2.1 Choosing the correct words

English home language

Grade 6

Module 5

Choosing the correct words

1. Seven great wonders

The Egyptian master–builder, Imhotep, built the first pyramid for his Pharaoh, Zoser, in C. 2778 B.C. The Great Pyramids of Giza – the only one of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World still to be seen, later dwarfed it. Each pyramid is made up of 2.3 million blocks of stone, weighing about 5,7 million ton in total. Khufu’s Pyramid, also known as Cheops, the biggest of them all, was originally 147 m high (it is now 137 m).

The other six wonders were much smaller than the Great Pyramids. But each, built between 600 and 270 B.C, was a spectacular achievement of engineering and art for its time.

Read more about these and other wonders in the amazing book The Big Book of Man-Made Wonders by Brian Williams, published by Hamlyn.

Take a careful look at the words in the table above and then match them to the buildings shown on the following page.

Write your answers in the space provided by choosing the correct letter to match the words in the table.

Now complete the sentences below by writing the correct ‘building’ words in the space provided.

1. _______________is the most famous prehistoric monument of standing stones and is found on Salisbury Plain in England.

2. The ___________________was built for the 1889 Paris Exhibition to commemorate the 100 ^th anniversary of the start of the French Revolution.

3. Manhattan Island in New York City has more _____________than any other city section in the world.

4. From toe to torch the ____________________ is 46 m tall and beneath her flowing robes is a steel frame designed by Gustav Eiffel.

What you need to do

• After reading each one, highlight the main idea in each paragraph.
• Write a summary of each piece answering the following questions: what? where? who? why? amazing?

2. Amazing buildings

View from the moon

The Great Wall of China is the longest structure ever built. It is made up of stone walls and earthworks, and with branches at various points, may once have been 9 000 km long. Most of the basic wall is a stone rampart 9 m high with a road along the top. Every 60 m or so there is a watch tower 12 m high, from where guards lit fires to send signals along the wall.

The Great Wall of China was built to guard against attacks by Turkic and Mongol tribesmen in the third century B.C. The Chinese call it the longest graveyard in the world because of the approximately one million convicts who died during its construction.

The Great Wall of China, most stupendous structure ever built by man, is the only man-made object that can be seen from the moon with the naked eye!

….. because I love you …..

In 1629 Mumtaz Mahal, favourite wife of the Mogul ruler of India, died in childbirth. The emperor Shah Jahan ordered the most beautiful tomb in the world for his wife.