I enclose a reading comprehension activity. It is posted on October 24th and it is due on Tuesday November 9th. I encourage you to try to do this activity. It is very useful for the Term Tests.
I will post the correction on November 10th. Please, I am very interested in the writing task. You can send it by e-mail or hand in the writing task in class.
Enjoy the reading!
Text and activities:
Careless tourists scar ancient alpine rock art
| Tens of thousands of ancient pictures carved into the rocks at one of France’s most important tourist sites are being gradually destroyed. Scientists and researchers fear that the 36,000 drawings on rocks in Mont Bego in the French Alps are being damaged so rapidly that they will not survive for future generations. The mountain, believed to have once been a site for prayer and worship, is scattered with 4,000-year-old drawings cut into bare rock. They include pictures of cows with horns, cultivated fields and various gods and goddesses. But as the popularity of the site increases, the pictures are being ruined by thoughtless graffiti. Jean Clottes is the chairman of the International Committee on Rock Art. He says ‘People think that because the pictures have been there so long they will always continue to be there. But if the damage continues at this rate there will be nothing left in 50 years.’ He describes seeing tourists stamping on the drawings, wearing away the rock and definition of the artwork as they do so. Some visitors, he says, even chop off parts to take home as souvenirs. ‘When people think they can’t take a good enough photograph, they rub the drawings to get a clearer picture,’ he said. ‘The drawings are polished by the weather, and if the sun is shining and the visitors can’t see them properly, they simply rub and scrape them to make them look fresher.’ Other researchers describe how people arrive carrying long sticks with sharp ends to scratch their own drawings, or even their names, in the rocks. |
1. Are the following statements TRUE or FALSE.? Copy the evidence from the text.
- Ancient alpine pictures are about to disappear for future generations.
b. People rub and scrape the drawings because they want to take pictures.
2. In your own words and based on the ideas in the text, answer the following questions. Do not copy from the text.
a. How are the pictures being ruined?
b. Why can’t the visitors see the drawings properly?
3. Find the words in the text that mean.
a) endure (paragraph 1)
b) head ( paragraph 3)
c) snapshot (paragraph 5)
d) right (paragraph 5)
4. Complete the following sentences. Use the appropriate form of the verb in brackets, when given.
a) Scientist and researchers are complaining ………………… the destruction of alpine rock art.
b) If the damage ………………………………… (continue), the drawings ……………………………… (disappear) in 50 years.
c) Last weekend, I ……………………………………….. (watch) a documentary on the Alps rock art, when I …………………………. (bump) into this article on the same topic.
d) The documentary ………………………………. (produce) by BBC Knowledge.
e) At the moment scientists ………………………………….. (have) a summit in order to ................................ out the survival of alpine rock art.
5.Write about 100 to 150 words on ONE of the following topics:
a) Why are tourists so distractive to landscape? Give reasons.
b) Are the museums the only place to preserve rock art? Do you think it should be preserved in museums or it should remain in the Alps? Discuss.
