Exercises – Word family

(1)

• You are going to read an article about some ancient writing found in Mexico.
Some words are missing from the text.
• Use the words in brackets to form one word for each of the gaps (1-8).
• Then write these words on the dotted lines after the text in the appropriate form.
• You might find words that you do not have to change.

OLDEST WRITING IN THE NEW WORLD

Items men, women, and children left behind when they died – everything from clothing
to jewellery and tools – tell (1) ________ (anthropology) a lot. And sometimes even their
words survive. Experts believe that a (2) ________ (discover) in Mexico is the oldest
example of writing ever found in the Americas. The people who created it (3) ________
(probable) lived 3,000 years ago, long before Christopher Columbus arrived in the New
World. Digging in a stone mine, (4) ________ (work) noticed a stone block with marks
carved onto its surface. They found the large piece of stone in Cascajal, Mexico, near the
capital city of an ancient people called the Olmec. "There are signs on the block that
seem to show (5) ________ (religion) objects they used. For example, there is a sign that
looks like a throne," an expert says. "It is (6) ________ (excite) because it makes it clear
that the Olmec could read and write." But experts don’t know (7) ________ (exact) what
the writing says. If you have ever tried to figure out a message (8) ________ (write) in
code, you have a pretty good idea of the hard work ahead. Finding other examples of
Olmec writing could help crack the code.

1)................................................................................................................

2)..............................................................................................................

3)………………………………………………………………………………

4)..............................................................................................................

5)………………………………………………………………………………

6)............................................................................................................

7)……………………………………………………………………………..

8)............................................................................................................