READING WEEK 2 – HISTORY

A. READING 1 – Multiple Choice

AIR CONDITIONING

The history of an invention that makes life more pleasant

Willis Carrier designed the first air-conditioning unit in 1902, just a year after graduating from Cornell
University with a Masters in Engineering. At a Brooklyn printing plant, fluctuations in heat and
moisture were causing the size of the printing paper to keep changing slightly, making it hard to align
different colours. Carrier’s invention made it possible to control temperature and humidity levels and
so align the colours. The invention also allowed industries such as film, processed food, textiles and
pharmaceuticals to improve the quality of their products.

In 1914, the first air-conditioning device was installed in a private house. However, its size, similar to
that of an early computer, meant it took up too much space to come into widespread use, and later
models, such as the Weathermaker, which Carrier brought out in the 1920s, cost too much for most
people. Cooling for human comfort, rather than industrial need, really took off when three air
conditioners were installed in the J.L. Hudson Department Store in Detroit, Michigan. People crowded
into the shop to experience the new invention. The fashion spread from department stores to cinemas,
whose income rose steeply as a result of the comfort they provided.

To start with, money-conscious employers regarded air conditioning as a luxury. They considered that
if they were paying people to work, they should not be paying for them to be comfortable as well. So in
the 1940s and ’50s, the industry started putting out a different message about its product: according to
their research, installing air conditioning increased productivity amongst employees. They found that
typists increased their output by 24% when transferred from a regular office to a cooled one. Another
study into office working conditions, which was carried out in the late ’50s, showed that the majority of
companies cited air conditioning as the single most important contributor to efficiency in offices.

However, air conditioning has its critics. Jed Brown, an environmentalist, complains that air
conditioning is a factor in global warming. Unfortunately, he adds, because air conditioning leads to
higher temperatures, people have to use it even more. However, he admits that it provides a healthier
environment for many people in the heat of summer.

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Q1-5. Choose the correct letter: A, B, C or D.

1. When Willis Carrier invented air conditioning, his aim was to

A. make workers feel cooler.

B. produce more attractive paper.
C. set up a new business.
D. solve problems in a factory.

2. Home air conditioners were not popular at first because they were

A. too big and expensive.

B. not considered necessary.
C. too inefficient.
D. complicated to use.
3. Employers refused to put air conditioning in workplaces at first because they

A. could not afford to pay for it.

B. thought it was more suitable for cinemas.
C. did not want to spend money improving working conditions.
D. thought people would not work so hard in comfortable conditions.

4. What was the purpose of the research done in the 1940s and ’50s?

A. to make office workers produce more

B. to compare different types of air conditioner
C. to persuade businesses to buy air conditioners
D. to encourage employees to change offices

5. What does Jed Brown say about air conditioning?

A. In future, everyone will need it.

B. Turning it off will not reduce global warming.
C. It can seriously damage people’s health.
D. It is good for people, but bad for the environment.

B. READING 2 – SUMMARY COMPLETION

Rubik’s Cube

How the puzzle achieved success

Emo Rubik first studied sculpture and then later architecture in Budapest, where he went on to become
a teacher of interior design. It was while he was working as a teacher that he began the preliminary
work on an invention that he called the 'Magic Cube’.

Rubik was inspired by geometric puzzles such as the Chinese tangram, a puzzle consisting of various
triangles, a square and a parallelogram which can be combined to create different shapes and figures.
However, unlike the tangram, which is two-dimensional, Rubik was more interested in investigating
how three-dimensional forms, such as the cube, could be moved and combined to produce other forms.

His design consisted of a cube made up of layers of individual smaller cubes, and each smaller cube
could be turned in any direction except diagonally. To ensure that the cubes could move independently,
without falling apart, Rubik first attempted to join them together using elastic bands. However, this
proved to be impossible, so Rubik then solved the problem by assembling them using a rounded
interior. This permitted them to move smoothly and easily. He experimented with different ways of
marking the smaller cubes, but ended up with the simple solution of giving a different colour to each
side. The object was to twist the layers of small cubes so that each side of the large cube was an
identical colour.

Rubik took out a patent for the Cube in 1977 and started manufacturing it in the same year. The Cube
came to the attention of a Hungarian businessman, Tibor Laczi, who then demonstrated it at the
Nuremberg Toy Fair. When British toy expert Tom Kremer saw it, he thought it was amazing and he
persuaded a manufacturer, Ideal Toys, to produce 1 million of them in 1979. Ideal Toys renamed the
Cube after the toy’s inventor, and in 1980, Rubik’s Cube was shown at toy fairs all over the world. It won
that year’s prize in Germany for Best Puzzle. Rubik’s Cube is believed to be the world's best-selling
puzzle; since its invention, more than 300 million Cubes have been sold worldwide.
Q1-7. Choose NO MORE THAN TWO WORDS from the passage for each answer.

Rubik’s Cube

Originally named the 1……Magic Cube………………, Rubik’s Cube consists of a number of smaller cubes
organised in 2………puzzles………….. . The smaller cubes can be twisted in almost any way, though not
3…diagonally……………….. . The Cube’s 4…… interior …………….. is shaped in a way that allows the
smaller cubes to move smoothly. Each side of the smaller cubes has a different colour, and the aim of
the puzzle is to organise the cubes so that the colours on the sides of the large cube are 5…
identical……………….

The manufacturers of the puzzle changed the name of the Cube to the name of its 6…
inventor………………. it has now sold more than any other 7……puzzles…………… in the world.

C. READING 3 - Homework
The Ballpoint Pen

Most of us have at least one, but how did this popular item evolve?

One morning in 1945, a crowd of 5,000 people jammed the entrance of Gimbels Department Store in
New York. The day before, Gimbels had placed a full-page advertisement in the New York Times for a
wonderful new invention, the ballpoint pen. The advertisement described the pen as 'fantastic' and
'miraculous'. Although they were expensive, $12.50 each, all 10,000 pens in stock were sold on the first
day.

In fact, this 'new' pen was not new at all. In 1888, John Loud, a leather manufacturer, had invented a pen
with a reservoir of ink and a rolling ball. However, his pen was never produced, and efforts by other
people to produce a commercially successful one failed too. The main problem was with the ink. If it
was too thin, the ink leaked out of the pen. If it was too thick, it didn't come out of the pen at all. Almost
fifty years later, in 1935, a newspaper editor in Hungary thought he spent too much time filling his pens
with ink. He decided to invent a better kind of pen. With the help of his brother, who was a chemist, he
produced a ballpoint pen that didn't leak when the pen wasn't being used. The editor was called
Ladislas Biro, and it was his name that people would associate more than any other with the ballpoint
pen.

By chance, Biro met Augustine Justo, the Argentinian president. Justo was so impressed with Biro's
invention that he invited him to set up a factory in Argentina. In 1943, the first Biro pens were
produced.

Unfortunately, they were not popular, since the pen needed to be held in a vertical position for the ink
to come out. Biro redesigned the pen with a better ball, and in 1944 the new product was on sale
throughout Argentina.

It was a North American, Milton Reynolds, who introduced the ballpoint pen to the USA. Copying Biro's
design, he produced the version that sold so well at Gimbels. Another American, Patrick Frawley,
improved the design and in 1950 began producing a pen he called the Papermate. It was an immediate
success, and within a few years, Papermates were selling in their millions around the world.

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Questions 1-5
Choose the correct letter, A, B, C or D.
1. People went to Gimbels to buy a ballpoint pen because

A. they couldn’t get them anywhere else.

B. they had been told how good the pens were.
C. they had never seen a ballpoint pen before.
D. they thought the price was good.

2. Why were early ballpoint pens not produced commercially?

A. Nobody wanted to buy one.

B. It cost too much to produce them.
C. They used too much ink.
D. They didn’t work properly.

3. Why was Ladislas Biro’s pen better than earlier models?

A. It didn’t need to be filled with ink as often.

B. It was designed by a chemist.
C. The ink stayed in the pen until it was needed.
D. It was easier to use.

4. Biro’s first commercially-produced pen

A. was produced in a factory owned by the Argentinian president.

B. only worked if used in a certain way.
C. was a major success.
D. went on sale in 1944.

5. Patrick Frawley’s pen

A. was a better version of an earlier model.

B. took time to become successful.
C. was the USA’s first commercially successful ballpoint pen.
D. was only successful in the USA.
D. READING 4 – Homework
Marcel Bich – The man who turned a luxury item into an everyday object

Marcel Bich, a French manufacturer of traditional ink pens, was the man who turned the ballpoint pen
into an item that today almost anyone can afford. Bich was appalled at the poor quality of the ballpoint
pens that were available, and was also shocked at their high cost. However, he recognised that the
ballpoint was a firmly established invention, and he decided to design a cheap pen that worked well and
would be commercially successful.

Bich went to the Biro brothers and asked them if he could use the design of their original invention in
one of his own pens. In return, he offered to pay them every time he sold a pen. Then, for two years,
Bich studied the detailed construction of every ballpoint pen that was being sold, often working with a
microscope.

By 1950, he was ready to introduce his new wonder: a plastic pen with a clear barrel that wrote
smoothly, did not leak and only cost a few cents. He called it the 'Bic Cristal'. The ballpoint pen had
finally become a practical writing instrument. The public liked it immediately, and today it is as
common as the pencil. In Britain, they are still called Biros, and many Bic models also say 'Biro' on the
side of the pen, to remind people of their original inventors.

Bich became extremely wealthy thanks to his invention, which had worldwide appeal. Over the next 60
years his company, Societe Bic, opened factories all over the world and expanded its range of
inexpensive products. Today, Bic is as famous for its lighters and razors as it is for its pens, and you can
even buy a Bic mobile phone.

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Q1-7. Complete the summary.

Choose NO MORE THAN TWO WORDS from the passage for each answer.

It is thanks to Marcel Bich that most people today are able to 1…use……afford………. a ballpoint pen. It
was the bad quality and 2……high cost………….. of the pens which were available at the time that
inspired him to design a 3 ………Commercially successful…………. ballpoint pen that would be
both inexpensive and reliable. After getting permission from the Biro brothers to base his pen on their
4………original invention………………, he carefully 5………studied………….. other ballpoints that were sold
in the shops, and in 1950 introduced his own version, the ‘Bic Cristal’. It was popular with the 6………
public……………, and Bich became very rich. His company, Bic, now makes a variety of cheap 7……
products………………., such as lighters and razors.
E. READING 5 – Matching Endings
Why Study History?
Happiness in life could be defined as successfully acting as the chief character in a story one has written
oneself. While individuals create a meaningful personal story through action, experience, behaviour and
memory, so too the history of a nation (or other group) is a story that gives meaning to the members of
that nation living today.
Historians try to combine an understanding of social, economic, political and cultural activity into a
general story, explaining how these have affected each other to shape the general course of human
events.
Historians use rational scientific methods like the study of statistics and data, but their goal is to tell
stories that make sense and have a plot. Many facts are, or seem, certain. But the meaning of those facts,
or even the full story of what happened, is less obvious than one might think. To understand and explain
the past, the historian must develop a theory and test it against the evidence he or she has collected. In a
nutshell, the more evidence it can satisfactorily account for, the better the theory.
Much of the evidence that historians use was not available to people of the time, and much material that
existed then has been lost. Relatively little new evidence comes to light, so historians largely rely on
developing new methods of analysis, asking new questions, or following new story lines that show the
relevance of evidence that was previously ignored.
No historical theory can be proved beyond all doubt, because there is room for interpretation in any
human activity. Every time one tries to understand the past, one gains insight into the uncertainty of any
knowledge: history is sometimes more like a detective story than an experiment in a laboratory.
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Questions 1-5.
Complete each sentence with the correct ending, A-G, from the box.
1. Nations use history to understand C G A. alternative ways of interpreting existing material.
2. Historians show the interaction between B B. scientific and non-scientific approaches.
C C. various influences on our lives.
3. Historians try to explain F E D. new sources of evidence.
4. Historians often need to work out A E. as much as possible of what is known.
5. We can never be certain about F F. explanations of the past.
G. the present situation.
F. READING 6
The Greatest of Victorian Engineers
In the hundred years up to 1860, the work of a small group of construction engineers carried forward
the enormous social and economic change that we associate with the Industrial Revolution in Britain.
The most important of these engineers was Isambard Kingdom Brunel, whose work in shipping, bridge-
building and railway construction, to name just three fields, both challenged and motivated his
colleagues. He was the driving force behind a number of hugely ambitious projects, some of which
resulted in works which are still in use today.
The son of an engineer, Brunel apprenticed with his father at an early age on the building of the Thames
Tunnel. At the age of just twenty, he became the engineer in charge of the project. This impressive plan
to bore under the Thames twice suffered major disasters when the river broke through into the tunnel.
When the second breach occurred in 1827, Brunel was seriously injured during rescue operations and
further work was halted.
While recovering from his injuries, Brunel entered a design competition for a new bridge over the Avon
Gorge near Clifton, Bristol. The original judge of the competition was Thomas Telford, a leading civil
engineer of his day, who rejected all entries to the competition in favour of his own design. After
considerable scandal, a second contest was held and Bruners design was accepted. For reasons of
funding, however, exacerbated by social unrest in Bristol, the project was abandoned in 1843 with only
the towers completed. After Brunel's death, it was decided to begin work on it again, partly so that the
bridge could form a fitting memorial to the great engineer. Work was finally completed in 1864. Today,
the well-known Clifton Suspension Bridge is a symbol of Bristol, just as the Opera House is of Sydney.
Originally intended only for horse-drawn traffic, the bridge now bears over four million motor vehicles a
year.
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Questions 1-7. True/False/Not Given.
1. Brunel was more important than the other construction engineers in Britain during the Industrial
Revolution. T
2. Brunel was less involved in railway construction than other engineering fields. NG
3. Brunel worked on shipping, bridge-building and railway construction. T
4. Brunel's work was largely ignored by his colleagues. F
5. All projects Brunel contributed to are still used today. F
6. Brunel became an apprentice with his father at the same age as other engineers. NG
7. The Thames Tunnel Project was more difficult than any previous construction venture undertaken
in Britain. NG
Questions 8-14. Match each sentence beginning, 1-7, with the correct ending, A-H.
8. Thomas Telford B A. were the only parts of the bridge completed during
9. Scandal about the result of the first Brunel's lifetime.
competition G B. was an important civil engineer
10.Brunel's design for the bridge F C. meant the completion of the bridge was delayed.
11.Funding problems C D. is a symbol of Bristol.
12.The towers A E. was recommenced as a suitable memorial to Brunel.
13.Work on the bridge E F. was chosen in the second competition.
14.The Clifton Suspension Bridge D G. led to a second contest to design the bridge.
H. symbolizes Sydney.
G – READING 7 – Matching Headings
Questions 1-5. The reading passage has five sections, A-E.

Choose the correct headings for sections A-E from the list of headings below.

List of Headings 1. Section A

i. New developments in sunglasses lenses B 2. Section B
ii. The use of sunglasses in early courts C 3. Section C
iii. How the physical shape of early sunglasses developed D 4. Section D
iv. The introduction of sidepieces on sunglasses 5. Section E
v. The origins and early history of sunglasses A
vi. Ways in which sunglasses have become trendy
vii. The arrival of modern sunglasses
viii. Advertising campaigns for sunglasses E

The History of A Cool Image

A. The history of sunglasses can be traced back to ancient Rome around the year AD 60, where the
Emperor Nero is said to have watched gladiator fights whilst holding up polished emerald-green gems
to his eyes, thus reducing the effect of the sun’s glare. The very first actual recorded evidence of the use
of sunglasses can be found from a painting by Tommaso da Modena in Italy, 1352, showing a person
wearing sunglasses.
Earlier, around the twelfth century in China, sunglasses were worn by court judges, not to protect their
eyes from the sun, but in order to conceal any expressions in their eyes as it was important to keep their
thoughts and opinions secret until the end of each trial. These were flat panes of quartz that had been
polished smooth and then smoked to give their tint.
It was not until 1430 that prescription glasses were first developed in Italy to correct vision, and these
early rudimentary spectacles soon found their way to China, where they were again tinted by smoke to
be used by the judges. The frames were carved out of either ivory or tortoiseshell, and some were quite
ornate. During the 17th century, prescription glasses were being used in England to help elderly long-
sighted people to see better. The Spectacle Makers Company was founded in England, which started
manufacturing prescription glasses for the public and whose motto was “A Blessing to the Aged”.
B. The development of sunglasses, however, remained static until the work of James Ayscough, who was
known for his work on microscopes in London around 1750. He experimented with blue and green
tinted lenses, believing they could help with certain vision problems. These were not sunglasses,
however, as he was not concerned with protecting the eyes from the sun’s rays. Prescription spectacles
continued to be developed over the next few decades, especially regarding the design of the spectacle
frames and how to get them to sit comfortably on the nose. The frames were made from leather, bone,
ivory, tortoiseshell and metal, and were simply propped or balanced on the nose. The early arms or
sidepieces of the frames first appeared as strips of ribbon that looped around the backs of the ears.
Rather than loops, the Chinese added ceramic weights to the ends of the ribbons which dangled down
behind the tops of the ears. Solid sidepieces finally arrived in 1730, invented by Edward Scarlett.
C. Sunglasses, as we know them today, were first introduced by Sam Foster in America, 1929. These
were the first sunglasses designed specifically to protect people’s eyes from the harmful sun’s rays. He
founded the Foster Grant Company, and sold the first pair of Foster Grant sunglasses on the boardwalk
by the beaches in Atlantic City, New Jersey. These were the first mass-produced sunglasses, and from
this year onwards, sunglasses really began to take off.
D. In 1936, Edwin H Land patented the Polaroid filter for making polarized sunglasses. This type of tint
reduces glare reflected from surfaces, such as water. Later in that same year, Ray-Ban took the design of
pilots’ sunglasses further by producing the aviator style sunglasses that we know today, using this
recently invented polarized lens technology. The edge of the frame characteristically drooped away at
the edges by the cheeks in a sort of tear drop shape, to give a full all-round protection to the pilots’ eyes,
who regularly had to glance down towards the aircraft’s instrument panel. The polarized lens reduced
the glare from light reflected off the instrument panel. Pilots were given these sunglasses free of charge,
but in 1937 the general public were allowed to purchase this aviator-style model that “banned” the sun’s
rays as Ray-Ban sunglasses.
E. In 1960, Foster Grant started a big advertising campaign to promote sunglasses, and pretty soon
famous film stars and pop stars started wearing sunglasses as part of their image. The public began to
adopt this new fashion of wearing sunglasses, not just to protect their eyes from bright light, but also as
a way of looking good. Today, sunglasses are continuing to be improved with efficient UV blocking tints,
cutting out all the harmful ultra-violet light. Various coloured tints are now available and, of course, the
frame styles are very varied and exciting. Now you can really make a statement with your fashion
sunglasses, transforming your image or creating a new one. Designer sunglasses have certainly come a
long way in just a few years, and now not only protect our eyes from the harmful sun’s rays, but are also
an important fashion accessory - and it all started nearly 2,000 years ago with the Roman Emperor
Nero!
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Questions 6-10. Do the following statements agree with the information given in the reading passage?
YES if the statement agrees with the claims of the writer.
NO if the statement contradicts the claims of the writer.
NOT GIVEN if it is impossible to say what the writer thinks about this.
6. The earliest reference to sunglasses can be found in early Roman times.
7. Early Chinese sunglasses were worn to correct the wearer’s eyesight.
8. The work of James Ayscough had a profound effect on the development of modern lenses.
9. Prior to 1730, sidepieces on glasses were made of many different materials.
10.Sam Foster’s sunglasses were the first to be made for a mass market.

Questions 11-13. Complete the sentences below.

Choose ONE WORD ONLY from the passage for each answer.
11. The function of the Edwin H Lands Polaroid filter was to lessen surface …………………………
12. People can change their ………………….. by wearing trendy sunglasses.
13. Designer glasses still offer protection from solar …………………..
H. READING 8
The long period of the Bronze Age in China, which began around 2000 B.C., saw the growth and
maturity of a civilization that would be sustained in its essential aspects for another 2,000 years. In the
early stages of this development, the process of urbanization went hand in hand with the establishment
of a social order. In China, as in other societies, the mechanism that generated social cohesion, and at a
later stage statecraft, was ritualization. As most of the paraphernalia for early rituals were made in
bronze and as rituals carried such an important social function, it is perhaps possible to read into the
forms and decorations of these objects some of the central concerns of the societies (at least the upper
sectors of the societies) that produced them.
There were probably a number of early centres of bronze technology, but the area along the Yellow
River in present-day Henan Province emerged as the centre of the most advanced and literate cultures
of the time and became the seat of the political and military power of the Shang dynasty (ca. 1600-1050
B.C.), the earliest archaeologically recorded dynasty in Chinese history. The Shang dynasty was
conquered by the people of Zhou, who came from farther up the Yellow River in the area of Xi'an in
Shaanxi Province. In the first years of the Zhou dynasty (ca. 1046- 256 B.C.), known as the Western
Zhou (ca. 1046-771 B.C.), the ruling house of Zhou exercised a certain degree of 'imperial' power over
most of central China. With the move of the capital to Luoyang in 771 B.C., however, the power of the
Zhou rulers declined and the country divided into a number of nearly autonomous feudal states with
nominal allegiance to the emperor. The second phase of the Zhou dynasty, known as the Eastern Zhou
(771-256 B.C.), is subdivided into two periods, the Spring and Autumn period (770- ca. 475 B.C.) and
the Warring States period (ca. 475-221 B.C.). During the Warring States period, seven major states
contended for supreme control of the country, ending with the unification of China under the Qin in 221
B.C.
Although there is uncertainty as to when metallurgy began in China, there is reason to believe that early
bronze-working developed autonomously, independent of outside influences. The era of the Shang and
the Zhou dynasties is generally known as the Bronze Age of China, because bronze, an alloy of copper
and tin, used to fashion weapons, parts of chariots, and ritual vessels, played an important role in the
material culture of the time.
Iron appeared in China toward the end of the period, during the Eastern Zhou dynasty. One of the most
distinctive and characteristic images decorating Shang-dynasty bronze vessels is the so-called taotie.
The primary attribute of this frontal animal-like mask is a prominent pair of eyes, often protruding in
high relief. Between the eyes is a nose, often with nostrils at the base. Taotie can also include jaws and
fangs, horns, ears, and eyebrows. Many versions include a split animal-like body with legs and tail, each
flank shown in profile on either side of the mask. While following a general form, the appearance and
specific components of taotie masks varied by period and place of production. Other common motifs for
Shang ritual bronze vessels were dragons, birds, bovine creatures, and a variety of geometric patterns.
Currently, the significance of the taotie, as well as the other decorative motifs, in Shang society is
unknown.
Jade, along with bronze, represents the highest achievement of Bronze Age material culture. In many
respects, the Shang dynasty can be regarded as the culmination of 2,000 years of the art of jade carving.
Shang craftsmen had full command of the artistic and technical language developed in the diverse late
Neolithic cultures that had a jade working tradition. On the other hand, some developments in Shang
and Zhou jade carving can be regarded as evidence of decline. While Bronze Age jade workers no doubt
had better tools - if only the advantage of metal ones - the great patience and skill of the earlier period
seem to be lacking.
If the precise function of ritual jades in the late Neolithic is indeterminate, such is not the case in the
Bronze Age. Written records and archaeological evidence inform us that jades were used in sacrificial
offerings to gods and ancestors, in burial rites, for recording treaties between states, and in formal
ceremonies at the courts of kings.
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Questions 1-6. Do the following statements agree with the information given in the Reading Passage?
TRUE if the statement agrees with the information
FALSE if the statement contradicts the information
NOT GIVEN if there is no information on this
1. As the migration of people to towns and cities took place, Chinese society became more unified.
2. According to evidence that has been unearthed, the Zhou people lost power to the Shang.
3. At the end of the Zhou dynasty, there were nine powers seeking to rule China.
4. Iron was introduced to China from outside.
5. There was only one type of taotie.
6. There is some proof that later jade carving was superior to earlier examples.

Questions 7-12. Classify the following descriptions as relating to

A. Bronze B. Taotie C. Jade

List of Descriptions
7. Its features depended on when and where it was made.
8. Its meaning in one period of history is still a mystery.
9. Its decoration illustrates issues the elite in China dealt with.
10.It was not worked with the same degree of sophistication as in previous times.
11.It possibly sprang up spontaneously without any help from beyond China.
12.It was used for keeping a record of formal agreements between states.

Question 13. Choose the correct letter A, B, C or D.

Which of the following is the most suitable title for the Reading Passage?
A. The importance of jade carvings
B. The Chinese Bronze Age
C. The decline of the Bronze Age
D. How iron was introduced to China
I. READING 9
From man's first steps to the year '0' was a period like no other in the history survival be so dependent
on his ability to invent ways to solve fundamental problems. And never again would man's
technological creativity be the most significant factor in his evolution and the establishing of
civilization. By the time modern man (homo sapiens or 'man-the-wise') appeared, probably somewhere
in Africa between 100,000 and 250,000 years ago, his forefathers, the early hominids, had already
invented stone tools. It is possible that they had also manufactured crude canoes and shelters. However,
it would take many more years and a succession of vital inventions for man to evolve from a primitive,
nomadic hunter-gatherer to the highly technologically literate citizen of the time of the Roman Empire.
We like to think that we are currently living through a period when technology has an unparalleled hold
on society, but it is nothing compared with that of the ancient world, when invention and technology
were the most powerful forces shaping civilization. Throughout the ancient world, technology: was the
one factor that made all the other changes-social, political and cultural- possible. Without the inventions
of ink and papyrus, many of man's ideas would not have spread as fast nor as widely. Without weapons
and, later, the wheel, armies would not have conquered new territories as quickly.
The single largest step in early man's social evolution came around 10,000 years ago with the invention
of animal husbandry and agriculture. This enabled him to progress from living in nomadic communities
to settling in villages and small towns. The progress was brought about by a combination of climatic
change and man's invention of more efficient hunting tools, of a means of controlling and utilising fire to
clear undergrowth and of ways. of building lasting shelters. It led to a massive growth in population,
which in turn triggered a further rapid increase in technological innovation.
Most of this change took place in the eastern Mediterranean, where the climate and the annual flooding
of fertile soils favoured the development of agriculture and later of cities such as Babylon. By around
6500 BCE, Jericho is believed to have been the largest city in the world, with a population of 2,500. Four
thousand years later, the urban revolution had brought about a momentous cultural transition that in
turn generated. new needs. These were met by a quantum leap in technological innovation and the
establishment of craftsmen and scientists. For the first time, manufacturing became established as man
invented ways of making textiles, firing ceramics, producing metalwork and processing foodstuffs. This
prompted barter methods to evolve into more sophisticated trading arrangements, culminating in the
invention of tokens or early money.
With these technological changes came a corresponding increase in the complexity of the social and
political organization of human groups, which in turn necessitated the invention of written language,
first to keep track of trading arrangements, then to communicate and record events, processes,
philosophies and, of course, inventions. The history of invention is littered with inventions that had
little or no purpose and never caught on, but this was still a period of invention for necessity's sake. It
would be some time before an invention would be greeted with questions as to its role - and even
longer until Michael Faraday would retort, 'What use is a baby?' when asked what use his dynamo had.
It was also a period when science and technology's symbiotic relationship was reversed. Technology,
now often the application of scientific discovery and observation, predated science and in this period
was empirical and handed down through the generations. By the time the city states were flowering in
the early centuries BCE, scientist-inventors began to emerge. Figures such as Hero, Strato, Ctesibius and
Philon used observations and measurements of the physical and natural world to devise inventions.
However, they were all minnows when compared with Archimedes. Here was a man of the calibre that
the world would not see again until Sir Isaac Newton in the 17th century. The inventor had truly
arrived.
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Questions 1-7. Do the following statements agree with the information given in the reading passage?
TRUE if the statement agrees with the information
FALSE if the statement contradicts the information
NOT GIVEN if there is no information on this
1. Man was more creative when civilizations were growing.
2. Before the arrival of modern man there were no tools.
3. Technology nowadays does not drive our society as much as it did in ancient civilizations.
4. If ink and papyrus had not been invented, ideas wouldn’t have been disseminated easily.
5. The cultivation of crops and the rearing of animals was by far the biggest achievement of early man.
6. An increase in population led to more advances in the technology of early man.
7. Jericho was the world’s first large city.

Questions 8-12.
Classify the following events according to whether the reader states that they occurred during

A. the early evolution of nomadic man

B. the early urban period
C. the period of the urban revolution

8. The recording of a wide range of human activity.

9. The possible production of the first boats.
10.Food production as a process.
11.The ability to construct stronger buildings.
12.The use of tokens.

Question 13. Choose the correct letter A, B, C or D.

Which of the following is the most suitable title for the reading passage?
A. The importance of science and technology
B. Why man evolved from the apes
C. How technology made civilization possible
D. How philosophers changed the world
J. READING 10 - Last Man Standing
Some 50,000 years ago. Homo sapiens beat other hominids to become the only surviving species. Kate
Ravilious reveals how we did it.
A. Today, there are over seven billion people living on Earth. No other species has exerted as much
influence over (he planet as us. But turn the clock back 80,000 years and we were one of a number of
species roaming the Earth. Our own species. Homo sapiens (Latin for ‘wise man*], was most successful
in Africa. In western Eurasia, the Neanderthals dominated, while Homo erectus may have lived in
Indonesia. Meanwhile, an unusual finger bone and tooth, discovered in Denisova cave in Siberia in 2008,
have led scientists to believe that yet another human population - the Denisovans - may also have been
widespread across Asia. Somewhere along the line, these other human species died out, leaving Homo
sapiens as the sole survivor. So what made us the winners in the battle for survival?
B. Some 74.000 years ago. the Toba ’supervolcano' on the Indonesian island of Sumatra erupted. The
scale of the event was so great that ash from the eruption was flung as far as eastern India, more than
2,000 kilometres away. Oxford archaeologist Mike Petraglia and his team have uncovered thousands of
stone tools buried underneath the Toba ash. The mix of hand axes and spear tips have led Petraglia to
speculate that Homo sapiens and Homo erectus were both living in eastern India prior to the Toba
eruption. Based on careful examination of the tools and dating of the sediment layers where they were
found. Petraglia and his team suggest that Homo sapiens arrived in eastern India around 78.000 years
ago. migrating out of Africa and across Arabia during a favourable climate period. After their arrival the
simple tools belonging to Homo erectus seemed to lessen in number and eventually disappear
completely. ‘We think that Homo sapiens had a more efficient hunting technology, which could have
given them the edge? says Petraglia. ‘Whether the eruption of Toba also played a role in the extinction
of the Homo erectus-like species is unclear to us.’
C. Some 45.000 years later, another fight for survival took place. This time, the location was Europe and
the protagonists were another species, the Neanderthals. They were a highly successful species that
dominated the European landscape for 300.000 years. Yet within just a few thousand years of the
arrival of Homo sapiens, their numbers plummeted. They eventually disappeared from the landscape
around 30.000 years ago. with their last known refuge being southern Iberia, including Gibraltar.
Initially, Homo sapiens and Neanderthals lived alongside each other and had no reason to compete. But
then Europe’s climate swung into a cold, inhospitable, dry phase. ‘Neanderthal and Homo sapiens
populations had to retreat to refugia [pockets of habitable I and]. This heightened competition between
the two groups,' explains Chris Stringer, anthropologist at the Natural History Museum in London.
D. Both species were strong and stockier than the average human today, but Neanderthals were
particularly robust. 'Their skeletons show that they had broad shoulders and thick necks,' says Stringer.
Homo sapiens, on the other hand, had longer forearms, which undoubtedly enabled them to throw a
spear from some distance, with less danger and using relatively little energy,' explains Stringer. This
long-range ability may have given Homo sapiens an advantage in hunting. When it came to keeping
warm. Homo sapiens had another skill: weaving and sewing. Archaeologists have uncovered simple
needles fashioned from ivory and bone alongside Homo sapiens, dating as far back as 35,000 years ago.
'Using this technology, we could use animal skins to make ourselves tents, warm clothes and fur boots,’
says Stringer. In contrast. Neanderthals never seemed to master sewing skills, instead relying on
pinning skins together with thorns.
E. A thirst for exploration provided Homo sapiens with another significant advantage over
Neanderthals. Objects such as shell beads and flint tools, discovered many miles from their source,
show that our ancestors travelled over large distances, in order to barter and exchange useful materials,
and share ideas and knowledge. By contrast. Neanderthals tended to keep themselves to themselves,
living in small groups. They misdirected their energies by only gathering resources from their
immediate surroundings and perhaps failing to discover new technologies outside their territory.
F. Some of these differences in behaviour may have emerged because the two species thought in
different ways. By comparing skull shapes, archaeologists have shown that Homo sapiens had a more
developed temporal lobe - the regions at the side of the brain, associated with listening, language and
long-term memory. 'We think that Homo sapiens had a significantly more complex language than
Neanderthals and were able to comprehend and discuss concepts such as the distant past and future/
says Stringer. Penny Spikins, an archaeologist at the University of York, has recently suggested that
Homo sapiens may also have had a greater diversity of brain types than Neanderthals. ‘Our research
indicates that high-precision tools, new hunting technologies and the development of symbolic
communication may all have come about because they were willing to include people with "different"
minds and specialised roles in their society’, she explains. ‘We see similar kinds of injuries on male and
female Neanderthal skeletons, implying there was no such division of labour,’ says Spikins.
G. Thus by around 30,000 years ago, many talents and traits were well established in Homo sapiens
societies but still absent from Neanderthal communities. Stringer thinks that the Neanderthals were
just living in the wrong place at the wrong time. ‘They had to compete with Homo sapiens during a
phase of very unstable climate across Europe. During each rapid climate fluctuation, they may have
suffered greater losses of people than Homo sapiens, and thus were slowly worn down,’ he says. ‘If the
climate had remained stable throughout, they might still be here.'
-------------------------------
Questions 1-5. The Reading passage has seven paragraphs, A-G.
Which paragraph contains the following information?
1. a comparison of a range of physical features of Neanderthals and Homo sapiens
2. reference to items that were once used for trade
3. mention of evidence for the existence of a previously unknown human species
4. mention of the part played by ill fortune in the downfall of Neanderthal society
5. reference to the final geographical location of Neanderthals

Questions 6-9. Complete the sentences below.

Choose NO MORE THAN THREE WORDS from the passage for each answer.
6. Analysis of stone tools and ……………….. has enabled Petraglia’s team to put forward an arrival date
for Homo sapiens in eastern India.
7. Homo sapiens used both ……………….. to make sewing implements.
8. The territorial nature of Neanderthals may have limited their ability to acquire resources and ……….
9. Archaeologists examined ………………… in order to get an insight into Neanderthal and Homo sapiens’
capacity for language and thought.
Questions 10-13. Look at the following statements and the list of researchers, A-C, below.
Match each statement with the correct researcher.
10.No evidence can be found to suggest that Neanderthal communities List of Researchers
allocated tasks to different members. A. Mike Petraglia
11.Homo sapiens may have been able to plan ahead. B. Chris Stringer
12.Scientists cannot be sure whether a sudden natural disaster C. Penny Spikins
contributed to the loss of a human species.
13.Environmental conditions restricted the areas where Homo sapiens and
Neanderthals could live.