3 literature test / civilizations

People's Democratic Republic of Algeria
Ministry of National Education

Grade Level: 3rd year Literature and philosophy School Year 2009/2010

Part one : Reading and Interpreting
A) Comprehension
Read the text carefully then do the activities

One of the earliest civilizations with written evidence is that of the Sumerians. Arriving in the Tigris-Euphrates valley from Central Asia in approximately 3500 BC, the Sumerians pervaded the existing settlements of the Ubaidians, of whom little is known, in southern Mesopotamia. Taking control of the land and its resources, these individuals developed a complex civilization that would live on to influence later civilizations.

Within the southern section of Mesopotamia, which came to be known as Sumer, regional city-states developed. Each of these city-states was ruled by a king. Because Sumer was a region of numerous city-states, tension and conflict among the states was frequent. Often, these conflicts arose over rights to water and land, and it was common for one city-state to attempt to gain complete control over a neighbouring city-state. Such internal dissension allowed for the region to be conquered by King
Sargon of Akkad. In 2000 BC, the area was invaded and came under Babylonian control

1. The text is about ( circle the best answer)
a. The Sumerian Civilization
b. The babylonian Civilization
c. Sumerian economy

2. Say whether the following statements are True or False according to the text:
a. The Sumerian Civilization is a modern civilization.
b. The Ubaidians took control of the land and its resources.
c. Conflicts in Sumer were about water and land.
d. Later the Babylonians dominated Sumer.

3. Answer the following questions according to the text.
a. When did the Sumerian civilization start?

b. Who invaded Sumer in 2OOO BC?


B) Text Exploration

1. Find in the text opposites to the following words .
a- much ≠ …………………..(§1 ) b- peace ≠…… (§2)

2. Find in the text synonyms to the following words.
a- proof =………………… (§1 ) b- flourished =……(§2 )

3. Give the correct forms of the verbs in brackets.
1. You had better ( learn)………………about the history of ancient civilizations in Algeria.
2. After I ( buy) the computer, I found out that it was out of a bad quality.

4. Express concession using "in spite the fact that " in the following:
a) I was interested in playing football b) I read a lot about ancient civilizations.

5. Fill in the blanks with one word from the list.

allowed - agriculture - region - economy
The economy ………1……. that sustained the people of Sumer relied on ……..2…….and trade. To support agriculture, the surrounding land of each city-state was plotted out into individual tracts which were then irrigated through a system of canals and dams. The irrigation of the land ……… 3.…… for crops such as wheat and barley to flourish in this…………4…………