LESSON 6 • LIFE ON THE WATER

Lesson 6

The dawn of civilisation

1.1	Look at the pictures below and discuss how civilisations began.

1.2	You are doing a project on pyramids from all over the world. You have drawn up a chart to show your classmates, but you haven’t been able to find all the information yet. You have just come across an educational programme on TV that may be useful. Listen and fill in the blanks.

This text will be replaced

Country	Size/Height	Built in...	Made of...	Use
China	(1) ...................	―	dirt	royal tombs / observatories
France	22m	(2) .....................	(3) ....................	decorative entrance to the Louvre
Greece	size of a house	(4) ....................	(5) ....................	communication post / battle memorial

A glance back in time

2.1	Look at the pictures below and guess what they show and which civilisation they come from.

UNIT 2

LESSON 6 • LIFE ON THE WATER

2.2	The following article is about ancient Egypt. You want to read it but paragraphs 2-5 are not presented in the right order because of a printing error. Can you put them in the right order?

LAND OF THE PHARAOHS

	We have all heard of the sophisticated civilisation of the Egyptians. Not only was it one of the first, it also lasted the longest: nearly 3,500 years!
	The Egyptians were superb engineers, astronomers, accountants, mathematicians and surgeons, and they used mysterious symbols, called hieroglyphics, to write. They built temples dedicated to their Gods and a famous statue, the Sphinx. What they are best known for, though, are the pyramids they built.
	The main role of these tombs was to protect the pharaohs’ bodies from decay, since the Egyptians firmly believed that after death, their spirits lived on and would need their bodies in the afterlife! They preserved the bodies by using salt and various substances to dry them out, after they had removed all the internal organs. Afterwards, they wrapped the bodies in linen bandages to become mummies. Many things the pharaohs had used while they were alive accompanied them into the tombs: jewellery, furniture, make-up, toys and especially food!
	One reason for this was Egypt’s location. It lies in a valley between two deserts, and the great river Nile, almost 1,000 kmlong, crosses it from top to bottom. Every year, for about 4 months, the Nile overflowed and flooded the surrounding fields. As the water slowly receded, it left behind a thick layer of mud. This made the fields very fertile and gave Egypt its ancient name, Kemet, which meant ‘black land’.
	How did they build them? No one really knows how they managed to lift the tremendously heavy stone blocks and lay them in place. What is even more remarkable is that they had no heavy equipment, such as cranes, to help them; they didn’t even use the wheel until a few centuries later! Probably, thousands of men dragged and pulled the blocks up specially made ramps. These imposing stone structures were constructed as tombs for their kings and queens, the Pharaohs.
	Our fascination with the Egyptians has no end. We will always owe this magnificent civilisation more than we will ever know. Adapted from: “History of Man: The Last 2 Million Years”, Reader’s Digest

2.3	Listen to check if you have found the right order.

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UNIT 2

LESSON 6 • LIFE ON THE WATER

2.4

Read the article again and tick whether the statements are True (T), False (F) or Not Mentioned (NM).

1. The river Nile flows through Egypt and other countries as well.
2. Egypt got its ancient name from the mud.
3. The Egyptians were very good at most sciences.
4. They used heavy equipment to move the stones for the pyramids.
5. The Pharaohs decided where the pyramids would be built.
6. Many Pharaohs were buried in the same pyramid.

What do you think?

Think about the following questions and share yourideas in class.

How did location affect the civilisation of ancient
Egypt? What role did the river Nile play in this?
Does the location of your town affect your way of
life? Are geographical features as important
today as they were in ancient times?

Language focus

2.4

Look at the following sentence.

Many things the pharaohs had used during their lives
accompanied them into their tombs.

What happened first? Tick.\

What happened first? Tick.

The pharaohs used these things during

their lives.

These things accompanied them into

their tombs.

UNIT 2

LESSON 6 • LIFE ON THE WATER

4.2

Simple Past or Past Perfect
Look at the following sentence and answer the questions.

They preserved their bodies after they had removed all the
organs.

Which tense is used to describe the action that happened first?
..............................................................................................................
Which tense is used to describe the action that happened second?
..............................................................................................................
Circle the right answer to make the rule.

We use the Past Perfect to talk about:
a. a past action with a present result.
b. an action finished at a definite time.
c. an action that happened before another past action or time.

How did they do it?

You are writing an article about activities in the ancient world for your school newspaper. Below are
the notes you took during your research. Use your notes to write the paragraphs that refer to Egypt
and Greece.

1. Egyptian farming

Egyptian farmers [clear away] the stones and branches
/ the floods [go down] (after)
they [clear] the soil / they [plough] it (before)
they [plough] the soil / they [scatter] seeds (after)

2. Wall paintings in Santorini

Theran artists [begin] a wall painting / they already [think] carefully
about what images to draw (before)
They [rub] the plaster walls with pebbles to make them smooth / they
[draw] ideas directly onto the wall (after)
They [make] sure all details [be] accurate / they [use] colours to
fill in the sketches (before)

UNIT 2

LESSON 6 • LIFE ON THE WATER

A trip down

the Nile

Imagine you are taking a guided tour
on a riverboat down the Nile during an
educational trip to Egypt. The leaflet
you were given was not clearly printed.
Listen to the guide and write down the
missing words on the leaflet.

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JOURNEY
TO ANOTHER WORLD

Nile: (1) _______________ km long
Sphinx: head of (2) ________ and body of (3) ________
Largest pyramid: That of Khufu (or Cheops)
It took (4) ________ years to build and (5) ____________
stone blocks were used to construct it.
A mummy was a home for the spirit. Priests prepared the
body with (6) ____________ and (7) ____________
Apart from the mummy, in the pyramid there were statues
of (8) _________.
King Tutankhamen was buried in a tomb in the (9)
______________
His tomb was discovered in (10) __________ by an (11)
_____________, Howard Carter.

UNIT 2

LESSON 6 • LIFE ON THE WATER

Writing a story

7.1	Minoas was a young boy who lived in ancient Greece in the year 1470 BC. Read the story about a day that changed his life and answer the questions. Compare your answers with your partner’s.

Who is the main character in
the story?
What happened in the story?
When did the disaster happen?
Where did it happen?
How did it happen?
Why did it happen?
How did life for the villagers change after
the disaster?
How did the main character feel?

7.2	Find the following in Minoas’s story. What does he say in the first and last paragraphs? Why does he use his mother’s actual words in paragraph 2? Underline all the time expressions in the story. What are they used for?

7.3

You have decided to enter a story competition. The title of the competition entry is the following: “Imagine you are living in ancient Greece, or another ancient civilisation. Write your own story about a life-changing experience you had”. Make notes first and look at the ‘Useful Tips’ for help.

7.4	Write your story.

7.5	Read your partner’s story and help him/her to improve it. Look at p.162 for tips on how to give peer feedback and write comments on your partner’s writing.

7.6	Rewrite your story in order to improve it. Take into consideration your partner’s comments.

I’ll never forget that hot summer day many years ago when I was
still a young boy living in the village of Malia in Crete. It was a
little after noon and I was at home, practising a new song on my
lyre.

Suddenly, I heard a loud rumble and the earth started to shake
beneath my feet. Mother, who had been in the storage room with the
servants, ran up to my room. “Get out of the room - quick”, she
shouted, as she grabbed me by the hand and pushed me towards the
doorway.

I ran into the yard and looked around. Dust and ashes covered
everything and the buildings were in ruins. I suddenly remembered
that my brother had gone down to the harbour. I ran off to look
for him, worried that something bad might have happened to him.
When I reached the harbour, I was relieved to see him running
towards me. Before I had time to even think, giant waves started
crashing onto the shore. We ran together towards the mainland as
fast as we could. Almost out of breath, we managed to climb up
a tree and out of harm’s way at the very last moment!

A few days later, my father told us that there had been a tremendous
eruption on the island of Thera. It had destroyed the whole island
along with many other villages like my own. It was shocking news.

In the days that followed, life was very tough. It took us a long
time to rebuild the village, but eventually life got back to normal.
We could only hope that nothing like this would ever happen again.

USEFUL TIPS

Give specific information about when,
where, how, who, what and why.
Think of an interesting beginning; it will make the
reader want to read on.
Use time words (first, next, then, before, as soon as,
after that, later, finally) to help the reader follow the
order of events in your story.
Make good use of tenses. We mainly use past
tenses in stories.
Describe feelings.
Use interesting vocabulary (‘wonderful’ news
instead of ‘good’ news, ‘horrible’ accident instead
of ‘bad’ accident, etc.)
Use dialogue, action and detailed description to
make your story sound real and your characters
come alive.
Pay attention to punctuation. Use exclamation
marks (!), ellipses (…), etc.

UNIT 2

SELF-ASSESSMENT

Unit 2

1. Vocabulary

1.1	Read the sentences and try to find the words in the puzzle.

1.	They evacuated the town after the volcanic e………….............................…
2.	They do not c….......................… his ideas. He’s an expert.
3.	We can p…...................… that this is the best solution to our problem. We have evidence.
4.	The violent earthquake made a lot of buildings c………….............................… .
5.	They haven’t found the l….................… of the ancient city yet.
6.	They are going to c.........… a bridge to link the remote areas.
7.	She is a r…………..........… scientist. Everybody admires her for her work and intelligence.
8.	Schliemann’s curiosity led to the d................ of Troy.

... / 8

1.2	Circle the appropriate phrasal verb in the sentences below.

1.	Someone broke into / broke down our friends’ house and stole all their belongings.
2.	The war which broke up / broke out last year has finally ended.
3.	Tom has broken out / broken up with Joan. They don’t go out anymore.
4.	We were driving to hospital when our car broke up / broke down.

... / 4

1.3	React to the news in 1.2 using an appropriateexpression.

1. ….....................................................................................
2. ….....................................................................................
3. ….....................................................................................
4. …....................................................................................

... / 4

2. Language focus

2.1	MEMORY TEST: Match the questions to the answers to check how much you can remember about the ancient civilisations you have come across in this Unit.

Questions

	1. What was Atlantis like according to Plato?
	2. Have researchers found the location of Atlantis?
	3. What did archaeologists find while they were excavating Santorini?
	4. When did Mount Vesuvius erupt?
	5. What did archaeologists discover had happened to Pompeii?
	6. How did Romans use to enjoy themselves?
	7. What were the pyramids?
	8. Why did ancient Egyptians put items of everyday life in the pyramid?

Answers

a.	They believed that there was life after death.
b.	They used to go to the theatre and public baths.
c.	It was an island of wealth, beauty and advanced civilisation.
d.	About 2,000 years ago.
e.	No, they haven’t yet. They are still looking for it.
f.	They were the tombs of the Pharaohs.
g.	They found Akrotiri.
h.	Lava had preserved the city.

... / 8

2.2	Correct the mistakes where necessary. Tick the sentences which are correct.
1.	As they were walking up the mountain, they found an ancient temple.
2.	They have lived in the area since three years.

UNIT 2

SELF-ASSESSMENT

3.	When did you last visited Egypt? Two years ago.
4.	They had finished the preparations when I had arrived.
5.	They didn’t use to travel a lot.
6.	I wasn’t reading history books when I was nine years old.

... / 6

3. Writing

Imagine you had the chance to travel back in time
and visit an ancient civilisation. Write a short story
about your experience. Make sure your story answers
the following questions: Where did you go? Who

were you with? What happened? What did you do?
How did you feel? (about 100 words).
............................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................

... / 10

Work by yourself and tick the sentences that are true for you. You can discuss your answers in class.

Working in Groups

When working in groups,

	I work well with the others in my group.
	I always consider what the others in my group say.
	I put forward my own point of view.
	I do the same amount of work as the others in my group.
	I always finish my part of the work.
	I learn from the others in my group.
	I use English to communicate with the others in my group.
	other ………….............................………
In Lessons 4, 5 and 6 you worked in pairs or groups. Write down some good and bad points and discuss them in class. How can you work better together next time?

Reflecting on your Learning

Tick the sentences that are true for you.

At the end of Lessons 4, 5 and 6, I think I can

	discuss ancient civilisations and life in the past		talk about actions that happened before and life in the past
	describe natural disasters		react to good or bad news
	talk about past habits and events		write a story
	talk about past actions in progress		do a project on world mysteries

UNIT 2