /w znt/. He was /w∂z/ /w z/ Italian.
A: Were /w∂/ /w3:/ there many good Italian navigators and explorers in Columbus's
time?
B: Yes, there were /w∂/ /w3:/ quite many. Amerigo Vespucci was /w∂z/ /w z/ one of them.
America was /w∂z/ /w z/ named after him.
A: Does that mean that Italian explorers were /w∂/ /w3:/ the only ones who explored North America?
B: No, they weren't /w∂nt/ /w3:nt/ the only ones. There were /w∂/ /w3:/ also
Portuguese, Spanish, French, Dutch, and British explorers.
Act out the dialogue above with your partners (books closed).
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2. Select the most relevant ideas and write down your talk in three short paragraphs. Use
appropriate link words from sentence to sentence and from a paragraph to another.
3. Exchange drafts with your partner for error checking.
4. Write a revised version of your talk and read it aloud to your classmates.
READ & CONSIDER
Go through the language outcomes preview with your students to have them acquainted
with the objectives of this section.
Language Outcomes
Comparing: The comparative & superlative of quantifiers.
Expressing concession with though, in spite of…..
Expressing time relations with conjunctions when, before ….
Forming new words with prefixes de- & dis.-
Describing things, places & people using well +past participle.
Spelling words: stop $stopped, try $tried….
Pronouncing letters ‘ch’ & final ‘-ed’.
Writing an expository essay.
fGetting Started
1. Have the students identify the location of Algerian World Heritage sites, preferably on a
map.
1. Where are the sites situated exactly?
Here are Algeria's seven World Heritage Sites:
The Casbah of Algiers : (City of Algiers) (1992).
The Banu Hammads’ Qalaa: on the western side of Djebel Maadid, overlooking the
Hodna plains, some 100 km away from Bejaia (1980).
Timgad: (Colonia, Marciana Trajana, Thamugadi) (December 17, 1982) situated 110 km
to the south of Cirta (today’s Constantine), a few kilometres south-east of today’s Batna, 27
km to the west of Tazoult, at the foot of the Aures mountain range.
The Mzab Valley: (December 17, 1982) The Mzab Valley consists of five small fortified
towns (Ksour) : El Ateuf, Bou Noura, Beni Isguen, Melika and Ghardaia.
Djemila: (formerly known as Cuicul) December 17, 1982, 50 km away from Setif.
Tipaza : (City of Algiers) (December 17, 1982)
Tassili N’ajjer : 1982, (1986) in the Sahara, eastern part of the Ahaggar (altitude
between 1000 and 2500 m); The Algerian government declared the Meddak region situated on
the heights of the city of Djanet a national park in 1972.
f This definition of the concept of World Heritage Site can be helpful for you:
A World Heritage site is a place or structure included on an official list produced by
the World Heritage Committee of the United Nations. Places are chosen for the list because
they are considered to be of outstanding universal value, often for historical reasons, and are
13
f The students who have followed the new programme have already come across the
therefore preserved.
f3. The importance is in the justification of the answer provided by the students and in
14
3. We don't have much information about what life was really like in the Sahara during
the Phoenician and Roman periods. (§2) (T)
4. Only the smallest amounts of goods transited through the port of Algiers during
the Phoenician and Roman periods. (§3) (T)
5. No other site in Algeria has as few Ottoman architectural features as the Casbah
of Algiers. (§4) (F). Tthe Ottomans transformed the architectural character of the
city by constructing mosques and palaces similar to those in Asia Minor and
erecting the famous white-washed military fortification known as the Casbah.
Around the text
Algeria at the Crossroads of Civilizations
No country in North Africa has as much access to the Mediterranean and the Sahara
as Algeria. Its privileged geographic position has made it open to many of the ancient
civilizations that flourished in the Mediterranean Basin and to those that prospered in Africa
south of the Sahara. Today few countries in the world can boast of as many World Heritage
Sites as our country. Tipaza, Djemila, Tassili n' Ajjer, Timgad, the M'Zab Valley, The
Qalaa of the Banu Hammad, and the Casbah of Algiers are standing witnesses both to its
civilizational genius and to its enriching contacts with other civilizations. (§1)
Of all the sites of Southern Algeria, the Tassili n' Ajjer
has the most prestige. It has more rock paintings and
engravings than any other prehistoric Saharan sites,
and it contains the most remains of the prehistoric civilizations
of the Sahara. These rock paintings, engravings and remains
have yielded as much information as we need in order for us
to have a clear picture of what life used to be like in the
Sahara of prehistoric times. They show clearly that the
Algerian Sahara was one of the cradles of civilization. The
Tassili n' Ajjer seems to have had as few exchanges with the
Phoenician and Roman civilizations as the other
Saharan sites of our country. Archaeologists are still
undecided about which of these Saharan sites contains the fewest traces of these ancient
civilizations. Yet the traces that have already been uncovered in the Tassili n'Ajjer speak
eloquently of the fruitful contact of the Phoenician and Roman civilizations with that of the
Sahara. (§2)
In the northern part of Algeria, the Casbah of Algiers undoubtedly holds the most important
position among the historic sites. Its history is closely linked with the history of the city of
Algiers. Algiers was built during multiple conquests, and layers of well-refined cultures can be
found in its architecture and social character. There is little knowledge about its earliest times
when it was founded by the Phoenicians as one of their trading posts. It was known to the
Carthaginians and to the Romans as Icosium. The Vandals destroyed Icosium in the 5th century
A.D. Five centuries later, Emir Bulughin rebuilt the town into an important Mediterranean
trading port called al-Jaza ' ir. Until then, Algiers had less influence on international commerce
than the other Algerian maritime cities because it had fewer natural harbors. Therefore, despite
the fact that it was considered a trading post by both the Romans and Phoenicians, only the
least amount of merchandise transited through it. (§3)
After the Turkish Baba Aruj brothers had gained control of the city in 1516, Algiers thrived
as a relatively independent city under the nominal control of the Ottoman Empire. Later, the
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Ottomans transformed the architectural character of the city by constructing mosques
and palaces similar to those in Asia Minor and erecting the famous white-washed military
fortification known as the Casbah. In spite of the fact that the Casbah underwent some
changes during the French colonial rule, it still remains the throbbing cultural heart of the city of Algiers.
(§4)
Adapted from Africana the Encyclopaedia of the African and African American
Around the text
Grammar Explorer 1
1. Pick out the sentences which contain the comparatives & the superlatives
of quantifiers in the text above. Write them in the corresponding boxes
on the next page.
Interact with the students to help them explain how the comparative
and superlative forms of quantity words are formed. Help the students
synthesize information by drawing the table on page 217 on the board.
A1. The comparatives of superiority: It has more rock drawings and engravings than any
other prehistoric Saharan sites.
A2. The comparatives of equality: No country in North Africa has as much access to the
Mediterranean Sea and the Sahara as Algeria.
These rock paintings, engravings and remains have yielded as much information as we
need in order for us to have a clear picture of life used to be like in the Sahara of Prehistoric
times.
The Tassili-n’Ajjar seems to have had as few exchanges with the Phoenician and Roman
civilizations as the other Saharan sites of our country.
A3. The comparatives of inferiority
Algiers had less influence on international commerce than other Algerian maritime cities
because it had fewer natural harbours (than the other maritime cities).
Algeria has less World Heritage Sites than some other countries.
B.1. The superlatives of superiority
Of all the sites of Southern Algeria, the Tassili n’Ajjer has the most prestige.
It contains the most remains.
B.2. The superlatives of inferiority
Archaeologists are still undecided about which of these Saharan sites contains the fewest
traces of these ancient civilizations.
Only the least amount of merchandise transited through it.
COMPARITIVES OF SUPERLATIVES OF
SUPERIORITY more than SUPERIORITY the most
EQUALITY as much ...as INFERIORITY the least
the fewest
INFERIORITY less ... than
fewer
fewer ... than
16
2. Consider the comparatives & the superlatives in the boxes you have filled
in task 1 above & explain how they are formed.
Interact with the students to help them explain how the comparative and superlative forms
of quantity words are formed. Help the students synthesize information by drawing the table on
page 217 on the board.
Quantifiers Comparative forms Superlative forms
many more - as many as the most
much more - as much as the most
little less - as little as the least
few fewer - as few as the fewest
QUANTIFIERS Units 1 - 3 - 4
• Countable and uncountable nouns
countable nouns uncountable nouns
a glass water
an apple milk
a pound money
people crowd
fAsking and answering questions about quantity using countable nouns
1. Question: How many people are there in the restaurant?
• Possible answers:
There are a lot of/lots of people in the restaurant.
There are many people in the restaurant. +++++++++++++
There are a few people in the restaurant. +++++
There are some people in the restaurant. +++++
There are few people in the restaurant. ++++
There aren't many people in the restaurant. ++++
There aren't any people in the restaurant. 0
There are no people in the restaurant''. 0
17
I haven't got much money in my pocket. ++++
I haven't got any money in my pocket. 0
I have got no money in my pocket. 0
Note
1 We use many (countable nouns) and much (uncountable nouns) in questions about
quantity.
1 In spoken English, we usually use a lot of/lots of (with countable and uncountable nouns)
in positive sentences, but in written English we often use many (countable nouns)
1 We often use much in negative sentences (not in positive ones).
1 Little and few (without a) are negative. They mean not much, not enough. The speaker is
not happy about it.
1A little and a few are positive. They mean some, quite enough. The speaker is happy
about it.
18
1 More and the most are also respectively the comparative and superlative
forms of much with uncountable nouns.
Note
1 The comparative form of little is less, not littler.
1 We can also use adjectives like a smaller + quantity/amount to replace less.
E.g. There is a smaller quantity of water in this well than in that one over there.
1 The superlative forms of little is the least, but we can also use the smallest +
quantity.
E.g. Kader has the smallest amount of money in his pocket.
3. Fill in the blanks in the short exchanges below with appropriate quantifiers
(many, few, much, little), or their comparative and superlative forms.
A.’ How much (1) merchandise transited through the port of Algiers in comparison with the
ports of Skikda and Annaba in the Phoenician period? '
B. ’Well, in those days there was very little (not much) (2) merchandise that transited through
Algerian ports on the whole. But in comparison with the ports of Skikda and Annaba, only the
least (3) quantity of merchandise circulated through the port of Algiers, I mean, less than (4)
either through the port of Skikda or that of Annaba.'
A. 'How much (5) trading posts did the Phoenicians, I mean the Carthaginians, have on the
North African coast after their defeat by the Romans in the First and Second Punic Wars ?'
B. ' Well, actually they didn't have many (6). They used to have more (7), but they lost most
(8) of them to the Romans.'
A. 'How much (9) influence did the Phoenician/Carthaginian civilization exert on that of the
Numidians?’
B. 'Well, at the beginning, it exerted little (10) influence. By this I mean that it had less (11)
influence than that of the Romans. You know, at the beginning, the Carthaginians had fewer
(12) contacts with the Numidians than the Romans. But when the Romans burnt down Carthage
in the third Punic War (149 - 146 BC) many (a lot of) (13) Carthaginian refugees settled in
Numidia. It was then that the Carthaginian civilization exerted the most (14) influence on the
Numidians.'
Grammar explorer II (p.25)
1. Pick out from the text on pages 22 and 23 the sentences that express concession and
time, and write them in the table below.
19
Sentences expressing concession Sentences expressing time
Complex sentences (Concession) Complex sentence (Time)
Despite the fact that that it was considered a After the Turkish Baba Aruj brothers had
trading post by both the Romans and the gained control of the city in 1516, Algiers
Phoenicians, only the least amount of thrived as a relatively independent city under
merchandise transited through it. the nominal control of the Ottoman Empire.
In spite of the fact that the Casbah underwent
some changes during the French colonial rule,
it still remains the throbbing cultural heart of
the city of Algiers.
2. Refer to the sentences you have picked out (in task 1 above) and answer the questions
below.
A. Which other conjunctions can you use to convey the same relations as those expressed
in the sentences you have written in the table above?
Concession: but, yet, however, though, although.
Time: when, as soon as
B. Which tenses are used in the sentence(s) that express time? Why?
Emphasize the sequencing of the actions (First action: past perfect, Second action: simple past)
2 actions in the past: 1st Past Perfect - had gained- 2nd Simple Past -thrived- According
to their occurrence in terms of time chronology.
Refer the students to Grammar Reference pp. 226-227
Link words (discourse connectors) All Units
Whether you speak or write, you need to help people make sense of what you say by
signaling to them how one idea leads on to another. The words and phrases which have this
connecting function are called link words or discourse connectors. They generally come at
the beginning of a sentence. Their most important functions are as follows:
1Enumerating:
• Beginning a list: first, to begin with, to start with, first of all, etc.
E.g. To begin with, I suggest you get yourself a job.
• Continuing a list: second (or secondly), next, then, after this, etc.
E.g. Next you look for a convenient place to live in.
• Finishing a list: lastly, at long last, finally, eventually, in the end, etc.
E.g. Finally she managed to escape.
1 Re-inforcing:
Besides, furthermore, moreover, what is more, in addition, etc. are to reinforce an
argument in a situation where a preceding argument is considered insufficient.
E.g. I won't be attending the lecture this afternoon. I have some work to complete. Besides, the
lecturer stammers so much that one can hardly understands what he says.
1 Explaining:
You can explain a point already made in three ways:
• by clarifying its meaning : that is, that is to say (often written i.e.)
• bygiving a more precise description : namely, in other words, to put it in more
20
simply, rather..
E.g. Cheating at exams, namely asking your classmates to help you, is punishable.
• by giving anillustration: for example, E.g., for instance, etc.
1 Comparing:
In comparison with, like, likewise, similarly, compared, both ... and ..., neither ...nor...,
etc.
E.g. the doctor advised him to stop smoking. Similarly, he recommended him to eat much less
and take plenty of exercise.
1 Contrasting:
But, however, and yet, while, whereas, conversely, on the one hand, on the other hand
express contrast.
E.g. Living in the country is quite healthy; and yet it can be rather boring at times.
1 Conceding:
Admittedly, despite (the fact that), in spite of (the fact that), though, naturally, certainly,
of course, nevertheless, this being said, etc. express concession.
E.g. I agree with you that work is the key to success; this being said, there is no reason why you
should stay awake all night studying.
1 Expressing cause/reason:
Because, as, since, for, due to, owing to, etc. signal cause or reason.
E.g. She has to stay in bed as she is ill.
1 Expressing effect/result/consequence:
So, and so, thus, as a result, as a consequence, consequently, therefore, so + adjective +
that , such+ noun (phrase) +that etc.
E.g. He was involved in a car crash yesterday; as a consequence, he had to be taken to
hospital.
1 Expressing purpose:
So that, to, in order to, so as to, in order that, etc. are used to express purpose.
E.g. You must cross that bridge in order to reach the other bank of the river.
1 Intensifying:
In fact, as a matter of fact, actually, indeed, etc.
E.g. John was sulking; in fact he didn't say a word for the whole evening.
1 Inferring:
If not, otherwise, then, in that case, that implies, etc…
E.g. You must get some more petrol. Otherwise, we won't have enough to get us to the next
town.
1 Expressing time:
After, before, when, while, since, meanwhile, shortly afterwards, later, earlier, up to ,
from...to, at the same time, etc.
E.g. Said came back home at 5 p.m. Shortly afterwards, his father arrived.
21
1 Indicating transition:
As far as ...is concerned, now, as for, as regards, to turn to, incidentally, by the way,
with reference to, etc.
E.g. We can leave most of the details of the proposal until the next meeting. As far as money is
concerned, this needs careful consideration.
1 Summing up/concluding:
In a word, to sum up, in short, on the whole, to conclude, all in all, in conclusion, etc.
E.g. In conclusion, I feel confident that she will make the best of her stay in your establishment.
3. Combine the pairs of sentences (A-F) with appropriate conjunctions from the box below.
Use the appropriate tenses.
When, before, after, though, although, as
soon as, in spite of the fact that, despite the
fact that
A. a. Tarik Ibn-Ziyad (cross) the Straits of Gibraltar.
b. Tarik Ibn-Ziyad (give) his famous speech.
A.As soon as Tarik Ibn-Ziyad (had) crossed the Straits of Gibraltar, he gave his famous
speech.
B. a. The Muslims (settle) in Andalusia. B
b. The Muslism (transform) Andalusia into a prestigious cultural area.
B.After the Muslims had settled in Andalusia, they transformed it into a prestigious cultural
area. (After can also be placed in middle position and replaced by when.)
C. a. Andalusia (have) an extremely diverse population.
b. Andalusia (maintain) its social cohesion and harmony for many centuries.
C. Though / despite the fact that / in spite of the fact that Andalusia had an extremely
diverse population, it maintained its social cohesion and harmony for many years.
D. a. The Muslims (stay) in Andalusia.
b. The Spaniards (capture) the Alhambra in 1492, and (bring) down the Kingdom of
Granada.
D. The Muslims had stayed in Andalusia until the Spaniards captured the Alhambra in 1492
and brought down the Kingdom of Grenada.
E. a. The Spaniards (regain) power in Andalusia
b. Many Andulusians (take) refuge in the Maghrebian maritime cities.
E. After The Spaniards had regained power in Andalusia, many Andalusians took refuge in
the Maghrebian maritime cities.
F. a. The Muslims (leave) Andalusia in 1492
b. Islamic civilization (remain) an enriching element of the Spanish cultural heritage.
F. Though/ despite the fact that/in spite of the fact that the Muslims left Andalusia in 1492,
the Islamic civilization remains an enriching element of the Spanish cultural heritage.
VOCABULARY EXPLORER
1. Copy the table below on your exercise book and fill in the missing member of each
‘family’ whenever possible.
Aim: Vocabulary building through affixation
22
VERBS NOUNS ADJECTIVES ADVERBS
invent invention, inventor inventive inventively
enrich enrichment enriching
achieve achievement, achiever achievable
devote devotion, devotee devoted devotedly
responsibility responsible responsibly
improve improvement improved
Practis/ce practice practical practically
hospitalize hospitality, hospitable hospitably
hospitalization
dedicate dedication dedicated
science, scientist scientific scientifically
develop development developed/developing
culture culture cultural culturally
23
keep these inventions (4) and achievements (5) for themselves. In their contact with
Ancient Egypt, Greek travelers and scientists like Thales borrowed both scientific (6)
and cultural (7) ideas from the ancient Egyptians. Greek genius contributed to the improvement
/ development (8) of these ideas. When the Roman civilization fell to ruins, it was the turn
of the Arabs to take the responsibility (9) of carrying on the torch of civilization.
Arab caliphs like al'Mamun and Harun al-Rashid were devoted / dedicated (10) patrons
of the arts and sciences. They welcomed the most inventive (11) scientists and artists in
their courts. These scientists did not only save the Greek scientific (12) heritage from
loss, but they further improved (13) it before transmitting it to the West.
3. Add negative prefixes de- or dis- to the words in bold type in texts A and B below so
that they make sense.
A. The Aztec civilization disintegrated integrated as a result of the Spanish conquest.
The Spanish conquistador Hernân Ferdinand Cortes (1485-1547) dispossessed possessed
the Aztecs of their wealth and depopulated populated the major Aztec cities.
B. Historians disagree agree on the real causes of the fall of Maya civilization. Some of
them say that its disintegration integration was due to the spread of epidemics. But others
disapprove approve by arguing that it came as a result of the deregulation regulation of the
climate, and domestic dissatisfaction satisfaction and discontent content.
Prefix dis-
1 expressing negation: disadvantage.
2 denoting reversal or absence of an action or state: diseconomy.
3 denoting removal, separation, or expulsion: disbud | disbar.
4 expressing completeness or intensification of an action: disgruntled.
Prefix de-
1 (forming verbs and their derivatives) down; away: descend | deduct. completely:
denude.
2 (added to verbs and their derivatives) denoting removal or reversal: de-ice.
3 denoting formation from: deverbal.
4. Compare your answers to task 1 above with those of your partner. Then find other
words which can carry the prefix de- and dis- and use them in sentences of your own.
Some of the words which can carry prefixes dis- or de- are:
Disadvantage,disable,disarm, disappoint, disagree, dissatisfaction,
decentralize, demilitarize …
5. Fill in the blanks with well + the past participle form of the verbs in italics. Some verbs
are irrelevant. An example is given.
inform – know – establish keep – refine –found – balance – preserve –support – appreciate – document
Archaeologists with well-established reputation argue that Easter Island had a well-refined
(1) civilization before the Europeans' arrival there on Easter Sunday in 1722. On the
basis o f t h e well-preserved/kept ( 2 ) s t a t u e s still standing on the hills of Easter
Island, they elaborated a well-documented (3) theory to explain the disappearance of this
civilization. According to this theory, if civilization in Easter Island disappeared, it
was because the Easter Islanders were not well-informed (4) about the dangers of cutting
down trees in order to erect over 800 statues for their gods. These statues are well-
appreciated (5) by tourists today
"A teacher affects eternity. He can never tell where his influence ends." - Henry Adams
24
Be Your Child's First, Best, Longest Lasting, and Most Informative Teacher!
25
• Nouns and verbs +-s -es
f The ending is -es when the word (noun or verb) ends in -s , -ss, -sh, -ch or -x :
E.g. match (n) matches bus (n) buses
teach (v) teaches search (v) searches
Note also hero heroes go goes do does etc.
• Words ending in -y
f If a word ends in a consonant + -y
• -y changes to:
- ie before -s , E.g., city cities , carry carries
- i before -ed , E.g., apply applied
- i before -er and -est, E.g., easy easier easiest
- i before -ly, E.g., easy easily
• -y does not change
- before -ing, E.g., study studying
- if the word ends in a vowel +y (-ay, -ey, -oy, -uy)
E.g., play plays, played, monkey monkeys
Note say said, pay paid, lay laid
•Words ending in -ie
fIf a verb ends in-ie, -ie changes to -y before -ing.
E.g. die dying, tie tying, lie lying
•Words ending in -e
fIf a verb ends in -e, we leave out -e before -ing.
E.g. write writing
Exceptions: be being see seeing , agree agreeing
f we add only-d not -ed for the past (of regular verbs).
E.g., hope hoped, dance danced
f If an adjective ends in-e,
- we add respectively -r and -st for the comparative and the superlative.
E.g. wide wider the widest
f We keep -e before the adverb ending in -ly.
E.g. polite politely
f If an adjective ends in -le, we leave out -e and add -y for the adverb.
E.g. probable probably , possible possibly
•Doubling consonants
f If a verb or an adjective ends in consonant +vowel +consonant (CVC), we double the
final consonant before -ing, -ed, -er and—est
E.g. plan planning planned, big bigger biggest
f If the word has more than one syllable, we double the final consonant only if the
final syllable is stressed.
E.g. preFER preferring preferred, beGIN beginning
26
f If the final syllable is not stressed, we do not double the final consonant.
E.g.VIsit visting visited , deVElop developing developed
f If the final syllable is not stressed, and the last consonant is l, the consonant may
be left single or double.
E.g. travel traveling traveled or travelling travelled
f If a word ends in a cluster of two consonants (-rt, -rn , -ck, etc.), we do not double the
consonant.
E.g. start starting started, turn turning turned, thick thicker
f We do not double the final consonant if it ends with two vowels + a consonant
(oil, -eed , -ain , etc.).
E.g. boil boiling boiled, cheap cheaper cheapest, explain explaining explained
f We do not double y or w at the end of words if they are preceded by a
vowel.
E.g. stay staying stayed, new newer newest, grow growing
2. Compare your answers to task 1 above with those of your partner. Then pick out the
verbs ending in –ed and classify them in the table below.
27
28
29
3. Classify the words in the box below in the table that follows according to the
pronunciation of the letters ‘ch’.
Aim: Sound-spelling links (pronunciation of the letters ch
archives – church – architect – coach – architecture – arch – alchemyarchaic – archipelago –
archetype – epoch – archer – archaeology- artichoke – Archimedes – archway – archduke – archangel
/ t ∫/ /k/
Church, coach, archer, Archives, architect, architecture, archipelago, alchemy, archaic,
archway, archduke, artichoke archetype, epoch, archaeology, Archimedes, archangel
4. Now listen to your teacher reading aloud the words in task 3 & check your answers.
Follow the instruction. Ask your students to give other examples.
Conclusion
Thesis Statement / connectors Supporting details connectors Express:
Topic sentence example, cause,
result,
justification…
Introduction: There
are three major threats
to our civilization….
Body §1-Nuclear
Warfare-
Body §2 – Pollution-
Body §3- Climate
Change-
Conclusion: There are
indeed urgent ...
30
2. Jot down details about the ideas you have selected using a network tree.
Introduction:
There are three major threats to our civilisation.
nuclear warfare, explosion of atomic bombs in 1945;Cold war
pollution, a major cause for concern with the massive and noxious increase in industry
climate change as an outcome of the first two mentioned problems.
Body §1-Nuclear Warfare-
The escalation of nuclear weaponry since World War Two has exposed humanity to a
nuclear war that would not compare at all with Hiroshima and Nagasaki
The Cold War a period of tension between the two most heavily equipped nations in terms
of nuclear warheads, the USA and the USSR.
The Détente that came after did not suppress all worries/ what about the country?
Body §2 – Pollution-
There are also indirect consequences to owning nuclear energy.
a lethal form of pollution can originate from it if nuclear power plants accidents.
ever- increasing industrialisation, can also cause severe illnesses and deaths.
chemicals dumped by factories underground, or in rivers and seas,
enormous amounts of smoke emitted in the air by factories and vehicles.
All of these are causing all sorts of illnesses in humans and threatening wildlife.
Body §3- Climate Change-
Apart from these direct consequences, the third threat to our civilisation, climate change,
directly related to the first two mentioned.
Smoke has resulted in the greenhouse effect, responsible for the increase in mean
temperature in the world.
Consequently, the ice caps in the north and south poles are shrinking, the sea level is
rising, rains have become irregular,
hurricanes are more frequent, monsoons are more destructive, droughts have intensified
the danger of famine is real, lead to dramatic wars over the possession of the meagre
resources remaining.
lethal chemicals spread in the environment make the world a dangerous place to live.
The tons of smoke sent out in the atmosphere also constitute a health hazard, and are
responsible for climate change.
Conclusion
urgent measures to be taken by governments to make human activities safer if our
civilisation is to survive and thrive.
3. Write a first draft essay using the structure provided above. Then exchange drafts with your
partner for error checking.
Essay structure
Form: indentation, punctuation-capital vs small letters-
Content: transition within §-sentence transition- Connectors
transition between §-paragraph transition- Connectors
4. Write a revised version and share your ideas with the class.
31
POSSIBLE OUTPUT
Introduction:
There are three major threats to our civilisation, which can lead to the destruction of
mankind. We have first nuclear energy, which has been a constant liability ever since the
explosion of atomic bombs in 1945; there is also pollution, a major cause for concern with the
massive and noxious increase in industrial activities and mechanisation; finally, climate change
constitutes another threat, as an outcome of the first two mentioned problems.
Body §2 – Pollution-
There are also indirect consequences to owning nuclear energy. Indeed, a lethal form of
pollution can originate from it if accidents in nuclear power plants occur. But apparently less
dangerous forms of pollution, generated by an ever- increasing industrialisation, can also cause
severe illnesses and deaths. We can think of all the chemicals dumped by factories
underground, or in rivers and seas, or of the enormous amounts of smoke emitted in the air by
factories and vehicles. All of these are causing all sorts of illnesses in humans and threatening
wildlife.
Body §3- Climate Change-
Apart from these direct consequences, the third threat to our civilisation, climate change, is
directly related to the first two mentioned. Smoke has resulted in the greenhouse effect,
responsible for the increase in mean temperature in the world. Consequently, the ice caps in the
north and south poles are shrinking, the sea level is rising, rains have become irregular,
hurricanes are more frequent, monsoons are more destructive, droughts have intensified, and
have reached usually wet parts of the world. Therefore, the danger of famine is real, and can
even lead to dramatic wars over the possession of the meagre resources remaining. Surely the
impending threat of nuclear warfare, and the lethal chemicals spread in the environment make
the world a dangerous place to live. The tons of smoke sent out in the atmosphere also
constitute a health hazard, and are responsible for climate change.
Conclusion
There are indeed urgent measures to be taken by governments to make human activities safer if
our civilisation is to survive and thrive.
32
☺ TAKE A BREAK ☺
Find information about the Ancient Greek myth of Ulysses & organize a storytelling
session in class. Help yourself with the illustration below.
Note: All tales begin with ‘Once upon a time’ and end with ‘and lived happily ever after’.
Paris’s Abduction of Helen
Once upon a time, Helen of Troy, in Greek mythology, was the most
beautiful woman in the world. She was the major cause of the Trojan
War, in which Greece defeated the city of Troy.
Helen was the daughter of Zeus, the king of the gods, and Leda, a
human being. According to one myth, Zeus appeared in the form of a
swan when he visited Leda. Helen later hatched from a swan's egg
from which Helen was born.
When Helen was a child, an Athenian fell in love with her and
kidnapped her. Helen's brothers rescued her. Many Greek heroes
courted Helen, but she married Menelaus, the king of Sparta.
A Trojan prince named Paris visited
Sparta where Menelaus, husband of
Helen, treated him as a royal guest. However,
when Menelaus left Sparta to go to a
funeral, Paris abducted Helen (who perhaps went willingly) and also
carried off much of Menelaus' wealth. In Troy, Helen and Paris were
married- around 1200 B.C- .
Menelaus' brother, Agamemnon, led a Greek army against Troy to
win Helen back. Paris was killed during the war. Helen then married
Paris' brother who was also killed. After the Greeks captured Troy,
Helen and Menelaus were happily reunited and lived happily ever
after.
Helen's personality has long fascinated writers. Some authors have
portrayed her as a deceitful woman driven by passion to betray her
country and family. But other writers have regarded Helen as an
innocent victim of her own beauty.
The Greek Siege of Troy
The Greek army laid siege to Troy for 10 years but could not
conquer the city. The war began to go badly for the Greeks after
Achilles, their bravest warrior, left the battlefield. Achilles refused to
fight because Agamemnon, the Greek commander, had insulted him.
33
The Trojans, led by Hector, drove the Greeks back to their ships.
Achilles finally returned to combat after his best friend, Patroclus,
had been slain by Hector. Achilles killed Hector to avenge Patroclus'
death.
The Trojans received help from their allies, the Ethiopians and an
army of women warriors called
Amazons. But Achilles enabled the
Greeks to defeat their enemies by
killing the queen of the Amazons,
and the king of the Ethiopians.
Paris, aided by the god Apollo, later
shot Achilles in the heel with an arrow and killed him.
The fall of Troy & The Trojan Horse. The Greeks built a huge wooden horse,
which has become known as the Trojan horse, and placed it outside the walls of Troy. Odysseus
and other warriors hid inside the horse while the rest of the Greek army sailed away.
The prophetess Cassandra and the priest Laocoon warned the Trojans against taking the horse
into their city. But Sinon, a Greek prisoner, persuaded them that the
horse was sacred and would bring the protection of the gods.
The Trojans then pulled the horse into Troy. That night they fell
asleep after celebrating their apparent victory. Odysseus and
his companions then crept out of the horse and opened the city
gates for the rest of their warriors, who had returned from
a nearby island.
The Greeks took back Helen, killed almost all the Trojans, and burned Troy. Menelaus, who
had been determined to kill his faithless wife, was soon taken
by Helen's beauty and seductiveness that he allowed
her to live. According to the Aeneid, the few Trojan
survivors included the warrior Aeneas, whose descendants
founded Rome.
Cyclops, Polyphemus
Cyclops in Greek mythology was any member of a race of
giants with one eye in the middle of the forehead. The best-known of
the Cyclopes was Polyphemus. The epic poem, the Odyssey,
describes how the Greek hero Odysseus and his men sailed to an
island inhabited by Polyphemus. The Cyclops imprisoned the
Greeks and ate six of them. After Odysseus made Polyphemus drunk, he and his surviving men put
out the giant's eye with a burning stake and escaped. The blind Polyphemus prayed to his father,
the sea god Poseidon, to punish Odysseus. As a result, Odysseus suffered many hardships and
delays before reaching his home.
34
The Sirens
Sirens were sea nymphs in Greek mythology who lived on an island. The Sirens' sweet singing
lured sailors to destruction on their island's rocky shores. In some stories, the Sirens would die if
someone sailed past unmoved by their singing. The hero Odysseus (Ulysses in Latin) put wax in
his sailors' ears so they could not hear the Sirens. Then he had them tie him to the mast. Odysseus
could thus listen to the Sirens without endangering his ship. In art, Sirens were first portrayed as
birds with women's heads and later as women with birds' legs and sometimes wings.
Penelope &Ulysses
Once upon a time in the kingdom of Ithaca lived Penelope, a great
figure in Greek mythology. She was the wife of Odysseus (Ulysses in
Latin), king of Ithaca. She became famous for her faithfulness to her
husband. After the birth of their son, Telemachus, Odysseus left on an
expedition against Troy. He did not return for 20 years, but Penelope
remained faithful to him. Her story is told in the epic poem the
Odyssey.
Many nobles from Ithaca and neighbouring islands courted
Penelope, claiming that Odysseus would
never return, but she refused to remarry.
For three years, she held suitors off by a
trick. She said that she must first weave a
shroud for her father-in- law, Laertes. Each
night she unravelled what she had woven that
day.
After a maidservant revealed Penelope's deception, she promised to
select the suitor who could string and shoot Odysseus' great bow. Each
suitor tried and failed. A beggar, who had come to the palace and
was given shelter, asked to try. He easily strung and shot the bow. The
beggar was Odysseus in disguise. With the bow, he killed the suitors.
Odysseus regained his kingdom and was reunited with Penelope and
lived happily ever after.
Ulysses’s Homecoming -Return to Ithaca-
The Greeks finally defeated the Trojans after 10 years of fighting, and Ulysses set sail for
Ithaca. During his return voyage, he visited the
land of Cyclopes (one- eyed giants). Ulysses was
captured by Polyphemus, a Cyclops, but
he escaped after blinding the Cyclops with a
heated stake. Polyphemus prayed for
revenge to his father, the sea god Poseidon.
35
Poseidon then tried to make Ulysses's return home as difficult as possible. With some help from
the goddess Athena, Ulysses finally reached home after 10 years of wandering and many thrilling
adventures.
During Ulysses's long absence, several noblemen had moved into his palace. The men claimed
that Ulysses must have died, and they demanded that Penelope marry one of them. Penelope
finally agreed to marry the man who could string Ulysses's huge bow and shoot an arrow through
12 axes.
Ulysses arrived at the palace the day before the archery contest, disguised as a beggar. Penelope
allowed him to enter the contest. He was the only one who could perform the feat. After revealing
his identity, he killed the noblemen with the help of Athena, Telemachus, and loyal servants. He
then was reunited with his wife and lived happily ever after.
RESEARCH & REPORT
y Carry out a research to fill in the spidergram below with relevant information.
y Enliven your spidergram by including pictures of achievements in Islamic civilization.
h The report can be presented in the form of a class presentation (speaking from notes on the
h Advise the students to present the information in a climax order (from the least to the most
diagram) or an interview.
h Use maps to represent the spread of Islamic civilization and pictures/drawings of famous
important piece of information).
36
LISTENING & SPEAKING
Skills and Strategies Outcomes
Go through the preview with your students to make the objectives of this section explicit.
y Making & checking hypotheses/predictions.
y Listening for gist.
y Listening to details.
y Recognizing & showing a sequence of events.
y Giving a narrative account.
h Before listening
y Look at the map below & answer the questions that follow:
• Have a look at the coping box below. Then do tasks 2 and 3 that follow.
Coping
In many listening situations, whether in your own language or in a foreign one, it is necessary
to recognize and sequence the main ideas in order to be able to follow the thread of what is
being said. We call this listening for gist (main ideas). When you listen for gist, it is not
necessary to understand every word. You should concentrate on recognizing key words, i.e. the
words that the speaker considers to be important and which are usually stressed in English.
2. Sentences A-E below are not in order. Listen to the lecture again and reorder them according to
their occurrence in the lecture. Write letters A-E in the following table.
37
Order in the lecture 1 2 3 4 5
Jumbled sentences D. B E C A
Have the students go through the text in the coping box. Interact with the students and clarify further the notions if necessary.
5. A. The Phoenicians didn't simply barter their goods, but they also spread the alphabet in the
Mediterranean Basin.
2. B. Later they settled along the eastern shore of the Mediterranean.
4. C. By 1000 B.C., they sailed from one end of the Mediterranean to another.
1. D. Originally, the Phoenicians used to live in the desert.
3. E. Down to 1200 B.C., most of their trade was with Egypt.
3. Listen again to the same lecture and select from the box below the 4 terms that best describe the
qualities of the people who developed the civilization represented on the map on page 32. Justify
your choice.
a. warlike b. peaceful c. nomadic d. business-minded e. ignorant f. knowledgeable
If necessary, let the students check the meaning of the words in the dictionary. The students will do the task from
memory. Then check their answers by listening to the script a second time.
Have the students give their justifications. Key words from the script are enough as a justification.
h After listening
• Have a look at the coping box.Then do the task that follows.
Coping
When we give a historical account or tell the story of something o someone, we resort to an
organizational pattern based on chronology. To convey chronological order we use:
• Past tenses (generally the past perfect & occasionally the past perfect)
• Sequencers which express:
1. the beginning of a list : first, to start with, to begin with, originally, etc.
2. the continuation of a list : next, then, shortly afterwards, later, etc.
3. the end of a list: finally, at last, eventually, in the end, etc.
• Time conjunctions: when, as soon as, while, before, after, once, etc.
• Task: The sentences below are not in order. Re-order them to get a coherent text about the
history of papermaking. Write letters A-G in the table below. Then explain how you have found
the order of the sentences.
Order in the lecture 1 2 3 4 5 6 7
Jumbled sentences C E A G B F D
Have the students skim through the text in the coping box. Then have them interact in order to elicit the
genres (historical accounts, tales, novels, short stories, newspaper and radio reports…) in which the
chronolological pattern is used. (1C 2 E 3A 4G 5B 6F 7D)
Slight changes in the ordering are possible. This should be a good opportunity for a short class discussion.
3. A. For a long time papermaking with such materials was a monopoly of the Chinese.
5. B. The Arabs improved the papermaking process considerably.
1. C. About the year 105 A.D., a Chinese official called Ts'ai-Lum discovered that paper could be
made from bark, old linen and other materials.
7. D. It reached the Maghrib about 1100, and then was introduced into Spain, France, Italy and
Germany.
2. E. It was so made until about the eighth or ninth century A.D.
38
6. F. The craft spread to Baghdad and Damascus.
4. G. The Arabs learned the secret from Chinese prisoners, captured in the fighting around
Samarkand between 704 and 750 A.D.
A.D. Anno Domini / An abbreviation used with a date, indicating how many years have passed since the birth of
Jesus. The abbreviation may appear before the date (A.D. 1988), or it may appear after the date (1988 A.D.). It
stands for anno Domini, a Latin phrase meaning “in the year of our Lord.” (Compare B.C.)
h Saying it in writing
• Prepare a short historical account of the development of Western civilization using the timelines
on the next page. Before writing and giving your account to the class, list, select and organize the
major events in a timeline of your own.
Start like this: Western civilization is one of the world’s twenty-six civilizations. It started in
Crete, the largest Greek island in the eastern Mediterranean Sea, about 3,000 years ago. The
civilization that rose in Crete was called the Minoan civilization because Crete at that time was
under the rule of the legendary King Minos. Ancient Greek civilization originated more than 2,000
years ago on the shores of the Ionian and Aegean Seas. Ancient Greece made innovations in
philosophy, politics, science, architecture, and the arts, and Greek culture forms the basis of
Western civilization to this day. Then came the Roman civilization. … (To be continued by
students)
39
Reading & Writing
Make the students aware of the objectives of the section by giving them time to skim through the preview.
Skills and strategies outcomes
y Skimming
y Scanning
y Identifying reference words
y Recognizing types of discourse
y Summarizing
h Before reading:
y Look at the picture 1-3 then answer the following questions:
1. What does each of the pictures represent?
1. Picture One represents one of the three pyramids at Giza, the Great Pyramid of Khufu
/Cheops near Cairo. (230 m/755 ft square and 147m/481 ft high. The three pyramids at Giza
were considered one of the Seven Wonders of the World in Antiquity (the Pyramids of
Egypt, the Hanging Gardens of Babylon, the Temple of Artemis at Ephesus, the Statue of
Zeus at Olympia, the Mausoleum at Halicarnassus, the Colossus of Rhodes, and the
Pharaohs (lighthouse) at Alexandria)- (Honorary Candidate since July 2007)
Picture Two represents a mummy of an Egyptian Pharaoh and Horus (in ancient Egyptian
mythology, the hawk-headed sun god, son of Isis and Osiris, of whom the pharaohs were declared
to be the incarnation)
Picture Three: Mask of the Pharaoh
2. Which one of them shows one of the Seven Wonders of the World? Picture 1
3. Which Ancient Egyptian king have u heard of?
One of the most famous was Tutankhamen (whose tomb was discovered near Luxor in 1922).
4. Which stories in your culture are associated with Egypt? Say a few words about them.
The story of Sidna Musa (Moses) Moses, the Story of Sidna Yucef (Joseph)
NOTE: Old 7 Wonders Versus New 7 Wonders
Chichen Itza in Yucatán, Mexico Great Wall of China Machu Picchu in Cuzco, Perú
Christ the Redeemer in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil Petra in Jordan Roman Colosseum in Rome, Italy Taj Mahal in Agra,India
40
h As you read:
• Have a look at the coping box & do task 1 that follows:
Coping
Skimming means reading quickly for gist (general meaning). You skim through a written text
in order to find out about the topic and its general organization.
When you are asked to skim through a text, you needn’t know every word & sentence in the
text. You should concentrate, instead, on recognizing key words, i.e. words that the writer
considers to be important. Key words are often repeated in the text.
1. Skim through the introduction and the conclusion of the text below and pick out four to six key words.
Students should be encouraged to do this as quickly as possible
Key words :
A. in the introduction: civilization - rose - Egypt decline - fall
B. in the conclusion: decline, fall / The choice of words may be subject to debate.
Text
(§1) Ancient Egyptian civilization rose in the Nile Valley. As in Sumer, the need for an
irrigation system first led farmers to join together and cooperate. But the bonding together of men
developed much further in Egypt. Sumer remained a land of small city states whereas the people
of Egypt became united under the rule of a single king. This made of Egypt the first nation in
history.
(§2) The Pharaoh's government did many important things. It protected the land and its
inhabitants by organizing defenses to keep out the raiding war-bands which sometimes attacked
the country from the desert. The preserving of internal peace was another of the Pharaoh's tasks.
The people of a nation can only live together if the rulers make sure that the laws are obeyed.
Many of the laws of the Egyptians were traditional, that is to say, they had grown up gradually,
over the centuries. But the Pharaoh could make new laws, and did so, whenever he thought it
necessary.
(§3) In countless ways, then, the Egyptians derived great benefits from their system of national
government. But this was only one reason why they stayed a united people throughout ancient
times. Another reason was their national pride and strong sense of belonging together. The
Egyptians felt that they were privileged to have been born in Egypt. All other lands, they thought,
were cold and dark, and the people who lived in them more akin to animals than to human beings.
(§4) It was the Ancient Egyptians' feelings and beliefs about the Pharaoh that provided the
strongest unifying force of all. In Sumer, the king of each city was thought to be the chief servant
of the city's god. The Egyptian idea of kingship went further than this. They thought that their king
was himself a living god, a divine ruler who had magic control over the weather and the Nile, and
who alone brought safety, prosperity and happiness to the nation. The Pharaoh was revered to such
a degree that his people dared not mention him by name. They only spoke of the palace in which
he lived. That is why they called him Pharaoh, which means `great house'.
(§5) When we realize how much the Pharaoh meant to the Egyptians, it is easier to understand
how the pyramids came to be built. Since he was a god, he could not be allowed to die. It was
believed that his spirit would survive only if his body were preserved, together with everything
that was needed for its future well-being. The pyramids, therefore, were designed as eternal
dwelling places for the god-kings from where the dead Pharaohs would continue their magic work
41
for their `beloved land'.
th
(§6) The effort and resources needed to build pyramids were so great that from the 25 century
B.C onwards, they had perforce to become smaller and smaller. The later Pharaohs were buried,
not in pyramids, but in rock tombs. Yet the contents of the tombs remained as extravagant as
before. When Howard Carter discovered the tomb of Tutankhamen in 1922 it proved to contain the
most incredible burial treasure ever found. With all this treasure going into the ground instead of
being invested, it was no surprise that eventually the Pharaohs proved to be the major cause behind
the decline and fall of ancient Egyptian economy, and therefore of its civilization.
( From Victor Skipp, Out of the Ancient World, Penguin, p.61.)
2. Use the key words you have picked out in task 1 (page 37) to give a title to the text.
Possible title: The Rise and Fall of Ancient Egyptian Civilization
Have the students check the validity of the title. You can jot some of the students’ titles on board and let the class
choose the best one.
3. Now, skim through the whole text & match ideas A-G below with their corresponding §. One of
the ideas is irrelevant. Write the numbers of § in the boxes.
§2 A. The Pharaoh's government and its functions.
§4 B. The Pharaoh and his importance for the political unity of Egypt.
§1 C. The unification of ancient Egypt.
§3 D. Patriotic feelings in ancient Egypt.
§6 E. The Pharaoh's ruining of Egyptian economy.
§5 F. The idea behind the building of the pyramids.
IR G. The importance of Tutankhamen’s treasure.
4. Have a look at the coping box and do the task that follows.
1 Go through the text in the coping box to raise awareness of the importance of scanning in reading.
Compare and contrast the skills of scanning and skimming.
Coping
Scanning means reading for specific pieces of information (a fact, or a detail, or a particular
word). When you scan written texts, your eyes should move quickly to find the information you
are interested in. Ignore irrelevant items. What counts here is your power of observation.
A. What is the major difference between ancient Sumer and ancient Egypt?
The major difference between Sumer and Ancient Egypt is that the former remained a land of
small city states whereas Egypt became united under the rule of a single king.
B. What are the benefits that ancient Egyptians derived from their system of national government?
The benefits that the ancient Egyptians derived from their system of national government are
protection and internal peace.
C. What does the name Pharaoh' mean in the ancient Egyptian language?
The name Pharaoh means Great House in Ancient Egyptian.
D. Why were the pyramids important for ancient Egyptians?
They were the dwelling places of the spirit of the Pharaoh.
42
E. Who discovered Tutankhamen’s tomb?
Howard Carter discovered the tomb of Tutankhamen in 1922.
5. Circle and link the words written in bold in the text with the items they refer to.
Eg, the people of Egypt became united under the rule of a single king.
This made Egypt the first nation in history. (§1)
Explain to the students that the failure to understand such links will certainly lead to a serious
misunderstanding of the text. Before setting them to task, refer the students to the Coping on page 68.
The people of Egypt became united under the rule of a single king (this) §1
The Pharaoh’s government (it) § 2
The land (its), the raiding war bands (which) §2
The Pharaoh could make new laws (so) §2
The Egyptians derived great benefits from their system of national government (this) §3,
The Egyptians (They) §3 , The Egyptians (their) §3, All other lands (them) §3
The people (they) §4, The Pharaoh (he) §4 The people (they) §4, The Pharaoh (him) §4
The Pharaoh (he, he, his) §5, The Pharaohs (their) §5
h After reading:
1. Have a quick look at the coping box below. Then decide which type of discourse
the text you have studied belongs to.
COPING
There are five major types of discourse in prose texts: descriptive, expository,
narrative, argumentative and prescriptive.
As their name indicates, descriptive texts do just that: they describe people,places, things,
Expository texts explain how things work, and why these things are what they are.
Narrative texts tell the story of something or someone.
Argumentative texts are texts which defend points of view.
Prescriptive texts are texts which give instructions.
Note: There may be more than one type of discourse in the same text.
Have the students go through the coping box. Elicit the fact it is important to find out the function of texts
because that helps better understand the writer’s purpose.
The discourse is mostly narrative but it takes an argumentative turn at the end.
It is important to follow up with an explanation that narration and description are sometimes used in
argumentative texts.
2. Write a short summary of the text (about one-fifth of it) you have studied. Your teacher will
tell you about the strategies for making a summary.
Before involving the students in the task, review with them what summarizing means and the techniques that
should be used.
Writing a good summary is a difficult task which is rarely done satisfactorily, even by advanced students.
The best way of training the students to write summaries is to prepare them through practice in underlining
important/key words and main ideas and in perceiving the structure of the text. This is essentially what has been
done throughout the previous tasks of this section.
Points to watch when assessing students’ summarizing:
1. The summary is too short and the main idea is not expressed.
2. The summary is too long. It does not fit the one-fourth, one-fifth of the original.
3. There are too many details and the key ideas do not stand out.
43
4. The wrong key ideas have been selected
5. The information they contain is wrong.
6. The summary is not written in one’s own words.
7. The summary is not an accurate and objective account of the text: it is pervaded with personal reactions.
Proposed summary of the text (about 10 lines):
Ancient Egyptian civilization emerged along the Nile Valley as a result of the unification of
all Egyptians under the central authority of one single king, the Pharaoh. The Pharaoh’s
government guaranteed both external and internal security to the people of Egypt. As a
consequence, the Egyptians grew very proud of their country and became so fond of the Pharaoh
that they worshipped him as a God-king. This national pride and identification with the Pharaoh
kept the unity of ancient Egypt and made its civilization prosper for many centuries. But the
economy of ancient Egypt was ruined by all the resources that the Pharaohs put into the building
of pyramids and the burial of their treasures in their own tombs. Economic collapse caused the
gradual decline and fall of ancient Egyptian civilization.
Writing development
yThe picture below illustrates the story of Joseph / Sidna Yucef. Study it. Then write your
own version of the story following the guidelines on the next page
Follow the procedure provided in the textbook
Joseph is famous for his coat of many colors and his God-given ability to interpret dreams. Due to jealousy, his
brothers sold him as a slave. Eventually he worked under the Egyptian official Potiphar but was freed and became
the chief adviser (vizier) to the Egyptian Pharaoh, allegedly around either the Hyksos Era or the Middle Kingdom
of Egypt period, according to Kenneth Kitchen.
1. Jot down ideas about the story using the cycle of episodes below. Some of the events in the
episodes are given to you.
Joseph’s brother jealousy
Episode 1
Joseph thrown down a well
Episode 5 Episode 2
2. Select the idea from your cycle of episodes & start writing your draft narrative.Don’t pay
attention to mistakes at this stage.
3. Check whether your ideas are developed correctly. Then review your story for grammar &
spelling mistakes.
4. Exchange drafts with your partner for error checking.
44
5. Hand your revised version of the story to your teacher.
Project Outcome
Making the profile of an ancient civilization (E.g. Greece)
Your profile should include the following:
Information about the place where and the time when Ancient Greek civilization flourished
==Chronology==
There are no fixed or universally agreed upon dates for the beginning or the end of the ancient
Greek period. In common usage it refers to all Greek history before the [[Roman Empire]], but
historians use the term more precisely. Some writers include the periods of the Greek-speaking
[[Mycenaean Greece|Mycenaean]] civilization that collapsed about [[1150 BC]], though most
would argue that the influential [[Minoan civilization|Minoan]] was so different from later Greek
cultures that it should be classed separately.
In Greek school books, "ancient times" is a period of about 900 years, from the catastrophe of
[[Mycenae]] until the conquest of the country by the [[Roman Republic|Romans]], divided into
four periods based on styles of art and culture and politics. The historical line starts with [[Greek
Dark Ages]] ([[1100 BC|1100]]–[[800 BC]]). In this period artists use geometrical schemes
such as squares, circles and lines to decorate [[amphora]]s and other pottery. The [[Archaic period
in Greece|archaic period]] ([[800 BC|800]]–[[480 BC]]) represents those years when the
artists made larger free-standing sculptures in stiff, hieratic poses with the dreamlike "[[archaic
smile]]". In the classical period (490–[[323 BC]]) artists perfected the style that since has
been taken as exemplary: "[[Classical Greece|classical]]", such as the [[Parthenon]]. The years
following the conquests of [[Alexander the Great|Alexander]] are referred to as the [[Hellenistic
Greece|Hellenistic]], (323–[[146 BC]]), or [[Alexandria]]n period; aspects of Hellenic
civilization expanded to Egypt, the Levant, Mesopotamia, Persia and beyond.
Traditionally, the ancient Greek period was taken to begin with the date of the first recorded
[[Olympic Games]] in [[776 BC]], but many historians now extend the term back to about [[1000
BC]]. The traditional date for the end of the ancient Greek period is the death of [[Alexander the
Great]] in 323 BC. The following period until the integration of Greece into the [[Roman
Republic]] in 146 BC is classed [[Hellenistic Greece|Hellenistic]].
These dates are historians' conventions and some writers treat the ancient Greek civilization as a
continuum running until the advent of [[Christianity]] in the [[3rd century]].
Information on two Ancient Greek major cities (E.g. Athens, Sparta)
Athens (Greek: Α ήνα/Athina, katharevousa (old-fashioned): Α ήνα /Athinai), the capital and largest
city in Greece, dominates the Attica periphery: as one of the world's oldest cities, its recorded history
spans at least 3,000 years.
Today the Greek capital, Europe's 8th largest conurbation,[1] is rapidly becoming a leading business
centre in the European Union. This bustling and cosmopolitan metropolis with an urban population
of 3.3 million and a metropolitan population of about 3.8 million people is central to economic,
financial, industrial, political and cultural life in Greece. The city proper has a land area of 39 km²
(15 sq mi), while the urban agglomeration of Athens spans 412 km² (159 sq mi).[2]
Ancient Athens was a powerful city-state. A center for the arts, learning and philosophy, home of
Plato's Akademia and Aristotle's Lyceum,[3][4] Athens was also the birthplace of Socrates, Pericles,
Sophocles and its many other prominent philosophers, writers and politicians of the ancient world. It
45
is widely referred to as the cradle of Western Civilization,[5] and the birthplace of democracy,[6]
largely due to the impact of its cultural and political achievements during the 5th and 4th centuries
BC on the rest of the then known European continent.[7]
The heritage of the classical era is still evident in the city, portrayed through a number of ancient
monuments and artworks; the most famous of all being the Parthenon on the Acropolis, standing as
an epic landmark of western civilization. The city also retains a vast variety of Roman and Byzantine
monuments, as well as a small number of remaining Ottoman monuments projecting the city's long
history across the centuries. Landmarks of the modern era are also present, dating back to 1830
(the establishment of the independent Greek state), and taking in the Greek Parliament (19th
century) and the Athens Trilogy (Library, University, and Academy).
Athens was the host city of the first modern-day Olympic Games in 1896, and 108 years later it
welcomed home the Summer Olympics, with great success.[8]
Sparta (Doric: Σπάρτα Spártā, Attic: Σπάρτη Spártē) was a Dorian Greek military city-state,
originally centered in Laconia. Sparta emphasized military training, and after achieving notable
victories over the Athenian and Persian Empires, regarded itself as the natural protector of
Greece.[1] Laconia or Lacedaemon (Λακ αίµων) was the name of the wider city-state centered at
the city of Sparta, though the name "Sparta" is now used for both. The Kings of Sparta were
believed to be the direct descendants of Heracles.[2]
The city of Sparta lay at the southern end of the central Laconian plain, on the right bank of the
Eurotas River. It was a strategic site, guarded on three sides by mountains and controlling the
routes by which invading armies could penetrate Laconia and the southern Peloponnesus via the
Langhda Pass over Mt Taygetus. At the same time, its distance from the sea—Sparta was 27 miles
from its seaport, Gythium—made it difficult to blockade.
A short account of the life styles, beliefs, customs, myths, and laws of these cities
Sparta was, above all, a militarist state, and emphasis on military fitness began virtually at birth.
Shortly after birth, the mother of the child bathed it in wine to see whether the child was strong. If the
child survived it was brought before the elders of the tribe by the child's father. The elders then
decided whether it was to be reared or not. If found defective or weak, the baby was left on the wild
slopes of Mount Taygetos - also known as Apothetae, or as the Place of Rejection - to die; but it was
also common for these rejected children to be adopted by the helots. In this way the Spartans
attempted the maintenance of high physical standards in their population. From the earliest days of
the Spartan citizen, the claim on his life by the state was absolute and strictly enforced.
Information on the contributions made by Ancient Egypt and Phoenicia to ancient Greek civilization
A summary of the major achievements of this civilization in science, philosophy, government…
Information on the civilizations that saved the Greek cultural heritage for mankind.
N.B. Illustrate your profile with maps, pictures of monuments, etc.
Alternative projects
• A booklet/leaflet/guidebook about the cultural heritage of your region -monuments, ruins, crafts-
• Making a timeline from the most ancient civilizations (Chinese, Egyptian, Aztec , etc.)to the
most modern ones, highlighting their most important contributions to mankind.
Timeline of Greek migrations
Distribution of the Hellenic races
Some key historical events have also been included for context, but this timeline is not intended to cover history
not related to migrations. There is more information on the historical context of these migrations in History of Greece.
46
Pre-29th century BCE — Greek tribes migrate into the Balkans.
20th century BCE — Settlements established on the Greek Peninsula
17th century BCE — Decline of Minoan civilization, possibly due to the eruption of Thera. Settlement of
Achaeans and Ionians in the Greek peninsula (Mycenaean civilization).
13th century BCE — First colonies established in Asia Minor.
11th century BCE — Doric tribes move into peninsular Greece.
9th century BCE — Major colonization of Asia Minor.
8th century BCE — First major colonies established in Sicily and Southern Italy.
6th century BCE — Colonies established across the Mediterranean and the Black Sea
4th century BCE — Campaign of Alexander the Great; Greek colonies established in newly founded cities of
Ptolemaic Egypt and Asia.
2nd century BCE — Conquest of Greece by the Roman Empire. Migrations of Greeks to Rome.
4th century — Establishment of Eastern Roman (Byzantine) Empire. Migrations of Greeks throughout the
Empire, mainly towards Constantinople.
7th century Slavic conquest of several parts of Greece, Greek migrations to Southern Italy take place. Byzantine
Emperors capture main Slavic bodies and transfer them to Cappadocia. Bosphorus re-populated by Macedonian
and Cypriot Greeks.
8th century Byzantine dissolution of surviving Sclaviniai and full recovery of the Greek peninsula.
9th century Retromigrations of Greeks from all parts of the Empire (mainly from Southern Italy and Sicily) into
parts of Greece that were depopulated by the Slavic Invasions (mainly western Peloponnese and Thessaly).
13th century — Byzantine Empire dissolves, Constantinople taken by the Fourth Crusade; becoming the capital of
the Latin Empire. Reconquered after a long struggle by the Empire of Nicaea, but fragments remain separated.
Migrations between Asia Minor, Constantinople and mainland Greece take place.
15th century — Conquest of Byzantium by the Ottoman Empire. Greek diaspora into Europe begins. Ottoman
settlements in Greece. Phanariot Greeks occupy high posts in Eastern European millets.
1830s — Creation of the Modern Greek State. Immigration to the New World begins. Large-scale migrations
from Constantinople and Asia Minor to Greece take place.
1913 — Macedonia partitioned; Unorganized migrations of Greeks, Bulgarians and Turks towards their respective
states.
1910s — approximately 353,000 Pontian Greeks killed [2].
1919 — Treaty of Neuilly; Greece and Bulgaria exchange populations, with some exceptions.
1923 — Treaty of Lausanne; Greece and Turkey agree to exchange populations with limited exceptions of the
Greeks in Constantinople, Imbros, Tenedos and the Muslim minority (mainly Greeks, Pomaks, Roms and Turks) of
Western Thrace. 1,5 million of Asia Minor and Pontic Greeks settle in Greece, and some 450 thousands of
Muslims settle in Turkey.
1947 — Communist regime in Romania begins evictions of the Greek community, approx. 75,000 migrate.
1948 — Greek Civil War. Tens of thousands of Greek communists and their families flee into Eastern Bloc
nations. Thousands settle in Tashkent.
1950s — Massive emigration of Greeks to West Germany, the United States, Australia, Canada, and other
countries.
1955 — Istanbul Pogrom against Greeks. Exodus of Greeks from the city accelerates; less than 2000 remain
today.
1958 — Large Greek community in Alexandria flees Nasser's regime in Egypt.
1960s — Republic of Cyprus created, as an independent Greek state, under Greek, Turkish and British protection.
Economic emigration continues.
1974 — Turkish invasion of Cyprus. Almost all Greeks living in Northern Cyprus flee to the south and the
United Kingdom.
1980s — Many civil war refugees were allowed to re-emigrate to Greece. Reverse migration of Greeks from
Germany also begins.
1990s — Collapse of Soviet Union. Approx. 100,000 ethnic Greeks migrate from Georgia, Armenia, southern
Russia and Albania to Greece.
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2000 — Greece fully implements the Schengen Treaty.
2000s — Some statistics indicate the beginning of a trend of reverse migration of Greeks from the United States
and Australia.
Web sites:
www.civilization.ca / www.kidadoweb.com / www.historyforkids.org
www.jeuxvideopc.com / www.samizdata.net / www.skyminds.net
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