SAINT PAUL’S SCHOOL, RAJKOT

Chapter 01 THE STORY OF THE PAST (Assignment)

Subject: Social Studies
Read the passage and choose the correct options:
Std. IV Div. _____ Name: ________________________ Roll No.: _____ Date: ____________

(A) Read the passage and choose the correct options:

Almost everything we know about life in Egypt comes from the writing of scribes. Scribes were those 1% or so
of Egyptians who knew how to read and write, and they were exclusively boys. It was a privilege to be a
scribe. Scribes were not required to do any physical labour and
they wore clean clothes.

Scribes went to school in temples, where it could take from ten

to twelve years to complete the training they needed. It took
this long because there was so much to learn. Egyptian scribes
used three written languages: Hieroglyphics, Hieratic, and
Demotic. Hieroglyphs were pictures used to represent objects,
actions, sounds, ideas, or words. There were over 700
hieroglyphs. Hieratic was an abridged form of hieroglyphics
used by priests. Demotic was the language used by the
common, ordinary people.
Scribes wrote on the stems of a water plant called papyrus
reed.
A scribe’s job was to record both everyday life and important
events. They wrote letters for those who could not write
themselves. They kept records of crops harvested, calculated
how much food was needed to feed workers, and kept accounts and ordered supplies for temples and the
army. In addition to these administrative tasks, scribes were considered the keepers of the oral traditions, and
many ancient stories have survived until today because scribes wrote them down. Scribes also wrote new
stories, and edited and revised texts like biographies, instructions, literature, histories, and political and
propaganda writings.

Multiple choice questions:

1. Scribes were very ___________ in ancient Egypt.
A. common B. rare
C. respected D. well dressed
E. B and C F. B, C and D
2. How long did it take to become a scribe?
A. five years
B. one year
C. 700 days
D. ten to twelve years
3. Scribes wrote in which of the following languages?
A. hieroglyphics
B. hieratic
C. demotic
D. all of the above

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4. The language of the common people was:
A. hieroglyphics
B. hieratic
C. demotic
D. none of the above
5. Which of the following did scribes NOT do?
A. record everyday events
B. record important events
C. keep accounts
D. document oral traditions
E. edit and revise text
F. invent new hieroglyphs

(B)Select the words and put in their appropriate categories:

Jewellery, Pots, Taj Mahal, Char Minar, Utensils, Albert Hall Museum, Clothes, Stone Tools, Sanchi Stupa,
Statue of Unity.

Monuments Artefacts

(C)Ask your Parents or Grandparents and fill the below table:

Then Now
Clothes
Food
Games
Cartoon
Actor/Actress
TV shows

(D)Fill in the blanks

1. Herodotus was known as ‘_______________’.
2. An expert in archaeology is called __________________.
3. The name or picture on a coin tells ___________which ruler or king ruled the country.
4. Letters took several days to reach their _____________.
5. The time of History is divided into long stretches, called ‘______________’.
6. Archaeologists uncover artefacts by digging very carefully so that nothing is _____________.

(E)Answer in one word

1. Things that help solve a problem or a mystery- ____________
2. Things made and used by people like tools, pottery etc- _______________.
3. The study of very old buildings and objects which tell us how people
lived in earlier times-____________________.
4. Writings on coins, monuments, stone or metal-_________________.
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