test

Why civilizations rise and fall. Philosophers, historians, and archaeologists have
suggested many reasons for the rise and fall of civilizations. George W. F. Hegel, a
German philosopher of the early 1800's, compared societies to individuals who pass the
torch of civilization from one to another. During this process, according to Hegel,
civilization develops through three stages: (1) rule by one person, a dictator; (2) rule by
one class of society; and (3) rule by all the people. Hegel believed the process eventually
results in freedom for all people.
The German philosopher Oswald Spengler thought civilizations, like living
things, are born, mature, and die. In The Decline of the West (1918-1922), he wrote that
Western civilization is dying and will be replaced by a new Asian civilization.
The British historian Arnold Toynbee proposed his theory of challenge and
response in A Study of History (1934-1961). Toynbee believed that civilizations arise only
where the environment challenges the people, and only when the people are ready to
respond to the challenge. For example, a hot, dry climate makes land unsuitable for
farming and represents a challenge to people who live there. The people may respond to
this challenge by building irrigation systems to improve the land. Toynbee suggested that
civilizations collapse when the people lose their creativity.
Most archaeologists attribute the rise of civilizations to a combination of
causes, including the structure of political and social life, the ways people modify their
environment, and changes in population. In many cases, civilizations may have appeared
because local chieftains took deliberate steps to strengthen their own political power.
Many scientists believe that political forces and the misuse of land and other natural
resources resulted in the economic and political collapse of early civilizations.
(from World Book2004)

A ) COMPREHENSION/INTERPRETATION
1- The aim of the passage is to: a) to entertain b) to inform c) to argue a points of view
Tick the right answer

2- Are the following statements true or false? Quote from the text to justify your choice
about false ones.
a) There is an agreement on the reason for the rise and the fall of civilizations.
b) According to spengler, Western civilization is replaced by an Asian civilization.
c) Civilization die when people respond to the challenge of nature.

3- Give a suitable title to the text .

4- Find in the text words whose definitions follow :

a) in the end , finally (§1)
b) the occupation of raising crops or animals on a farm (§3)
c) make partial changes (§4)
d) fall in (§4)
5- Fill in the table with the missing word category:

verb noun Adjective adverb

develop
free
politics

6- Supply the correct form of the verbs in brackets:

Tobacco (remain) one of the major problems that modern societies face . For years,
governments ( try ) to put an end to this plague . In 2010, the authorities will take
new measures so as to ( limit ) its spread

7- Fill in the gaps with three words from the list :

big , consequently , because , children , increasing , birth

The human population is ………….. in many regions simply …………. people

lack awareness of ………….. control or the ability to limit the size of their families.