TEST#3 READING Copy

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> Chose one word to complete the email

1.   have                  get              do
2.  make                have           complete
3.  understand    forget          remember
4.  later                 yesterday   when
5.  want                know           hope

> Order the sentences so that they make a complete, coherent text.

A. C.S. Lewis is one of the most famous English writers.

Read the text and complete each gap with a word from the list at the bottom of the page. Read the texts and answer questions 12-18.

 reality    between     result      centuries      source     among    signals   suggests    day       work     poems

>> PART 4. LONG TEXT COMPREHENSION

To complete  the task you need to match 7 headings to the correct paragraphs in the text. Chose from the list (A-I) and match it to a paragraph (1-7).

1. People have lived at the site and the surroundings for thousands of years. Archaeologists have found evidence dating from Neolithic times. There were also settlements during the Bronze Age, although no architectural structures remain from this period. The precise location of the city during these times cannot be firmly established, as the river has moved over the centuries. The once busy harbour has also vanished.

2. However, about 2000 years ago, the diverse leaders of the city started elaborate city planning projects. We can tell what a sophisticated society this was, from some of the ruins. The most impressive are the elaborately decorated remains of the front wall of a huge library. This used to contain thousands of papers. There is also a theatre with a capacity to seat 25,000, possibly the biggest theatre of its time. Wide roads paved with marble also remain, and a complex system of aqueducts. These carried water to public baths and water mills, which cut the marble for building. Women’s rights were honoured, possibly because of the importance of goddess-worship, and there were even female artists.

3. The city was well-known as the site of the enormous Temple of Artemis. This was considered to be the finest of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World. People came from far away to worship the goddess Artemis, establishing Ephesus as a major destination for travellers. The temple had to be completely re-built three times before it was finally destroyed in 401 AD. It was first destroyed by a flood, later deliberately burnt down by a lunatic, and was eventually destroyed in a Gothic raid. All that remains is a broken column, standing crookedly in the middle of a marsh.

4. At its peak, about 300,000 people lived in the city, making it second only in size to Rome in the ancient world. Not only was it densely populated, it was also a key trading city, situated in a strategic location on the Aegean Sea. Its position in a fertile valley gave its people another source of income from agriculture, and they could easily export their products. During the reign of Emperor Augustus, it was the capital of the region, and a new era of prosperity began.

5. As with many beautiful cities of strategic importance, Ephesus was constantly fought over. It changed hands and allegiance many times, and was part of the Greek, Roman, Persian, Byzantine and Ottoman Empires. During Roman rule, taxes rose and the city’s treasures were stolen. At one point, Ephesus was self-governing, but this was only for a short time. When the Romans took over
again, the citizens were forced to pay taxes retrospectively.

6. In 50 AD, Ephesus became an important centre of Christianity, and is mentioned in the Bible. Key leaders of the early church lived in the city. These included the apostle Paul, who wrote much of the Bible, and it is thought that Mary, the mother of Jesus, died in Ephesus. The position of Ephesus at the heart of Christianity is ironic, as for many years, the city had been best known for the Temple to Artemis. When many citizens converted to Christianity, the local silver-workers were furious, scared of losing their livelihood making silver statues of the goddess.

7. Despite the city’s importance, and the powers of its rulers, other forces were stronger. The river gradually shifted location and the harbour silted up, leaving swamps full of mosquitoes. With the citizens dying of malaria, the king deliberately flooded the whole city by blocking the sewers. This was to force people to move to a healthier location, two kilometres away. Lacking its port and river, Ephesus steadily diminished in size. It was just a small village when captured by the Seljuk Turks in 1090. The great temple was all but forgotten, and the once-thriving city was entirely abandoned by the fifteenth century. Nowadays, as part of modern Turkey, it is a major tourist attraction, with one of the region’s largest collection of ancient ruins from the classical period.