TOPIC 8: HISTORY

READING PASSAGE 1:

Stonehenge

For centuries, historians and archaeologists have puzzled over the many mysteries of
Stonehenge, a prehistoric monument that took an estimated 1,500 years to erect.
Located on Salisbury Plain in southern England, it is comprised of roughly 100 massive
upright stones placed in a circular layout.

Archaeologists believe England’s most iconic prehistoric ruin was built in several
stages, with the earliest constructed 5,000 or more years ago. First, Neolithic Britons used
primitive tools, which may have been fashioned out of deer antlers, to dig a massive
circular ditch and bank, or henge. Deep pits dating back to that era and located within
the circle may have once held a ring of timber posts, according to some scholars.

Several hundred years later, it is thought, Stonehenge’s builders hoisted an estimated 80

bluestones, 43 of which remain today, into standing positions and placed them in either a
horseshoe or circular formation. These stones have been traced all the way to the Preseli
Hills in Wales, some 300 kilometres from Stonehenge. How, then, did prehistoric
builders without sophisticated tools or engineering haul these boulders, which weigh up
to four tons, over such a great distance?

According to one long-standing theory among archaeologists, Stonehenge’s builders

fashioned sledges and rollers out of tree trunks to lug the bluestones from the Preseli
Hills. They then transferred the boulders onto rafts and floated them first along the Welsh
coast and then up the River Avon toward Salisbury Plain; alternatively, they may have
towed each stone with a fleet of vessels. More recent archaeological hypotheses have
them transporting the bluestones with supersized wicker baskets on a combination of ball
bearings and long grooved planks, hauled by oxen.

As early as the 1970s, geologists have been adding their voices to the debate over how
Stonehenge came into being. Challenging the classic image of industrious builders
pushing, carting, rolling or hauling giant stones from faraway Wales, some scientists
have suggested that it was glaciers, not humans, that carried the bluestones to Salisbury
Plain. Most archaeologists have remained skeptical about this theory, however,
wondering how the forces of nature could possibly have delivered the exact number of
stones needed to complete the circle.

The third phase of construction took place around 2000 BCE. At this point, sandstone
slabs – known as ‘sarsens’ – were arranged into an outer crescent or ring; some were
assembled into the iconic three-pieced structures called trilithons that stand tall in the
centre of Stonehenge. Some 50 of these stones are now visible on the site, which may
once have contained many more. Radiocarbon dating has revealed that work continued
at Stonehenge until roughly 1600 BCE, with the bluestones in particular being
repositioned multiple times.

But who were the builders of Stonehenge? In the 17th century, archaeologist John
Aubrey made the claim that Stonehenge was the work of druids, who had important
religious, judicial and political roles in Celtic society. This theory was widely popularized
by the antiquarian William Stukeley, who had unearthed primitive graves at the site.
Even today, people who identify as modern druids continue to gather at Stonehenge for
the summer solstice. However, in the mid-20th century, radiocarbon dating demonstrated
that Stonehenge stood more than 1,000 years before the Celts inhabited the region.

Many modern historians and archaeologists now agree that several distinct tribes of
people contributed to Stonehenge, each undertaking a different phase of its construction.
Bones, tools and other artefacts found on the site seem to support this hypothesis. The
first stage was achieved by Neolithic agrarians who were likely to have been indigenous
to the British Isles. Later, it is believed, groups with advanced tools and a more
communal way of life left their mark on the site. Some believe that they were immigrants
from the European continent, while others maintain that they were probably native
Britons, descended from the original builders.

If the facts surrounding the architects and construction of Stonehenge remain shadowy
at best, the purpose of the striking monument is even more of a mystery. While there is
consensus among the majority of modern scholars that Stonehenge once served the
function of burial ground, they have yet to determine what other purposes it had.

In the 1960s, the astronomer Gerald Hawkins suggested that the cluster of megalithic
stones operated as a form of calendar, with different points corresponding to astrological
phenomena such as solstices, equinoxes and eclipses occurring at different times of the
year. While his theory has received a considerable amount of attention over the decades,
critics maintain that Stonehenge’s builders probably lacked the knowledge necessary to
predict such events or that England’s dense cloud cover would have obscured their view
of the skies.

More recently, signs of illness and injury in the human remains unearthed at Stonehenge
led a group of British archaeologists to speculate that it was considered a place of
healing, perhaps because bluestones were thought to have curative powers.

Questions 1-8
Complete the notes below. Choose NO MORE THAN TWO WORDS from the
passage for each answer. Write your answers in boxes 1-8 on your answer sheet.

Stonehenge
Construction
Stage 1:
• the ditch and henge were dug, possibly using tools made from (1) ………………..
• (2)………………may have been arranged in deep pits inside the circle

Stage 2:
• bluestones from the Preseli Hills were placed in standing position
• theories about the transportation of the bluestones:
• archaeological:
-builders used (3) ……………to make sledges and rollers
– (4)……………….pulled them on giant baskets
• geological:
– they were brought from Wales by (5)……………

Stage 3:
• sandstone slabs were arranged into an outer crescent or ring

Builders
• a theory arose in the 17th century that its builders were Celtic (6)…………..

Purpose
• many experts agree it has been used as a (7)…………………site
• in the 1960s, it was suggested that it worked as a kind of (8)………………..

Questions 9-13
Do the following statements agree with the information given in the reading passage? In
boxes 9-13 on your answer sheet, write

TRUE if the statement agrees with the information

FALSE if the statement contradicts the information
NOT GIVEN if there is no information on this
9. During the third phase of construction, sandstone slabs were placed in both the outer
areas and the middle of the Stonehenge site.

10. There is scientific proof that the bluestones stood in the same spot until
approximately 1600 BCE.

11. John Aubrey’s claim about Stonehenge was supported by 20th-century findings.

12. Objects discovered at Stonehenge seem to indicate that it was constructed by a

number of different groups of people.

13. Criticism of Gerald Hawkins’ theory about Stonehenge has come mainly from other
astronomers.

READING PASSAGE 2:

The Step Pyramid of Djoser

A The pyramids are the most famous monuments of ancient Egypt and still hold
enormous interest for people in the present day. These grand, impressive tributes to the
memory of the Egyptian kings have become linked with the country even though other
cultures, such as the Chinese and Mayan, also built pyramids. The evolution of the
pyramid form has been written and argued about for centuries. However, there is no
question that, as far as Egypt is concerned, it began with one monument to one king
designed by one brilliant architect: the Step Pyramid of Djoser at Saqqara.

B Djoser was the first king of the Third Dynasty of Egypt and the first to build in stone.
Prior to Djoser’s reign, tombs were rectangular monuments made of dried clay brick,
which covered underground passages where the deceased person was buried. For reasons
which remain unclear, Djoser’s main official, whose name was Imhotep, conceived of
building a taller, more impressive tomb for his king by stacking stone slabs on top of one
another, progressively making them smaller, to form the shape now known as the Step
Pyramid. Djoser is thought to have reigned for 19 years, but some historians and
scholars attribute a much longer time for his rule, owing to the number and size of the
monuments he built.

C The Step Pyramid has been thoroughly examined and investigated over the last
century, and it is now known that the building process went through many different
stages. Historian Marc Van de Mieroop comments on this, writing ‘Much
experimentation was involved, which is especially clear in the construction of the
pyramid in the center of the complex. It had several plans … before it became the first
Step Pyramid in history, piling six levels on top of one another … The weight of the
enormous mass was a challenge for the builders, who placed the stones at an inward
incline in order to prevent the monument breaking up.’

D When finally completed, the Step Pyramid rose 62 meters high and was the tallest
structure of its time. The complex in which it was built was the size of a city in ancient
Egypt and included a temple, courtyards, shrines, and living quarters for the priests. It
covered a region of 16 hectares and was surrounded by a wall 10.5 meters high. The wall
had 13 false doors cut into it with only one true entrance cut into the south-east corner;
the entire wall was then ringed by a trench 750 meters long and 40 meters wide. The false
doors and the trench were incorporated into the complex to discourage unwanted visitors.
If someone wished to enter, he or she would have needed to know in advance how to find
the location of the true opening in the wall. Djoser was so proud of his accomplishment
that he broke the tradition of having only his own name on the monument and had
Imhotep’s name carved on it as well.

E The burial chamber of the tomb, where the king’s body was laid to rest, was dug
beneath the base of the pyramid, surrounded by a vast maze of long tunnels that had
rooms off them to discourage robbers. One of the most mysterious discoveries found
inside the pyramid was a large number of stone vessels. Over 40,000 of these vessels, of
various forms and shapes, were discovered in storerooms of the pyramid’s underground
passages. They are inscribed with the names of rulers from the First and Second
Dynasties of Egypt and made from different kinds of stone. There is no agreement among
scholars and archaeologists on why the vessels were placed in the tomb of Djoser or what
they were supposed to represent. The archaeologist Jean-Philippe Lauer, who excavated
most of the pyramid and complex, believes they were originally stored and then given a
‘proper burial’ by Djoser in his pyramid to honor his predecessors. There are other
historians, however, who claim the vessels were dumped into the shafts as yet another
attempt to prevent grave robbers from getting to the king’s burial chamber.

F Unfortunately, all of the precautions and intricate design of the underground network
did not prevent ancient robbers from finding a way in. Djoser’s grave goods, and even
his body, were stolen at some point in the past and all archaeologists found were a small
number of his valuables overlooked by the thieves. There was enough left throughout the
pyramid and its complex, however, to astonish and amaze the archaeologists who
excavated it.

G Egyptologist Miroslav Verner writes, ‘Few monuments hold a place in human

history as significant as that of the Step Pyramid in Saqqara … It can be said without
exaggeration that this pyramid complex constitutes a milestone in the evolution of
monumental stone architecture in Egypt and in the world as a whole.’ The Step Pyramid
was a revolutionary advance in architecture and became the archetype which all the
other great pyramid builders of Egypt would follow.

Questions 1-7
Reading Passage 2 has seven paragraphs, A-G.
Choose the correct heading for each paragraph from the list of headings below.
Write the correct number, i-ix, in boxes 1-7 on your answer sheet.

List of Headings

ii A difficult task for those involved

iii A king who saved his people
iv A single certainty among other less definite facts
v An overview of the external buildings and areas
vi A pyramid design that others copied
vii An idea for changing the design of burial structures
viii An incredible experience despite the few remains
ix The answers to some unexpected questions

1. Paragraph A

2. Paragraph B

3. Paragraph C

4. Paragraph D

5. Paragraph E

6. Paragraph F

7. Paragraph G

Questions 8-11
Complete the notes below.
Choose ONE WORD ONLY from the passage for each answer.
Write your answers in boxes 8-11 on your answer sheet.

The Step Pyramid of Djoser

The complex that includes the Step Pyramid and its surroundings is considered to be as
big as an Egyptian 8. …………. of the past. The area outside the pyramid included
accommodation that was occupied by 9. …………., along with many other buildings and
features.

A wall ran around the outside of the complex and a number of false entrances were built
into this. In addition, a long 10. …………. encircled the wall. As a result, any visitors
who had not been invited were cleverly prevented from entering the pyramid grounds
unless they knew the 11. …………. of the real entrance.
Questions 12-13
Choose TWO letters, A-E.
Write the correct letters in boxes 12 and 13 on your answer sheet.

Which TWO of the following points does the writer make about King Djoser?
A. Initially he had to be persuaded to build in stone rather than clay.
B. There is disagreement concerning the length of his reign.
C. He failed to appreciate Imhotep’s part in the design of the Step Pyramid.
D. A few of his possessions were still in his tomb when archaeologists found it.
E. He criticised the design and construction of other pyramids in Egypt.

12.
13.

READING PASSAGE 3:

To catch a king
Charles Spencer’s latest book, To Catch a King, tells us the story of the hunt for King
Charles II in the six weeks after his resounding defeat at the Battle of Worcester in
September 1651. And what a story it is. After his father was executed by the
Parliamentarians in 1649, the young Charles II sacrificed one of the very principles his
father had died for and did a deal with the Scots, thereby accepting Presbyterianism as the
national religion in return for being crowned King of Scots. His arrival in Edinburgh
prompted the English Parliamentary army to invade Scotland in a pre-emptive strike.
This was followed by a Scottish invasion of England. The two sides finally faced one
another at Worcester in the west of England in 1651. After being comprehensively
defeated on the meadows outside the city by the Parliamentarian army, the 21 year-old
king found himself the subject of a national manhunt, with a huge sum offered for his
capture. Over the following six weeks he managed, through a series of heart-poundingly
close escapes, to evade the Parliamentarians before seeking refuge in France. For the next
nine years, the penniless and defeated Charles wandered around Europe with only a small
group of loyal supporters.

Years later, after his restoration as king, the 50-year-old Charles II requested a meeting
with the writer and diarist Samuel Pepys. His intention when asking Pepys to commit his
story to paper was to ensure that this most extraordinary episode was never forgotten.
Over two three-hour sittings, the king related to him in great detail his personal
recollections of the six weeks he had spent as a fugitive. As the king and secretary settled
down (a scene that is surely a gift for a future scriptwriter), Charles commenced his story:
‘After the battle was so absolutely lost as to be beyond hope of recovery, I began to think
of the best way of saving myself.’

One of the joys of Spencer’s book, a result not least of its use of Charles II’s own
narrative as well as those of his supporters, is just how close the reader gets to the action.
The day-by- day retelling of the fugitives’ doings provides delicious details: the cutting
of the king’s long hair with agricultural shears, the use of walnut leaves to dye his pale
skin, and the day Charles spent lying on a branch of the great oak tree in Boscobel Wood
as the Parliamentary soldiers scoured the forest floor below. Spencer draws out both
the humour – such as the preposterous refusal of Charles’s friend Henry Wilmot to adopt
disguise on the grounds that it was beneath his dignity – and the emotional tension when
the secret of the king’s presence was cautiously revealed to his supporters.

Charles’s adventures after losing the Battle of Worcester hide the uncomfortable truth
that whilst almost everyone in England had been appalled by the execution of his father,
they had not welcomed the arrival of his son with the Scots army, but had instead firmly
bolted their doors. This was partly because he rode at the head of what looked like a
foreign invasion force and partly because, after almost a decade of civil war, people
were desperate to avoid it beginning again. This makes it all the more interesting that
Charles II himself loved the story so much ever after. As well as retelling it to anyone
who would listen, causing eye- rolling among courtiers, he set in train a series of
initiatives to memorialise it. There was to be a new order of chivalry, the Knights of the
Royal Oak. A series of enormous oil paintings depicting the episode were produced,
including a two-metre-wide canvas of Boscobel Wood and a set of six similarly
enormous paintings of the king on the run. In 1660, Charles II commissioned the artist
John Michael Wright to paint a flying squadron of cherubs carrying an oak tree to the
heavens on the ceiling of his bedchamber. It is hard to imagine many other kings marking
the lowest point in their life so enthusiastically, or indeed pulling off such an escape in
the first place.

Charles Spencer is the perfect person to pass the story on to a new generation. His
pacey, readable prose steers deftly clear of modern idioms and elegantly brings to life the
details of the great tale. He has even-handed sympathy for both the fugitive king and the
fierce republican regime that hunted him, and he succeeds in his desire to explore far
more of the background of the story than previous books on the subject have done.
Indeed, the opening third of the book is about how Charles II found himself at Worcester
in the first place, which for some will be reason alone to read To Catch a King.

The tantalising question left, in the end, is that of what it all meant. Would Charles II
have been a different king had these six weeks never happened? The days and nights
spent in hiding must have affected him in some way. Did the need to assume disguises, to
survive on wit and charm alone, to use trickery and subterfuge to escape from tight
corners help form him? This is the one area where the book doesn’t quite hit the mark.
Instead its depiction of Charles II in his final years as an ineffective, pleasure-loving
monarch doesn’t do justice to the man (neither is it accurate), or to the complexity of his
character. But this one niggle aside, To Catch a King is an excellent read, and those who
come to it knowing little of the famous tale will find they have a treat in store.

Questions 1-5: Complete the summary using the list of phrases, A–J, below.
Write the correct letter, A–J, in boxes 1-5.
A. military innovation B. large reward C. widespread conspiracy

D. relative safety E. new government F. decisive victory

G. political debate H. strategic alliance I. popular solution

J. religious conviction

The story behind the hunt for Charles II

Charles Il’s father was executed by the Parliamentarian forces in 1649. Charles 11 then
formed a 1. .………………………………….. with the Scots, and in order to become
King of Scots, he abandoned an important 2. …………………………… that was held by
his father and had contributed to his father’s death. The opposing sides then met outside
Worcester in 1651. The battle led to a 3. …………………………… for the
Parliamentarians and Charles had to flee for his life. A 4. …………………………… was
offered for Charles’s capture, but after six weeks spent in hiding, he eventually managed
to reach the 5. ………………………….. of continental Europe.

Questions 6–9: Do the following statements agree with the claims of the writer in
Reading Passage 3?
In boxes , write
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. Charles chose Pepys for the task because he considered him to be trustworthy.
7. Charles’s personal recollection of the escape lacked sufficient detail.
8. Charles indicated to Pepys that he had planned his escape before the battle.
9. The inclusion of Charles’s account is a positive aspect of the book.
Questions 10–14: Choose the correct letter, A, B, C or D.
10. What is the reviewer’s main purpose in the first paragraph?
 A. to describe what happened during the Battle of Worcester
B. to give an account of the circumstances leading to Charles II’s escape
C. to provide details of the Parliamentarians’ political views
D. to compare Charles II’s beliefs with those of his father
11. Why does the reviewer include examples of the fugitives’ behaviour in the third
paragraph?
A. to explain how close Charles II came to losing his life
B. to suggest that Charles II’s supporters were badly prepared
C. to illustrate how the events of the six weeks are brought to life
D. to argue that certain aspects are not as well known as they should be
12. What point does the reviewer make about Charles II in the fourth paragraph?
A. He chose to celebrate what was essentially a defeat.
B. He misunderstood the motives of his opponents.
C. He aimed to restore people’s faith in the monarchy.
D. He was driven by a desire to be popular.
13. What does the reviewer say about Charles Spencer in the fifth paragraph?
A. His decision to write the book comes as a surprise.
B. He takes an unbiased approach to the subject matter.
C. His descriptions of events would be better if they included more detail.
D. He chooses language that is suitable for a twenty-first-century audience.
14. When the reviewer says the book ‘doesn’t quite hit the mark’, she is making the point
that
A. It overlooks the impact of events on ordinary people.
B. it lacks an analysis of prevalent views on monarchy.
C. it omits any references to the deceit practiced by Charles II during his time in
hiding.
D. it fails to address whether Charles II’s experiences had a lasting influence on
him.
VOCABULARY

WORD MEANING

Archaeologists Nhà khảo cổ học

Mysteries Bí ẩn

A prehistoric monument Di tích thời tiền sử

Most iconic prehistoric ruin Tàn tích thời tiền sử mang tính biểu
tượng nhất

Primitive Nguyên thủy

Dating back to that era Có từ thời đại đó

Sophisticated tools or engineering Công cụ hoặc kỹ thuật tinh vi

Long-standing theory Lý thuyết lâu đời

Recent archaeological hypotheses Giả thuyết khảo cổ học gần đây

Geologists Các nhà địa chất

Took place Diễn ra

Radiocarbon dating Xác định niên đại bằng cacbon phóng xạ

Unearthed Khai quật

Grave Mộ

Artefacts Đồ tạo tác

Human history Lịch sử loài người

Constitutes a milestone Tạo nên một cột mốc

Indigenous Bản địa

The burial chamber Phòng chôn cất

The most mysterious discoveries Những khám phá bí ẩn nhất

Carved on Được chạm khắc

Descended from Có nguồn gốc từ

Remain shadowy Vẫn còn mờ nhạt

Monuments Di tích

Ancient Cổ đại

The Third Dynasty of Egypt Triều đại thứ ba của Ai Cập

Historians and scholars Các nhà sử học và học giả

Thoroughly examined and investigated Đã kiểm tra và điều tra kỹ lưỡng

Temple, courtyards, shrines Đền thờ, sân trong, miếu thờ

Broke the tradition Phá vỡ truyền thống

Inscribed with the names of rulers Được khắc tên của những người cai trị

Excavated Đã khai quật

Predecessors Những người tiền nhiệm

The Parliamentarians Những người theo chủ nghĩa Nghị viện

Being comprehensively defeated Bị đánh bại toàn diện

A revolutionary advance Một bước tiến mang tính cách mạng

Being crowned Được trao vương miện

His restoration as king Sự phục hồi của ông ấy như một vị vua

Diarist Người viết nhật ký

Resounding defeat Thất bại vang dội

National religion Tôn giáo quốc gia

Personal recollections Những hồi ức cá nhân

The Parliamentary soldiers Những người lính của Nghị viện

Execution Cuộc hành quyết

Courtiers Những cận thần

A foreign invasion force Một lực lượng xâm lược nước ngoài

A new order of chivalry Một trật tự mới hiệp sĩ

Civil war Nội chiến

Commissioned Ủy nhiệm

The fugitive king Vị vua chạy trốn

Republican regime Chế độ cộng hòa

Monarch Quân chủ

Trickery and subterfuge Thủ đoạn và sự gian trá

The famous tale Câu chuyện nổi tiếng

KEY

Reading passage 1

1. (deer) antlers 8. calendar

2. (timber) posts 9. TRUE

3. tree trunks 10. FALSE

4. oxen 11. FALSE

5. glaciers 12. TRUE

6. druids 13. NOT GIVEN

7. burial

Reading passage 2

1. IV 8. VI

2. VII 9. city

3. VII 10. priests

4. II 11. trench

5. V 12. location

6. I 13. B

7. VIII 14. D

Reading passage 3
1. J 8. YES

2. F 9. B

3. B 10. C

4. D 11. A

5. NOT GIVEN 12. B

6. NO 13. D

7. NO