3rd year Literary Streams
Final Examination
Part One: Reading
A/ Comprehension
The origin of the Sumerians is uncertain. They apparently came from the south through the Persian Gulf. Their literature speaks of their homeland being Dilmun, which could have been one of the islands in the Persian Gulf such as Bahrain. But no ruins comparable in age and complexity to those of Sumer have been found in the proposed locations of Dilmun. However, the balance of the evidence is that Dilmun was the island of Bahrain.
The Sumerians had practiced trading in their original homeland. The frequency of animal beings in the pantheon of their gods suggests some previous pastoral history. The Sumerian language is of no help in identifying their origins because it appears to be unrelated to any other language in the world. It is an agglutinating language like Turkish, Hungarian, Finnish and Inuit (Eskimo); i.e., statements are constructed by adding prefixes and suffixes onto the core word.
The Sumerians disappeared from history about 2000 B.C. as a result of military domination by various Semitic peoples. In particular, in about 2000 B.C. Sargon established an empire in Mesopotamia which included the area of Sumer.
Read the text above then do the activities that follow.
1-Choose the letter that corresponds to the right answer.
B. The passage is …..a) narrative b) argumentative c) expository.
2-Say whether the following sentences are true or false according to the text.
a) Archeologists know where the Sumerians exactly came from.
b) The Sumerians were traders.
c) The Sumerians used to have cattle.
3-Answer the questions according to the text:
d) What was the Sumerians’ homeland?
e) What did the ruins found in Sumer prove?
f) How did the Sumerian civilization collapse?
4-In which paragraph is it mentioned that: “The Sumerians lived on commerce
and animals?
B/ Text Exploration
2- Find in the text words or phrases that are closest in meaning to:
b) Proof§1 b) Seems §2 c) vanished§3
2-Find in the text words or phrases that are opposite in meaning to:
b) Simplicity§1 b) Next §2 c) General§3
3-Join each pair of sentences with the appropriate connector, make
any necessary changes:
C- The Sumerian civilization collapsed. The Semitic peoples dominated the
area.(Before/After)
D- Mashkan-shapir was abandoned within only 20 years of its settlement. It had a
flourishing civilization.(Because / Despite)
4- Fill in each gap with an appropriate word from the list below.
ruled - god - different - of
The Sumerian civilization emerged upon the flood plain of the lower reaches of the Tigris and Euphrates Rivers about 4000 B.C. The social structure of the Sumerians was decidedly……..1………. from other societies of that and later times. The Sumerian communities were city states organized around a temple and…2… by priesthood. The bulk …..3…. the people of the community were considered to be the servant-slaves of the ….4…. of the temple.
5-Circle the silent letter in the following words:
a) Honest b) Island c) Which d) Hymn
Part Two: Written Expression.
Choose one of the following topics then write about it:
Topic1: Civilizations emerge, grow and flourish. Then, they fall, collapse and sometimes disappear without a trace. In not more than 150 words write about the reasons and fall of civilizations give examples of ancient civilizations.
Topic 2:I f you had a child which education would you give him?
Use the following notes to answer the question in not more than 150 words.
• Before school
• School private/ public.
• His friends
• Languages he would learn.
• University studies and future job.
Part One : Reading
A/Comprehension
1-a)
2-a) F b) T c) T.
3-a) The Sumerians’ homeland was Dilmun.
b) The ruins found in Sumer proved that Dilmun was the island of Bahrain.
The Sumerian civilization collapsed when the Sumerians were defeated in wars by
Semitic peoples.
4-In §2.
B/Text Exploration
1-a) Evidence b) Appears c) Disappear
2-a) Complexity b) Previous c) Particular
3-A-The Sumerian civilization collapsed after the Semitic people had dominated the area.
B-Mashkan-Shapir was abandoned within only 20 years of settlement despite its
flourishing civilization.
4- 1) different 2) ruled 3) of 4) god.
5-a) h b) s c) h d) r
Have a good luck!
Final Examination
Part One: Reading
A/ Comprehension
The origin of the Sumerians is uncertain. They apparently came from the south through the Persian Gulf. Their literature speaks of their homeland being Dilmun, which could have been one of the islands in the Persian Gulf such as Bahrain. But no ruins comparable in age and complexity to those of Sumer have been found in the proposed locations of Dilmun. However, the balance of the evidence is that Dilmun was the island of Bahrain.
The Sumerians had practiced trading in their original homeland. The frequency of animal beings in the pantheon of their gods suggests some previous pastoral history. The Sumerian language is of no help in identifying their origins because it appears to be unrelated to any other language in the world. It is an agglutinating language like Turkish, Hungarian, Finnish and Inuit (Eskimo); i.e., statements are constructed by adding prefixes and suffixes onto the core word.
The Sumerians disappeared from history about 2000 B.C. as a result of military domination by various Semitic peoples. In particular, in about 2000 B.C. Sargon established an empire in Mesopotamia which included the area of Sumer.
Read the text above then do the activities that follow.
1-Choose the letter that corresponds to the right answer.
B. The passage is …..a) narrative b) argumentative c) expository.
2-Say whether the following sentences are true or false according to the text.
a) Archeologists know where the Sumerians exactly came from.
b) The Sumerians were traders.
c) The Sumerians used to have cattle.
3-Answer the questions according to the text:
d) What was the Sumerians’ homeland?
e) What did the ruins found in Sumer prove?
f) How did the Sumerian civilization collapse?
4-In which paragraph is it mentioned that: “The Sumerians lived on commerce
and animals?
B/ Text Exploration
2- Find in the text words or phrases that are closest in meaning to:
b) Proof§1 b) Seems §2 c) vanished§3
2-Find in the text words or phrases that are opposite in meaning to:
b) Simplicity§1 b) Next §2 c) General§3
3-Join each pair of sentences with the appropriate connector, make
any necessary changes:
C- The Sumerian civilization collapsed. The Semitic peoples dominated the
area.(Before/After)
D- Mashkan-shapir was abandoned within only 20 years of its settlement. It had a
flourishing civilization.(Because / Despite)
4- Fill in each gap with an appropriate word from the list below.
ruled - god - different - of
The Sumerian civilization emerged upon the flood plain of the lower reaches of the Tigris and Euphrates Rivers about 4000 B.C. The social structure of the Sumerians was decidedly……..1………. from other societies of that and later times. The Sumerian communities were city states organized around a temple and…2… by priesthood. The bulk …..3…. the people of the community were considered to be the servant-slaves of the ….4…. of the temple.
5-Circle the silent letter in the following words:
a) Honest b) Island c) Which d) Hymn
Part Two: Written Expression.
Choose one of the following topics then write about it:
Topic1: Civilizations emerge, grow and flourish. Then, they fall, collapse and sometimes disappear without a trace. In not more than 150 words write about the reasons and fall of civilizations give examples of ancient civilizations.
Topic 2:I f you had a child which education would you give him?
Use the following notes to answer the question in not more than 150 words.
• Before school
• School private/ public.
• His friends
• Languages he would learn.
• University studies and future job.
Part One : Reading
A/Comprehension
1-a)
2-a) F b) T c) T.
3-a) The Sumerians’ homeland was Dilmun.
b) The ruins found in Sumer proved that Dilmun was the island of Bahrain.
The Sumerian civilization collapsed when the Sumerians were defeated in wars by
Semitic peoples.
4-In §2.
B/Text Exploration
1-a) Evidence b) Appears c) Disappear
2-a) Complexity b) Previous c) Particular
3-A-The Sumerian civilization collapsed after the Semitic people had dominated the area.
B-Mashkan-Shapir was abandoned within only 20 years of settlement despite its
flourishing civilization.
4- 1) different 2) ruled 3) of 4) god.
5-a) h b) s c) h d) r
Have a good luck!