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GENERAL ENGLISH · ENGLISH IN VIDEO · INTERMEDIATE (B1-B2)

PYRAMIDS

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1 Warm up
Read the definition and the text and answer the questions.

heritage: traditions, languages or buildings from the past that are important to us today.

World Heritage Day

Ancient buildings are all around us, everywhere in the world. These
buildings teach us about the past, and they deserve our care and attention.

On 18 April every year, the International Council on Monuments and Sites

(ICOMOS) celebrates World Heritage Day.

On this day, people can attend events all over the world to talk about how
to look after these places of cultural importance so that future generations
can enjoy visiting them and learn about who we are and where we came
from.

1. Can you think of an ancient building in your country? Why is it interesting or important?
2. Do many people visit this place? Is it in good condition?
3. Do you enjoy visiting heritage sites?

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2 Vocabulary

You are going to watch a video about an Egyptian pyramid. Before you watch, match the vocabulary
with the meanings.

Group 1

1. a building that helps people remember the past: a. structure

2. a large stone building or underground space b. monument

where an important person’s body is placed
after death:
3. an informal way to describe the place where a c. tomb
body is buried after death:
4. build: d. construct

5. something large and man-made: e. resting place

Group 2

1. an ancient Egyptian ruler: a. ensure

2. information that helps you find the answer to a b. piece together

problem or mystery:
3. make certain that something happens: c. pharaoh

4. collect information to develop an d. iconic

understanding of something:
5. very famous, representing a particular place: e. clue

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3 Watch a video
You are going to watch a video about the Pyramid of Djoser, in Egypt. Before you watch, read the
sentences and predict which answer is correct. Then watch to check your ideas.

1. Ancient Egyptian civilization lasted for around 1,300 / 3,000 / 3,300 years.

2. The pyramid of Djoser is 10 miles (16 km) / 20 miles (32 km) / 100 miles (161 km) south of the
iconic pyramids of Giza.

3. Egyptian pharaohs built pyramids for exactly / more than / less than 500 years.

4. We know / don’t know why the Egyptians stopped building pyramids.

5. The pyramid of Djoser is special because it is the tallest / most beautiful / first pyramid that the
Egyptians constructed.

6. The pyramid has six / sixteen / sixty platforms.

7. The final resting place for Djoser was in the middle / at the top / at the bottom of the pyramid.

8. The pyramid was constructed as a tomb for the pharaoh’s body and also to make Djoser’s enemies
afraid / to ensure that people remembered Djoser / to store lots of gold.

9. The pyramid dates from 2650 BC / 2056 BC / 2065 BC.

10. The pyramid is special because no one knows how it was built / it has an unusual shape / it was
the first large stone monument in the world.

Now answer these questions:

1. Why do you think that the pyramid of Djoser is an important part of the world’s heritage?
2. Do you have any ideas about why the ancient Egyptians might have stopped building pyramids?
3. Djoser’s pyramid has recently been restored and it is now possible to go inside. Would you like to
visit this place? Why/not?

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4 Read and speak

You are going to read about and discuss two more pyramid heritage sites. First, read the texts and
choose the correct words to complete the sentences. Then find this key information in the texts.

• What the pyramid is called

• Where it is located
• When it was built
• Why it was built
• Details of its structure
• Why it’s special
• What mystery is associated with the pyramid
• Information for visitors

In what ways are the pyramids similar? In what ways are they different?

Text 1: Canaa, the Sky Palace

The ancient Mayans lived in what is today Mexico, Belize, Guatemala and Honduras. The civilization
was at its strongest during the years 600-900 and during this time, the Mayans 1 constructed / structured
many cities. One of their most incredible cities was located in Belize: today we call it Caracol. Caracol
was enormous, covering 168 sq km and housing 120,000 people. The city included several pyramids,
like Canaa, the Sky Palace.

This resting 2 place / structure may have been a temple for religious activities and an observatory for
following the movements of the stars. At 41.4 metres, the Sky Palace is still the tallest man-made
structure in Belize. Caracol was a very old city and some of the earliest Mayan stone 3 pharaohs /
monuments, or stelae, have been found there, dating back 2,400 years. The stelae contain4 clues /
tombs about Mayan history and beliefs, which help scientists 5 place together / piece together what
could have happened at Caracol during its long history.

Caracol is difficult to reach. It’s currently a 6-hour round trip from the nearest town. However, the
roads are currently being improved.

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Text 2: Prasat Thom, Koh Ker

Many tourists visit the 1 iconic / ironic city Angkor Wat in Cambodia each year, and they learn that it
was the capital of the Khmer civilization. However, for a period of 20 years, from 928, the capital was
moved to Koh Ker, and during this short period, the Khmer built 180 temples there.

One such temple is Prasat Thom. Standing 36 m high, this pyramid has seven levels, and is not as highly
decorated as similar Khmer structures. Statues of lions at the top of the pyramid might have supported
a linga, or representation of a god. The pyramid could have been 2 ensured / constructed to connect
the earth and the sky.

Visitors to the city can only see 25 3 clues / structures; there are a number of land mines left over from
4
wartime, so the rest of the area is closed to ensure / ensuring visitor safety. However, the city is
5
worth a visit. No one today has clued / pieced together why the Khmer moved their capital city to
this spot for such a short time, but they must have had a good reason.

5 Language point
Read the information and answer the questions.

When we make guesses about past events, we use this modal form:

could/may/might/must + have + past participle

1. This structure may have been a temple for religious activities and an observatory for following the
movements of the stars.
2. The stelae contain clues about Mayan history and beliefs, which help scientists piece together
what could have happened at Caracol.
3. Statues of lions at the top of the pyramid might have supported a linga, or representation of a god.
4. The pyramid could have been constructed to connect the earth and the sky.
5. No one today has pieced together why the Khmer moved their capital city to this spot for such a
short time, but they must have had a good reason.
Answer these questions:

1. Which of these sentences sounds the most certain?

2. Which sound the least certain?

3. Is there any difference in certainty between sentence 1 and 3?

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Use this modal form to answer these questions. Try to think of at least two answers to each question.

1. What did the Maya monument in the photo below show or represent?
2. Why did the Khmer move their capital city to Koh Ker for only 20 years?
3. Why did the Egyptians stop building pyramids?

6 Talking point
Work in pairs or small groups to answer these questions.

1. Which of the three previously mentioned pyramids is the most similar to a monument that you
have in your country?
2. Which pyramid would you most like to visit?
3. What effect do tourist numbers have on heritage sites? Think of positive and negative effects.
4. These pictures show four modern pyramid structures. Why do you think people chose this shape
for these buildings?

The Luxor Hotel and Casino, Las Vegas, US The Louvre Museum, Paris, France

Walter Pyramid, athletic centre at Long Beach The Palace of Peace and Reconciliation,
University, California, US Astana, Kazakhstan

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Transcripts

3. Watch a video

Narrator : The West Bank of the River Nile, home to the world’s most iconic monuments, the
mighty pyramids of Giza. The pyramids once housed the bodies of the pharaohs.
But though ancient Egyptian civilization lasted for nearly 3,000 years, its kings only
built huge tombs like these for a few centuries. Egyptologists are still trying to piece
together why the pharaohs stopped constructing giant pyramids.

Narrator : For Egyptologist Chris Norton, the majesty of the ancient structures makes the fact
that Egyptians gave up building them all the more incredible. 10 miles south of the
legendary pyramids of Giza is Saqqara.

Chris Naunton: When we think about pyramids, we tend to think of Giza, I think, and the Great
Pyramid of Khufu in particular. But actually, this is where it all began.

Narrator : Chris has come to the birthplace of pyramid building to search for clues to why
Egyptians built giant pyramids for less than 500 years.

Narrator : Constructed a century before the iconic pyramids at Giza, Egypt’s first pyramid is
a 200-foot-tall mausoleum of six huge limestone platforms carefully engineered to
spread the weight of rock and prevent collapse. Deep inside is a giant shaft 26 feet
wide and 82 feet deep. At the bottom, the intended final resting place of the Pharaoh
Djoser.

Chris Naunton: Ultimately that’s what it’s all about. That’s where the body of a king is going to rest
in eternity. So you’ve gone to all this trouble to create this incredible monument
around the body of that person. It’s pretty amazing.

Narrator : To house his mummy, huge chunks of granite were slid down a passage into the shaft
and stacked, creating a giant sarcophagus 19 feet long and 11 feet high.

Chris Naunton: My god, these pieces are huge. Wow, it’s amazing.

Narrator : But this wasn’t just a tomb designed to secure the pharaoh’s physical body for
eternity. Crucially, for success in the afterlife, the pyramid ensured the king was
remembered by the living. Completed around 2,650 BC, it sparked an architectural
revolution.

Narrator : Djoser’s six tier giant wasn’t just the first pyramid. It was the world’s first
monumental structure built in stone. Over the next century, Egypt’s kings
developed the concept, building monumental tombs all along the Nile’s West Bank,
including the first geometrically true pyramid, the Red Pyramid, and the misshapen
experiment, the Bent Pyramid.

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Narrator : Then a dynasty of pharaohs built the most iconic monuments in Egypt, the pyramids
of Giza. But just a few short centuries after the Great Pyramid of Khufu rose from
the desert, a new era was on the horizon.

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Key

1. Warm up

5 mins.
Go over the definition and give students a couple of minutes to read the text. Then pose the follow-up questions.
If your class is multi-national, they could work in pairs, followed by brief whole-class feedback. If not, work with
the whole class to answer the questions, eliciting, as much as possible, a range of responses.

2. Vocabulary

10 mins.
Before students watch the short video, they define some key vocabulary. If students are unsure of the meaning
of pyramid, refer to the header image. Go through the items first and drill pronunciation - stressed syllables are
underlined. Then students match the items with the meanings - they can work alone or in pairs. Check the answers
- if you give the definition and students have to say the word, then you can check their pronunciation at the same
time. The word tomb /tu:m/may be tricky. Note: students will also encounter this vocabulary in the reading texts,
later in the lesson, as well as in the video.
Group 1:

1. → b. 2. → c. 3. → e. 4. → d. 5. → a.
Group 2:

1. → c. 2. → e. 3. → a. 4. → b. 5. → d.

3. Watch a video

10 mins.
In this stage, students predict content and then recover information from the video. Before they watch, they
should look through the exercise in pairs to predict answers. You may need to elicit/explain that BC means before
the year that Jesus Christ was born.

It’s fine if they aren’t sure about the answers, but they need to read through all the items to prepare them for the
video. Check answers and then pose the follow-up questions for students to answer in pairs.

The second follow-up question contains modals of speculation about the past. This structure is explored in the
language point later in the lesson, so you could treat this question as diagnostic to see if students can understand
or reproduce the structure, without offering any explanation at this stage. Accept any reasonable answers to these
follow-up questions.

1. 3,000 2. 10 miles (16 km)

3. less than 4. don’t know
5. first 6. six
7. at the bottom 8. to ensure that people remembered Djoser
9. 2650 BC 10. it was the first large stone monument in the world

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4. Read and speak

15 mins.
Students first complete a vocabulary exercise, choosing between two options for either text 1 or text 2. For this
task, students could work alone and then check answers with a classmate. If they need support, you could tell
them that the answers to both texts follow the same pattern. (That is, first exercise = first option, second exercise
= second option, third exercise = second option, fourth exercise = first option, fifth exercise = second option.)
Then students read the texts again to recover key information. They can highlight or underline the information.
You don’t need to check answers to the key information at this stage – students will demonstrate comprehension
in the follow-up question. However, this information will be helpful to have on hand, in case of student queries:
Text 1: the pyramid is called Canaa, the Sky Palace, located in Belize (a country in Central America), built in 600-
900, it is 41.4 m high, it’s still the tallest building in Belize, the mystery is about how the pyramid was used and
what exactly happened at the city of Caracol during its long history, visitors will find it’s a long trip by road.
Text 2: the pyramid is called Prasat Thom, located in Cambodia (in southeast Asia), built sometime between 928
and 948, 7 levels and 36 m high, unusually it is undecorated, the mystery is how the pyramid was used and why
the Khmer moved their capital to this place and for only 20 years, visitors can only get into a few of the structures
for safety reasons.
Finally, in pairs, students can discuss similarities and differences in the pyramids. Sample answers are given but
accept any reasonable ideas.
In what ways are the pyramids similar? In what ways are they different?
-The pyramids are similar sizes and ages, they are both parts of cities and there are difficulties for visitors. They
are different in the way they were used and in the length of time the sites were occupied.
Text 1: Canaa, the Sky Palace
Source https://www.cahalpech.com/belize-tours/tour-caracol-mayan-ruins/

1. constructed 2. structure 3. monuments 4. clues 5. piece together

Text 2: Prasat Thom, Koh Ker
Source https://sailingstonetravel.com/koh-ker/

1. iconic 2. constructed 3. structures 4. ensure 5. pieced

5. Language point

10 mins.
Go over the information, example sentences and questions with the whole class. Students can then work in pairs
or small groups to answer the questions as a speaking activity, using the target language. In the third question,
they can upgrade their responses to the question they answered earlier in the lesson about Djoser’s pyramid.
Accept any reasonable answers, focusing on grammatical accuracy with the target language and ask students to
explain their choice of modal verb based on certainty.

1. Number 5 using must 2. Number 2 and 4 - using could

3. No - may and might have the same meaning in this
context.
Modal forms:

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6. Talking point

10 mins.
These questions allow students to offer a personal response to the themes of the lesson and to consider the
wider effects of tourism, and modern architecture, which are common topics on IELTS and Cambridge speaking
exams. Encourage students to share opinions and experiences in full sentences, including reasons and examples.
Monitor students and offer support as needed. Round up answers at the end of the session and offer corrections
as appropriate.

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