11 A) Look through the text (you are given 5 minutes) and be ready to fulfil the assignments.

The Stone Age

The Stone Age was a period of history which began in approximately 2 million B.C. and lasted until 3.000 B.C. Its name was derived from the stone tools and weapons that modern scientists found. This period was divided into the Paleolithic, Mesolithic, and Neolithic Ages. During the first period (2 million to 8000 B.C.) the first hatchet and use of fire for heating and cooking were developed. As a result of the Ice Age, which evolved about 1 million years into the Paleolithic Age, people were forced to seek shelter in caves, wear clothing, and develop new tools.

During the Mesolithic Age (8000 to 6000 B.C.) people made crude pottery and the first fish hooks, took dogs hunting, and developed a bow and arrow, which was used until the 14th century A.D.

The Neolithic Age (6000 to 3000 B.C.) saw humankind domesticating sheep, goats, pigs, and cattle, being less nomadic than in previous eras, establishing permanent settlements, and creating governments.

Notes

Paleolithic [,peiliou’liиk]

Mesolithic [,mezɔ‘liиik]

Neolithic [‘ni:ou ‘liиik]

Test

1. Into how many periods was the Stone Age divided?

a) 2, b) 3, c) 4, d) 5.

2. Which of the following was developed earliest?

a) the fish hook;

b) the fist hatchet;

c) the bow and arrow;

d) pottery.

3. Which of the following developments is NOT related to the

conditions of the Ice Age?

a) farming;

b) clothing;

c) living indoors;

d) using fire.

4. Which period lasted longest?

a) Paleolithic;

b) Ice Age;

c) Mesolithic;

d) Neolithic.

5. Which of the following periods saw people develop a more

communal form of living?

a) Paleolithic;

b) Ice Age;

c) Mesolithic;

d) Neolithic.

6. The author states that the Stone Age was so named because

a) it was very durable,

b) the tools and weapons were made of stone,

c) there was little vegetation,

d) the people lived in caves.

11 b) Read the text for the second time and do the following:

1. Give your own title to the text.

2. What are the characteristic features of each period of history?

3. What is the origin of the term "Stone Age"?

4. Compress the text into 5 sentences.

Vocabulary Study

12. Write out all the words from the texts grouping them under the headings: 'Periods of ancient history', 'Social structure', 'Tools', 'Occupations', 'Jewelry'.

Speech Practice

13. Choose one of the topics for a short talk to be given in class:

•The main features of primitive society.

•The main occupations of primitive people.

•The structure of government in primitive society.

•The character and manners of primitive people.

•Characteristic features of each period of ancient history.

14. Have a round-table discussion on one of the topics given above.

Composition

15. a) Compare in writing the way of life of American Indians and Ancient

Slavs.

b) Add any information you like about the Scythians.

c) Write a short definition of primitive society.

ROLEPLAY

You have just read an article in “National Geographic” and would like to tell your friend about it.

You Your friend

Answer the telephone call

and say your name.

Say who are you and the

reason why you are calling.

Express interest in this article.

Say about the origin of the

name.

Ask where and when they

were found.

Reply and mention Darwin’s

theory of evolution.

Express surprise and ask about

the origins of the Neandertals.

Reply and describe them.

Thank your friend and ask the

article for reading.

THE DAWN OF HUMANS

Found by miners near Dusseldorf, Germany, 1856, the first recognized Neandertal fossils took their name from the picturesque Neanderthal, or Neander Valley, where they were found. (The silent “h” in thal has been dropped in modern German.) The valley – featured in 19th-century travel guides – has been largely destroyed for its limestone, but the controversy surrounding its famed fossils endures. One early scientist dismissed them as the remains of “some poor idiot or hermit.” Another, citing the Neandertal’s heavy, bowed legs, declared the skeleton’s owner to be a Mongolian cavalryman who had suffered from rickets. Eventually the Neandertal bones would play a key role in supporting the most radical new scientific idea of the time – Charles Darwin’s theory of evolution. Though Neandertals have been intensely studied for nearly 150 years, much about them still sparks debate. Cannibalism. Cut marks on a skull from Krapina Cave in Croatia suggest to some that Neandertals had a taste for human flesh. Others believe the marks are ceremonial.

Mystery provokes controversy, which the Neandertals have caused since the discovery of the remains of a Neandertal in the Neander Valley of Germany in 1856.

The original Neandertal man was proclaimed by some to be the missing link between apes and human. Others argued that this odd speciman with the apelike brows was simply a misshapen freak from the Middle Ages. But soon more bones with the same strange features were unearthed in Belgium, France, and other parts of Europe. Then, at the turn of the century, the bones of as many as 80 Neandertals

were discovered in a cave in the Croatian village of Krapina. By then it was clear: These people were not modern humans.

The origins of the Neandertals are uncertain, but scientists suspect that they share a common ancestor with modern humans: a tall, slender species known as Homo erectus, which migrated into Europe probably from Africa through western Asia between 700,00 and a million years ago.

Notes

controversy [‘kɔntrəvə: si] – prolonged argument

fossil [‘fɔsl] – recognizable prehistoric animal

hermit [‘hə:mit] – man in early Christian times, living alone

rickets [‘rikits] – disease of childhood

to spark [a:] – to lead to be the immediate cause of

freak [ i:]– person, that is abnormal in form

Neanderthal [ni’ жndəta:l]

Mongolian [mɔn’gouljən]

Darwin [‘da:win]

Cannibalism [‘kжnibəlizəm]

Croatia [krou’ei∫ə]

UNIT 3 ANCIENT CIVILIZATIONS

Before you start:

What ancient civilizations do you know?

Which of them are the oldest?

Which of them flourished on the territory of your country (your native place)?