Section A: Comprehension (30 marks) Scribes in Ancient Egypt How do we know so much about ancient Egypt? (paragraph 1) Unlike some ancient civilizations, Egypt had a writing system. Without these written records, we would know much less about ancient Egypt today. We can read about important historical events, like the lives and deaths of pharaohs. There are also details of everyday life like family trees, medical treatments, plans and lists for building pyramids, stores of food and work tools. Who were the scribes? (paragraph 2) Those who wrote and collected these written records were members of a special profession and are called scribes. Many had parents who were also scribes. Nearly all were boys. Scribes had a privileged position in society: they did not pay taxes or work in the fields or go to war. How long did it take to train a scribe? (paragraph 3) Young children started at Scribe School at the age of five. First they had to study how to read and write hieroglyphs. This meant learning more than 700 of these picture symbols by heart. The Ancient Egyptians did not write in vowels and consonants. Instead they used pictures to represent different objects, actions, sounds or ideas and these pictures are called hieroglyphs. Children who went to school to learn to become a scribe would sit on the floor, cross-legged, with a wooden board on their lap to do their lessons. This is the standard position that we see most scribes in throughout Egypt. All of the images that have been found for scribes show them sitting on the ground with their scribe board on their lap to draw the 1
hieroglyphs. At Scribe School they also studied maths, law, history and geography, and the most able ones were taught engineering and architecture too. Discipline was strict, and school teachers made their pupils work hard. Lazy boys were beaten, or expelled. In fact, the Egyptian word for teach ( seba ) also means beat. It took about ten to twelve years for students to complete their studies; then they were ready to go out to work. What tools and materials did scribes use? (paragraph 4) Ancient pictures often show scribes with tools of their trade: a roll of papyrus writing material, reed pens and brushes and jars of black and red ink. Because papyrus was valuable, student scribes practised writing hieroglyphs on pieces of clay tablets. Both black and red inks were used: red was used for titles, and to correct mistakes something that continues today. What jobs did scribes do? (paragraph 5) Scribes played an important part in the running of the kingdom and they were highly respected because they were the ones to record everything that needed to be recorded. In addition, people couldn t read or write so a large percentage of the population used scribes to write letters for them, and also to read aloud any letters that they received. QUESTIONS 1. Underline the best answer. ( 4 marks) a. This text i. is a story from ancient times. ii. gives us information about ancient times. iii. describes life in ancient times. 2
b. This text is about i. the profession of a scribe in Ancient Egypt. ii. the instruments used by a scribe. iii. Ancient Egypt. c. From paragraph 3 we learn that the Egyptian word for teach ( seba ) also means beat. This shows us that i. it was very important for scribes to beat everyone in class to be first. ii. student scribes were allowed to beat each other. iii. strict discipline was a very important part of education. d. From the text we learn that in Ancient Egypt people used to write on i. paper. ii. a wooden board. iii. on rolls of papyrus. 2. Fill in with words from the first and second paragraphs. (5 marks) What we know about Ancient Egypt comes from written collected by at the time. We learn that scribes in Ancient Egypt were a very important part of because they recorded information about, and, amongst many other things. 3. Answer the following questions in full. a. Why are ancient Egyptian scribes important for us today? (2 marks) [next page] 3
b. In paragraph 5, the text gives two reasons as to why scribes were important at the time. In your own words, write down these reasons. (2 marks) c. What were the tools needed by scribes and student scribes? (2 marks) d. What are hieroglyphs? (2 marks) 4
e. Which fact in the passage did you find the most interesting and why? (2 marks) 4. In not more than 60 words, summarise what you have learned about scribes in Ancient Egypt. You can use the back of this page for your rough draft. (5 marks) Number of words: 5
5. Answer the following questions (6 marks): a. From paragraph 2, find one word which means having something special that only a few people have : b. From paragraph 3, find one word which means teaching people to control themselves and follow rules : c. Which noun does the pronoun they refer to in paragraph 2: d. In paragraph 3, the word standard can be replaced by the word: e. What part of speech is the word highly in paragraph 5?: f. Change the verb know in paragraph 1 into an abstract noun: Section B: Grammar (30 marks) 1. Put these words into the correct column. (8 marks) shed, cowardice, always, scribe, strength, deadly, politely, fierce ADJECTIVES ADVERBS CONCRETE NOUNS ABSTRACT NOUNS 2. Write down (2 marks) a. a being verb: b. an action verb: 6
3. Write the possessive form of each of these nouns. (5 marks) a. the exam of the student: b. the shoes of the men: c. the peach of James: d. the bones of the dogs: e. the work of five days: 4. Give the plural form of these nouns. (5 marks) a. roof: b. sky: c. piano: d. swine: e. valley: 5. Supply the missing word to form collective nouns. (5 marks) a. a troop of b. a staff of c. a of actors d. a of cattle e. a plague of 7
6. Change the verbs in brackets into abstract nouns (5 marks) a. an extraordinary (discover) b. a happy (marry) c. a silly (compare) d. a steady (improve) e. a strange (conclude) 8