Ex. 10. Develop the ideas of Ex. 3 without looking into the text.

Ex. 11. Agree or disagree. Prove your answer:

 

1. The Cycladic islands in the Aegean saw the birth of the Mycenaean culture.

2. The epics of Homer were written down long after his death.

3. An early form of Greek was Mycenaean.

4. The late Iron Age is characterized by the period of depopulation and migration.

5. Archaic Greece was a world of separate city-states.

6. The diverse world of Greece was never unified.

7. The exploration of the human form was the central and the most enduring aspect of the Greek world.

8. In some city-states decisions were made by the whole citizenry and this was democracy.

9. In the Greek world a variety of political systems coexisted.

10. Autocratic regimes were as favorable to advances in philosophy, art and science as democracy had been.

11. The entire history of Ancient Greece is known as the Hellenistic era.

12. The end of the Greek political independence was marked by Alexander's death in 323 ВС.

 

Ex. 12. a) Answer the following questions to see if you understand every word in the text:

1. What was the central aspect of Greek art?

2. What can be regarded as typifying Greece's Classical Age?

3. What were the forms of coexisted political systems in Ancient Greece?

4. Were autocratic political regimes as favorable to advances in philosophy, art and science as democracy had been?

5. What assured Athens' political prominence until 404 ВС?

6. What types of cultures can be traced back in a large area called the Ancient Greek World?

7. How can you characterize the Greek World during the Iron Age?

8. Did the art of vase painting in Greece develop? In what form?

 

b) Put questions of your own to the rest of the text and ask your classmates to answer them.

 

Ex. 13. Make up a plan of the text, provide each point of the plan with necessary words and word combinations. Compare your plans and discuss them with your groupmates.

 

Ex. 14. Retell the text using your own plan and expressions from Ex. 5, 6, 13.

Ex. 15. Give the gist of the text in three or four sentences.

 

Ex. 16. Role play.

Choose roles and act as either a strict examiner asking questions about cultures and periods in Ancient Greece's history or as a student taking an exam.

 

Ex. 17. Study the table and comment on it:

3500-2000 ВС - Early Cycladic

Early Minoan

Early Helladic

2000-1500 ВС - Middle Cycladic

Middle Minoan

Middle Helladic

1500-1250 ВС - Late Minoan

Late Cycladic

1500-1300 BC - Late Helladic

1000-600 BC - Geometric period

776 BC - First recorded Olympic games at Olympia

508 BC - Reforms of Cleisthenes, birth of democracy

512-479 BC - Persian Invasion of the Greek Mainland

480 BC - Athens sacked by Persians

480 BC - battle of Salamis, Persians defeated at sea

479 BC - battle at Plataea, Persians defeated on land

447-432 BC - Parthenon constructed

c. 350 BC - Mausoleum of Halicarnassus built

323 BC - death of Alexander the Great

31 BC - battle of Actium, death of Cleopatra VII, the last of Hellenistic monarchs

VIII. WRITING SKILLS

 

Ex. 18. Make up sentences of your own using expressions from Ex. 5, 6. Provide similar historical context.

 

Ex. 19. Topics for essay writing:

1. The periods in the development and cultures of the Ancient Greek World.

2. Political regimes in Ancient Greece.

3. Arts and literature of the Greek World.

 

Ex. 20. Look back through the unit and find the words to do with:

1. arts; 2. politics; 3. history.

IX. TRANSLATION SKILLS

 

Ex. 21. Translate into English:

Еще 150 лет назад историю Греции начинали с XII столетия до н. э. Между тем, были известны исторические сказания и поэмы, в которых подробно рассказывалось о древних царствах и героях того времени. Среди них поэмы о троянской войне — «Илиада» и «Одиссея», автором которых считают слепого певца Гомера. Все эти сведения многие ученые считали поэтическим вымыслом и относили к области мифологии.

Перелом произошел в середине XIX века, когда во многих местах Греции стали открывать памятники, более древние, чем остатки классического периода. В 70-х годах немецкий археолог Г. Шлиман раскопал на территории турецкой деревушки развалины легендарной Трои. Затем он откопал в Пелопоннесе развалины Микен. Раскопки других ученых в Микенах, на островах Родос и Фере подтвердили предположения о существовании великой цивилизации.

В 1900 году англичанин А. Эванс раскопал город Кносс на северном берегу острова Крит. Архив кносского дворца составляли сотни глиняных табличек, покрытых письменами. Они свидетельствовали о существовании в Эгейском бассейне древнейшей письменности. После открытия Эванса стало несомненным, что греческие легенды о мудром царе Миносе содержат в основе своей ре­альные факты. По имени этого царя древнейшая культура критян была названа минойской. Выяснилось, что с XXII века до н. э. на Крите существовали раннеклассовые государства. Раскопки на Крите и в Микенах показали связь этих культур. Возникло понятие крито-минойской культуры. Стало ясно, что это была цивилизация эпохи бронзы с развитым общественным строем, с высоким уровнем техники и культуры. Расшифровать записи и прочитать документы, написанные слоговым письмом, ученые сумели лишь в 1952 году.

 

Ex. 22. Translate into Russian:

Religion

The G reeks were a very religious people, although they never developed a priestly class or a sacred scripture. The calendar, the festivals, and the celebrations of the passages of the human life all bore a religious connotation.

Many gods and goddesses inhabited the Greek pantheon. According to Homer, Mount Olympus was their home where they lived in leisure, sometimes quarreling with each other, sometimes in harmony. Zeus was the sky god who conquered the world and then gave his two brothers parts of it. Hades received the underworld, and Poseidon got the sea.

The Ionian Greeks adopted Apollo as their patron, although other Greeks also celebrated his festivals. Athena was the protector of Athens. She gave her name to the city, and her temples on the acropolis overshadowed the town. Inside the Pantheon her gold and ivory statue stood 39 feet tall.

These gods and goddesses were city protectors, but left much to be desired in the personal life of men and women. The Orphic religions filled that vacuum for they offered individual contact with a god, usually Dionysius, through songs, prayer, and dance. Since Dionysius was patron of the grape vine, wine flowed freely at his celebrations, and excessive drinking added to the ecstatic state experienced in his worship. Women known as sibyls led the festivities on the mountains at nighttime

Words to remember

 

acquisition n — приобретение, завоевание, овладение

autocracy n — абсолютизм, автократия, самодержавие

citizenry п — гражданское население, граждане

coexist v — сосуществовать с кем-л. (with)

coincidence n — 1. случайное стечение обстоятельств; 2. одновременность, синхронность; совпадение (во времени); 3. гармония, (полное) согласие, совпадение

disseminated а — рассеянный; распространенный

enduring a — постоянный, бессмертный (о произведении искусства)

epic n - эпическая поэма; a folk ~ - народный эпос

evident a - очевидный, наглядный, несомненный

fade v - постепенно исчезать, расплываться, растворяться

figurative a - символический; ~ art - образная живопись

figurine n — статуэтка, Syn: statuette

gem n — 1. драгоценный камень; 2. ювелирное украшение, Syn: jewel, jewellery; 3. самоцвет; полудрагоценный камень

inspire v — 1. внушать, вселять (чувство и т. п.) (in, with); 2. вдохновлять, воодушевлять (with), Syn: encourage; 3. принуждать, побуждать

marble n — 1. мрамор (как минерал и материал); 2. мраморное изделие (художественное произведение, скульптура)

medieval a — средневековый

sanctuary n — святилище (храм, церковь)

semi-independent a — полуавтономный

supremacy п — 1. верховенство; верховная власть; 2. превосходство, Syn: superiority

tyranny ['tirəni] n — 1. деспотизм, тирания, тиранство; 2. деспотия

tyrant ['taiərənt] n — тиран; деспот, Syn: despot

vessel n - сосуд (для жидкости)

Unit XI

THE ROMAN EMPIRE

I. PRETEXT EXERCISES

 

Ex. 1. a) Make sure you know how to pronounce the following proper names:

 

b) Sort the words into groups of:

1) place names; 2) personal names; 3) nationality words.

 

Ex. 2. Practice the pronunciation of the following words:

unique, to oust, to identify, identity, nonetheless, heir, diverse, frontier, hostilities, soldier, campaign, garrisoned.

 

Ex. 3. Guess the meaning of the words:

lengthy, horizon, barrier, gladiators, prototype, electioneering, northernmost outpost, comforts, recruited, legions, infantrymen.