page 46 - Mock Exam Reading Comp]ehen§ion

Read t&ris artie le a&:otlt sorrre very old houses and then read t§re íne orrrplete §€ntcnee§ {§"9} fol|owing it" Your

task is to find tlrc right endings {A"M) fon tke §§rlt€ n ee§ ba§ed §n nelevant lmformation in tl'le text" Write &}re
§ett€r§ in the white hoxes next t§ th€ m§n,lbcrs as ín tl,1e exarnp§c {8}" There ar€ th!"ee extí§ l€tter§ that Yotl d*
,1§t §eed.

Unearthing History
people living there. One of the reasons that the finding
of the house is important is that it challenges the
idea that after the end of the last lce Age, people who
moved back to Britain were nomadic, not sett|ing in
one place. On the contrary, the rebuilding of the house
and the possible existence of other dwellings shows
us that people stayed in the same place for more than
one generation and were attached to particular places.

Another very old dwelling place in Britain that excites

ln 2OO8, a team of archaeologists from the universities
of York and Manchester were investigating the Star
Carr archaeologicaI site, near Scarborough, when they
discovered a round structure next to what had once been
a lake. The archaeologists were thrilled. What their dig
had uncovered was the oldest known house in Britain,
which the team dated all the way back to the Stone Age,
to 8,5OO years BC. lt was at least 5OO years older than the
one in Howick, Northumberland, previously believed to
be the oldest known house.
The house at Star Carr was circular, with a ring of wooden
posts around a sunken floor. lnvestigation suggests it was
rebuilt several times and the excavations indicate that
there were also other dwellings in the area with many
the interest of historians and visitors alike is one at
the Knap of Howar on the island of Papa Westray in
Orkney, Scotland. Here there are two houses which
were probably part of a small farm and may be the
first example of preserved stone houses in northern
Europe. With the scientific techniques of radiocarbon
dating, it was found that the houses were lived in
from around 37OO to 28OO BC. The two dwellings at
the Knap of Howar are side-by-side with a passage
linking the two, the wal|s are thick and the doors face
the sea. There are three rooms inside each building
with storage places with cupboards made from stone.
The outer room contains a low stone bench and there
is also what seems to be a kitchen, with a central
fireplace. lnside one room, archaeologists found a
large stone hand mill, used for grinding barley.

O. Star Carr is an archaeological site 5. Previous to discovering the house at Star Carr,
1. A team from the universities of york and Manchester 6. The Knap of Howar
2. The house in Howick, Northumberland 7. The dwellings at the Knap of Howar
3. The floor of the house at Star Carr 8. Scientific methods
4. lt is believed from archaeological investigation at Star 9. Atthe Knap of Howar
Carr that
§Ylr-T1 t
A. historians believed that after the end of the last lce Age people didn't settle down. *§l"

B. a tool for processing grains was discovered.

3trl
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C. are made of stone.
D. there is evidence of an old lake.
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E. uncovered the oldest known house in Britain.
F. many people lived in one house. ffiR
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G. is more than 10,0OO years old.
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H. the house was reconstructed more than once.
l. is located on an island in scotland.
J. nea€earbereugh
n-
rfil
k. was discovered first.
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ll; ll
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L. is below ground level. nÉl__al
M. can reveal the approximate date the buildings were inhabited.
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